Prescott Walking Tour

Prescott walking tour

1.     We parked on corner of Willis and Montezuma and began our walking tour by south on Montezuma toward historic Gurley St and The Yavapai Courthouse Square.

2. At the corner Montezuma and Gurley you now see famous historical Whiskey Row. Continue walking south along the courthouse square. Prescott used to be the capitol of Prescott and the courthouse in the center of the historic district reflects that. This square is not only the lawn of the Courthouse but also it function as a great public and third space. There are people waking their dogs and babies, people having picnics, as well as the grumpy people who are defiantly there to go to court.  On the right side of the street are several saloons and little shops. I noticed the majority of shops in the square/ historic district were art galleries, antique shops, bars, or little fancy boutiques.

Looking east up Gurley St.

3.     Once you reach the end of the walkway on the Courthouse square turn east and begin walking uphill on Goodwin st. This is where I noticed the symmetry of the location of the Courthouse, and the surrounding streets, this is an example of a Philadelphia type square. The streets surrounding the square run in all four cardinal directions and the intersections of the streets are what define the joints of the blocks.

The courthouse itself seems to be modeled after The Capra Villa  “La Rontonda” in Italy, with the four symmetrical sides and facades with four entrances to one big indoor room. Granted the inside has been modified to accommodate all the functions of a municipal court, but it is a great example of Greek revival in the Southwest.  This area is such a great historic area, and a large part of what makes Prescott such a great walking town. The square is very planned and geometrical, the lawns are manicured and watered on the regular, and this being a state building that is not surprising at all, there is a fountain and huge not-super-manicured trees and lots of open green area which totally adds to the pleasant aesthetic appeal, very picturesque...

Planning included features for public enjoyment

If you continue walking up this street you will pass the library and up father are the very fancy historic Victorian Houses, and wealthy private school and organizations. The majority of Federal buildings were up here as far as I could tell: The library, and the Social Security offices were up here, and there were several buildings with metal detectors and clearance needed to enter. Prescott and Flagstaff are similar in this practice of building the Federal Buildings all a little higher elevation but still accessible by residential and downtown areas.

4.     Now turn north and head up Cortez Street, you will cross over Gurley and continue north. On this street I noticed a lot of Antique stores, and cafes but what was most interesting to me was the multilevel, multiuse spaces. There were lots of little independently owned shops and restaurants but upstairs were doctor and lawyers and accountant offices. This Building is a Masonic Temple with apartments on top and a Co-Op store on the bottom. 

  

Masonic Temple

I really like how the historic buildings and the historic downtown are preserved through this zoning, because people are allowed to have more opportunities to have and/ or work in a business in this Downtown area.  When all these people are working in this area for normal business hours this creates a need for lunch, restaurants, and LOTS of coffee, as well as people to enjoy the park while on their lunch break. Furthermore, the added traffic from the people enjoying the third space of the Courtyard lawn and the tourism for the historic section creates a great little environment all around this area.

Multiuse space

  5.     Continue walking north on Cortez over Gurley and over Willis and to the intersection of Sheldon and Cortez, from there turn east and begin walking uphill toward a much more residential part of the area. During this part of my walk I noticed how the difference in elevation of the land affected the type of development that was on it. When walking east on Sheldon I noticed a high amount of pawn and liquor shops, not something I saw around the courthouse and fancy historic homes. Also the farther away from the Square area one got, the cheaper and more corporate the businesses and restaurants along Sheldon St got.  When I was walking I took somewhat of a roundabout route through this neighborhood.

6.     I turned right onto Marina St from Sheldon and went back south to get a feel for the kind of houses on that area. This is a great neighborhood with lots of picturesque lawns and pretty flowers; the architecture is more from the same era than the piecemeal of the remodeled downtown. This area has lots of Victorians- Queen Anne style houses; they have obviously gone under serious remodel but with great sensitivity to the historic appeal and authenticity of the original structure. What I really liked about this area was despite the very fancy appearance of the houses and the very highly watered front lawns; this was very much a family community. The lawns were covered in children’s toys and remnants of the Sunday before’ tea parties, also there were very friendly cats and dogs in most of the yards, it was a Monday so not many actual people were in their lawns.  In addition, these lawns were different from the “lawn culture” we saw up in Boulder Point, in Prescott I did not see any rock-scraping, or the deliberate construction of structure around the Ponderosa Pines. In fact, now that I think about it most of the landscaping and trees in the lawns of this area look as of they had been planted after the structure was build, or remodeled. 

