Best Roundabout 2009 | The Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway interchange at McKellips Road, Mesa | People & Places | Phoenix
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Best Roundabout

The Loop 202 Red Mountain Freeway interchange at McKellips Road, Mesa

Driving in the Valley is usually pretty bo-ring, with its straight streets and backdrop of baby-puke-colored strip malls. That's why we're all about cruising the Loop 202, not only for its connectedness to the East Valley and Southeast Valley, but because of something normally not found in the States: roundabouts. We especially like to get our Euro on at the two circular structures at the McKellips Road interchange in Mesa. The traffic calmers are also located at Brown Road and University Drive, but the two on eastbound McKellips win, hands-down, due to kick-butt views of the Superstition Mountains, Four Peaks, and Red Mountain.

Best Twist

Seventh Avenue, between Indian School and Camelback Roads

In a city built on a grid, it's no surprise that one of the few major stretches of twisty, kooky street is the best block in town. The winding road that is Seventh Avenue between Indian School and Camelback practically foretold this neighborhood's quirky style and severe case of The Funk. When city assessors were scoping out Phoenix and drawing lines that would become streets, a miscalculation created what came to be endearingly dubbed "the curve." Now home to a slew of restaurants, bars, vintage shops, music stores, and a pet shop named The Pampered Parrot, this block boasts some of the best shopping in central Phoenix. Unlike other parts of town, where older buildings are so yesterday, here they're celebrated, restored, and renamed to reflect their history. Like the Wagon Wheel building, which houses Melrose Pharmacy; Copper Star Coffee, where patrons fill up on caffeine instead of gas; or Exposed Gallery, where you'll find art hanging in what was once a giant vault. Melrose on Seventh always seems to have something going on, and that's why it is, indeed, the best stretch around.

Best Corner

19th Avenue and Montebello Drive

If you doubt that Phoenix has come a long way, baby, check out this winner. Montebello and 19th Avenue used to be a dusty spot overlooking a sketchy mall with boarded-up businesses and a parking lot with more potholes than asphalt. Now, it's prime people-watching for the thousands who park and ride on Metro light rail every day. Naysayers who thought the light rail was little more than an urban pipe dream need look no further. Hipsters, bike riders, and suburban families line up en masse to board the trains. This park-and-ride spot is so successful that it's caused management of the new SuperTarget to post reminders that their parking lot is for shoppers, not mass transit riders. A public-transit success in this city? From this well-kept and furiously busy corner, you can watch it happen.

Best Strip Mall

Dana Park Village Square

Though we'd love to give this category's award to a gorgeous Art Deco plaza or turn-of-the-century Gothic building, we're learning to embrace the realities of our fair city — which often means new construction. The developers of Mesa's Dana Park ventured beyond the modern cookie-cutter plan to create a new breed of strip mall that resembles an upscale Main Street. Yes, you'll find a host of chain stores here, such as Ann Taylor Loft and Apple, but there's also a handful of small businesses, including an ice cream parlor and two adorable children's boutiques. We admit we mainly come to Dana Park for the larger stores' clearance sections. The plaza isn't as busy as Scottsdale Fashion Square, so the clearance section at the Dana Park Anthropologie is bigger and better, not having been picked over. With fountains, a palatial white exterior, and shimmering ceiling-to-floor curtains flanking one retailer's grand entranceway, you can almost forget Dana Park is a strip mall. Almost.

Best Home Tour

The Modern Phoenix Annual Tour

Fans of old houses and cool architecture have grown accustomed to two types of home tours: those hosted by downtown's historic neighborhoods, like Encanto Palmcroft and F.Q. Story, and those private affairs hosted by snooty-boots homeowners who want to show off the glass-and-cement masterpiece they've just dropped onto the desert of north Scotts­dale. And then there's the annual Modern Phoenix Expo and Home Tour, which used to be one of the city's best-kept secrets but sold out this year in a matter of days and is now considered the hot ticket among Mid-Century aficionados. That's because instead of throwing open the doors to one lovely old neighborhood, the MoPhos provide a walking tour of a half-dozen or so modern homes in the Uptown Phoenix and Arcadia neighborhoods, including structures designed by Ralph Haver, Al Beadle, Calvin Straub, and Ned Sawyer, to name a few.

