Catching up on trashy gossip mags while a manicurist primps and polishes your nails is pretty damn close to heavenly. Add a mimosa into the mix (’cause, why not?), and there goes the rest of the day. Oh, to relax. But once you add up the receipts from all those…
We all know the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” but in the case of the Paseo Vista Recreation Area, one man’s trash is below another man’s playground. This massive, 64-acre park in Chandler was built on top of a landfill.Chandler voters approved the use of General Obligation…
The Black Canyon City Dog Track, about 40 miles north of Phoenix, is both a mecca for squatters and urban explorers and a fascinating study in decay. This massive property has been falling into rapid disrepair since the late 1980s, and remains one of the most accessible abandoned sites in…
If the average Phoenician decided to build a home/compound out of surrounding desert materials, we’d probably be surrounded by primitive mud huts.But in the head and hands of renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the concept of using natural materials to build yields breathtaking structures like those at Taliesin West, Wright’s…
Over the weekend, we celebrated the official start of summer by visiting (and sneaking into) a few of the Valley’s finest hotel pools in hopes of cooling off from the 110-degree weather. We came across some pretty kick-ass cement ponds in the process reserved for “resort guests only,” and some not-so-nice security…
We’re super envious of kindergartners and college kids. Not because they get away with doing stupid shit like pissing themselves or napping through class, but because we’re mad jealous they have summers off. Sure, everyone would love a three-month break, but not everyone has that luxury. We’ve got bills to…
It may be the last weekend of life as we know it, so even if you’re out for Third Friday artwalk in downtown Phoenix or planning on chilling by the pool, we have a couple more events to add to your schedule … Noche de Lotería @ Madison Events Center: Former…
Ever wondered what this town might look like, post-apocalypse? The abandoned Phoenix Trotting Park racetrack in Goodyear is a pretty good preview — and a pretty handy one if all those rumors of The Rapture happening in less than a week prove to be true.Desiccated by the ravages of the…
Good thing Gary Parsel doesn’t live in one of those tract-home communities out in the Valley sprawl; If that were the case, the Phoenix-based artist would probably tick off his local homeowners association (who seem to get their collective panties in a bunch over the smallest eyesore). That’s because 61-year-old…
Sometimes the coolest things can by found in the unlikeliest of places. Take the Hobo Joe statue, for instance, in Buckeye. He’s a rather jovial and jaunty figure, and at 25 feet tall, the old-timey vagabond sticks out (in more than one way) from slaughterhouse behind him. Hobo Joe’s a…
The next time you hike through the Dreamy Draw Recreation Area, watch out for aliens — not illegal immigrants, but the extra-terrestrial sort. They may be looking for the space ship some people believe crashed there more than 60 years ago.Today, Dreamy Draw is a quaint, desert park next to…
Before there was Metro Light Rail, there was the Phoenix Railway System. The two opened almost exactly 80 years apart, but shared the same purpose: get Phoenicians around the city efficiently. Of course, the area looked a lot different back in 1887, when the railway system started, and not a…
Sprawling green lawns, life-size bronze statues, trees with roots that stretch for several feet across the ground, and a bubbling, ornate water fountain sound like components of a great park or museum. But all these things can be found in the heart of downtown Phoenix, at the oldest Roman Catholic…
Sometimes, we see something so often that we forget how cool and special it is. So it was for us with the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Park. We see this little gem every time we go to Burton Barr Central Library or Giant Coffee (the park sits between…
There’s not much mystery behind the Mystery Castle near South Mountain, but there is a great story behind this sprawling, quirky house.Construction on the castle started in 1929, when the builder, Boyce Luther Gulley, drove to Phoenix from Seattle in a Stutz Bearcat. He’d been diagnosed with tuberculosis, and, figuring…
When you’re driving along the I-10 East toward the Broadway curve, you may see a giant dish off to the side of the freeway, pointed at the sky. The Arizona Department of Transportation estimates that approximately 239,000 vehicles pass by this dish every day, yet most people have no clue…
If you’ve driven north on Rural Road toward Broadway in the past five months, you might have seen something strange on the side of the road: Namely, giant silver sculptures that look like those robot performance artists in New York’s Times Square.But these shiny sculptures aren’t part of an art…
If you’ve been at the intersection of Central Avenue and Roosevelt Street in downtown Phoenix, you might have spotted the giant metal sculpture situated by the Metro Light Rail stop. The figure is supposed to represent a man raising his arms toward the sky, though it’s also been likened to…
The Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art houses a number of paintings, sculptures, drawings, and mixed media works, but did you know there are numerous sculptures you can view for free right across the sidewalk in the Scottsdale Civic Plaza?SMoCA’s collection of garden sculptures runs the gamut, from abstract stone pieces…
Palm trees are so common around Phoenix that we hardly notice them anymore — except when’s there’s a massive cluster of unusual palms inexplicably swarming around a neighborhood, like the one in Arcadia.There are so many palm trees located in one area of this neighborhood that it’s impossible not to…
The old Phoenix warehouse district is roughly between Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street, and between Madison Street south to Grant. There are numerous old warehouse buildings in this area, but one of the oldest and most interesting is Arvizu’s El Fresnal Grocery Store. This building was constructed in 1900 –…
Perhaps one of the wisest things L. Ron Hubbard ever said was, “If you want to make a little money, write a book. If you want to make a lot of money, create a religion.”Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, was definitely onto something there (although we can’t vouch for the…
