Calling all Suburbanites: It's an Urban Revival...

I always thought of myself as a city girl! I've always felt more at home in urban metropolises like New York, London, Chicago to name a few. However, I have just recently realized that I'm a spoiled subarbanite. On a recent trip to San Francisco I found myself getting annoyed at the urban density, the nail biting traffic, parking meters and old plumbing (I'll explain that later, in another article). I love San Francisco and all it's charm. There is something poetic about walking a few steps from your door to get a cup of coffee and walk past a collage of stores; allowing yourself to take in the tapestry of rich diversity in each store owner, relentless in their pursuit of the capitalistic pie yet with more humility than their corporate counterpart, out to destroy us all! - I salute these brave folks and their entrepreneul spirit. These stores range from local florists to a newsstand, a bistro, a bohemian clothing boutique to an art gallery and the quintessential Kebab house. Cities like San Francisco, New York, & Chicago have that intrinsic urban vibe that no matter how many "big box stores" might claim a presence they cannot take away the charm, the neighborhoods, the history.

Los Angeles in my opinion is a different story, urban and urbane, sububurn, small town, beach town, large city, an uber metropolis none like any other, however Phoenix on the other hand as the Valley of the Sun, incorporating cities like Scottsdale, Chandler, Mesa, Avondale and Buckeye etc. also has a unique feel of it's own. The vast Sonoran Desert as an open canvas envelopes the Fort McDowell Mountain Ranges to the North East, The San Tans to the South East, South Mountain and Estrella Mountains to the South and South West and the White Tanks to the West. Our neighborhoods mirror each other regardless of which foothill they may claim, yet there are pockets of quaint independent restaurants, worldclass as they may be, to be found just about everywhere. Downtown Phoenix is an explorers dream. Downtown Scottsdale a gem. Chandler, Tempe, Mesa, Glendale each contribute to that array with their own sensibilities. The fact that we are a vastly growing metropolis of homes is an understatement. Phoenix and the Valley continue to gain population numbers putting us on the forefront nationally. The job growth and overall economy is good. For those who've actually been here realize that there is more to the weather than the tripple digits in the Summer. In my six years I remember arriving from Florida and noticing right off the bat that there were hardly any high rise condo buildings, or townhomes - my how that has changed and continues to and in my opinion it's a positive thing. But before I digress any further let me say why I chose to write this piece. I want to ask you dear reader, and feel free to comment - what is going on with our town and all these pseudo urban clusters???

It seems everywhere I look theres a developer creating a mixed use small city within a city and I just don't know how many of these we'll actually absorb but more importantly what happens once these are all up and running - will people not mesh together, will be become neighborhoodcentric - For every Kierlands, there's a cithNorth, Westgate, Desert Ridge, DC Ranch, yara yara yara...what do you think?