Phoenix, AZ

Please help me welcome Daisy Montano to the Active rain community. Daisy is new to Real Estate after spending time as a Military PoliceWoman in the U.S. Army. She has recently graduated from Real Estate school and looks forward to helping families make their homeownership dreams come true. I will be helping her integrate herself into the activerain community and Real Estate in general.

She will be specializing inthe West Valley Phoenix Area in first time home buyers and investors. She has already gained experience working with lender owned properties as a transaction coordiantor so it is safe to say that she will hit the ground running. If you see her start bloggin, please stop by to say hi.

If you are looking for something to do with your children or grandchildren, the Children's Museum of Phoenix is the perfect place. Designed for children ages 1-10, the Children's Museum of Phoenix is an interactive, hands-on learning experience for children and adults alike.

Located in the former Monroe School building, built in 1913, the museum sits in the heart of downtown Phoenix. Upon entering, you walk into a large room with soaring ceilings, "streamers" made of CD's and several stretchy tubes and boxes and tunnels for the kids to crawl into and pop out of. There are also hula-hoops in various sizes for playing. The floor is nice and padded to encourage rolling around. Honestly, many of the kids I saw looked like they would be fine with just staying in this section for the day!

The rest of the activities and exhibits are located on the second and third floors and can be accessed via the stairs or elevators. Everywhere you look is a new opportunity to learn, touch and experiment.

Here is a sample of some of the things to try:

• Texture Cafe - Kids can "make" their own meals in the kitchens of Texture Cafe. Pizza, pastas, salads, and so much more can be whipped up using silk and velvet materials. Meals can then be "paid for" and "served" at the Cafe.
• The Market - Here is where the kids are in charge of the supermarket experience. They can select their items and put them in the kid-size carts, measure and weigh their produce and even ring up their purchases at the checkout stand.
• Area for Under Threes- In this gated, shoes-free area, kids can roam freely and interact with all of the items. Slides, bridges, mini-houses with bedrooms and kitchens, 'secret' dens and lots of toys and books await.
• Art Studio - Here is where hands-on art creation happens. Projects rotate frequently and often involve all members of the family.
• Book Loft - Take a break from the activity and curl up with a book. There are plenty of different seating areas scattered throughout the loft and books are available in English and Spanish.
• Pedal Power - A tricycle "track" with plenty of racing room.
• Pit Stop - A place where race cars zoom by on suspended tracks. Race cars can be modified to see how they perform or you can just sit back and watch the cars speed by.

This is just a sample of what we saw and experienced. Every hallway is lined with fun, interactive learning exhibits. Since there is so much to do, you can come back time and time again and still have an entertaining, new experience.

The best part is that several more exhibits are on tap to open in early 2009. Some of these exhibits include:
- 10,000 Blocks - The Sky's the Limit
- Building Big - Build your own forts and structures
- Galaxy of the Stars
- The Climber - Top of the World
- Windplay

Details:
Children's Museum of Phoenix
215 N. 7th Street
(7th Street and Van Buren)
Phoenix, Arizona 85034
Phone: 602.253.0501
www.childrensmuseumofphoenix.org
- Open Tuesday-Sunday 9AM - 4PM and select holidays.

There is so much good news, bad news and rumors floating around about the various high rise and loft buildings in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe that we decided to give you a voice on WKU. We are adding widgets on most of our community pages that allow you to rate a particular high rise or loft community or just leave a comment (or a bit of gossip). Currently the tool is only active on the Summit at Copper Square, Optima Biltmore, Optima Camelview, Scottsdale Waterfront, Galleries at Turney, Residence at the Grove, and Orpheum Pages. But keep checking back as we are agressively modifying our pages to include this feature.

Feel free to shoot us an e-mail and request the tool on any community you have something to say about and we'll get it done right away. Let's hear what's on your mind :-)

Almost thirty urban living enthusiasts joined us July 12th for our high rise and loft condo tour, this time touring Midtown Phoenix.

We started at a fantastic modern infill condo project called MEZZO located on 12th Street just north of Osborn. The community has very clean lines, radically contrasting materials, unexpected spaces and angles, AND a community garden. Yes, you too can grow tomatoes and Greek aregano next to your neighbors suspicious herbs. Construction of the condos is about 98% complete and very much worth checking out. Call us for your personal tour.

We next visited Century Plaza High Rise at Central and Osborn. This was the tour favorite with its hip cool common areas, dramatically high 11+ foot ceilings, floor to ceiling windows and phenominal views. The first closings of these new condos began last week and we're anxious to see the building fill up.

Our next stop was the JAG Development community Evergreen 9 located on Willetta and about 5th Street. These are somewhat similar in feel and floor plan as MEZZO without the architectural and material sophistication but with prices about $150,000 cheaper. Tour attendees really liked the bang for the buck at this community and in fact I ran one couple back after the tour for a private tour of an adjoining and similar property called Willetta 9.

The final stop was at Portland 38. I was very grateful that the developers allowed us on the site as they are about two weeks from completion and did not relish the idea of showing an unfinished product. But, as I always say, I'd rather show a home with dirty laundry on the floor than to not show it at all. As it turned out Portland 38 looks fantastic even with the little bit of construction left.

To learn more about our next tour visit www.WeKnowUrban.com/Tour. I hope to see you in September as we tour the high rises and lofts of Downtown Phoenix.

We just activated the Classified Advertisement section of WeKnowUrban last week but we are already enjoying success.

Last Wednesday my wife created a WKU Classified Ad for a rental property that she owns. The next day she received her first lead and showed the property that day. She is currently pulling credit and a background check on the prospective renter.

Now this could be a fluke or it could be because we get over 250 urban living enthusiasts visiting our site every single day. For now, I'm going to chalk it up to the great traffic that the site generates and ride the wave of gratitude from my wife as long as I can :-)

If you'd like to advertise your high rise or loft condo for free simply visit http://classifieds.weknowurban.com. Once you're there click on "My Account" then "Register for an Account" and follow the directions from there.

NOTE: IF YOU INTEND TO INCLUDE PHOTOS OR VIDEO DO IT AT THE SAME TIME YOU CREATE THE AD. YOU CAN NOT GO BACK AND EDIT THE AD AFTER IT HAS BEEN SAVED.

If you run into snags or problems shoot me an e-mail and I'll help you. Will@WeKnowUrban.com