phoenix | This Could Be Phoenix - Part 2
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phoenix Tag

10 Mar

Poland to Arizona!?!

Yes. It's true. When I was eleven years old, my parents decided to migrate to The Land of Opportunity from Warsaw, Poland to start a new life. As excited as I was, I had no idea of what that meant. All I knew about America was from shows my mom and I watched, like "Dynasty," "Full House," and my favorite – "Beverly Hills 90210". I once asked my dad why people in America drive convertibles and never seem to lock their cars in the movies, he jokingly said: "That's because everyone can afford a car so no need to go stealing another person’s car." Cool!

Growing up in North Phoenix

Friday, Dec. 13th, 1994 – the big, scary move. I remember getting off the plane, getting in a car and soaking up the views of Phoenix at night. I noticed large freeways, lots of open spaces and cactus! We began our life in North Phoenix, which seemed cool to a foreign kid at first; but then the summer came. What are you supposed to do in this damn heat!? Luckily our apartment had a pool, so that was my life.
05:00 / My Phoenix Story
03 Mar

I don’t believe in love at first sight. That is, except for Phoenix. We fell in love the moment I first saw it on an ASU recruitment brochure my sister gave me, the red, orange and yellow stripes of the Walter Cronkite School glowing in a desert sunset. I loved the colors and the sleek, modern design of ASU’s buildings, so unlike the brick-and-ivy campuses my sister had toured. And the Cronkite School was one of the top journalism schools in the nation. I knew I liked Arizona—we’d driven through it several times on family road trips, and I had taken photo after photo of flat-topped mesas. Phoenix was close enough to be a day’s drive from home, but far enough that I would be on my own and free. I pictured myself next to one of those mesas, my hair blowing in the hot wind, and I was hooked. I filled out the ASU application with my heart pounding like a new crush.
05:00 / My Phoenix Story
01 Oct

I’ve been living in LA for going on three years now, and as I see the city evolve, I can’t help but think about the similar transformation Downtown Phoenix is going through. When I left Phoenix and my work with Roosevelt Row in 2007, I had no idea how many of the lessons I learned there would apply to my work in arts and culture in other cities. LA, like Phoenix, suffers from urban sprawl, siloed neighborhoods, and mediocre (though improving) public transportation. Both cities are going through a revitalization of sorts, and lately, I find myself asking how LA and other cities can be more like Phoenix.
13:02 / My Phoenix Story
05 Jun

"Ew" was one of the first words I heard when I told people I was moving to Downtown Phoenix. Yep, seriously. They would ask, "Is it safe?" or "What's even down there?" My parents were even guilty of this vision of Downtown, two people who have lived in the Valley since the 1970s, and worked/played in Uptown Phoenix in its early booming days. As unnerving as those questions sound now, at the time I really couldn't blame them. Downtown Phoenix was just starting to be "revitalized" after years of what seemed like dormancy. It didn't help that I grew up in Scottsdale and graduated from ASU – a school full of transplants who (7 years ago) would say, "Phoenix has a Downtown?"  Yep – that comment also seriously happened. Outside of sports arenas and concert venues, most of the people I knew seemed to see Downtown Phoenix as a barren wasteland.
08:00 / My Phoenix Story