Local: City Center North, beside Desert Ridge, in Phoenix Arizona

For those of you that are from Phoenix Arizona, or have some semblance of caring about the place, I took the time to see what that building structure was next to Desert Ridge. The place is called City Center North, and is a series of buildings that you usually only see off of the I-101 freeway as a structure that resembles a soviet-era housing structure. For the longest time I’ve wondered when they were going to finish it, then signs appeared stating it’s name. I gave it a year or so to settle, then yesterday I drove through.
Note to readers: It’s on 56th street and Deer Valley Road on the south-west side.

Driving up there, I noted very very very few people. The first thing I noticed is a non-sensible/non-friendly entrance along with quite a bit of sign-less buildings. Only until I drove past each store front did I notice any signs, and I had to crawl at 2-3 mph (on MOTORCYCLE!) to even catch a few of the names. Most did not even have a name on their building face.
The second thing I noticed was a sad attempt at recreating the Kierland Commons (Scottsdale, between Greenway & Greenway/Hayden Parkway next to Scottsdale Road) look and feel to the area. The thing it’s missing is the “human” feeling, as it’s mostly concrete and nothing other than an unfinished “new york” feel. They try to make the few places that have names in the front of them appear super-expensive as well. That was a major turnoff for me since the atmosphere wasn’t in the area to bring someone to for such an occasion.

All in all, it’s sad to me since we need more non-Mexican restaurants and environments. Along with needing something more than faux-fancy restaurants like in Scottsdale. Sure, the prices are semi-high but the atmosphere just screams wanna-be fancy. Other than Elements… that place just shook my world…