It's The People

The AZ Republic has a front page article today about the trend of tearing down houses and replacing them with very much larger houses that is happening in Arcadia:

Big, modern homes are changing the character of Phoenix's Arcadia neighborhood, sparking concern among residents that the area's 1950s charm is evaporating one house at a time.

The east Phoenix spot has long been known for its quiet streets, lush landscaping, citrus trees and vintage ranch homes. It's also one of several city spots to become a destination for reverse migration, where families disenchanted with the ritzy, far-off locales move closer in, often bringing their taste for grand homes with them.

But without room to build, developers are buying up older homes and tearing them down. Since 2005, more than 50 demolition permits have been issued in Arcadia.

Some residents say the neighborhood is nearing a tipping point.

"As the years go by, the pace of change has accelerated dramatically where it's noticeable month by month," said Roger Brevoort, who has lived in Arcadia for 16 years and serves on the neighborhood association's zoning committee. "At some point, Arcadia is not as attractive because it has changed from a consistent neighborhood to an inconsistent neighborhood."

Part of what gave Arcadia its charm are the '50s-era houses. They sit on a half-acre, an acre or more and their low-slung profiles help show off knockout views of Camelback Mountain.

You can read the rest of the article at your leisure, with some quotes and viewpoints from residents. I am writing from a purely intuitive viewpoint, but I have some personal observations about Arcadia that have a slightly different feel from the premise of this article.

My dear friend of 30 years, an Arcadia resident, passed away in February after a year of battling cancer. The situation was serious from the very beginning, and my decision was to cram 20 years worth of lunchdates and campouts into the time remaining; so I spent a lot of time over the past year in Arcadia. I met many of the residents, befriended a few, and continue to have some contact with the folks who live there.

I had always thought the main draw of Arcadia was Camelback Mountain - both the views and the proximity to the financial corridor - and that might be the initial pull. Or, as you drive through the neighborhoods, with the citrus trees (let's not talk about roof rats at the moment) and the well-kept landscape, it's obviously a lovely place to live.

Whatever enticed people to move there in the first place, the reason they stay has little to do with the externals and much to do with the relationships formed. There are people who have lived on the same street for 20 or 30 years, and can tell you a brief (or not-so-brief) history of every family on the block. They have spontaneous barbecues, they cheer for each others' kids in sporting events, they band together and provide food and help in crisis; they even bicker about noisy dogs or dead trees, or yes, the new houses replacing the demolished ones with the rooflines piercing the sky and blocking the views. What, you may ask, does this paeon regarding Arcadia have to do with Morrison Ranch?

The Mister has, on occasion, pointed to Arcadia as a neighborhood worthy of emulation. It has not deteriorated over the years, like most neighborhoods do; in fact, it has become more valuable. It has a sense of community much like the Gilbert of The Mister's youth. The landscaping, for the most part, is lush and cool and shady, providing respite from the Arizona sun. In many areas, folks still use flood irrigation for their yards, another good way to interact with your neighbor ("I'm so sorry I overslept and didn't take the water on time and now I've flooded you...). We hope that Morrison Ranch is similar to Arcadia in 50 years; full of community and mature trees and even financial value for the residents.

The Mister does his best to set the tone; drawing folks in with the open space, the cool landscape and the white fences, our neighbors tend to stay because of the sense of community. The Mister has a unique way of greeting folks; often as he drives, walks, or now pedals by someone, he will say, "Hi Hi..." One "hello" just isn't enough. Our son mocks him, in a good-natured way, but The Mister's friendly demeanor is made so obvious by this greeting that you can't help but smile.

We have a good start at importing really great people to live in Morrison Ranch; our neighbors were very gracious after the death of The Mister's father, with gifts and cards and just plain sympathy. I haven't tried a spontaneous barbecue yet, but I can give you a brief history of the folks who live on our street. We've cheered for the local teams, and we've even had some conversations about noisy dogs and trees with leaves that drop (our trees, I might add). So check back with me in 50 years to see if Morrison Ranch has maintained its character; okay, maybe not me, but you can check back with my kids...

