By Recker McDowell — Sometimes it feels like Scottsdale ends at McDowell Road. The roadway is southern Scottsdale’s gateway into Papago Park, Phoenix, the south end of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community and Loop 101 freeway. But of course, Scottsdale boundary stretches farther south to Tempe. And therein is the opportunity. The corridor between McDowell Road, where the … Read More

The For The Best Scottsdale Political Action Committee, the campaign in support of Questions 1, 2, and 3, on the November 5th ballot in Scottsdale, is one of the first campaigns in the state to commit to recycling its campaign signs and use signs made with recycled plastic. Initially, the campaign assumed that its corrugated plastic campaign signs would be … Read More

By Recker McDowell — The Tampa Bay Rays are considering splitting games between St. Petersburg, where the team has struggled with attendance and to get a new ballpark, and Montreal which is looking to bring back Major League Baseball after the Expos left for Washington D.C. There is plenty of skepticism to making the Tampa Bay / Montreal ‘X-Rays’ work. … Read More

On behalf of the Coalition of Greater Scottsdale, a collection of mostly slower-growth community leaders, Betty Janik conveyed caution about more height and development in the city, in a thoughtful, recent guest column.  Click here to read. Agree or disagree with her, Janik’s respected voice is one that enriches discussions in the public square. But we take exception to Janik’s … Read More

By Recker McDowell — Mesa has long looked for the secret sauce for its downtown. It is easy for Mesa to look to other downtowns as the template for its long-desired success for Main Street. It is easy to look to Old Town Scottsdale, Tempe’s Mill Avenue and Gilbert Heritage District and try to aim for a restaurant, arts and … Read More

By Recker McDowell — The office market keeps getting tighter and tighter, especially in Scottsdale, Chandler and Tempe where employers and their workers want to locate. Simply put, those three are markets as well as downtown Phoenix need more new office space to keep up with demand and to keep bringing quality jobs to the region. The regional office vacancy … Read More

By Jessica Troy — Those electric scooters that well populate many an American and Arizona city raise concerns. The safety of riders zigging, and zagging and scooters scattered about are challenges. The critics see the injuries, the reckless riders and the perception that left-behind scooters are like the multiplying Tribbles from ‘Star Trek’. But for destinations for tourists, millennials and … Read More

By Recker McDowell — The 2022 Arizona elections are a million political miles and Trump, AOC and Nike tweets away. But some palace intrigue and projections have already started about who might run for Arizona governor and other offices after Doug Ducey finishes his second term. One name coming up with a political future — including potentially running for governor … Read More

By Recker McDowell — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is trending as much on Twitter, Facebook and Fox News today as U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and more than anti-Trump. U.S. soccer star Megan Rapinoe. Ducey took Twitter early Tuesday morning, very early, to criticize Nike over it pulling ‘Betsy Ross’ themed sneakers after it heard objections about the colonial flag from … Read More