Urban Parks

Phoenix is lucky to have so many active people looking after it and most of us are lucky to have them and the resulting beautiful city that Phoenix is becoming after so many decades of wrong. Unfortunately past residents destroyed what would have made this city truly cosmopolitan: for instance Japanese flower growers in south Phoenix or China down in the warehouse district or the dozens of magnificent historic homes and icons of modernism that have been liquidated.

None the less what is left is, for the most, part, being preserved and often re-purposed. Urban life in Phoenix compared to just a decade or two ago is much better. The boom helped. 

One of those gems is the magnificent Japanese Friendship garden in downtown Phoenix. It is a 3.5 acre…

With the fall season upon us Central Phoenix is in the midst of a beautiful colorful scene. Just a drive down Central Ave will perk up anyone's mood. The colors are extraordinary as the Ash trees loose their foliage. 

This is also the season to do some searious hiking. We're lucky here in Phoenix that even in the bustling central city area there is a huge mountain range, the Phoenix Mountains, that are home to miles upon miles of hiking trails with many tall peaks reaching into the sky and to those who venture up their rocky sizes and make it to the top, beautiful views and amazing sunsets.

I'm lucky to live next to the preserve and I make it a point to hike and run it alone or with my smooth fox terriers as often as I can, at least 3-4 times a…

When I visited Coronado Park in the Coronado historic district the tennis courts were full, there were people doing Thai chi on the tree shaded grass, a family was feeding pigeons and several people were exercising and stretching. The public pool was empty closed for season.

The main field was filled with water, the irrigation had filled it full and it looked like a lake, maybe a shallow swamp with wild grasses strewn throughout it. If you can narrow your vision like the photo below, you could be somewhere else, but this is the middle of the city, the middle of one of the older Phoenix historic districts with home from the early 20th century: homes over 100 years sold still standing and full of life, in fact invigorated by a new influx of…