Lakeview Trails North Coloring

Ashton Woods is already selling homes in our newest community, Lakeview Trails North. They don't have models or even a trailer up on the property yet, but they have been selling from their models at Highland Groves. And they have come up with a brilliant idea, in my opinion. They have painted the color options on the side of their current model, so buyers can actually see the color schemes to help them make their selection. Here are the options for the farmhouse, ranch style and craftsman models:




And on the opposite wall, they portray the prairie style options:



It would take a salesman or The Mister to explain which styles go with which trim, etc., but you can get the general idea. I like the color of my house, but it was because of the The Mister's artistic sense; I found the pictures of the colors to be inscrutable. I like this idea.

Fountains On

Besides showing the beautiful blue Arizona sky, if you look to the right of this picture, you will see that both fountains are now operational at Highland Groves. The short or whatever it was is fixed, and it's a lovely sight to see them both on at the same time. These lakes are becoming a favorite destination for the Mister and me as we ride our bikes, especially when we need a little more biking distance. It may be over 100 degrees during the day, but the temperatures in the morning are just right, and it is very pleasant to take a water break in the nice clean ramada and listen to the fountain.

With Gratitude

We are thankful for all those who have given their lives, and for all those who continue to protect our freedoms, at great personal cost.

Happy Memorial Day!

Congratulations

It's high school graduation week in the Gilbert area, and congratulations are in order for all the grads. The Mister and I have watched all four of our kids receive their diplomas and so the ceremonies and parties and baccalaureates we attend this year are for friends. It is an exciting time for these young folks, entering a new chapter of life and testing their newfound freedoms.

As a parent, I do pray for the graduation celebrations not to end in tragedy. The Mister was just yesterday recalling a horrific traffic accident in front of the office a few years ago, of some high schoolers heading to the lake. As a high school graduate, though a few years ago (okay, back in the dark ages before cell phones were invented), I join in the euphoria of the graduates feeling free and adult.

I think Gilbert has an abundance of great kids; I look forward to their contributions to our community.

See!!??

We are all reaching for little bits of encouragement on the Basha's store. I drove around back yesterday, and Lo, and Behold, this trailer was parked at the loading dock! I am quite sure they were not unloading hot dogs, buns and chips for a picnic this holiday weekend. Probably shelving and such. But it was still fun to see.

Basha's at Work

You may have already seen this very welcome chain link fence surrounding the gas station at Lakeview Village, but it's worth rejoicing over again. Basha's has been hard at work inside the store, getting ready for their opening at the end of June, and now they are preparing the gas station as well. When we were there, they were changing out the gas pumps (no, I don't know why) and it made me glad to think that I can conveniently get gas again in the not too distant future.

I'll remind you that Basha's doesn't normally do gas, but since it is already installed and available, they are making an exception in this case. I'll also remind you that it makes very good business sense, as this location was Albertson's top performer in the state.

The grapevine has it that Basha's is hiring out of their Greenfield and Baseline store, so if you know someone who wants to work at Lakeview Village, send them there for an application.

What Do They Have Against Light?

I got this message from The Water Expert yesterday about some vandalism in Highland Groves:

We've been hit again! Apparently someone does not like our Bollard lights or our pop up spray heads. Someone destroyed two bollards and kicked off about 15 spray heads just south of Vaughn in our central retention area.

Sigh.

Small Town Still Growing

Gilbert is growing, which is no secret. One of the reasons it keeps growing, is no secret, either: it has that small town feel. I posted on that topic and how the change from ACTUAL small town to town with small FEEL fomented Morrison Ranch. That was a couple of years ago, when the Gilbert population was only 170,000. There's an article in today's East Valley Tribune that indicates we are nearly, or perhaps already arrived at, 200,000:

Gilbert’s population is growing fast toward 200,000 residents. An influx of annexations along with continued growth are helping the town move toward that milestone, which could be reached in a few months, town officials said. “We could already be there now,” town spokesman Greg Svelund said. The town has received an updated Census certification for 2,722 residents who annexed by August, 2006. The town is waiting for another updated certification to be approved that will include an estimated 1,400 more newly annexed residents. Annexations jumped after Rural/Metro Fire Department announced in November 2005 that it would stop providing service to county islands in Gilbert. According to Department of Economic Security estimates, the town population as of July 1, was 185,030, which does not include the newly annexed residents. The most updated information on residents, compiled by the town using permits for new homes and average family size, is 192,300 people. Adding the already calculated newly annexed residents, the town has 195,000 to 197,000 residents, with others living on 546 parcels still in the process of annexing.

