Its that time of year again, when Christmas decorations come out of dusty boxes and you can really tell who’s in the holiday spirit. We separate the meek from the jolly. Downtown leader Jim McPherson is organizing an effort to decorate Central Ave where the City can’t due to budget restrictions.

This weekend marks the 25th  APS Fiesta of Light Electric Light Parade here in Phoenix. In lieu of a lovely post-Thanksgiving snowfall, this long standing tradition announces the true beginning of the Christmas season downtown.

The parade start its march at 7pm this Saturday on Central Avenue at Montebello heading south, or you can catch the official judging tonight starting at 5. Does anyone know the official criteria for float judging? Is it based on lumens?

In addition to lighting up the night, APS will once again collect canned goods along the parade route for donation to St. Mary’s Food Bank. And of course Santa will be there, taking suggestions from good little girls and boys and keeping everything jolly.

Events like these are what make the downtown Phoenix community great. According to Jim McPherson, “Celebrating milestones and occasions helps to build community. Many residents, neighborhoods, arts and cultural institutions, businesses, and city officials are all working to foster that sense of community as more and more people move downtown and tourists visit our city.” Jim is just one of a group of people working to decorate Central Avenue for the season to help promote patronage and general Christmas cheer. Over time, Central Avenue became the primary place to hold such major parades and holiday events. According to Jim, the Central Avenue decorations that have gone up this year were first installed in 2002. But the holiday’s don’t just end with lights. CityScape has installed an ice rink and Christmas tree downtown for everyone to enjoy.

Not only is it a time for visitors to see our developing downtown, but the community comes together to celebrate a wonderful holiday season around their favorite local businesses.

As Phoenix’s downtown economy grows into a true metropolitan epicenter, we in turn deal with the downsides of big cities, like the homeless populations. There are several local organizations working with the community to  overcome this issue. The Tumbleweed Youth Center, near the downtown ASU Campus, had been providing a safe environment for homeless or displaced youth in Phoenix for decades. But when a growing homeless population met an impending foreclosure, the center was forced to look for a new location that would meet their needs on a budget.

The center is almost completely run on federal and state grants, with community donations making ends meet.

Dick Geasland, Tumbleweeds’ Executive Director, says that the center focuses their efforts on “building trust” between teens and young adults and a system that they may feel has failed them. The center offers emergency housing for ages 12-18, as well as basics, like food and showers, for 18-26 year olds.

According to Geasland,  “Our case managers are more like detectives” as their job entails way more that helping kids stay on track. The center works to help youth obtain original identification, birth certificates or state IDs, which is often lost or never created, as well as connect them with health care providers for a healthy future. The Street outreach street works with current youth center tenants as well as the surrounding community to locate local homeless teens and offer aid, such as hygiene bags and non-perishable foods.

Tumbleweeds got in contact with a former landlord who was able to find and renovate a space to meet their needs and their budget. The new center, located on 16th and McDowell, is almost twice the size of their old facility and includes a 2,500 square foot store front.

Need some screen printing done? Look no further. The center’s store front doubles as a screen printing shop as well as hands on business training and employment for center youth. Geasland also hopes to open part of the center as a performance space to introduce the center to art as well as theater and performance management.

Now, I know what your thinking. “A great non-profit helping out Downtown Phoenix?! How can we help?” Clothes, blankets, sleeping bags, and bottled water can be dropped off at the center which is located at 1419 N. 3rd Street, Suite 102 in Phoenix. You can also visit their website for the most currently list of needs as well as to donate funds.

If you’re planning on donating a turkey this year, you can donate at any of these locations.  

• United Food Bank (East Valley )November 21-23: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
• Donate at any Fry’s Food Store location by adding your donation amount to your grocery bill. A donation of $2.50 will provide enough food for 17 meals. A donation of $10 will provide enough food for 70 meals.
• Lee Lee International Supermarket is hosting a holiday food drive at all three Arizona locations until Tuesday to benefit two Arizona food banks. Donations from the Chandler location will go to the St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance in Phoenix, which is most in need of beans (canned or dried), canned fruit and vegetables, canned soups, stews, chili and pasta, cereal, diapers, juice, peanut butter, rice and tuna (canned or vacuum packed).

St. Mary’s food bank has a few different locations available to donate:

• They will be collecting food donations at 31st and Thomas until Thursday 8am to 5pm at the Thomas and 31st Location, as well as
• St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance is collecting cash and turkeys 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday at The Stockyards Restaurant, 5009 E. Washington St., Phoenix. The Stockyards Restaurant, Valley of the Sun United Way, Rock Springs Pies, The Celebrity Theater and the Arizona Centennial Chopper will sponsor the drive.

