Best places to hang out at ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus

Being on campus isn’t just about being in class or going to meetings or activities. Sun Devils can make the most of the time they spend on campus by exploring the best places to study, chill out or meet up with friends between classes.

ASU Student Life is producing a best-of series to help students discover favorite spots across ASU’s four campuses to suit your mood or interests.

These are the best places to hang out at ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus.

Civic Space Park in downtown Phoenix is popular for food trucks, events such as movies in the park and a giant net-like sculpture that lights up at night (“Her Secret is Patience” by Janet Echelman). Read in the sunshine, wait for the ASU shuttle or the light rail, grab a bite to eat or catch a view of the sunset from a rare grassy space in the city.

As one of the top journalism schools in the country, the Cronkite School's home is chock full of both cutting-edge technology and historical artifacts related to journalism such as old printing presses. The building features stylish and comfortable environments that help students to stay informed and productive. From the First Amendment Forum that’s always playing cable news, to the editing bays on the third and sixth floors, to the classrooms and computer labs, Cronkite’s interior design is flawless. It almost makes up for the stress of being on deadline.

When you walk past the Beus Center for Law and Society, you take notice. Home of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, the building is known for its “legal living room.” The Armstrong Great Hall’s giant window opens like a garage door, and the outdoor sitting area is cleverly placed in the breezeway between the building’s structures!

If you’re at the Downtown campus and you have some adulting to do, the ASU Student Center @ the Post Office might be your one-stop shop. Drop off mail. Pick up mail. Study. Attend a meeting. Connect with Changemaker Central or Counseling Services.

Downtown’s SDFC is shared with the community’s YMCA. With its state-of-the-art equipment, plush lounge area and humongous rooftop pool, the SDFC is more just a gym — it’s comfortable place to hang out, connect with friends and re-energize your mind, body and spirit. Free classes are offered at the SDFC to promote physical and mental health and a range of leisure activities. You’re going to be a gym rat whether you go there to work out or not.

The Student Center @ the Post Office is to adulting as Taylor Place is to life, period. Sorry, but you remember those SAT analogies. Is it too late for a trigger warning? 

But seriously, if you're a resident at Taylor Place, you have it made. And if you’re not, you can stop by anyway to hang out. The dining hall, the P.O.D, Starbucks and The Market? If you budget those M&G dollars right you’ll want for nothing!