  From here, someone could go one of two ways: I walked back and forth through this same neighborhood between Gurley St and Sheldon. This is a very cute neighborhood and one really gets a sense of how elevation affects and is affected by socioeconomic stratification. When one walks downhill closer to Sheldon the houses become more organic and less manicured, the paint was done at different times with different shades, and overall the houses are much less grand.  The streets and sidewalks are still maintained by the government and everyone has government issued trash and recycle bins, but I do not think this neighborhood / area has a Homeowners association because the houses were different styles and different colors and all were maintained differently.

Somewhat maintained sidewalk / street area

  If you go South and head up hill on Pleasant St or Alarcon st you will see the much fancier houses; many being used for Bed & Breakfast or meeting places of small very wealthy private organizations. Some on the houses along Goodwin and Union are being used as private residences and some look like they are somewhat of a duplex townhome situation. This neighborhood is clearly more affluent than the one north of Gurley. 

"My house looks down from upon the hill"

The houses are much larger and more ornate with very intricate Queen Anne style details, they paint is much more fresh and also matches the freshly painted fence, oh and the marble steps from the sidewalk to the front entrance. Geez. 

9.     From here one can either keep walking uphill to the south and east while exploring this very picturesque neighborhood or walk downhill westward on Goodwin St and return to the commercial / leisure area of the Courthouse square. Either way, it is a great way to see many different types of planning and architecture development, and it is very interesting to see they modern remodels on the historic architecture styles we see in class.  Prescott was a great town to compare and contrast to Flagstaff because they do have some similarities but when look at closely they have great differenced rooted in the development and growth of the town itself.

 

Phoenix Street

Phoenix Street blog

            The walking route between San Francisco and Milton along Phoenix Street is one of several historic routes in town. More modern developments include the bus station and several of the specialty shops along Phoenix and Mikes Pike.  This street is very different from Milton because of the lower volume of long distance traveler traffic, and higher volume of locals. They also have more historic building with business that has been there just as long, while it seems Milton is an ever-changing array of aged hotels and convenience food. 

            The buildings that are most influential on this street are Biffs Bagels, Zani, the courtyard if Beaver street, and Fratelli Pizza, the old blue house right on the corner of Mikes Pike and Phoenix, is a very old vet’s office, despite the large fence in front. Personally what I like most about this street is the personality of all the buildings, in comparison to Flagstaff’s “Miracle Mile” along Milton. Most of the buildings on Milton are of some sort of corporate conglomerate, that bank of the brand recognition and brand loyalty of travelers and consumers. Especially businesses the like Starbucks and Micky D’s who promote their traveler friendly appeal by “easy to see and therefore easy to enter” drive-thru’s, as well as the promotions about how fast their service is and how many people they have served.  

            When one compares the two locations, very close spatially but very different feels, it is apparent that they have been developing at very different rates, even compared with the Downtown that is north of the tracks. This is even more apparent when you see inside the buildings. The buildings on Phoenix Street are obviously historic, they are made from Malpais basalt, and I know from personal experience they also have the plumbing and electricity of historic buildings. However, what I really like is the open-endedness for decoration on the owners part, Biff’s has a great sign in a great font, but its not neon because they are not open after 3, Zani is purple because that’s what color the Bonzani’s wanted it.  The front of Fratelli and the Hair Place has been a work in progress, but the bike has always been there however the owners have been putting more neon, light up stuff in front because we are open later at night during the summer. This is the personality that makes this historic section my favorite part of town, as well as the fact that the business have been around for so long not like the ever evolving stretch of Milton.

