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I am at a rare quiet moment after an outrageous year in the life of Matt Smith. If someone were to have warned me this time last year what 2007 would become for me, I think I’d change lives to avoid the chaos.

1. January: Anyone who has ever sold a home know how much drama it is to sell a house. You have to go through a gazillion steps negotiating with the buyer. It was around-the-clock paperwork, meetings, and home repair. Since I already had a 40-hour-a-week job, this meant that I had absolutely no free time to keep any since of normalcy.

I hit rock bottom one night in mid-January when I was replacing the wax seal beneath the toilet in the master bath. I didn’t turn the heat on at the house because I’d spent way too much on the heating/cooling bills on both of my homes. So I wore my winter coat and a beanie to keep me warm. I drained all the water I could out of the toilet before I unbolted it from the floor. Then I squatted down and wrapped my arms underneath the toilet and hugged it into my chest. I stood up and lifted the porcelain throne four feet off the ground and gallons of ice-cold water spilled down my pants and soaked my socks. I set the toilet on the bathroom counter so I could clean myself up. But there was no towels in the house because I had moved out nine months before. So I had nothing to do but to continue working through the dark of the night absolutely wet. It was miserable.

2. February and March: The free minutes in these two months were entirely absorbed by wedding planning decisions. By the beginning of March, I knew that I would never get a divorce just to avoid all the drama of planning another wedding. To keep Candyce from losing her mind, I helped her with her senior thesis and took responsibility for coordinating family coming into town. Work was intense because I was trying to launch a website on time, something that never ever happens.

3. April: Launched a website (http://ym.lifeteen.com), got married, went on a honeymoon, and then moved Candyce into my house. I spent many nights in April breaking down boxes from wedding gifts and packing them into my recycling barrel.

4. May: Our staff went from 3 to 2. This severely sucks when the 3 of you were doing the work of 10 people. So it was up to me and Greg to solve the world’s problems every day we stepped into the office. Candyce finished and presented her senior thesis, and then graduated from college. Did I mention we just got married? Because that was a big deal.

5. June, July, August: Candyce and I suspended reality by living at the beach for the summer. It was a leisurely life at the end of the day, but my “day life” was loaded with solving major dramas with our websites and servers. Not fun. I got lots of exercise riding my bike up and down the coast. I listened to Kanye West all summer, mostly the song “Stronger” because it’s a cool song and I needed the encouragement. At the end of the summer, Candyce and I helped her little sister get settled in Arizona to start college.

6.  September-November: My brother and father spent 3 weeks in town to help me do a major renovation of the main floor of my home. After they left town, I committed nights and weekends to completing the remodel. Although I enjoy the work, it’s uncomfortable to live in a home that isn’t complete. You feel like you are camping in a house. Which is fine if you are a guy, but a girl (wife) doesn’t think it’s so rad.

7. October: I continued remodeling inside, and spent an hour each day trying to figure out why my damn pool was green. I planted the front yard with winter grass.

8. November: I started writing for the Phoenix Suns. I continued remodeling the house. We traveled to Pennsylvania and New York for Thanksgiving for Johnny and Ali’s wedding. I turned 29.

9. December: December was insane at work. Actually, pretty much the whole fourth quarter at work was outrageously busy. I juggled seven large, important projects everyday for three months. Insane! Candyce and I went to several Christmas parties, and hosted a big party at our house. We hosted my Dad when he came into town too.

So there you have it–the year that almost made me go crazy. I haven’t had time to learn a lesson here; there’s no moral to this story. I’m just an exhausted man taking an hour to write out my thoughts. Now it’s time to pack and head out to California.

Chrysler announced last month that they’ll stop producing four cars: Chrysler Crossfire, Pacifica, PT Cruiser Convertible and Dodge Magnum.

Apparently the DaimlerChrysler relationship sucked and now they’re breaking up. The new owners are trying to make Chrysler a strong, profitable brand again. That includes closing some factories and getting rid of some of their models. I’m not an industry analyst and I have no idea how to run a car company, so I have nothing to comment about their strategy.

But I will say this: the Magnum is a badass car. Every custom car guy knows the Magnum is a rare success that stands apart from dull American cars. But the masses needed some convincing to dig the low-slung wagon, and I don’t believe Dodge did their job to market the Magnum. So now they decided to get rid of the car. Boo!

Chip Foose’s sweet magnum.

