David Ulloa Jr.
Arizona Republic USA TODAY NETWORK
Phoenix residents can petition the city to install gates to block access to alleyways. Crews have installed 1,142 of them across around 500 Phoenix alleys, according to recent city numbers.
The Phoenix Gated Alley Program started in reaction to residents raising concerns about crime, illegal dumping and trespassing behind their homes, according to the City of Phoenix website.
Illegal dumping was rampant in Elizabeth Aguilar and Evelyn Landgrave’s Maryvale neighborhoods.
Aguilar said she saw stolen cars left in her alley. Right after the stolen cars were abandoned, she said people would steal parts from it.
Landgrave said she saw people illegally dump sofas, construction materials, motor oil, and drug paraphernalia such as needles and pipes.
Phoenix City Councilmember Betty Guardado, Maryvale resident and the councilmember for a large portion of the West Valley neighborhood, said her neighbors told her in 2018 when she ran for office that they didn’t feel safe there.
Guardado said “part of the American Dream is buying your home” and feeling safe in that home.
Phoenix has a ‘really healthy appetite for gates’
The Gated Alley Program started as on-and-off experiment between 2018 and 2022.
Project manager Stacie Beute said the Royal Palms neighborhood in the Sunnyslope area was the first to get new gates.
Residents worked with the city on installing the gates, but the neighborhoods raised the money for them.
In 2022, the city fully funded the gate program, Beute said.
It typically costs about $11,000 to put a gate in an alley with two openings, according to a city spokesperson.
The Phoenix City Council set aside $2.25 million in grants from the Neighborhood Block Watch Program according to city documents. In addition to being funded by the block watch grants, the program is paid for through general city funds.
Beute said there is a “really healthy appetite for gates in the city.”
Phoenix received 40 requests per month over the last six months for gated alleys, according to a city spokesperson.
With 183 gated alleys, Phoenix City Council District 5, the council district where a large proportion of Maryvale is located, has the most gated alleys as of July 1 according to the City of Phoenix.
How do I get a gate for my alleyway?
According to the city’s website, before residents submit a request to install a gate in their alley, their alley must meet the following requirements:
It must be owned by the City of Phoenix.
It must have limited vehicle access.
It must not have parking for multifamily housing.
It must have permanent fencing at least 5 feet high along the length of the alley.
It must not be used for trash collection or commercial operations such as delivery. If the alley is currently used for trash pickup, the trash pickup must transition to curbside pickup.
Also, residents must gather signatures of support from the majority of property owners who live along both sides of the alley, a city spokesperson said. Renters cannot sign the petition.
Phoenix suggested residents check the Maricopa County Assessor’s website if they are unsure of property ownership in their neighborhood and offered videos in English and Spanish on how to use it.
Phoenix provides request forms and petitions for the alley gate program in Spanish and English on its website Aguilar and Landgraves both said they had a smooth experiences getting their alleys gated.
Guardado said each request for a gate is reviewed on a case-by-case basis and the city decides which alleys need them most.
How Phoenix alley gates work
Beute said the alley gates are sixfoot-tall wrought iron gates with pickets that curve outward.
A Phoenix video shows the gates have a “three-way locking mechanism.” It features a series of padlocks, two locking bars and chains to hold the lock to the gate and drop pins “to ensure the gate does not move from the bottom.”
The gates have three designated padlocks: one for fire department, one for the residents and one for utilities, emergency access and city services. Beute admitted the gates are not fool proof to someone jumping over them. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” she said. However, she has not heard reports of people jumping the gates.
Landgrave and Aguilar said they still see an occasional trespasser in their alley, but they said this was typically due to a lock not being secured on the gate correctly. In cases where people have broken through the gate, Landgrave said the city was quick to fix it.
Guaradado said the gates made a huge difference for the neighbors who live by the alleys.
Since the gates were installed, Guardado said the number of calls to police in Gated Alley Program neighborhoods went down and residents feel safer.
According to Phoenix data, there was also a drop in the number of calls for service in those neighborhoods.
However, there is no hard proof if the gates caused the drop.
The total number of calls for service in Gated Alley Program neighborhoods went down by 14.3%. The number of violent calls for service in Gated Alley Program neighborhoods went down by 31.1% .
Since the gates were installed in her neighborhood, Landgraves said she feels her neighborhood is much more safer.
‘Now I know my neighbors’
When Landgraves got the gated alley, she said it made her wonder what else she can do to improve her community.
After they got the alley gate, Landgraves said her neighborhood banded together to get a speed bump and a HAWK (High Intensity Activated Cross-WalK) light, a signal light that stops traffic for crossing the street at the request of a pedestrian, typically mid-block.
Before the gates were installed, Landgraves said she did not talk to her neighbors. She went to work and came home.
“You do your business and that’s it. You don’t talk to anyone,” Landgraves said.
But this routine changed when Landgraves talked to her neighbors about getting a gate for their alley.
“I’m really thankful about this Gated Alley program because it made me actually know more of my community,” Landgraves said.
Landgraves said her neighborhood created an informal block watch where they look out for each other.
Aguilar said the program was really good for her because she did not talk to her neighbors before she knocked on doors to get the gate put in.
Landgraves said her daily routine now consists of friendly car honks to say hello and talking to her neighbor who goes on her daily evening walks.
“Now I know my neighbors,” Landgraves said.
Contact reporter David Ulloa Jr at david.ulloa@gannett.com.
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