Cleator. Oatman. Jerome.
They are among the more famous Arizona ghost towns. And they are what Old Town Scottsdale and many other downtowns are starting to resemble as the government shuts down so many wonderful, legally operating businesses. Government can’t seize private property without compensation but apparently can do so to your life’s work and dreams, save for a survival of the fittest small business loan program.
Passing through Old Town Scottsdale these days is sad. So sad. The heartbeat of the city can no longer be heard. It likely will again, some day. Just like a patient after major surgery stays in the hospital for a bit, then goes home to rest. Rehabilitation follows. Maybe a full recovery occurs. Maybe the rhythm of a vibrant life returns.
Hopefully.
That’s why it was such a joy to see Diego Pops, one of Old Town Scottsdale’s fun and enterprising restaurants, doing something a little different on Sunday. There, outside of its restaurant on Scottsdale Road just south of Camelback, it didn’t just have a take-out set up like all other restaurants. We have all seen them. They are well intended, and the staff is always extra nice, appreciative that any business is coming their way. But they are awkward survival kits. 
Not Diego Pops. Speakers with upbeat music. A makeshift bar ready to serve cocktails and drinks to go. People pulling up on bikes to get their food and socialize (safely), if only for a minute, like the days not too long ago.
The entrepreneurship of places like Diego Pops is what gave so many neighborhoods in Old Town Scottsdale that feeling of being a place that’s especially alive. That’s uniquely somewhere. In these times we don’t know if they have a set-up like that every day, or just on the weekends, but it’s a spirit and approach that deserves to be experienced and supported.
The resilience of a million places like Diego Pops will determine what the other side looks like. Sunday is the weekly day of hope for many. Props to one, not ready to say die Scottsdale eatery, for living it yesterday.