Glendale, AZ: Downtown

[xzmattzx]

Glendale is a city in Maricopa County. The population is around 250,000, making it one of America's most prominent boomburbs.

Downtown Glendale is centered acround Glendale Avenue and Grand Avenue. It is approximately 9 miles northwest of Downtown Phoenix with Grand Avenue providing a direct link between the two.

Glendale was founded in 1892, when the town was platted between what is now 55th Avenue and 59th Avenue, and Myrtle Avenue and Lamar Road. The railroad came through in 1895, using a right-of-way along Grand Avenue. Agriculture was the dominant industry in the first couple of decades of the 20th century, with fruit orchards surrounding the community.

Today, Downtown functions as the municipal center for town, with town courts and the main town library. It also is known for its antique shops, and is a bar and restaurant destination for residents of Glendale.


The Glendale Municipal Complex, in Murphy Park. The complex was built in 1984.



The Velma Teague Library, in Murphy Park. The library was built in 1971.



The Sprouse-Reitz Building, on 58th Avenue across from Murphy Park. The structure was built in 1919.



Businesses on 58th Avenue.



Buildings on Glendale Avenue. On the left is the Sine Building, constructed in 1926. On the right, at the corner, is the Hine Building, constructed in 1913.



A restaurant on Glendale Drive. The structure was built in 1895.



The Glendale City Court, on Glendale Avenue.



"Territorial Sheriff", in a plaza along Glendale Avenue. The statue was dedicated in 1990.



Buildings on Glendale Avenue.



Buildings on Glendale Avenue.



The old First National Bank of Glendale building, on 58th Drive. The bank was built in 1909, with the facade added in 1918.



The Sine Brothers Hardware Building, on 58th Drive. The structure was built in 1911.



The Coury Building, on 58th Drive. The structure was built in 1940.



A building on 58th Avenue at Glenn Drive.



An office building on Glenn Drive.



The Glendale Civic Center, on Glenn Drive. The structure was built in 2006.



The First Methodist Episcopal Church of Glendale, on 58th Drive. The church was built in 1926.



Houses on 58th Drive. On the left is the old Methodist Church Parsonage, built in 1898. In the center is the Bears & More House, built in 1920. On the right is the Christian Church Bungalow, built in 1917.



Houses on 58th Avenue.



The Women's Club building, on 56th Avenue. The structure was built in 1912.



Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, on Palmaire Avenue. The church was built in 2005.



The Beet Sugar Factory, on 52nd Avenue. The factory was built in 1906.



The Santa Fe Railroad Depot, on 60th Avenue. The train station was built in 1895.

[mrnyc]

nice to see this as i never had reason to go. looks to be more underwhelming than i thought, at least for a visitor, but pleasant.

[EastSideHBG]

Haven't been there in years and it's looking about the same, which is not meant as a dig, as I enjoy it for what it is. The Cardinals' State Farm Stadium is in Glendale also:

https://www.statefarmstadium.com/stadium-info/about

[PHX31]

Thank you for posting your pictures. I always enjoy your threads with all of the information.

I rarely go to downtown Glendale even though I live within an easy drive to get there. To me it's mostly known for the abandoned sugar beet factory, the antique shops, and the German restaurant. There are also a few nice residential streets with some cafes and whatnot that my Mom and her friends like to go to. I'd say overall it's a quaint and quiet area that younger people tend not to have a reason to go to.

I did go there earlier this year for a convention at the City's civic center and saw that nice historic church for the first time. I'm ashamed to say I didn't even know it existed.

[muertecaza]

Glendale is interesting as I would say technically it is the Phoenix area's only "streetcar suburb." Phoenix's streetcar system's only completed interurban line was completed to Glendale in 1911. There were other planned extensions to the eastern suburbs that never got off the ground. And unfortunately the system was shut down after a catastrophic fire in 1947, at which time Glendale still had a population less than 10,000, so it doesn't have a ton of historic buildings built up around the streetcar.

[LAsam]

The West Valley suburbs, like Glendale, seem to lack the downtown activity and development level of the East Valley Suburbs, like Tempe, Scottsdale, Mesa... etc. Is that accurate, and what's the cause of this?

[geomorph]

It looks like the beets were big business originally!

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by LAsam

The West Valley suburbs, like Glendale, seem to lack the downtown activity and development level of the East Valley Suburbs, like Tempe, Scottsdale, Mesa... etc. Is that accurate, and what's the cause of this?

I don't spend a ton of time on the westside, but my sense is that your impression is accurate. My guess on causes would be some combination of: (1) West Valley suburbs are 10-20 behind the East Valley, having boomed later on average; (2) more money/job centers in the East Valley; (3) differences in municipal leadership.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Developers: "Lets build a city on a grid to make it easy to navigate"

Grand Ave: "Hold my beer."

Like most eastsiders, the West Valley is bizarro-land to me for whatever idiotic reason. My gf and her mom enjoy Glendale Glitters during the holiday season. Downtown Glendale itself is charming.

[Obadno]

Glendale has good bones, but the entire west valley has lagged the east, that seems to be changing as a lot of manufacturing, logistics and distro is moving into the west valley and there are a lot of plans being floated for redevelopment of the various suburban town centers in Suprise, Peoria, Glendal, Litchfield Park, Avondale, goodyear all with various degrees of development plans by the city governments. Also the Stadium area is seeing some serious growth of both office projects that are actual multi story office buildings! Its wild!

It will be interesting to see how it goes as much of the cheaply available land in the East is developed (other than very far out exurbs) how that will change the economics and culture of the east/west divide over the coming decades.

Anyway, hope these west valley cities can benefit by developing their downtowns and town centers with nice local businesses.

[xzmattzx]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Haven't been there in years and it's looking about the same, which is not meant as a dig, as I enjoy it for what it is. The Cardinals' State Farm Stadium is in Glendale also:

https://www.statefarmstadium.com/stadium-info/about

I was actually in town for the Eagles game that day!

Originally Posted by LAsam

The West Valley suburbs, like Glendale, seem to lack the downtown activity and development level of the East Valley Suburbs, like Tempe, Scottsdale, Mesa... etc. Is that accurate, and what's the cause of this?

I wonder if part of the reason for economic development or the "cool factor" of the East Valley is because of Arizona State being in Tempe. There have to be other factors, though.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by xzmattzx

I wonder if part of the reason for economic development or the "cool factor" of the East Valley is because of Arizona State being in Tempe. There have to be other factors, though.

I really don’t think that’s it. Asu isn’t cool enough to be that much of a factory and wasn’t a big enough school when these cultural milestones got set down.

The original downtown up until the 1970’s was the place to be and as others have said there was a pre ww2 street car line that went to Glendale. For whatever reason when suburbanization and mass growth kicked in for the valley around 1965 or so, the east valley cities of Mesa, tempe, Scottsdale already were the nicer and wealthier valley towns. I’m not sure if that was due to the resort and tourism industry in Scottsdale, or maybe the east side which gets slightly more rain had more cash crops like oranges and cotton and dairy as opposed to the wests alfalfa and feedstock crops? Not sure but the draw was always to the east and when the area attracted things like chip manufacturing and aerospace and even the early days of call centers it all tended to fall on the east side while the west languished and then existed as the cheaper alternative for housing