So, a large part of the reason for the recent uptick in number is due to annexations. But folks are still moving in; this is good news for the homebuilders at Lakeview Trails North, of course. The goal remains to keep that small town feel, not just in Morrison Ranch, but in Gilbert.

One of the reasons this topic struck a chord with me is because The Mister has been in a reminiscent mood lately. He came home from visiting his mother one day and proclaimed that he was in possession of a treasure. When he carefully held out a vinyl record for me to peruse, I had to chuckle; after all, we have a cabinet full of vinyl records, and no turntable, and we certainly don't think of them as treasures.

This record, however, was cut somewhere around 1958, when The Mister was only 4 years old, and Bias For Action was 1, according to the record (they are the two kids at home who might "not appreciate the niceties of a head table"). It's a speech given by his father, who was accepting an award from then-Senator but eventually AZ governor Paul Fannin. He was speaking at a Future Farmers of America event. Back in that day, recording audio was not as easy as it is today, so the solution was to use records. The problem now, was how to listen to it, and more importantly, preserve it (the tossing of our turntable happened some time back when The Mister had had enough of my badgering about getting rid of some of the dead computers, pdas, and cell phones that pop out of our cabinets like a jack-in-the-box when the doors are opened; I think he offered the turntable as the sacrifice in order to keep the other electronic junk, but that's another story).

Bias For Action had the necessary equipment, and The Mister has spent the past weekend transferring not just the speech, but all his old James Taylor and Earl Klugh records, to audio files on his computer. Maybe those records really were treasures.

I'm including about a minute of his speech in the link below; there is no way for us to remove the scratchiness. Just think of it as authentic. You can catch a little bit of the flavor of the father, and see how some of that got passed on to the next generation.

Bike to Work

According to the League of American Bicyclists, May is National Bike Month, this week is National Bike to Work Week, and today is National Bike to Work Day. The Mister and I always want to be involved in the latest thing, so you might see us biking to work today. Granted, our biking temperatures are a little higher than the rest of the country's, but since our commute is only a half mile, we should make it before breaking a sweat.

News Around Town

There are some happenings and events around Gilbert that I thought I would summarize and provide a link to the supporting article.

Vision Airlines is offering a Wednesday flight from Williams Gateway to Las Vegas; this is in addition to their Friday and Sunday flights. If you need to get married in a hurry on a Thursday, now you can.

About 7,400 of the 80,000 registered voters retained Les Presmyk as a member of the Town Council. I think The Mister said that mail-in ballots were a large portion of those votes.

Tonight, Joe Johnston's plans for the new Liberty Market will probably be approved by the Gilbert Redevelopment commission. He's working his magic as a restaurateur in the historic distict of downtown Gilbert.

I don't even want to talk about the Suns game last night. Heartbreak Hotel! as Al McCoy would say.

Several folks have asked me how Basha's is coming along. There are workpeople in there hammering and doing construction-type things, and their statement was that they will open June 30. If I hear any more detail than that, I'll pass it on.

If you like Jazz, there will be a free concert at Highland Park Elementary, located in Higley Groves, this Saturday night. It's being put on by a sax player named Cliff Wright and his group; they are members of the Methodist church which The Mister's mom attends, and they are starting a new church in the area. This is their chance to meet folks. The concert runs from 7 to 8:30 pm and they are offering free refreshments, always a plus in my experience.

A Reminder

If you haven't already voted early or by mail, please stop by your polling place and vote today. There is only one choice to make, as the AZ Republic points out:

Today is the day Gilbert finds out who becomes the seventh member on Town Council.

Will it be Les Presmyk, who has spent two four-year terms on council, and has focused his platform on furthering Gilbert's economic development and beefing up public safety?

Or will it be challenger Dwayne Farnsworth, a lawyer making his first run for public office who has hinged his campaign on prioritizing road construction and wise spending.

And if you aren't sure where to go:

To find your polling place, call (480) 503-6871 or (602) 506-1511.

It seems like no big deal, until something comes along like the fire protection for county islands issue, or the referendum issues that some folks are pushing, or the bill on the governor's desk on HOAs. The town council members affect the daily lives of Gilbert residents more than any national politicians; it behooves us to be involved.

