You know that Phoenix continues to “grow up” when it develops a healthy sketch comedy community. Enter stage left: First Friday Night Live.

Amongst the hustle of the First Friday art walk lies the Firehouse, a gallery which plays host to provocative exhibits, musicians, and local fire dancers all month long. After the First Friday vendors pack up and the art walk teens return home before curfew, the firehouse continues to burn the midnight oil. This Friday, the cast and crew of First Friday Night Live will kick off their second season of sidesplitting sketch and stand up on the stage behind The Firehouse.

The cast of seventeen local actors and comedians along with a group of dedicated writers collaborate all month long creating, writing, and practicing original scenes. In addition to the six nightly sketches, the hour and a half performance will include stand up from the cast, musical guests, as well as the firehouse’s signature fire dancers.  In total, the cast and crew are more than 60 dedicated members strong.

Michael23, a local artist and show founder is looking forward to the second season and the knowledge that comes with it. The first season ran September to March, with two “uncomfortably cold nights,” in January and February that changed the course of this season. To avoid the cold Arizona nights, FFNL has decide to split the season, staging shows October to December and then March to June with two FFNL events in between.

The show is put up every month on a “shoestring budget,” says Michael, “We hope to break even at the end of this season.” Tickets are available pre-sale for five dollars online or the Firehouse Gallery and Lawn Gnome Publishing Bookstore on first Friday. Tickets at the door are seven. You can even buy season tickets for forty dollars on their website which comes with a free t-shirt to boot. The show also streams live online, for those who need there FFNL fix in bed.

If you’re interested in finding out more about FFNL or joining the production you can find information on their site.

First Friday Night Live’s first show of the season premieres at 11pm this Friday at the Firehouse.

The downtown scene is an eclectic mix of cultures and communities that we’ve grown to know and love. For one important downtown organization, which helps homeless LGBTQ youth get back on their feet, there has been a quiet change in leadership.

1in10 has officially brought Linda Elliot in as the new executive director in July. Linda, a successful business woman, is well known for her work in the Human Rights Campaign. She is an influential person in AZ politics. She, and her partner, Carolyn Lane, a Maricopa Country Constable, are an inspiring couple.

In truth, 1in10 has been around since the early nineties. You may have known them as VOIT and Horizons, both of which specialized in LGBTQ youth. In 2002, these two fantastic organizations joined forces to create 1n10, which supports LGBTQ youth in Arizona as well as nationally through “positive self-acceptance through life enhancing programs.”

One of those programs is the OUTdoors camp which is one of the largest LGBTQ summer programs in the world.

(Does anybody else see the irony of one of the largest summer LGBTQ camps in the world being located in AZ? We should be proud.)

OUTdoors, which 1in10 describes as a youth leadership camp, is like many other summer camps, full of zip lining, horseback riding, and crafts, but works on developing leadership skills, collaboration and communication with campers to help better their community.

Two months into her new position, Linda has been a busy lady pursuing grants and new programs. In addition to the OUTdoors, 1n10 provides weekly group events in the Valley, and hopes to expand with a new leadership and training programs and guest speakers to inspire youth and create a “fun, safe, social space”.  She “hit the ground running,” according to Stacey Jay Cavaliere, Program Coordinator for this weekend’s Sources of Strength Celebration.

The event will be held this First Friday at the Downtown Civic Space Park. 1n10 is raising money to launch a new suicide prevention campaign by showcasing their musical talents, which includes the 1n10 hip hop squad, and youth art, displayed at the Fair Trade Cafe. Their hope is to get people and businesses all over the Valley to attend and show their support.

1n10 continues to reach out to the community for partners to help us in their efforts. If you’re interested in learning more information please visit www.1n10.org

Have a Charity you love. Visit My Charity Refferal Page to find out how you can help your favorite local charity.

Irrigation in place as we moved dirt last Saturday.

Over the course of a weekend a once vacant lot on the corner of 6^th and Garfield became fertile ground for beauty and science. As we mentioned in our post last week, this past weekend volunteers, organizers, and even a couple politicians gathered for the planting of Valley of the Sunflowers.

Not too long ago, Sean Sweat, an Intel employee, met with some friends and discussed the potential for this lot. Luckily, he was talking to the right people. Kenny Barrett and Cindy Dach, of the Roosevelt Row CDC, and Braden Kay of the ASU Global Institute for Sustainability are good friends to have when you’ve got big ideas.

RRCDC is a non-profit downtown which promotes the interests of the downtown community by supporting public events and fostering urban renewal. Kay introduced the project to Bioscience High School, which also overlooks the lot. Bioscience High is currently building a biodiesel car, and was conveniently looking for a source of oil.

With help from the Roosevelt CDC and two start-up grants from Intel, They were able to propose his plans for a temporary sunflower field to the City. The hope of this and many other revitalization efforts is not only too beautiful but bring business downtown.

Of course the City was hesitant at first, but because VOS already had the plans and the money, it didn’t take long for the city to get on board. Because the project was temporary and funded, the city leased the lot to Valley of the

Sunflowers for free, putting it on the fast track to realization.

