In salon terms Scottsdale City Councilman Guy Phillips has spent most of his tenure serving as a make-up artist.  What do we mean?  That Scottsdale’s looks are being degraded by too many apartments, too much height and too much stuff, he has argued.   He is typically joined in such observations by Councilwoman Kathy Littlefield and more recently by Councilman David … Read More

668 North, LLC recently purchased the mostly vacant former Chinese Cultural Center on 44th Street south of the 202 Freeway in order to establish a new headquarters and campus for approximately 350 of its 12,500 employees and team members. The new corporate headquarters is the latest investment near Phoenix’s light rail line, expected to have a notable economic impact for the … Read More

Remember the nut jobs, even the streakers, who jump the fence at baseball games to run around the outfield to gain attention?  Years ago most responsible television networks stopped showing the romps so as not to reward the recklessness. Apparently, the Scottsdale Independent didn’t get the memo.  While we applaud the publication for becoming the unquestionable leader in Northeast Valley … Read More

Now that President Trump has relieved Sheriff Joe Arpaio from legal concerns we thought it timely to relay anew a related post we made back on March 9, 2016. If not prescient it may be insightful. Maybe It’s Trump With The Integrity, Not Romney March 9, 2016 Discuss this article » by arizonaprogressgazette Featured Editorials As Mitt Romney laid early plans … Read More

But for the affability, tenacity, and standing of Sam Campana, a former Mayor of Scottsdale and early supporter of the city’s spectacular McDowell Sonoran Preserve, the Desert Discovery Center, Desert Edge, or whatever one wants to call it would still be known as the DDC but instead stand for Dead, Dead Center. Despite the Preserve itself being established by public … Read More

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