If the Magnum was a rock band, they’d be okay with not making it mainstream, but they’d keep their strong fan base and thrive in the indie rock scene. They might become legends in time. Unfortunately, the Magnum is not a rock band. Once the production stops, it stops. The show is over. Only time will tell if it becomes a classic.

Oddly enough, I have not felt compelled to justify buying a fake tree. I made it through a 7-hour party last week without one word about the not-real tree in the corner of my living room.

The satisfaction of having none of the real tree chores gives me supreme confidence. By getting that fake tree, I saved myself 8 hours of work this December alone. Next year, I’ll save another 8. By then, I’ll have broken even financially. And I’ll keep putting up that fake tree until I have kids that need a good Christmas memory.

7. Tempe Marketplace in Tempe, AZ
Cool Points: 3 out of 5
Online: http://www.tempemarketplace.com/

I’ve been looking forward to this development for a long time, and now that it is here, I am underwhelmed. What bothers me the most about this place is that it the big block retailers (in lighter blue along the bottom of the image) are separated by a massive parking lot from the more pedestrian-friendly shopping area (dark blue). When you visit Tempe Marketplace, you pretty much have to choose which place you’re going to shop. There’s no attempt to connect the two types of shopping. No crosswalks, no bridges, no nothing. Just a car-pedestrian incident waiting to happen.

Another problem with the big box retailers is that they punish the good vibes of Rio Salado Parkway. The drive from the nearby Mill Avenue shopping district on Rio Salado Parkway is a lot of fun. You get views of the Tempe Town Lake, “A” Mountain, the ASU Sun Devil Stadium, and the greens of Karsten Golf Course. The whole scenic drive turns bad once you cross McClintock and arrive at Tempe Marketplace. You’re now in a back alley.

On a visual note, I don’t think this place will weather well with time. Its full of visual excitement and hype at the moment, but this whole circus of color could get real tacky real fast.

What keeps me from giving this place a 1 or a 2 is that it is built on what used to be a toxic dump that existed beneath a patchwork of unkept businesses, junkyards, and other eyesores. If the developers didn’t come in and clean up the mess, who would have? Plus, I give extra points to developers who invest in infill projects. You don’t have to go to the far edges of town to build something new for the community.

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8. DC Ranch Market Street
Scottsdale, AZ
Cool Points: 5 out of 5
Online: http://www.beonmarketstreet.com/welcome/index.php, more on DC Ranch http://www.dcranch.com/

Although this is a significantly smaller project than the others that I’ve featured here, DC Ranch’s Market Street in North Scottsdale is brilliant. Without Market Street, the communities of Silverleaf and DC Ranch would feel like lifeless suburbs pressed against the base of a mountain.

The creative team behind Market Street incorporated every detail that makes a shopping area livable:

• Narrow streets paved with bricks
• Parks with benches, tables, and umbrellas
• String lights
• Statues and fountains
• Sidewalks with shade
• Street-side parking
• Regional architecture
• Unobtrusive signage
• Native plants
• Covered bridges
• Unique retailers

Not only is it a charming gateway for the homeowners in the McDowell Mountains, Marketstreet is a destination for anyone in the city looking for something creative to do with their afternoon. I know the last sentence sounded like I work for a marketing company, but sometimes the hype is the truth.

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9. Victoria Gardens, Rancho Cucamonga, California
Cool points: 5 out of 5
Online: http://www.victoriagardensie.com/Earlier this month I made a trip to Rancho Cucamonga in inland Southern California. A group of us had lunch at a restaurant in the Victoria Gardens, a shopping center designed to look and operate like a classic downtown: tidy storefronts with wide sidewalks lined with broad leaf tree and classic street lamps. Cafes and coffee shops were spaced strategically throughout the center to give shoppers a place to relax and enjoy people watching.

Notice the fountains, plants, lights, and harmonious storefronts.

If you take a close look at the image below you can see that North Main Street and South Main Street allow shoppers to cruise a little bit before they decide to shop.

How you park matters. I’m not promoting the idea that “you are what you drive”, but part of the fun of owning a stylish car is that people get to see you in it. It’s the same reason you like to be seen when you are wearing your best clothes. You feel good because you look your best. One of the biggest let-downs of owning my first new car after college was that nobody ever saw me in it. It was just me, one dude driving back and forth between my apartment and work. People like the occasion to show off their car. This is the primary reason why people use valet. The reason every other video on MTV features a rapper getting out of his car in front of a sidewalk full of people is because we all think it’s cool!

Practically speaking, street-side parking can’t accommodate the horde of people you want to attact to you shopping center. Victoria springs tucked the useful acreage on the outskirts of “downtown.”