Don’t have time to drop one off? There are plenty of online options for giving.

• Try Buy-A-Bird online! buyabird.org is an online shopping site where you can buy stuffed animal birds which directly donates to the St. Mary’s Food Bank Thanksgiving Drive
• The Real Gift Foundation’s 12th annual Thanksgiving Dinner Drive is taking place now.They plan to deliver 3,650 pre-cooked Thanksgiving dinners to homeless children (and their families) who attend more than 70 public schools throughout Maricopa County. In order to deliver the dinners, The Real Gift Foundation needs to raise more than $80,000. Just $25 dollars will feed a family of six. To donate, visit www.therealgift.org or call (602) 482-5800

Donate today and give back to your community for the holidays.

This Friday the 25th is not only  Black Friday and/or the day to fully commit to your post turkey food coma. It  is the beginning of Buy Local Week! Local First wants to encourage you to bring your holiday spending to great local businesses for unique gifts and community support. You can visit the website to see special deals from local business from November 25th to December 4th.

We all know that shopping locally not only supports community, but boosts local economy, and weeks like these are a great reminder that you can choose local everyday.

But your Local spending doesn’t have to wait until this Friday. If you’re planning to have your thanksgiving out, why not eat at a local restaurant? There are a ton of locally-owned restaurants that are offering specials. This year Avanti, on E. Thomas Road, is offering a 4-course prix-fixe meal with an Italian twist, and classic thanksgiving pies or pumpkin Cheesecake . One of our favorites, El Chorro, will be serving up the classic Thanksgiving dinner. Not to worry, the sticky buns will be available for dessert. La Piccola Cucina, is having a great thanksgiving feast featuring an incredible desert that is getting a lot of attention. It is a spiced poached pear over cannoli filling in a deep red wine sauce. Who could say no?

When you’re done with dinner, visit the Local First site for Holiday Tips to help you spend locally this season. They’re even sponsoring a Holiday shift contest. E-mail  Erica@localfirstaz.com with a list of ways you’re shifting your holiday spending, and you will be entered to win a great prize from a local business.

Remember to spend you holiday with the community you love and support local businesses this season. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Christmas has come early! Statistics and Graphs galore! If you’re looking for a home here in Phoenix, here is a trend that you might want to know about.

As a general rule, fewer  people buy houses between October and February. With the beautiful winter weather here in the valley, you would think sales would rise. But, most home buyers move in the late spring and summer in order to change schools. So, what does that mean for real estate agents….other than that we should probably go out and get second jobs waiting tables or pre-stocking for Black Friday?

What does it mean for you? Well, it’s great news if you’re a soon to be home buyer. As you can see by the graphs, sales per month is down between October and February while the monthly supply stays relatively the same. Aren’t graphs amazing?

Continue for more witty comments, below the graphs.

So, follow me here. If the sales per month are down and the inventory stays largely the same that is great for you if you are a buyer. It means that sellers are more desperate to sell. Not only are you going to have a greater selection, you might have an opportunity to negotiate the price!

So, get out into the beautiful weather and buy! If  you have any questions I’d be happy to help, just give me a call 602-456-9388

It’s here. The second annual Phoestivus event. The image, below tells you everything you need.

We are doubling the size and doubling the fun.

Please spread the word.

It’s that time of year again, when dreams of turkey and starches fill our daydreams and the pressures of dieting float away with the autumn breeze.  The St. Mary’s Food Bank has  guaranteed those turkey dreams for struggling families around the valley for more than four decades.

Last year, St. Mary’s needed six thousand turkeys and that number is only expected to grow. With 16% of the population falling under the poverty line, and turkey donations down this year, and the food bank is worried that for the first time in 45 years, they may not be able to meet their demands.  St. Mary’s is hosting “Super Saturday” Turkey Drive on from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 19^th in hopes of closing the turkey gap. The drive will expand to 16 locations around the Valley and in Flagstaff for what will be “an unprecedented need for the 2011 holiday season,” according to the food bank.

This Thursday is our November Get Your PHX Event at Steele Indian School Dog Park. In addition to your adorable pooch, we ask that you bring 5 dollars to donate to St. Mary’s Food Bank Turkey Drive. With your help, we can give families all over the family a meal to be thankful for.

This is totally informal, but we will get your contribution directly over to St. Mary’s the next day.

