Gas lamp is worth checking out but it's Scottsdale. Go to north county for beer trust me stone is an attraction in itself.

Gaslamp has a similar vibe as Scottsdale, but it's a true urban and historic area.

Yeah this is good way to get around, especially if you're just doing some sight seeing and taking in the city. Public transportation puts many aspects in perspective vs. driving down the frwy.

Cabrillo is great, definitely drive, I believe they charge $5 to park. On the way, drive through Sunset Cliffs. It's located between Ocean Beach and Cabrillo. Awesome place to catch a sunset and watch the waves slap the cliffs directly below you. Point Loma (same area) has some really neat neighborhoods to go explore, steep hills with the best views of DTSD on one side and great views of the Pacific on the other. If you want Southern California beach town vibe with a board walk, people watch - Pacific Beach is good. For better scenery, go north through La Jolla. Blacks Beach at the glider port is pretty cool and a great little hike down steep cliffs. Just beware that once you get down to the beach if you walk north, it's nude.

Scenic drive along the coast, take the old highway 101 and that'll take you through downtown Del Mar, Encinitas, Cardiff, through Carlsbad all the way to Oceanside Harbor.

I wouldn't compare Gaslamp to Scottsdale at all. While there are some similarities there are more differences between the two. Yeah there are some "Scottsdaley" trendy clubs that attract the flakey/flimsy crowd but to compare it to Scottsdale is misleading for sure. Go on a Friday or Saturday evening for a better experience.

Can someone tell me why on earth San Tan Village is the middle of Gilbert and not Downtown Phoenix?

well the san tans are mtns in the east valley, sorry im not understanding the question....?

San Tan Village is part of a new generation of "lifestyle centers," replacing the now-obsolete shopping mall. People now want the urban experience, Westcor and their ilk offer the same stores in a super-sanitized fake-urban environment surrounding a fake urban privately-owned "street"--try protesting, busking, or pan handling down there and you'll likely get arrested.

The shopping mall template has changed, but the stores haven't--the stores at San Tan Village tend to only locate in shopping malls instead of downtown environments. So not only that, Downtown Phoenix also suffers the triple whammy of atrocious retail demographics and nowhere near the cachet of neighborhoods like Denver's 16th St Mall or Seattle's 5th Avenue area where at least a couple of those San Tan Village stores are also located.

And then you have the land itself--San Tan Village offers no respect to the surrounding area and could be plopped down on any 160ish-acre greenfield lot, about a third to a fifth the size of all of Downtown Phoenix proper depending on what boundaries you use. It would be impossible to assemble that kind of space downtown and it wouldn't even be the highest and best use of the land.

For Downtown Phoenix to sustain the stores of San Tan Village would take dozens of high-rise condo and apartment towers in the downtown area. The surrounding neighborhoods as far west as 43rd Avenue and as far east as 40th St would have be completely renewed beyond anyone's wildest imagination. A pre-requisite would be good schools on the norm of Chandler's and Gilbert's. Something on this order would attract families of all ages--teenagers shopping at Industrial, Zumiez, and AE and their parents shopping at Macy's, Ann Taylor, and Gymboree.

The existing Latino and immigrant communities of Central Phoenix would be completely marginalized in such a transformation. The whole area, some 50 square miles, would be totally unrecognizable compared to today.

I think something like the above is actually within the realm of possibilities and may in fact be inevitable, it would just take 20 or 30 years.

what a great use of space! lets do it!

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7035/6...76593026_b.jpg

That looks like a mall without a roof, was the guy suggesting downtown needs a mall without a roof?

LOL, I'm pretty sure that's on top of Combusean's house!

If you exclude all of the surface parking, locate it close to LR, make two or 3 stories tall with office/hotel space above, limit it to one or two department stores and eliminate the theater, all of those stores could easily fit in just a couple city blocks. ie: SD's Horton Plaza or Boston's Copley Place

Now, like you said, getting the desired demographics in the area would take many decades.

I'd love to see an aerial taken of that place during the busiest day of Christmas/holiday season shopping. I can't imagine all of that surface parking would ever be needed, what a hideous waste of space and an unbelievable urban heat island affect contributor.

I agree, but it's not just the suburban malls, it's everywhere. Go to a grocery store or any strip mall and there's probably a hundred open spots.

While on the topic of wasted space, may as well tackle residential streets. I've driven on some that could be a 4 or 5 lane roadway. Then we question why people drive recklessly in Phoenix, so we build speed humps to slow traffic down! :koko: What a waste of space and a waste of city resources to maintain the street surface.

It would also be like the Gateway in Salt Lake. I would love to see something like that downtown instead of the stupid Arizona Center.

http://www.shopthegateway.com/

Speaking of SLC, I saw a photo thread of City Creek shopping district in their DT...Wow!

Hosting my first NYE party at my "new" house. I've decided to do a nacho bar. Any other ideas? What liquor should I stock? I'm a Gin and Vodka drinker myself. Should I get both scotch and whiskey? Should I just load up on champagne? Any ideas are appreciated, party hats? lol

one light, one dark, one sweet, a beer, and a wine/champagne as far as alcohol goes.

You could do vodka, whiskey, OR-G (huge hit with women), any beer, and inexpensive champagne. Nobody would have a legit complaint.

As far as favors go, they're usually a waste, sans of course noise makers, everyone loves those. Oh, and make sure to decorate at least a little.

I've hosted many NYE parties, but after last year and cleaning someone's vomit off my kitchen floor, I'll never do it again.

Get a scotch or whiskey for sure, no need for both though.

I think party favors of all kinds (hats, noise makers, etc.) are a waste and very annoying. Then again, I am quite the curmudgeon.

It looks like we are not the only ones who think putting the MIM out by the highway and away from the downtown museums was an unwise decision. One of the comments is mine.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/n...-saturday.html

Is the MIM in a newly constructed building - specifically for the MIM? Or is it leasing something? If the former, yeah, what a horrible location. If the latter, hopefully someday they move downtown.

It's a newly constructed building specifically for their use.

I'm going to assume that they built it where they did because they already had the land, whereas they probably didn't downtown.

Also, the design does lend itself nicely to the desert, it's definitely a unique museum experience vs the normal urban museum and will probably wow out of state visitors much more than if it was located on say Central Ave.