Best Of :: Megalopolitan Life
BEST OF PHOENIX® /// MEGALOPOLITAN LIFE /// 2015BEST USE OF CANALS FOR SOMETHING OTHER THAN TRANSPORTING WATERScottsdale Public Art
Once locals thought of canals simply as a means to transport water to and fro, but Scottsdale Public Art has built a solid case in recent years for the role of canals in engaging diverse members of the community in a host of issues and experiences. Most recently, it has presented Canal Convergence 2015, a four-day event held along the banks of the Arizona Canal at the Scottsdale Waterfront. The free event drew people of all ages who enjoyed installations of public art, dance performance, live bands, readings by local storytellers, art vendors, and assorted food and drink. Folks from Scottsdale and beyond hit the canal area, where local artists “Mimi” Shirley Jardine engaged them in collecting small bits of litter for reuse in artwork, and Erin V. Sotak donned her tricycle to engage them in thinking about responsible water use. Saskia Jorda’s bird-themed installation raised awareness of the ways human use of resources impacts wildlife. Two art installations were placed atop the water. By using the canal and its surrounds, Scottsdale Public Art is facilitating important dialogue while giving people fun interactive experiences — showing the creativity it takes to keep digital devotees engaged in up close and personal arts and culture.
www.scottsdalepublicart.org
Northeast corner of Scottsdale Rd and Roosevelt St., Scottsdale, 85257 MAP
BEST OF PHOENIX® /// MEGALOPOLITAN LIFE /// 2015BEST ESCAPEThe Llamas
We’d like to think that someday Arizona will declare February 26 “Llamas on the Loose Day.” Because who, after all, can forget the afternoon earlier this year when two of these giant furry creatures escaped from their Sun City home and tore through the streets of the West Valley, overturning cars and starting trash-can fires and riots? Okay, so maybe the llamas didn’t terrorize the quiet streets of Sun City, but given the viral attention they received, you’d be forgiven for thinking they had. Within minutes of their escape, the two became a global Internet sensation. People across the country stopped whatever they were doing and watched the live-stream feed with bated breath. They inspired hashtags, GIFs, even a Buzzfeed quiz. Sheriff Joe’s men put up a good fight, but they were no match for the llamas, who managed to run across busy streets uninjured for an hour. When the smaller of the two was finally lassoed, the larger one darted away. She evaded capture for another 15 minutes before finally succumbing, sadly ending what arguably was the most exciting event of the year. Follow them on Twitter: @SunCityLlamas.
BEST OF PHOENIX® /// MEGALOPOLITAN LIFE /// 2015BEST CAPETania Katan
When Tania Katan left her museum gig to go to work for a tech firm in North Scottsdale, there was a lot of head-scratching among members of the arts community. What was the writer/playwright/funny girl/creative dynamo going to do at a tech firm? Turns out, a whole lot. Within her first year, Katan had launched a simple but incredibly effective campaign called “It Was Never a Dress,” turning the ubiquitous ladies room icon on her ear, explaining that her dress is really a cape and encouraging girls to consider a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Demand for stickers and T-shirts was immediate, and social media gobbled up the whole thing, millions of times over. We can’t wait to see what Katan has up her sleeve, er, cape next.www.itwasneveradress.com
BEST OF PHOENIX® /// MEGALOPOLITAN LIFE /// 2015BEST SPACE EXPLORERTHEMIS
THEMIS, or, as its creators at Arizona State University call it, the Thermal Emission Imaging System, made its 60,000th trip around Mars this year. The infrared camera, which has been hitchhiking aboard NASA’s Mars Odyssey since 2001, has taken nearly 400,000 images of the Red Planet. In the process, it has saved a landing rover from dashing to pieces in a field of giant boulders by finding it a safe place to set down, and it has helped scientists discover old lakes and gullies carved by melting snow, among other things. You can see what THEMIS sees in real time on ASU’s website. Watching the cratered landscape roll by is surreal.201 East Orange Mall, Tempe
480-965-1790
www.themis.asu.edu
BEST OF PHOENIX® /// MEGALOPOLITAN LIFE /// 2015BEST MONTHMay 2015
May 2015 will go down at the wettest month on record in the United States, and the second-wettest for Arizona, with well over an inch of rainfall recorded. Here in Phoenix, we just called it heaven — a month filled with wind, rain, and unseasonably cool temperatures. By the end of May, temperatures in the Valley were well over 100 degrees, but given that summer typically starts in March around here, we were okay with that.