Lookin' Good

The Mister and I took a little bike ride around the Ranch this morning before it got too hot, and I have to say that Highland Groves is really looking good. Here is the money shot from the south lake:




The north lake has a short in the fountain, or something like that; it isn't running, at the moment. But it is still beautiful and the view north is still beautiful.

The ramada and the tot lot at the south lake are very inviting. I noticed they even have a drinking fountain:



But no water comes out...

The Mister says that drinking fountains are very difficult to maintain. I guess so.

Still, it didn't detract from the beauty of the community, in my humble correct opinion.

Hard to Believe, But Still True

Bias For Action passes on a bit of interesting news:

For years the Mister has quoted studies in the past that places Gilbert at or near the top of median household income in the Phoenix area. It has been hard for people to believe him because everyone has a perception that Scottsdale certain must have higher incomes than Gilbert.

Phoenix Magazine, in its May issue, has shown once again that this perception is wrong. Quoting the Tribune from Friday, May 11, “Gilbert surpassed Scottsdale salary–wise, with a median income of $76,716. Chandler….touts a median income of $66,087.”

Who knew? I’ll tell you who knew…all of those retailers that can’t open quickly enough along the San Tan Freeway who are very glad for all of our Gilbert residents to spend some of their disposable income.

Footballing

It's called "footballing". The first layer of asphalt is on the south side of Elliot, and now the traffic is split away from the center median. That enables the construction of the north side of the median, which was too close to traffic when everything was on the north. I think they call it footballing because the traffic barriers look like goal posts. Either that, or it is because the shape of the traffic as seen from above is like a football - together at each end, but separate in the middle. Make up your own mind. :-)

Jim, We Hardly Knew Ye

Last week, The Mister and I ordered some pizza from one of our favorite places, Garlic Jim's. As the delivery girl took my money, she stated somberly, "And just so you know, we are closing at the end of this week." When asked for a reason, she shrugged and replied, "Not enough customers." And that was our "official" notice that Garlic Jim's has decided to close their store at Lakeview Village. Sigh.

Part of me understands the business side; I do work with numbers, after all. Part of me really wishes they could just hold on until Basha's gets open and folks start living in the houses being built right behind them. You know, our culture and media have been replete with references to being green. In the real estate vernacular, being green has nothing to do with environmental conservation; it means that an area isn't quite ripe yet, like a green apple. It means that there aren't enough consumers to sustain businesses. Lakeview Village is ripening quickly, especially with Lakeview Trails North under construction. Albertson's decision to sell itself nationally, thus closing their store in Lakeview Village, was a very real setback to the ripening process, but it is temporary.

In the past week, I had the aforementioned pizza from Garlic Jim's, a sandwich with my daughter at In the Raw, and some jewelry repaired at D'Avanti's Jewelers; and of course, in an attempt to feed the never-satisfied craw of the IRS, sent more packages using the UPS store. The Mister and I are trying to do our part to support those businesses; pretty soon the center will be juicy sweet.

Going South

One of the favorite books around our house when our kids were small was the timeless classic, "Make Way for Ducklings." I suppose that might be one of the themes for this spring in Morrison Ranch, as well. First here were the motherless ducklings swimming around the Town Center Lake; and then, as our office was returning for lunch the other day, there was traffic backed up along Elliot Road, for reasons which we could not ascertain.



Finally, the traffic moved, and we saw the problem: Mother Duck was a little confused by the cars and couldn't make up her mind which way to lead the ducklings. There was water on both sides of Elliot, after all. I picture her saying to herself, "Let's see, is it south in the spring? Or north? Oh dear, I just can't remember. Maybe it isn't really spring..."



She chose south, and all the ducklings crossed safely.

Beyond A Spanking Offense

There's a line from the movie "Hook" that my kids adopted and quoted often when encountering naughty kids (and sometimes grownups). Little Maggie is talking directly to Hook and she tells him, "You need a mother very very badly!" The implication is that if only Hook had some parental intervention, he might not have grown up to be so bad. I co-opted the phrase from my kids and usually added the line, "He needs a spanking very very badly..."

