The View From Here

This month my work team and I move over to the Corporate Building in Downtown Tempe. This will be the fourth building I have worked at for the Airline and it will be a big change.

That will be my cubicle in the red circle on the 5th floor. Yep, still a cubicle. But I can't help to think how far I have come from being the nerdy kid on old Amelia Avenue, to sitting here in the corner looking out over the Valley of the Sun.

This is the view East toward Tempe.

In the foreground is one of my all time favorite restaurants,  Monte's La Casa Vieja, and across Mill Avenue you can see Hayden Flour Mill and A Mountain. Just west of A Mountain is Sun Devil Stadium where I enjoyed so many great Football games. ASU was a big part of my life as both student and employee. Sometimes I think part of my heart is still there with the maroon and gold.

And this will be the view from my cube looking north.

In the foreground is Tempe Beach Park and Tempe Town Lake. Further north is Papago Park, and farther in the distance are the dry humps of beautiful Camelback Mountain. So much of the stomping grounds of my life can be seen from my little desk now.

I often reflect on where I have come from, this wild crazy life. From here I can visually see much of that. I don't know what paths the remainder of my life will lead. I have no fear. Bring it on!

Cheers, nca

Hy-View Subdivision

Another really cool neighborhood in Phoenix Metro is the Hy-View Subdivision. Located north of Papago Park and just a tad west of Scottsdale, the area boasts interesting architecture, a beautiful urban mountain park, and even an amazing piece of Arizona history.





Developed into a neighborhood in the early 60's, the neighborhood was designed to blend into the desert a little better than other Phoenix neighborhoods from that time of unbelievable growth in the Valley. And good thing for that, nestled close to the beautiful 'rugged' Papago Park, that decision was very wise planning for those years.

South of the neighborhood is Papago Park with it's beautiful red rock formations, a feast for the eyes.


Crowing Papago Park is the fantastic Hole in the Rock with a view south toward the busy Sky-Harbor Airport.




In addition to the rugged landscape, the area hosts the Phoenix Zoo and the Desert Botanical Gardens. If you ride your mountain bike south-east from the Hy-View neighborhood toward Hunt's Tomb, you might be able to catch some of the rare Arabian Oryx grazing up on the Red Rocks. No entrance fee, tell then Kotkas sent you :) .

It is hard to think when zooming your bike through this lovely desert bordered neighborhood that you are just minutes away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Phoenix.

I also mentioned history. During World War II the Papago Park area hosted a Allied camp built to hold Axis prisoners. The POW camp was the home of a famous escape plot still talked about by old-timers. Indeed, the Elks Lodge that borders the Hy-View subdivision has some of the few remaining pieces of the old POW camp.

Another of my favorite Valley neighborhoods. I will blog about these and more, but please share some of your favorites.

Cheers, nca

Sunnyslope

Now that I am the last of the 'Kotkas' siblings living in the Phoenix metro area, I wanted to highlight some things I really like about the area. A lot of people think of the Stucco Cardboard box houses in the suburbs when they think of housing in Arizona. Lots of ranch style homes with little personality.

But trust me when I say that there are many charming neighborhoods in the Phoenix metro area.

One area I drove through recently was Sunnyslope. Sunnyslope is in the northern part of traditional Phoenix, designated roughly between 19th street and 16th street west and east, and Cactus and Northern for north and south.

The area is not cookie cutter by any means. Even when I was a kid I enjoyed biking and later driving through the houses near Central Avenue and Northern. They seemed opulent (yet classy) in comparison to the little dinky tract home of my youth.


Lined with mature trees and irrigated expansive lawns. Nice size lots, and a variety of architecture types. Xeriscape was not even a term when these houses were built. Not that I have an issue with that urban philosophy, but the trees and the rolling lawns do seem to give this neighborhood a life.


North of the neighborhood, and easy bike ride away, are rugged mountains excellent for hiking and mountain biking.

Many of the lots in this area are a tad bigger than other Phoenix urban neighborhoods, and it is not uncommon in some areas to see the house sitting slight angled to the street instead of straight forward.

Truly, a neighborhood worth visiting.

Cheers, nca