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’ve probably noticed by now that I am a huge fan of reuse and re-purposing in Phoenix. With all the available space downtown, why not?

The Cathedral Town homes are a great example of adaptive reuse. This building, which used to be owned by the church across the street as rental property, has transformed in to elegant and (actually spacious) urban condos.

The developer, Metro West Development,  took an historic 1913 building and converted it into four modern townhouse-style condo’s ranging in size from 1,674 to 1,886 square feet. Located about 200 feet away from the Arts District light rail stop, the condos are just a short walk from dozens of local restaurants, markets, large entertainment venues, as well as Hance and the Downtown Civic Space Parks.  And though the neighborhood surrounding is great, it’s what’s inside that really gets me excited.

Metro West Development has a history of great work in downtown renovations. The Cathedral Townhomes have been stripped to the bone and rebuilt.  While these homes have been updated, the developer has gone the extra mile to maintaining a historical feel. Homes come with new Kohler fixtures, quartz kitchen countertops, double hung windows (many original that have been restored), and historically accurate high baseboards.

Through the years, I’ve seen many renovations and I’m genuinely impressed by this one. Three of the units are still available. The condos are currently priced in the $200s with a 140/mo HOA fee.

I don’t represent these homes, but I’m happy to show you. Please contact me at 602-456-9388

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October is a great month to live in Phoenix. Not only is the weather beautiful, excluding this week of course, but there are great things going on all month long in every corner of town.

October 15^th

• Oktoberfest is upon us. Pull on your Lederhosen or Dirndls and head down to Margaret T. Hance Park. Of course there’s more than just beer and sing-a-longs. There will be mouthwatering sausages, authentic strudel, and German products to boot. You can find out more about tickets and times on their website.
• The Makers Faire is a One day DIY festival celebrating all things art, food, science, music and more. The festival will be held downtown between 3^rd and 5^th on Roosevelt Row from 11am to 7pm. http://www.makerfairephoenix.com/
• Tour de Fat is an annual bike ride held at various time of year across the country.  Tomorrow at 10 am is the official Tour de Fat parade where bike and Fat tire beer enthusiasts will mount wild bikes and ride Tempe beach park followed by a beer pour from 11-4 all in the name of fun and local cycling nonprofits.  

Other things happening this weekend. How about the Arizona State Fair, the Arizona taco festival, or the  The TASTE Chandler Culinary Festival. It might seem like a very foodie weekend, but what wrong with that?

Oct 20^th is our next Get Your PHX Event from 5:30pm – 8:30pm at the Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center. Come by and have a beer while you learn about their efforts in habitat restoration and education.

Oct 22^nd

• For those of you who want to feel a little more artists and a little less bloated,there is the  The Humanities Festival. The Humanities festival is a day of cultural, educational, and artistic activities from internationally known groups, authors and artists. The festival runs from 10am to 6pm at the new Civic Space Park Downtown next Saturday.
• The Grand Avenue  Festival is a celebration of Phoenix’s drive to revitalize and renew its downtown.  Come Celebrate Downtown’s vibrant culture, art, history and adaptive re-use of the Lower Grand Avenue arts and small business district and adjoining neighborhoods The 3rd Grand Avenue Festival will be October 22nd from 3 – 11 pm.
• The Food Truck Festival is rolling into town thanks in part to the Roosevelt Row CDC and Phoenix Street food Coalition. A ticket gets you inside to sample from each of the food trucks at your leisure. More than two dozen food trucks and carts are expected to be on hand for the event, providing hungry patrons an opportunity to taste the latest food trend popping up all over the nation.

What else is coming up that weekend, Chandler’s Day of Play, The Arab American Festival, The TBAG Zombie Bike Ride, and more!

And that’s just the next two weeks! With all the events going on this month, there’s something for everyone. Get out there and be a part of Phoenix’s growing community.

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.