CLEVELAND - and Phoenix, Scottsdale, Detroit and Chicago!

[MayDay]

The photos are from a recent trip to Phoenix/Scottsdale. Unfortunately the circumstances were for a family emergency and while we had hoped for the best, my partner's mom passed away. I've always felt the best way to pay respects is to do the things you enjoy, on behalf of those who no longer can. And few things make me happier than taking photos, so here it is.

Can I just say again how much I love having direct access to the airport with the Red Line?


Unfortunately, the weather wasn't so cooperative during one of my favorite parts of the ride out to Hopkins:


About 4 hours later:


Sprrrrrrawl!


Camelback Mountain - one of several redeeming qualities in Phoenix:


Sort of like Columbus in the desert (linear skyline with similarly tall buildings):


Not a bad view from the rental car facility:




Up in Scottsdale - the taller buildings are residential, part of the Waterfront development:


The side of Camelback Mountain:





Off we go again, with downtown in the distance:


Industrial looking stuff in Tempe:


Even more built up than the last time I was here (a year ago):


Further down the road:


Yes folks, that's a brand-new light-rail line:


More shots of downtown on our way to Sky Harbor airport:






See ya next time, Camelback!




We don't have THAT in Cleveland:


Line of demarcation:


Hello housing crisis!


It's so mod! Fyi, someone posted a photo of something similar - this is NOT in Ohio:


I think I saw the pope (the forumer) while I took these:






Ann Arbor?


Detroit and Windsor, Canada:




Hmm, would a wind farm work on Lake Erie? Oh that's right, they already do!


Nice crib (the 5-Mile Crib, a water intake on Lake Erie):


And finally, the plane took the route I've always wanted to see:


Well, downtown Lakewood and the Gold Coast are nice...


Now THAT is what I'm talking about! This one's for you, Donna - R.I.P.




Lakewood again:


North Olmsted and the gloriously planned Great Northern area: :roll:


*hork*


Elyria in the background:


Touchdown and a sight for sore eyes:


Welcome back, indeed:

[Kingofthehill]

How was Phoenix?

What lures so many people to Phoenix?

[plinko]

Unfortunate circumstances, but glorious pictures as always.

Columbus in the desert...that's a new one!

I never tire of pics of Camelback and Papago Park...the true skyline of Phoenix!

[ColDayMan]

Elyria!

[byrdman]

Nice pics, especially the aerials. The scenery in Phoenix is amazing, it makes up for the sprawlfest of a city. I need to visit there sometime and check out what the desert has to offer in terms of enviromental beauty. The Mountains are a treasure that city should not take for granted. Cleveland's lookin good as well. Its funny how Phoenix is more than double the size of Cleveland, but their downtown/city center is no where near as impressive or built up as Clevelands, or even my hometown of Cincy for that matter. Nice pics though

[PHX31]

Great set of aerial pictures, I especially enjoyed seeing the ones of Chicago, Detroit, and Cleveland from the plane.

Just an FYI, many of your pictures where you say Downtown Phoenix are really of Midtown Phoenix, which is different. Downtown is the "typical downtown", the origins and older portion of the city, with the arena and stadium, etc. The more linear skyline portion is Midtown, a couple miles of high rises along Central Avenue. I think a good comparison (not comparing size or intensity or anything, just for definition), would be: downtown LA = downtown Phoenix, Wilshire Blvd = Midtown Phoenix (Central Avenue).

Downtown Phoenix (love the lighting in this picture):


Midtown Phoenix (Separated from downtown by about 1.5 miles):



Thanks for the pics!

[xzmattzx]

Nice pictures. I enjoyed the flight back pictures the most. Those are some really great views from the plane as you happened to fly past. I've flown past some nice cities before but I've never come close to getting pictures like that.

I'm flying to Chicago next week from BWI, hopefully I can do you a favor and get a good view of Cleveland as I fly past.

[MayDay]

Thanks everyone. PHX31 thanks for the clarification - I knew there are two separate areas but I wasn't sure where downtown started and Midtown picked up - now I know

Oh, and a sincere apology to the Phoenix forumers I'd hoped to meet up with. We probably spent at least 30 hours of our four days in either a hospital or a long-term care facility.

[Evergrey]

you never cease to dazzle

[Buckeye Native 001]

Sorry to hear about what happened, Shawn, but glad to know you made it out and back safely. Great photos from around town!

[Don B.]

Nice pics. Sorry to hear what happened.

--don

[stepper77]

Nice photos! I really like the shots of Cleveland from the plane.

[jodelli]

Sorry about the circumstances but I really appreciate the pictures. Been meaning to get pictures of that wind farm on the north Erie shore myself. From the ground it looks like some sort of Wellsian invasion.

[LMich]

I couldn't believe the view of the Phoenix skyline one gets from Sky Harbor. It really suprised me. And, at sunset, it can look huge because of the linear spread.

Chicago literally looks like it's eating Lake Michigan. lol Also, yep; that's Ann Arbor.

[FerrariEnzo]

MayDay Im really sorry to hear about your partner's mom... once again though you gave us some sweet pictures. Except for that one of that whore of a city... what was it again... Ann Arbor? haha GO BUCKS

[denveraztec]

Sorry for you and your partner's loss. Yes, taking pictures is a great way to take ones mind some place else. Thanks for sharing your trip and a bit of your life with us forumers!

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

How was Phoenix?

What lures so many people to Phoenix?

Initially, I would never have gone to Phoenix had it not been for business. However, after a few trips, I love the food, the winter weather (best in the U.S. from Nov. - March), and actually the people. Almost everyone is friendly, only exceptions are the Minute Men and when the temps are above 110. But otherwise, the convenience of little traffic and ease of finding parking. Sadly, it is very spread out and the core is slow to develop, but there is some wonderful low level development happening. Scottsdale and Tempe seem to be on fire with construction when compared to the CBD in Phoenix. I now look forward to my business trips to Phoenix.

[10101000]

Nice, how was the flight?

[MayDay]

^ The flight was alright - a little choppy on the way there thanks to Ike remnants.

"What lures so many people to Phoenix?"
My partner's mother had suffered from crippling rheumatoid arthritis and while she loved Cleveland more than most, the pain she experienced was exacerbated by cold weather.

As I've said about places like Vegas and Phoenix - if you try to apply some preconceived notions about "how a city should be" based on East Coast density, etc., it'll never make sense. And don't get me wrong, I could never live in a place like that, but the areas like Tempe and Scottsdale that are more densely built, along with the beautiful mountains like Camelback, and the resort areas of the Biltmore, etc. - it makes for a nice visit. Until I walk outside and feel like a giant hairdryer is pointed at me full blast I don't know that I'd say everyone there is friendly - especially in "Snottsdale", there are a lot of vapid materialistic types. Granted you'll have that anywhere but there seems to be a higher concentration in that area.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Originally Posted by LMich

I couldn't believe the view of the Phoenix skyline one gets from Sky Harbor.

The kicker being that when the airport first opened in the 1920s, it was literally out in the middle of nowhere, the city just kinda sprawled around it as time went on

Its also part of the reason why Phoenix's skyline is so short (there's an FAA-mandated height limit of 500 feet stemming all the way up toward Roosevelt) and why Midtown's skyline grew the way it did along Central Avenue from the 1960s-1980s.

Fortunately, there's some lowrise density projects going up around downtown as well as the addition of two new skyscrapers via the Cityscape project.