*withholding all comments about the failure of Natural Selection*

Do you have a smart ass comment to make? Lets hear it, kid.

While searching for a video of the London "Seed Cathedral" building from the Shanghai 2010 expo I came across this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2CEM...eature=related

The first few seconds show a really nice white shade structure, its similar to SkySong but a bit more permeable and I really like it a lot. Its what I'd like to see the PHX Public Market have someday over the lot bounded by Pierce/Central/First/Fillmore. That way it would have more of an indoor/outdoor feel like the LA Market or Reading Terminal in Philly and be able to be open every day.

Then they could turn the current small Public Market building into a restaurant specializing in foods made from products from the Market itself. In a super ideal world the upside down L shaped lot around the Public Market Building (1st/Central/McKinley/Pierce) would become a Community Garden & Citrus Orchard.

Also, while thinking about the market, I wonder why it is that more Native American tribes don't participate in the market? At Reading Market in Philly all of the Pennsylvania Dutch are there and its awesome, I talked to them and learned a lot about them, tried specialized recipes of theirs, etc. It sure would be nice to have more of the Native farmers at the PHX market giving it a more multicultural experience....in general the PHX market is far too white/hippie/NPR and not nearly diverse or interesting enough.

I forgot to link here to my recent Blooming Rock article, so here it is if you're interested:
http://bloomingrock.com/?p=3043

Great concept, Hoover.

Yeah, this is a brilliant idea Hoover. Thank you for detailing your vision. It's unfortunate that the canals are so neglected in this town; relegated to barren utilitarian purposes.

Reminder, you should throw in a few shekels for Valley of the Sunflowers: http://t.co/R2aupur8

I did and I'm super broke. For as much as we all talk about getting rid of the dirt lots, its money where the mouth is time. Even a donation as small as $10 gets you some nice "Thank You" gift stuff.

So if you're bored you can check out my monthly article over on Blooming Rock:

http://bloomingrock.com/?p=3131

It's about the Westward Ho, something I've talked about a lot on here, so nothing terribly new...but its said in a more cohesive way I guess.

Another fantastic article! Here's hoping that the hotel Monroe and the Ho are both renovated into hotels soon.

Your article says (paraphrasing) "there's still hope that the hotel Palomar at cityscape will be built.".... Isn't it already nearly halfway done? What do you mean by hope?

To my knowledge (and I'm not as up to the moment on CityScape as HX_Guy and GymRat) the Hotel Palomar could theoritically be built, but we don't know for 100% certainty that it will be. The lower portion of the building (the retail) is there, but the hotel hasn't gone vertical I don't think....though maybe I'm wrong...?

you're extremely wrong. :sly:

The hotel is topped out, unless the retail portion is 10 stories.

Welp, this is what happens when you live on the other side of the country! Thanks.

I get confused trying to keep up with the big milestones when we're all bogged down in the exact physical location of Starbucks.

Starbucks is very important

Looks like I need to do another photo update thread, maybe this weekend. :)

^That would be great.

I realized now I got confused between the Hotel and the Apartments/Condos above. Its hard to keep this sort of thing straight when you're not near it somewhat often....ah well, the rest of the article holds up and makes sense anyhow.

Yes please! :yes:

No excuses now that the weather is nice over there.

I went into an open house today on the SWC of 3rd Ave and Almeria (first street north of McDowell) In Willo. It was a huge nice spanish colonial, said to have been built in 1931. There was a curved stairway that led down to a basement and halfway down there was a door that opened to a tiny space of nothing. The realtor told me that it used to lead to a tunnel that connected the house to the Jewish Synogauge and school (school since torn down) on the NWC corner of 3rd Ave and McDowell (the big pawn shop). So apparently that big brick pawn shop building was built around 1940 as a synogauge and someone (i think the rabbi) had a tunnel built to connect to the house. It has since been filled in.

I thought that was interesting, both the tunnel part, and the fact that that building used to be a synogauge... i always wondered what it was originally.

I love that house, I just wish it wasn't right behind the pawn shop.

If you are looking at houses in the historic districts there's an open house at Coronado and Palmcroft Way SW in Encanto Palmcroft tomorrow. I've been in the house and it's very nice but considerably smaller than the one on 3rd Ave. that you went through today.

I was just a "lookey loo" today, just saw the open house sign when i was driving by. I usually take any opportunity I can to go into the older houses around town to check them out.

The Almeria house was on this year's home tour. The owner mentioned that they get homeless folks bathing in their fountain. Very cool house but lousy location. The fire station doesn't help.