After Jack’s baptism we stopped by this unexpected find: a Starbucks boat house. This might be one of the most unique Starbucks I’ve ever seen.
Several years ago I spotted a “for sale by owner” sign in front of a cool modern home in Arcadia probably built in the early 1960s. The real estate market was white hot at the time, and I knew the home might get torn down to make room for a palace. This bothered me because the mid-century modern homes are the most visible and livable old homes in Phoenix. I called the homeowner and discovered that the house was in fact built by a well known Arizona architect (Beadle?) many years ago. I also found out that the home was out of my price range, so if the home would be restored it would have to be done by someone with more money. Within a couple of months the home was sold and a construction fence soon went up.
The photos you are looking at below are of that old home became. It has some styling inspired by the mid-century modern homes, but doesn’t stay confined by the original home’s lines. It’s better looking and more livable than ever. (And now it’s definitely out of my price range.) I’m sharing the photos here on my blog mostly because I like looking at ‘em.
Candyce, Norah, and I spent Sunday in Downtown Phoenix and Central Phoenix. We started the morning at Palatte for breakfast. If you live in the Valley and you haven’t been there–then you are missing out. Great atmosphere, live music, and tasty food. And for what it’s worth, it’s the best place to people watch on a lazy weekend morning.
When I first moved to Phoenix in 2001, I was disappointed that Central Avenue was so boring and undeveloped. What good is a city if it doesn’t have a lively central corridor? Apparently city planners knew this was a problem too, and they cooked up the idea to build a Light Rail to connect Mesa, Tempe, and Phoenix. After four years of construction, the Rail is ready for passengers.
In the big picture, the Light Rail will do more for Phoenix than any of the three cities because it imports a young population of college students to an area of town desperate for residents. This solves the big problem every city faces when trying to revitalize it’s forgotten inner core–convincing people to move there when there’s nothing to do. Nobody wants to live in a place if there are no places to go out to eat or go shopping. Unfortunately, entrepreneurs won’t open up those cool spots if there are not enough residents. How do you solve the stand-off? Pipe in the pretty, young, and smart from ASU’s Tempe campus. Brilliant!
You don’t have to look far to know that the Light Rail has is making a big difference, even a month before it’s first run. There are countless restaurants, bars, and boutiques that have cropped up along its path, especially along Central Avenue. We had to drive slow just to take it all in.
I never knew Central Phoenix had so many beautiful neighborhoods. You find a lot of the same charm and style of Arcadia. That is, the Arcadia of five years ago. Investors should take note. Not convinced? Postino is opening a second wine bar in the area.
I love it when a building I hate burns to the ground. Take for instance, 105. E. Roosevelt St. at the corner of 2nd Street in Downtown Phoenix. Before I explain my distaste for the building, take a look at an image from Google street view before the blaze…
A moronic structure that deserved to burn
Why do I despise this building? For one, it’s sitting on a prime corner lot on Roosevelt Row, a fun part of town where you can enjoy concerts, art galleries, and coffee with friends. The building has absolutely no connection to people who stroll through the neighborhood. There is no welcoming landscape, no door, no shade from the desert sun. It’s anti-human.
On the practical side, it is really stupid to have a roof/wall facing south. Those dark brown asphalt shingle tiles absorb every minute of the sun’s heat. My guess is that they have to run the Air Conditioning 10 months out of the year.
The good news is that the building has a habit of catching on fire this year. Either a vigilante is determined to burn it down, or a disgruntled owner has been dropping matches on his way out of the office with hopes of cashing in on insurance. That’s up to the police to decide. I’m just happy it’s gone.
I’d be even more happy if Macayo’s restaurant on Central burned as well. I know the designer wanted to make it look like a Mayan temple or something, but what we got was a bizarre stairnstep concrete structure that looks like bleachers for a football field. Believe it or not, this image from Google maps actually makes it look better than it does in real life.
Even with dorky buildings from past generations here and there along Central Avenue, Phoenix is still looking good. It’s more livable and lively than its ever been.
Jonathan from RED Modern Furniture came by my house and picked up my swanky Danish lounge chair last week, unofficially marking the end of my decade-long obsession with mid-century modern furniture. Without apology, I can now describe the style of my living spaces between Transitional and Restoration Hardware. I almost want to take time to expound, but I don’t have the time and I’m almost positive I’ve lost interest in this paragraph.
Instead, let’s talk about *the new hotness* that is the intersection of Central Avenue and Camelback Road. I haven’t been to that part of town months, but it seems like anything new and cool that I read about is within a stone’s throw of those cross streets. There are several clothing boutiques, Lola Tapas & Coffee Bar, Red Hot Robot, Stinkweeds Record Exchange, and the aformentioned RED Modern Furniture. Each of those spots are interesting for scrappy scenesters, but there’s not enough gloss to encourage the Y.U.P.s to come out after dark.
But that could soon change. The old Katz Deli (never heard of it till yesterday) was purchased by LGO and will open as Postino Central in January. That’s good news for uptown Phoenicians who tired of migrating to the Biltmore for a classy night out.
We attended the much anticipated Flip a Strip show at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art on Sunday. I was underwhelmed. Maybe the smallish exhibit had more context the day before when the winning designers were able to explain how they re-imagined tired strip malls around Phoenix. But standing alone in the exhibit and left to make sense of it myself, it seems to me that very few of the entries (if any) were interested in following the homework assignment of re-structuring blah strip malls.
The entries either promoted a single facet of utopia or a dramatic shift in the principles of city planning. What was noticeably missing was the space in between where responsible Real Estate developers can take notes on how to clean up the multitude of forgotten intersections within cities built around the automobile.
Here’s some photos from over the weekend, a couple taken at SMoCA:
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