It was the “temporary” use of the lot made this project possible. The lot is currently allocated to the Arizona Cancer Center, which plans to start construction in the next two years. Until construction begins the two acre lot will be put to good use by VOS. They are planning two grow cycles, keeping stick notes and directions, so this project can be recreated again.

So how can you help? Well they’re still looking for an oil press and a tractor, if you’ve got one lying around. If not you can donate time through the RRCDC website or head to their kick starter page and donate to the cause.

The City of Phoenix is now offering a $15,000 loan towards closing costs and down payment to purchase a newly renovated “Move-in Ready” homes through their Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

The Neighborhood Stabilization Program is an effort in response to the number of vacant foreclosures in Phoenix neighborhoods. Housing programs are popping up all over the Southwest in hopes of turning foreclosures into affordable, refurbished homes and enhancing neighborhood curb appeal.

NSP is offering an extensive catalog of renovated properties in established neighborhoods as well as providing guidance through the entire process.

To qualify, home buyers must meet these requirements:

1. Applicants must meet the income guidelines for household Family size. For Example, A family of 4 must have an income at or below $78,600 annually to receive the loan.
2. Candidate should be able to qualify for a 15 or 30 year fixed mortgage
3. Though you don’t have to be a first time home owner, you can’t currently be on title on any residential property.
4. Applicants must be able to contribute one half of the home’s required cash down payment for a min. $1,000. For example, a $100,000 home would require a $1750 down payment.
5. All loan hopefuls have to take a two hour one-on-one credit counseling and an 8 hour home buyer education class

A word of caution: I have helped buyers through this program. Half of the time it went smoothly and relatively quickly. The other half of the time it took longer and everybody was pulling their hair out. Now, to be fair, that was mostly because the listing agent’s contractors were not doing the basic things that the city inspectors asked of them.

Further, that was in 2010. Now NSP has homes that are already renovated. So, this is a whole new world from when the program just got started.

Regardless, families state-wide are in a great position to be homeowners in great phoenix neighborhoods. My friend Jeannie Bolger, of Nova Home Loans let me know all about this program and, as a mentioned a few weeks ago, she is experienced in these loans and could be a huge help in the process.

You can visit www.phoenix.gov/nsphome to view the Move In Ready list of available homes or give me a call today at 602-456-9388.

If you are putting off  purchasing a home because you are afraid that there might be changes at your job (layoffs, relocation, etc.), there might be an answer in Nova Home Loan’s Safe House Mortgage Protection Plan.

I work with a lot of different brokers. Others may have this, as well. But this is good to know.

Here are the features:

• If you lose your job, they will cover as much as 24 months of your mortgage (up to $1,800 per month). 12 months if you purchase the plan if when you are just refinancing a loan.
• You start the plan when you close on the house or complete the refinance.
• Cost = $770 on a purchase and $595 on a refinance. (You can pay this at close of escrow and maybe work it in to the closing costs that the seller pays!)

Eligibility:

• Ages 18-66
• Must reside in the US.
• Cannot be self-employed.
• Must be employed a minimum of 30hrs per week at time of close.

There are more details here. So, have a look. It might be something that could give you the piece of mind to move ahead and get a house in phoenix now, while you can still get the $8,000 tax credit!

Here is a news article about it.

Or, call Jeannie Bolger at Nova Home Loans at jeannieb@novahomeloans.com.

Sunnyslope is a little north of CenPho, but they are doing a great job of community building.

My friend Chritina Plante with John C. Lincoln Hospital, who helps out with the Sunnyslope Art Walk wants you to know that there is a call for art for their October 10th Art Walk.

The application deadline has been extended to September 11th.

Have a look at the Sunnyslope website for submission details.

The Case-Shiller Index is going to come out tomorrow and tell us that home prices are on the rise.

See and article here.

Of course, I’ve been telling you about this since March of this year. We saw it coming because we see the numbers, direct from the multi-listing service (MLS). Here is an oft-repeated graph from the Cromford Report:

Here are some things to remember:

1) Reports like this are always 3-5 months behind because the people who report them want several months behind them before they feel comfortable making any statements, even if the triggering event happened 4 months ago!

2) Prices are not going to rocket up like they did from 2005-2007. The economy is just not that strong. So, today’s market is much like it was in 2001-2003.  It is still a great time to buy.

3) Stratify the market. Homes on the market sell faster the cheaper they are. A $100,000 home that is a foreclosure is going to sell in a matter of days or weeks. A $300,000 traditional sale may stay on for a few months. However, the over-all market is very close to equilibrium, which means homes sell in about 5 months. Homes over $1 million have an “absorption rate” of 848 days!

4) The Case-Shiller Index looks at the market nation-wide. Every market is different. Stay tuned for the best local information.

I want to give a little shout-out to Tazmine and Paul over at Blooming Rock Developments. Have a look at this post about a renovation project that they did earlier this year. It demonstrates that even the most drab and uninspiring structures can be sharp, fresh and unique. Their project, 3 Palms, is over on Cheery Lynn, east of 16th St. They are in a great place to serve as a catalyst to residential property redevelopment.

I’m waiting for more photos of the work they did inside and some information on the costs and lessons from the project. I’ve seen inside, but you should, too. They did a great job of balancing modern and warm.