Naughty is one thing. Kids will be kids is another. But this is beyond naughty, and way beyond a spanking offense. Last night someone of some indeterminate age drove some 4-wheelers through the fences along Higley Road, wreaking havoc. Here's a shot of the damage done on the Higley Groves West side:



The reason The Mister knows that it is vandalism rather than someone losing control of their vehicle is because the tracks make it obvious that the perpetrator went through twice (or possibly there were two 4-wheelers). Then the vandal took the damage across the street to the east side of Higley Groves:




Once again, the HOAs will have to replace the fences at their own expense. Sigh. Vandalism irritates me very, very badly.

If you have any information on the events of last night, please call the Gilbert Police Department.

Arbor Day

It's a good thing there was plenty of shade, since it was getting warm; oh wait, there will be even more shade when the trees grow large! If you missed our Arbor Day celebration last Saturday at the south lake of Highland Groves, you will want to hear an update.

There were about 150 folks joining in, including the Mayor, pictured below with Bias For Action on the microphone:



There were demonstrations by the Rainbird folks on how to set and run personal irrigation systems in an efficient way. There was a ceremonial tree planting and an update on the thousands of trees already planted in Morrison Ranch, and plans for future planting - more shade is on the way...

Animals are always a hit with the kids, and the petting zoo was no exception:




What's a Ranch without horses? The pony ride was also pretty delightful:


Did you see the doughnut in the top picture? Basha's donated a ton of food, as well as putting up a banner proclaiming that their store in Lakeview Village would be opening June 30! That is much quicker than we anticipated; welcome news, indeed.

Thanks to Basha's and Rainbird and Waldron Farms and the Morrison Ranch HOA for donating goods; thanks to Fairco and MMM Landscaping for donating their time and expertise; and a big thanks to the folks in our office who planned and pulled it off - The Water Expert, The First Cousin, and our fearless leader, Bias For Action. See you all next year, perhaps at the Town Center Lake.

May Day

When I was in high school, I had a friend who introduced me to May Day baskets. Those who know that I am all thumbs when it comes to the craftier side of life might find it amusing to imagine how my baskets might have looked; but I gamely gave it my all, threading construction paper strips into a makeshift basket that would then hold some candy and perhaps a dime store bauble. We gave them to our friends and teachers, who were overly generous in their praise; but our hearts were in the right place. We also tried doing a May Pole with crepe paper streamers, but that's a different story.

As life progressed for me, and my four kids came along, I remember trying to do May Day baskets perhaps once or twice. But as those kids grew, May eventually became the harbinger of the dreaded Full Schedule rather than the time to weave paper baskets. There is a front page article in the AZ Republic today that echoes that theme:

The holidays have nothing on the end-of-the-school-year rush as the most hectic time for families. This is their busy season, with Little League playoffs, dance recitals, field days, field trips and class parties.

There are graduation announcements to mail and fourth-grade social-studies reports coming due. Weekends are packed with Scout campouts, religion classes, sleepovers and prom. Throw in Mother's Day, and that's another Sunday shot.

All this is on top of routine spelling tests and math homework, dentist appointments and allergy shots. Families report they have twice as many things to do in May.

This has been my mantra for many years: the holiday season in November and December for a family in America cannot compare to the May end-of-school-year activities. The more kids you have, the harder it is; we often employed the "divide and conquer" strategy, with The Mister attending one child's awards ceremony while I was at another's end-of-year party. There are a thousand variations to the theme, and sometimes the aunts and uncles were asked for help, and then sometimes it would be a sibling: "Could you go to your brother's concert, while Dad goes to your sister's academic night and I go to the planning meeting for next year's booster club?"

If you need something to eat for lunch tomorrow as you run hither and yon, you might drop by Joe's Real BBQ downtown; tomorrow is his annual Free Lunch day:

Last year Joe's Real BBQ served free meals to about 4,500 people on its free meal promotional day, and on Wednesday, Joe Johnston said he hopes to top that number. Free food will be available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and again from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The restaurant will offer a choice between the pulled pork or chopped beef sandwiches, both beans and coleslaw for sides, and a drink. Johnston advises diners to arrive later to avoid large crowds.

Folks have asked me how I like my empty nest. Let me just say that I love it. Especially in May. Yes, I do miss the hubbub and the chaos, but I get to enjoy that again every time one of the kids comes home, usually with other kids in tow. I love that, too.

Maybe I'll get out the construction paper and try my hand at those baskets again.