When you put all of this together, Victoria Gardens had the same utility as a typical shopping mall, but without the icky feelings of commercial claustrophobia. Impressive!

4. Biltmore Fashion Park in Phoenix, AZ
Cool Points: 5 out of 5
Online: http://www.shopbiltmore.com/, for redelopment news http://www.shopbiltmore.com/redevelopment/shopbiltmore/default.asp

What you are looking at here is an outdoor mall is similar to The Block at Orange. The central corridor runs beneath the words “Biltmore Fashion Park” is a grassy stretch with sidewalks on either side. It’s fun to look into the stores when you are on the outside, but, it’s also pleasant to be inside the store and look out onto the grass. That’s a lot better than the same instance in a typical mall. There, you look out of the store and see herds of people, a kiosk selling cell phone accessories, and then another storefront with people looking back at you.

The Biltmore adds to the community around it.

I know “parking” is a dull subject, which is exactly why it’s important to address here. Parking is a necessary evil, so it’s important to do it right. The long white structure rectangle on the top is a multi-level parking structure. It’s hidden behind the shopping area, so you don’t have to look at it when you are driving by. The limited amount of parking in between Camelback Road and the shopping center makes The Biltmore more approachable. It’s hard to drive by without wanting to pull in and explore. Part of the traffic problem at that the intersection of 24th and Camelback is that people miss their green lights because they are too busy gawking at the action.

When you are driving on 24th Street (up or down) or on Camelback Road (left or right), The Biltmore is interesting to look at. You don’t even have to go inside and shopping to enjoy the place; this is in stark contrast to Gwinnett Place Mall. The store fronts open up to the grassy interior walkway, but they also open up to the street and the parking lot. It’s just a cool looking group of buildings.

Of all the shopping areas I’ve written about here, Biltmore Fashion Park is the most ambitious project because of it’s history. It was originally built in the early 1960s with a bit of a futuristic Jetson’s vibe to it.

It’s been under a massive facelift for the past year or so. It looks great. I am impressed that they dug a pedestrian walkway underneath Camelback Road to people staying at the hotels (below Camelback) to get easy access to the shopping and restaurants at The Biltmore. Or if you are spending a day shopping, you can unload your stuff in the car and then catch a movie at the Promenade on the south side of the street. I’ve read that they are building residential towers and more office spaces to create that synergy of live/work/play.

The blue border defines the Biltmore Fashion Park. The two towers on the left are expected to be completed in the future.

Since the company is owned by nearby Scottsdale Fashion Center, they’ve traded around some stores to create an ideal line-up to cater to specific audiences. From what I’m seeing, The Biltmore is aiming for the young and rich–two words that rarely fit together in reality. But the idea is appealing to everyone, so I imagine this place will get more popular by the day.

A bonus is that it’s not too far from the center of town: 8.1 miles from the heart of Phoenix.

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5. The Forum at Carlsbad in Carlsbad, California
Cool Points: 4 out of 5
Online: http://www.forumatcarlsbad.com.

I go to The Forum all the time when I’m in San Diego. It’s only a few minutes from the coast, so this area keeps the temperate climate year round. It’s sheltered on the left by a low mountain range (notice the trees). On the right is plenty of green to separate the whole center from the noisy commercial corridor: El Camino Real. These trees create a haven so that you don’t feel like your stuck in just another square in the endless grid of shopping in SoCal.

The main appeal to The Forum is the experience of driving into the center on the L-shaped main street. (Okay, maybe it’s a reverse L-shape.) Part of the fun of finding a parking space is gawking at the store fronts, watching people, and being seen in your car. You just feel cool. You can pull off to the right up to the sidewalk, or park in the center spaces. The larger parking lots are on the upper corners, then more on the south side.

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6. Kierland Commons in Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona.
Cool Points: 3 out of 5
Links: http://www.kierlandcommons.com

I’ve only shopped here a couple times in the past few years, but Kierland Commons has all the attributes of a successful shopping center: mix of shops and restaurants, wide sidewalks, leafy trees, street lamps, park benches, street-side parking, and and inviting store displays.

It’s a good place to cruise.

Livin’ Large in No Sco (that’s North Scottsdale)

The overflow parking allows people to get in and out of the big stores, but the lots are divided up so that it doesn’t make you feel like you pulled up to Wal Mart.

I would give this place more cool points, but it’s just too far away from me to judge accurately. I have a prejudice against areas in my city that are too far from the center of the city: 20.8 miles.