Greyhound Pets of Arizona is an organization that, obviously, helps with greyhound fostering. It has received word that the Tucson Greyhound Park will be closing this year. The best word they have at this time is that the closing is likely to be the end of June.

GPA, along with other adoption groups in the area, is mobilizing to start bringing retiring greyhounds into foster programs so that they can live with loving families.

The legislature has finally voted to end greyhound racing in Arizona (thankfully) and the park will be closing.

So, GPA is in need of additional greyhound fostering homes over the next three months. If you think you might like to foster a greyhound, call 1-877-545-3647.

The hounds will be coming directly from the track.

• They may or may not be spayed/neutered when you get them
• They will not have been tested with small animals and cats
• They may have parasites such as ticks although the kennels are
  working hard to make sure the hounds are clean.
• They will not necessarily be house broken

Of course, it begs the question of what they will do with all of that park space. Could that be turned in to urban housing, or a huge festival space? Its yet to be seen. I hope that the park does not sit empty for years, as that would be a sad situation for our positive urban development.

I used to want a greyhound when I thought they could run long distance with me. But then I learned that, while they are great at short speeds, they are not good at distances and are generally very calm dogs.

It was a bummer, because they are such beautiful and sleek dogs. If you are a lover of art nouveau or art deco design, you will see them and Afghan Wolfhounds depicted everywhere. But, I digress.

The group “This Could Be Phoenix” does a great job establishing sense of place in Phoenix and envisioning what our little town could be.

In trolling around Facebook today, I saw a great little effort they are making to talk focus on our future. Here’s what they are up to, and I encourage you to have a look. I know that we will grab one of these little signs to share a space that is near and dear to us.

Today marks the start of ‪#‎ThisPlaceMatters‬ & ‪#‎ThisPlaceMattersPHX‬month! What is it? It’s national campaign that encourages people to celebrate the places that are meaningful to them and to their communities.

So join us all month long, and tag photos of special places near and dear to your heart with two hashtags: #ThisPlaceMatters and #ThisPlaceMattersPHX. Plus, we’re competing with 12 other cities around the country, and if we win (by having the most tagged photos), we’ll get money to host a party – So drinks will be on us! Let’s put Phoenix on the national map!!

Our friend Matthew Steinkamp of Sundawg Media tells me about his new project, which will be at the Phoenix Film Festival. It is called “Play – A Documentary. See a list of screenings at this link, and pick up a pair of tickets here.

The documentary will be at our local film festival, and hopefully more around the country.

Phoenix seems to be generating its own home-grown film industry. Earlier in the year, we hosted the premier of Durant’s Never Closes at our January Get Your PHX.  We are so proud of our local film makers.

What makes us particularly impressed with this film is that it is a crowdsourced film about music, passion and education. With so many critiques of education in Arizona, its nice to see a film that honors arts education.

Congratulations to the whole crew.

One of our local business leader-type friends here in Phoenix, Andrew Kolikoff has started a new academy called Mentor Mash.

This academy is designed as a tool for those who need a business mentor.

He’s set up an impressive support network:

• Local First – they are strategically reaching their membership on our behalf!
• The Phoenix Hispanic Chamber of Commerce – they are doing the same
• The Arizona Commerce Authority – we’re in their newsletter
• The City of Phoenix Economic Development Department
• The Maricopa County Women’s Education and Entrepreneur Center
• The Hive (Phoenix Public Library System’s Startup Support Group)
• Right now we have almost 75 registered businesses, 3 Paid sponsors and all the above supportive organizations involved.

Have a look at his site and judge for yourself!

Congratulations to our friends Abraham James and Patrick Hallman at C&H and Associates are announcing that they received a $35,000 Community Development Block Grant for the third year in a row.

This is a grant that is awarded to architectural firm so that they can provide architectural services to small businesses. This could be somebody who wants to open up a restaurant, coffee shop or retail space.

The funds come from Housing and Urban Development, through the City of Phoenix. If the architectural project goes well, the owner of the business must two hire employees. In this way, the grant supports economic development.

Some examples of previous grants that worked with C&H and Associates include JoBot Coffee, Core Crossfit, Karl’s Bakery, the Canvass corner at 3rd St. and Roosevelt.

If you own a business, or if you are starting a business that might benefit from these services, please call Abraham James at 602-275-1377 for more information.

Congratulations, Abraham and Patrick!

Our very own matriarch of historic preservation and president of the Encanto Citizens Association, G.G. George has written a book that you will be able to get signed at an up-coming Get Your PHX event.