And they don't stop there. The tour, which typically takes place in April, includes an expo that gives participants an interactive view into restored Mid-Century homes, and at which local architects and experts discuss the importance of documenting the Valley's endangered pool of world-class Mid-Century Modern architecture. No wonder the event is now so popular. Make your reservation for next year now.

Best Historic Neighborhood

Del Norte Place

In the realm of central Phoenix historic districts, Del Norte Place is flanked by some heavy hitters: Encanto-Palmcroft, Willo, Roosevelt, and F.Q. Story. But this little sleeper of a neighborhood, dating to the 1920s, is an idyllic place. Its broad, tree-lined streets and carefully manicured lawns make you feel you're somewhere else, like Mayberry. People hang out on their front porches and kids ride their bikes and play in the street. The architecture varies from English Cottage to California ranch, with front porches rather than monster garages.

Spend any time here and it's evident that this is a tight-knit neighborhood. The well-organized Del Norte Place Neighborhood Association is all about being, well, neighborly. They organize neighborhood yard sales and get together for summer BBQs, holiday parties, and Easter egg hunts. Now, who's got the apple pie?

Best Place to Trace Your Roots

Mesa Regional Family History Center

Mormons are proficient at lots of things — Jell-O salads and genealogy, to name just two. If you've ever had an interest in learning about your family tree, they can help you get started, no matter what your religion (or lack thereof). The Mesa Regional Family History Center is affiliated with the Mormon Church but is open to the general public. It's free and chock-full of useful classes, workshops, online tutorials, and research help. One of the highlights is the Hispanic training section, with programs in Spanish and English. With their hands-on workshops and assistance in navigating Internet genealogy sites, the volunteers at the Mesa Regional Family History Center know their stuff. They can help you plan your search and get you started. Registration required for some classes.

Best Building Restoration

Memorial Hall at Steele Indian School Park

Historically speaking, Phoenix is a young town. There are no Medieval castles or Colonial courthouses, and most of the historic properties that do exist here have fallen into disrepair or been long forgotten. That's why we were thrilled to see the city invest two years and over $5 million in the restoration of Steele Indian School Park's Memorial Hall, which stood vacant since the '90s. Built in 1922, the gorgeous brick building features Mission Revival-style architecture, arched windows, and huge interior ballrooms originally used for school assemblies. Much of the building's original character remains, from exterior bricks bearing the names of former students to the refinished hardwood floors. The city isn't a Grinch with the newly prettified space either — Memorial Hall is open for tours, private parties, and the 350-seat theater rents to local dance companies.

Best Repurposed Buildings

PaisleyTown at The Paisley Violin

Old buildings are torn down all too often in our neck of the woods. It's sad to watch bits of our history razed, especially when what appears in its place is often boring, ugly, or even worse, part of a corporate chain with an outlet on every corner. That's what makes PaisleyTown, the quaint village of outbuildings behind Grand Avenue's Paisley Violin, so special. These brightly colored little houses have quite a past. Constructed during World War II to house Italian and German prisoners of war, they've made their way to a quickly developing part of downtown. Loaded onto trucks and moved from their former home at 19th Avenue and McDowell Road, the cottages underwent the mother of all refurbs and fought their way through a year's worth of red tape to emerge all shiny and new. Even better, they've come full circle in their purpose. Instead of housing POWs, they now house emerging businesses. A hair salon, a gallery, a designer, and a vintage clothing store are but a few of the establishments giving new life to old buildings with a bellicose past.

Best Downtown Building to Poke Your Head Into

Sapna Café at Bragg's Pie Factory

Remember Sapna's Chillout Café at the downtown Phoenix Public Market? We do, because we'd actually wait in line there to taste an icy Grenada and some takeaway tahini-infused hummus. Now we go to Bragg's Pie Factory Building on Grand for the same tasty bites, but also because we love the funny, wedge-shaped interior of this groovy old structure. Owner Ana Borrajo has created a casual menu based in popular street foods from around the world, and she serves it up in a slice-of-pie-shaped glass enclosure, one of Phoenix's last examples of Streamline Moderne architecture. The Wi-Fi is free and the ambiance is unlike anyplace else. Glossy white walls hung with bright-colored Indian saris, smooth white cafe tables, leggy black chairs, and shiny stained-concrete floors all combine in a cozy slice of the past that's worth at least a peek.

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