BEST OF PHOENIX® /// MEGALOPOLITAN LIFE /// 2015BEST NAMEWaste Management Phoenix Open
It’s the line reporters had itched to write from the time the Phoenix Open was renamed. “There was a waste management problem at the Waste Management Phoenix Open,” belted out a lede in the Arizona Republic. Ick. Apparently, a porta-potty leaked raw sewage in puddles near the “Fry’s Fan Zone” at Arizona’s signature annual golf event, one of the largest in the country. It smelled, people walked through it, and it took hours to clean up. Not exactly a hole-in-one from a public relations standpoint or a fun time for event-goers. But a great lede.17020 N. Hayden Rd., Scottsdale, 85255 MAP480-585-4334wastemanagementphoenixopen.com/category/birds-nest/
BEST OF PHOENIX® /// MEGALOPOLITAN LIFE /// 2015BEST BATHROOMLiberty Market
Courtesy of Liberty Market
The experience of using the bathrooms at Liberty Market starts before you even set foot in the communal washroom. First, you have to walk by the giant window into the market’s kitchen. If you don’t get distracted by watching the cooks and chefs preparing customers’ food, you’ll wend your way down a hall and into the restrooms. Now, you have a choice to make. There are five private stalls, and each has been custom-designed by one of the founding partners of Liberty Market. Everything from the floor tile to the music playing inside was specifically designed for that one stall. Exit your chosen stall, and spruce yourself up a bit in the wall-size mirror that will greet you. We’re not saying you should make your way out to Gilbert just to see this bathroom; we’re just saying you wouldn’t be disappointed if you did.230 N. Gilbert Rd., Gilbert, 85234 MAP480-892-1900libertymarket.com
BEST OF PHOENIX® /// MEGALOPOLITAN LIFE /// 2015BEST HOUSEThe David and Gladys Wright House
The David and Gladys Wright House is the recently rescued and controversial “round house” designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright toward the end of his life, in 1952, for his son David and daughter-in-law Gladys. The couple lived in the home until their deaths — David at 102 in 1997; Gladys in 2008 at age 104. It was one of Wright’s last designs, completed when he was 84. Surrounded by McMansions, the 2,500-square-foot concrete house features a spiral design and a curved entry ramp, as well as other traditional Wrightian design elements such as built-in seating, Cherokee red floors, and low ceilings.
Recently saved from demolition by a group that plans to restore the home, adding a subterranean education center, a cafe, a bookstore, and a Wright archive on the land, the facility will host public events and school field trips, as well as house Wright researchers and scholars-in-residence — sort of a mini-Taliesin. In the meantime, Sarah Levi, Frank Lloyd Wright’s great-great granddaughter, lives in the house as its first scholar in residence and gives tours of the home, pointing out its architectural anomalies, its structural strengths, and the swimming pool where actress Anne Baxter taught her to swim.5212 E. Exeter Blvd., Phoenix, 85018 MAP602-689-6140DavidWrightHouse.org
BEST OF PHOENIX® /// MEGALOPOLITAN LIFE /// 2015BEST HOME TOURModern Phoenix Home Tour
They say home is where the heart is. Well, if that’s the case, Phoenix’s heart is full of midcentury love. Midcentury architecture is everywhere around this town, and Phoenix gets to boast it was the home of Ralph Haver, one of the coolest Midcentury Modern residential architects ever. You know, not like we’re biased or anything. There’s so much Midcentury Modern everything around the Valley, it’d be nearly impossible to see it all. But our favorite way to get a good sample is the Modern Phoenix Home Tour. As part of Modern Phoenix Week, the tour allows participants full access into several neighborhoods and dozens of modern homes. During the sold-out 11th installation of the event, modern enthusiasts explored neighborhoods in South Scottsdale, including Town and Country, HyView, and Sherwood Heights. And with the self-led model, you can ogle all the slanted roofs and cinder block buildings at your own pace.480-874-4654
www.modernphoenix.net
BEST OF PHOENIX® /// MEGALOPOLITAN LIFE /// 2015BEST NEIGHBORHOODWindsor Square
Driving through Windsor Square feels a bit like traveling through a time machine on the fritz. The uptown Phoenix neighborhood is one of the city’s oldest suburbs, and it’s home to an array of architectural styles. Along its curving streets you’ll find homes ranging from 1920s Craftsman-style bungalows to 1950s ranches. That’s because construction of the homes stopped and started surrounding the Great Depression and World War II. It makes for a lovely history lesson, and in addition to being picturesque, the ‘hood is close to a cluster of Upward Projects restaurants, as well as the Medlock Plaza shopping strip, home to indie shopping standbys Frances and Stinkweeds.Central Avenue to Seventh Street and Camelback Road to Oregon Avenue
www.windsorsquarephoenix.org
BEST OF PHOENIX® /// MEGALOPOLITAN LIFE /// 2015BEST UP-AND-COMING NEIGHBORHOODWashington Park
West Phoenix is on the way up. As the light rail makes its way, slowly but surely, up 19th Avenue and to the West Valley, the little neighborhoods along the route are looking more and more adorable. Washington Park, in particular, is home to a slew of mid-century slump block ranches (some with weeping mortar still intact) that with a little care and elbow grease could be the making of the next “it” neighborhood. Home to a stellar dog park, lively activity center, and a totally renovated Phoenix Tennis Center, it seems primed to be just that.Bethany Home Road to Glendale Avenue and 19th Avenue to 25th Avenue
BEST OF PHOENIX® /// MEGALOPOLITAN LIFE /// 2015BEST NEIGHBORHOOD FOR FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYERSCoronado Historic District
Homebuyers with a hankering for downtown living are looking to lay down roots in the Coronado neighborhood. With roughly 5,000 homes within boundaries loosely extending from Seventh to 16th streets and Thomas to McDowell roads, this midtown subdivision is easily one of the largest historic neighborhoods in Phoenix. With so much space and so many styles to choose from — pueblo, ranch, bungalow, the list goes on — residents have a better chance of buying within their budget. While home designs may differ, most dwellings in this downtown suburb are small in stature, offering an average of two to three bedrooms. Petite as that may seem to some, it’s perfect for the family that’s just getting started. While Coronado has definitely become more kid-friendly over the years thanks to home tours, art fairs, and gentrification, it stills remains a prime spot for serious artists, making Coronado creative cohabitation at its finest.www.greatercoronado.com
Article by Phoenix New Times