As a founder of the Association, G.G. fought in the 1970s to stop the Papago Freeway from impacting central Phoenix neighborhoods. She initiated the movement to have the Encanto-Palmcroft neighborhood listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

G.G.’s Co-Author, Leigh Conrad, is the former manager of the Arizona history collection at Scottsdale Public Library. She served five years on the Phoenix Historic Preservation Commission and assisted the Coronado Neighborhood Association with its application for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Encanto-Palmcroft neighborhood in central Phoenix was created in the twilight of the “City Beautiful Movement,” a philosophy that supported beautiful surroundings to promote moral and social order. Palmcroft was developed in 1927 by prominent Phoenix booster Dwight B. Heard and William G. Hartranft, father of the parks system. Encanto, “The Enchanting,” was founded by Lloyd C. Lakin and George T. Peter in 1928. These custom Period Revival homes were styled as bucolic refuges from the bustle of downtown when the city limits ended at McDowell Road. Even into the 21st century, this neighborhood maintains its integrity and significance due to the participation of residents who realize its historic importance.

For more information please call 602-252-3151.

Book signing schedule:

Saturday, May 17 – Barnes and Noble, Metrocenter Mall, 1-4 p.m.

Sunday, May 18–Antiques on Central, 5037 N. Central-Uptown Plaza, 1 – 3 p.m.

Great Food Good Neighbors (GFGN) filmed its pilot episode on Nov. 7, 2013 in Phoenix. The new TV show highlights local businesses and restaurants (not unlike what Get Your PHX does) and is scheduled to air on AZTV in early 2014.

The production will focus on great places to eat around Arizona and will be hosted by local television personalities Tray Goodman and Lisa Acquafredda.

Great Food Good Neighbors isn’t a traditional cooking show because it will go beyond the kitchen and highlight how each business is unique and gives back to the Arizona community. It is produced entirely using local resources and will highlight places around the state that make Arizona one-of-a-kind.

            ~ Tray Goodman, host for GNGN and producer/director of previous local creative shows like ‘Inside Creative Minds’ (The show has featured such diverse talent as Local First AZ’s Kimber Lanning, sous-chef Dominic Zumpano and tattoo artist Erik Weir.)

Each Great Food Good Neighbors episode will be five to six minutes long and will be part of AZTV’s Morning Scramble show on a weekly basis starting in February, with the goal of shooting 20 episodes in the first season.

GFGN will be different from other food shows on television. Each episode will take the viewer behind-the-scenes to see why each location is known for their great food. Viewers will be able to learn the history of each restaurant and how they give back to the community surrounding them. The pilot episode was shot at Armadillo Grill in Phoenix.

Starting on December 1, GFGN will launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for production costs, with the goal of raising $50,000. GFGN is looking for sponsorship opportunities to eventually turn the segment into a half hour show.

To donate to GFGN or to find out more information about the show, visit the website at GFGNTV.com.

Why does Phoenix still have such a shortage of properties?

As we learned from my previous posts on this series (part 1 and part 2) this inward migration from the east coast and midwest into Phoenix is one of the key reasons home prices will continue to rise for the foreseeable future. There’s a logical explanation for the shortage of properties.

Look first at the motivation for out-of-state companies to come here in the first place:

It started when California changed their tax code and started to tax the Internet retailers. So when those Internet retailers started coming into Phoenix, they began by taking up our warehouse spaces. At the same time the Arizona legislature restructured our tax codes so that we were more competitive with states like California, Texas, and New Mexico. ~ Tina Timboer, Cromford Report

Notice our standard of living here compared to other major cities. Those companies coming here don’t have to pay their employees as much money. Why pay them a six figure salary, when they can get the same middle class life out here, but for much less? You can get a 2,400 sq ft, four-bedroom, two bath home out here for very affordable prices. Compare us against New York, San Francisco, even Texas. Plus, GPEC (Greater Phoenix Economic Council) has just done a great job to attract those out of state businesses, too.

Will you join Phoenix Mayor Stanton and Shine Coffee in giving urban Phoenix more shade, a hip pocket park right off Central and Vernon?

Watch the Kickstarter Pocket Park video below and hear why Mayor Stanton, Kimber Lanning, Kirby Hoyt, Aaron Kimberlin, and myself are all supporting this pocket park and why you’ll want to join in this urban Phoenix success story.

The amazing landscape architect Kirby Hoyt is designing the park and is contributing his services for free. The fundraiser tally is below and updated in real time. It’s easy to think 10 days is like two weeks, but it’s much less: just a week and a half. Will you help them reach their goal and give Vernon Avenue a pocket park of shade, that it might inspire others in Phoenix to make pocket parks, too?

If you want to buy or sell, or you’d like to meet me at Shine Coffee for a cup a joe and a glimpse of the future pocket park made possible by your Kickstarter contribution, please give me a call at 602-456-9388 or email me at ken@getyourphx.com.