WestWorld is a funky show on HBO.  It challenges our thinking about the future.  And it’s time to challenge the thinking about another WestWorld, a weird property in Scottsdale.  We opine odd because the site serves as a flood detention basin and is owned by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, but operated by the City of Scottsdale.  Not a lot … Read More

We have already weighed in on the repackaged Desert Discovery Center now known as Desert Edge.  It calls to mind a name more reminiscent of a bad country band than a worthwhile expenditure of taxpayer dollars. Our purpose now is not to regurgitate our most recent opinion (here is a link.)  It’s to raise a worthwhile question:  opportunity cost. Proponents suggest … Read More

Few municipal projects have conjured as much controversy and consternation in recent years than the Desert Discovery Center (DDC), proposed as a Valyrian Steel-like Visitor Center at the Gateway of the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Opponents have ransacked the purported rationale, even though form often gets in the way of their substance. Supporters, largely the inheritors of the idea’s inertia, often … Read More

The former President was many things, including a splicing wordsmith.  During Ken Starr’s inquisition who can forget Clinton’s unforgettable, “It depends what the meaning of is, is.” And that brings us to today, in Scottsdale.  And former long-time Scottsdale Planning Department staffer, now developer lobbyist, Don Hadder. Hadder presided over city staff’s review and ultimate recommendation for the Troon North … Read More

When a beautiful young woman does this to her hair it’s a shame.  And disturbing. The same goes for misfitting projects like this at Troon North in Scottsdale. We have previously opined how wrong it would be for a speculative timeshare developer to be allowed to triple density adjoining the clubhouse of one of the finest public golf courses in the … Read More

People like John McCain are supposed to ride off into the sunset.  They deserve it. That’s why news of the Senator’s diagnosis came as such a gut punch.  Love him or not any clear thinking person respects McCain. The announcement called to mind a similar circumstance of another legend, former Scottsdale Mayor Herb Drinkwater.   With no equal for constituent … Read More

Legal beagles say lots of things to tout projects in front of city councils.  But there may be no greater Houdini of Hot Air than Snell/Smell & Wilmer’s Nick Wood.  Currently, he’s espousing the merits of Attesa outside Casa Grande in Pinal County.  It’s a proposed combination of racetrack, automobile country club and other things motorsports. To listen to Wood … Read More

The city is a land of great things.  Hikes. Preserves.  Arts.  Imaginative waterways. People.  Nightclubs.  Restaurants.  Spring training.  Special events.  And golf. Golf is a driver of tourism, the city’s most important industry.  The sport’s economic impact is staggering.  But most tourists can’t play the plethora of private links at Desert Mountain, Desert Highlands, Whisper Rock and Estancia, among others.  … Read More

There are two epic boxing matches upcoming.  The undefeated Floyd Mayweather versus MMA fighter Conor McGregor followed by Canelo Alvarez versus GGG in September.  Both are likely tame in comparison to the best fight in Arizona today between; that between civil rights activist Jarrett Maupin and the Arizona Republic.  This is a blog outpost of opinion.  But sometimes no opinion … Read More

Watching Hillary Clinton before or Republicans in Congress now it’s no wonder much of America felt the need to send Donald Trump to the swamp.  2016 was a requiem for the revolting.  Fortunately, jolts to the political system are not always necessary.  In some places thoughtful is better than turbulent and mild-mannered to maniacal. One example is in Paradise Valley, … Read More