16th Street Should Not Be Ignored

That is the message of Por Vida Gallery. Our January 2011 Get Your PHX was a celebration of 16th St. and we are going back to see what’s new.

Por Vida owners Pablo Luna, Thomas “Breeze” Marcus, and Lalo Cota have a foothold and a new statement that they want to share with you.

Lalo Cota tells us that 16th is the next logical step in art in Phoenix. First Friday, he says, can’t be about just 3rd and Roosevelt anymore. He tells us that space has become too much about food and artists are struggling. So it is time to expand.

Come see if the leading edge of art in Phoenix truly is making a move east and see Douglas Miles’ transfixing =Apacheria= show in which Miles challenges cliché images of Native American life through mixed media.

This will be the most engaging Get Your PHX that we’ve hosted for some time. So, don’t miss it!

Special sponsors to be announced soon!

Please join us and RSVP at our Facebook Fan Page.

March Get Your PHX
Thursday, March 22nd from 5:30 to 7:30pm.
2800 N. 16th St
Phoenix, AZ 85006 Map Here

This weekend marks the 11th annual M7 Street Fair. The fair and  classic car show features indie crafts, live music, food, cool cars, shopping, vintage trailers and fun for kids in Downtown Phoenix.

Every street fair that we have, every open market goes to building a better downtown. You just don’t get this sense of community in pre-planned developments. I’m just sayin’.

The first fair was 11 years ago, when local vendors partnered up with the School of Architecture at ASU to revitalize phoenix and a deteriorating Melrose Curve. The merchants received grant money from the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Fight Back Program and with the support of the surrounding neighborhoods, the Melrose District began to rebound.  One year after the Seventh Avenue Merchants Association incorporated, they held a “street fair” to commemorate the building of the first lighted canopies on Seventh Avenue.

Just over a decade later, what started as a 6 vendor street fair has grown into a highly anticipated family event with over 140 booths, food, live music, over 200 classic cars, and almost 18,000+ visitors

Its happening this weekend, March 3, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 7th and W. Glenrosa Avenues

We’ll you there! I’ll be out there with Ru visiting the booths and all that fun stuff.

These piñatas are for viewing not for whacking. Let’s just get that out of the way first.

Otherwise, attention artists, non-artist, children, adults, people who love candy, and community members at large! The annual Mutant Piñata Show is back and I encourage all of you to enter your best piñata for the ultimate grand prize of having your work displayed to the local Phoenix community to view. The Bragg’s Pie Factory is hosting the ever so popular annul Mutant Piñata Show for the 5^th year now.

This exhibit is to display the creativity that lies within Phoenix; the exhibit will be comprised of whimsical and wacky piñatas created by locals. If your work is sold, you will receive 70% of the purchase price. Come down to the Bragg’s Pie Factory the first and third Friday of March and April to see this vivid spectacle for yourself, the best part is there is absolutely no entry cost so the more the merrier. Last year there were over 100 entries and the Bragg’s Pie Factory is hoping to exceed that number this year.

All entries must be in by March 1^st, 2012 so start getting in touch with your inner piñata artist and spreading the word to your friends and family.

Y’all might remember my listing at 90 West Virginia. It is the 1930s Fairhope School, newly renovated to a 4,100 square foot home. This is the flagship property in the famous Willo Historic Neighborhood.

Here is the original blog post about it.

Well, the price has just dropped to $750,000! This is an incredible price for a luxury home of this historic significance and quality. This home was awarded best historic restoration of 2009 by the Phoenix New Times.

Stay tuned for notices about open houses. We don’t open this house to the public often, so please drop by to see it!

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.

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

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

For those of you who were at last month’s Get Your PHX event, you saw the beauty of the Audubon Center first hand. This Friday the Audubon Center will be holding River Nights, a fundraiser party featuring music from Sergio Mendoza y la Orkestra, Four Peaks Beer, and delicious street tacos from Taqueria Guadalajar, to benefit their education and conservation program.

The customarily free-admission Audubon Center offers interactive exhibits, an interpretive loop trail, connections to the Rio Salado Habitat’s sixteen miles of hiking and riding trails, which draw in local students year round as well as veteran members. The center hopes to bring in a young professional crowd for future support with this Fridays chic, lounge-themed evening.  Valerie Ramos, who is coordinating the event, wants to engage and education the “next generation of leaders” through events and activities at the center.

The Arizona Audubon Center believes exposing urban young people to the beauty and complexity of the natural world is existential, in hopes that they are inclined to protect it as adults. The center believes there is ample habitat for birds and other wildlife, even amongst our urban sprawl. They work daily to promote interaction and appreciation of the natural environment and   educate and motivate local youth to become the conservation leaders of tomorrow.

River Night will be this Friday, November 4 from 5:30-9:30 pm at the Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center at 3131 S Central Ave. Admission will be $25 advanced admission or $30 at the door. For more information, visit www.riosalado.audubon.org or call 602-468-6470.

You probably know about our up-coming second annual open air holiday market, the Phoestivus market.  You know about it, especially if you are a vendor or own a food truck.

Well, this year, it wil be expanded to 2 nights: December 14th and December 21st.

Here is the information for vendors from our planning committee vendor point person, Monika Woolsey.

WHO:  Local creators of arts, crafts, and foods!

 WHAT: Second Annual Phoestivus (New this year!  Pheats of Strength, Airing of Grievances, and a Phoestivus Pole!)

 WHERE:  Downtown Phoenix Public Market

 WHEN:  December 14 and 21, 4 to 8 pm

 WHY:  Because we’re all just super cool and want to celebrate that. 🙂

HOW:  Please visit this link to apply to be a vendor.  If you are not a regular vendor, the annual fee does not apply.http://foodconnect.org/phxmarket/?page_id=7212  Please note, if you are on this email list you’re getting first dibs at available spaces.  Please, if this event is important to you, submit your application ASAP.  I’m sending a general call for vendors this coming weekend.

We’re encouraging all vendors to be phoestive with their booths as well as having wares to sell.  Decorations of all kinds are encouraged!

A special note:  The Clarendon Hotel will be offering a special Phoestivus room rate for all of December.  We hope for those vendors coming in from a distance, this might be a nice evening for you to stay in town and kick back, instead of hurrying home.  More details later!

You will eventually be connecting with myself and Troy Benjamin as the vendor coordinators but until we receive word from the Downtown Market that you’re on the official list, we are officially out of the loop.  So be sure to get  your application in!

Monika Woolsey

Phoestivus Committee