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Old Posted Nov 23, 2010, 6:52 PM
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geomorph geomorph is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Newport Beach
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Scottsdale - Highlights

Scottsdale highlights photographed in November 2010:
This city is located in the very hot 'Valley of the Sun' in the beautiful Sonoran Desert in Arizona. It is an adjacent suburb of Phoenix, the state's largest city. Scottsdale's population is 246,000, making it one of the largest suburbs in the Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is a long narrow city that stretches for miles along Scottsdale Road, most of which is developed with large resorts and low-density housing sprawl and isolated shopping centers.

Papago Plaza:
This strip mall is a few miles South of downtown and is a fine example of an isolated shopping center; its detailed Southwest architectural pastiche is an ersatz but fun gateway to a road that leads into Phoenix's Papago Park.















Downtown Scottsdale:
Despite the sprawl of much of the city, toward the South end is the higher-density downtown area that will be the primary focus of this thread. High density in this case does not mean skyscrapers however; only a few midrises are to be found. Downtown's official visitor map divides it into 9 adjacent districts; Old Town Scottsdale, Civic Center, Scottsdale Arts District, Brown & Stetson Business, and 5th Avenue Shops and Boutiques are the 5 highest density areas that adjoin one another to the South, while Entertainment District, Southbridge, Scottsdale Waterfront, and Scottsdale Fashion Square are lower density districts to the North.

Old Town Scottsdale:
This 4-block area contains many art and craft galleries and is the most historic-feeling part of the city; its architecture and streetscape and site furniture reinforces the Old West theme effectively, even though some of it is definitely not historic.























5th Avenue Shops and Boutiques:
This is a rather large nearly-historic district that is an enjoyable pedestrian experience.







Civic Center:
The local government is clustered around a mid-century park that bridges a major street; the City Hall and Public Library are from the same era, although the library has a much newer addition on one side.























Modern Downtown:
Collectively, the scattered projects of the last few decades from across the 9 districts comprise an enjoyable design experience.



























































































SkySong:
This new center a few miles South of downtown Scottsdale is owned by Arizona State University and is dominated by a magnificent shade structure.

















For my related Phoenix Metro picture threads, see:

Phoenix: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=186756

Tempe: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=186823

Last edited by geomorph; Apr 28, 2014 at 7:53 PM.
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