LAUREN GILGER: First Friday art walks have been a staple of downtown Phoenix for decades since the 1980s when a small group of artists started the event as an answer to Old Town Scottsdale’s blockbuster art walks.
First Fridays became a huge success story for downtown Phoenix — a downtown Phoenix that was often a ghost town after 5:00 p.m. And as First Fridays have grown, downtown Phoenix has transformed from something of an urban wasteland to the thriving core of a growing city.
But now organizers are pulling back. In recent years, the event has ballooned and lately it’s been plagued by violence—from fights to gunfire…