To learn more about ways to give, visit the St. Mary’s Food Bank Website 

At the November Get Your PHX we get to celebrate a whole list of new beginnings. We will visit the new dog park at Steele Indian School Park, learn about new plans for our largest CenPho public park and hear about how the downtown Margaret T. Hance Park is being re-imagined.

Our fine sponsors for this event will be Wag n’ Wash and Noble Beast. In addition to the food and libations, our sponsors will have goodies for your pooch! Please certain to visit with them when you come. We can’t do it without them!

So, we will have three fun and informative presentations for you.

Tom Byrne, Landscape Architect with the Parks and Recreations Deparment, will tell us about the evolution of CenPho’s first dog park.

Bryan Flanigan, Indian School Park Manager with the Parks and Recreation Department, will tell us about the history, future and planned renovations to the old Indian School buildings at the park.

Our own Kate Kunberger will give us a presentation on the very newsworthy plans for changes to Margaret T. Hance park, downtown.

We are also proud to announce that long-time park advocate Councilman Tom Simplot will join us for this event, too.

Further, this will be an interactive show and your opinions count.

The event will be broken in to two parts. We hope that you will join us with your pooch at 5:30 for some playtime at the park.

At about 6:00, we will begin the program at a ramada directly to the west of the dog park. Feel free to bring your dog over on a leash.

Keep an eye on our Facebook Fan Page for updates. As you know, there are always surprises.

November Get Your PHX
Thursday, November 17th from 5:30 to 7:30.
300 East Indian School Road
Phoenix, AZ 85013 Map here

NOTE: We suggest you enter the park through the 7th St entrance which is immediately north of the VA hospital property.

For anyone looking to live downtown knows, safe and affordable housing is a commodity. As downtown Phoenix experiences a renewed interest and cultural growth, we as a community need to think about ways to pursue reasonably priced housing options for the increasingly diverse population. Native American Connections has come up with a great housing option, that maybe you didn’t even know existed.

For over 40 years, Native American Connections has built community for our growing, city-dwelling Native American populations. In January, they will be opening mixed-use, mixed-income apartments, Devine Legacy, just across from the Campbell & Central light rail station.

For those of you who don’t know, mixed-income and mixed-use housing is pretty common place across major US cities, but is a fairly recent development in Phoenix.  So what does it mean? Mixed income housing is the idea that increasing diversity of the residents will improve the overall standard of living for the community. In Phoenix, we’re probably more familiar with mixed-use housing which is simply property which is used for both commercial and residential use. Commercial uses can help subsidize projects to allow for affordable or low-income housing.

One of the biggest problems facing mixed-use projects, both nationally and locally, is they require significant public subsidies. Through an IRS program and Arizona Department of Housing allocations, Devine Legacy has been funded through a unique low income tax credit system which allows support from the public as well as the government. This is only one of many projects Native American Connections is pursuing in Phoenix.

Devine Legacy, in addition to it 12000 square foot commercial space, will feature 65 units, ranging from studio apartments to town homes and lofts.   The Apartment includes  artist elements from local artists Randy Kemp and David Montour, high end appliances, ground floor parking, and a public court yard fully equipped with a sound system for community events, not to mention convenient access to the light rail.  The complex is also a part of the LEED Platinum community, which means Devine Legacy homes are  beautiful and safe at an affordable price.

If you’re interested in learning more about the project or units available you can visit their website. Applications are now being accepted for January and February move-ins.

Its that time of year again! The Local First Fall Festival is on!

(Added extra: this year it actually feels like fall!)

Did you know that Arizona is home to more than one hundred local and organic food providers, over one hundred advertising and marketing agencies, more than two hundred art suppliers and venues, and other great local businesses?

I would not blame you if you didn’t know that. It’s not like you hear about it on our local news. (But that’s a different post.)

Local First Arizona is an organization that supports local businesses around the state. The local first philosophy is driven by the benefits the local business have on the economy and community culture. This weekend LFA will be hosting their seventh annual fall festival. The festival boasts a ton of food from independent eateries and 66 local vendors.

Last year over 6,000 participants joined local businesses for family friendly fair. Musicians and bands and bands from across the state will provide entertainment. There will be local wineries and breweries on site for the adults as well as activities, like rock climbing, for the kids.

But why support local businesses? The simplest answer is it’s socially responsible. As our economy comes back, we need to support our local communities first. By patronizing our local businesses, we are directly supporting our own communities by keeping tax dollars in the state.

Join your fellow locavores this Saturday at The Duck and Decanter, 1651 E Camelback, from 10-4 pm. You can read more about Local First Arizona on their website