Downtown Phoenix Inc.

David Krietor retires from Downtown Phoenix Inc.

What’s happened in Downtown Phoenix over the last decade has been nothing short of revolutionary.

Billions of dollars in investment, thousands of new residents, a new light rail system and two new college campuses there have created an urban center for our city that never existed before.

But ask David Krietor and he’ll tell you that it was more than that — that an unseen force to centralize cities throughout the nation hit at just the right time.

Krietor has worked in downtown Phoenix for more than two decades, first, with the city of Phoenix and, most recently, as the CEO of Downtown Phoenix Inc., the community development group that calls itself “the downtown Phoenix think tank.”

He’s seen the scope of the change that’s happened in downtown Phoenix, and he’s been a big part of it. But on Jan. 1, a new president took over Downtown Phoenix, Inc. and Krietor retired.

The Show spoke with him about his career and the change he’s seen happen in his decades downtown.

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