7 July 16th - July 22nd, 2026 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Questions? Feedback? Email me at [email protected] • Follow me on RATING (out of 5 McFly’s) SILENT. SAFE. SURPRISINGLY SPICY. 2026 SUBARU TRAILSEEKER LIMITED The 2026 Subaru Trailseeker The 2026 Subaru Trailseeker Limited feels like Subaru woke up Limited feels like Subaru woke up one morning, drank three cups of one morning, drank three cups of coffee, and said, “You know what? coffee, and said, “You know what? Let’s build an electric SUV that Let’s build an electric SUV that still acts like a Subaru.” Mission still acts like a Subaru.” Mission accomplished. Starting at $45,445, accomplished. Starting at $45,445, packing 375 horsepower, and packing 375 horsepower, and offering an estimated 274 miles of offering an estimated 274 miles of range, the Trailseeker is proof you range, the Trailseeker is proof you don’t have to sacrifice personality don’t have to sacrifice personality just because you ditched the gas just because you ditched the gas pump. It still has that unmistakable pump. It still has that unmistakable Subaru DNA. It’s just a whole lot Subaru DNA. It’s just a whole lot quieter about it. quieter about it. The first thing that catches you The first thing that catches you off guard is how quick this thing is. off guard is how quick this thing is. Electric power has a way of making Electric power has a way of making even sensible vehicles feel like even sensible vehicles feel like they skipped a couple chapters they skipped a couple chapters in the owner’s manual. Hit the in the owner’s manual. Hit the accelerator and the Trailseeker accelerator and the Trailseeker scoots away with enough urgency scoots away with enough urgency to surprise the guy next to you in to surprise the guy next to you in the lifted pickup. Yet somehow it still the lifted pickup. Yet somehow it still feels calm, planted, and ridiculously feels calm, planted, and ridiculously safe. That’s been Subaru’s calling safe. That’s been Subaru’s calling card forever, and thankfully they card forever, and thankfully they didn’t lose the recipe when they didn’t lose the recipe when they plugged it into a wall. Whether plugged it into a wall. Whether you’re driving through downtown you’re driving through downtown Phoenix or heading north to Phoenix or heading north to Flagstaff for a weekend escape, Flagstaff for a weekend escape, it just inspires confidence. It’s the it just inspires confidence. It’s the automotive equivalent of having automotive equivalent of having that friend who’s always prepared that friend who’s always prepared with sunscreen, jumper cables, and with sunscreen, jumper cables, and snacks. snacks. One thing I couldn’t stop One thing I couldn’t stop thinking about? Subaru is sitting on thinking about? Subaru is sitting on a marketing gold mine. Somebody a marketing gold mine. Somebody needs to get the rights to “Electric needs to get the rights to “Electric Avenue” and change the chorus Avenue” and change the chorus to “Electric Subaru.” Tell me you to “Electric Subaru.” Tell me you wouldn’t catch yourself humming wouldn’t catch yourself humming it every time one drove by. it every time one drove by. That’s a campaign I’d actually That’s a campaign I’d actually remember. More importantly, the remember. More importantly, the Trailseeker feels like a natural Trailseeker feels like a natural evolution for the brand instead evolution for the brand instead of an awkward science project. It of an awkward science project. It has the practicality Subaru owners has the practicality Subaru owners expect, enough power to make expect, enough power to make your passengers raise an eyebrow, your passengers raise an eyebrow, and a price that doesn’t require and a price that doesn’t require selling a kidney. If you’ve been selling a kidney. If you’ve been waiting for an electric SUV that still waiting for an electric SUV that still feels like it belongs at a trailhead feels like it belongs at a trailhead instead of outside a tech campus, instead of outside a tech campus, the Trailseeker Limited might be the Trailseeker Limited might be exactly what you’ve been waiting exactly what you’ve been waiting for. for. Comfort: Value: Fuel Economy: Looks: The Drive: Safety & Security: Overall: Sound System: Bells & Whistles: Under the Rug Phoenix buried slanted parks ordinance survey after it backfired. BY CLARISSA SOSIN T his spring, as the Phoenix City Council debated whether to pass a controversial parks ordi- nance that would ban distrib- uting food and providing medical care to homeless people in city parks, the city commissioned a survey to gauge public sentiment on the issue. But despite survey questions seemingly slanted to drum up support for the ordi- nance — which the city council ultimately passed — survey responses were over- whelmingly opposed to it. The results were never publicized. Phoenix New Times obtained the buried survey via a public records request. One expert — Mike Noble, the CEO and founder of Noble Predictive Insights, a nonpartisan polling firm that was not involved with the city’s survey — found numerous method- ological issues with the survey, which appears to have been stuffed in a metaphor- ical drawer. That the survey produced such an anti- ordinance response is particularly notable, Noble said, given that the survey’s central question was so slanted in a pro-ordinance direction. “That tells you there was real resistance in the responses, even if the survey itself was not methodologically strong,” Noble wrote in an email to New Times. In a statement provided to New Times, Phoenix spokesperson Dan Wilson said the survey, which was “created with the assis- tance of Zencity,” was “one element of a comprehensive five-month stakeholder engagement process which began in January and continued into May. The non- scientific survey was designed to give resi- dents an easy way to provide comments on the ordinance. The City also hosted a series of in-person and virtual meetings with stakeholders.” The new ordinance makes distributing food and providing medical care in the city’s parks without a permit a misdemeanor. It bans needle exchanges and medical care with needles altogether. It also establishes a permitting process that allows two permits per approved park per month, for which individuals and organizations that provide food and medical care to homeless people can apply. Nearly 70% of the 3,180 survey respon- dents indicated that they “somewhat opposed” or “strongly opposed” the ordi- nance, which went into effect in early June. Sixty percent of those responses were in the “strongly opposed” camp. In contrast, only 28% of people responded that they “strongly support” or “somewhat support” the ordi- nance. Another 3% chose “neither support nor oppose.” That breakdown of responses is some- what surprising given that what Noble called the survey’s “key question” seemed engi- neered to push respondents toward supporting the ordinance. The question was: “Do you support the proposed Medical Treatment and Food Distribution in City Parks Ordinance?” Noble found several issues with the wording of that question. For one, a neutrally worded question would include both “support” and “oppose” to frame the issue evenly, and would give people who either don’t have an opinion or don’t know what the ordinance is a way to say “don’t know” or “not sure.” It would also give a basic summary of the law — “Medical Treatment and Food Distribution in City Parks Ordinance” does not hint that those activi- ties would be restricted — rather than relying on respondents already being educated or looking into it themselves. As worded, Noble said, the question skews responses towards “support” answers. “Even with that support-framed wording, roughly two-thirds of respondents still opposed the ordinance,” Noble said. Noble said the survey design was flawed overall. For example, it was available for responses for way too long — nearly a month — and it had no clear methodology or way of identifying demographic information or proving that respondents actually live in Phoenix. The people who responded also can’t be considered representative Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. (Rebecca Noble/ Getty Images) >> p 8 | NEWS |