            However, I do feel like the atmosphere of this area changes, depending on the season there is a lively bum camp on the north side of the street right by the tracks, also depending on the construction level in the surrounding area all affect the locale of people that are using this and eating in this area.  

... Again my pictures are not uploading??

Mill Town to Milton

The Commercial strip that is the north end of Milton, is a very interesting mix of businesses that cater too, very different markets: one being those traveling through on the major interchanges of highways that run through Flagstaff, and two being the people who live or work close to this very large break in scenery.

Starting at the intersection of Phoenix street and Milton, looking South we see various resturaunts- Mike and Rhonda's "The Place" which both people traveling and people who live here because of their convenient location with off street parking, 24/7 hours and great food. In the same spirit just a little south ot the other side of Milton is Granny Closet, also popular among the locals for always playing sports and pay per view, and having notoriously strong long island iced teas.  For people traveling along the I-17 the appeal of Grannys is the rustic pole building and the large wooden Lumberjack out front.. and you have have a t.v in the middle of your dinner.

Lucky for people looking to keep their speed, there are 10 drive thru fast food places, and drive thru everything else, including drive thru Walgreens and car washes. Now that this part of Milton has so much through traffic because of the I-17 it is smart for businesses to have this drive through options for people who have a schedule to keep, furthermore it eliminates (slightly) the need for structured off street parking.


Also when we reach this intersection we see the Grand Canyon Inn, and the Drury both of which are significant to tourism in Flagstaff - the Old and the New, both in construction and groups they choose to solicit. Some of the other hotels in this area are the Embassy Suites, the Travelodge, the Econolodge, The Canyon Inn, America's Best Inn, and more up Rt 66.. The layout of these different hotels reveals that they were built in different times we see the one story L shaped lot with a managerial office in the front, to multiple level, hundred room complexes. For all price ranges and time frames. Standing on this corner there is a major landscape break.. Beautiful north campus and all its structure are on one side, but on the other is a vacant lot used for various things and the Furniture Barn, with the big glorious cow


Bun huggers is very old, only Flagstaff restaurant that has wood table tops because new health codes were passed, after the building was a restaurant.

P.S I have great picture but am currently unable to upload them.

Alyeska, Girdwood -Jahlaska

    For spring break and the following week I went to ski in Alaska! Alyeska Resort to be exact- in the town of Girdwood, about one hour outside of Anchorage. It was EPIC to say the least. The main attraction to the town is the ski resort as well as the awesome  back country terrain and LOTS of cold, fluffy powder :) However, this town also has very interesting history, it was initially attracted gold miners becuase of its great location near numerous streams, rivers, and the ocean. In the 50's or 60's there was a huge earth quake that destroyed the original town site of Girdwood as well as caused the ground to sink to sea level so due to salt water seepage the soil could no longer support any continental plant life. Along this coast there are huge skeleton trees. 

In these two pictures you can see the mud flat that used to be Girdwood. This is now a tidal flat also called sink mud, this is a very interesting thing that I have not seen before.. the receding tide pulls water from the saturated mud and creates a suction in the mud.. the hotel people told me a lady got suck a few years ago and they tried to free her with a helicopter and she got ripped in half! Awful right? anyway suck mud excursions were not recommended.
Also in the bottom picture you can see the highway the connects Anchorage, Girdwood, and past to Kenai and beyond. It is only two lanes ocean on one side and rock face on the other. The locals say it is super dangerous when it snows which only adds to Girdwood's skiing exclusivity.

This is the Hotel Alyeska, the major hotel in the town. This is the only accommodation around within an hour, and it is an amazing hotel. It has eight stories, two bars, a sushi bar, two other restaurants with a phenomenal breakfast buffet. It is ski in&out and attached to a tram that goes to the top of the North Face of the ski area, and a very expensive restaurant that I never went too. During our time there the 2011 U.S. Adaptive Alpine Skiing Championships were being held..

All of the athletes and trainers for this event were staying in the same hotel as us so we got the opputunity to meet SO many cool, tough, great athletes. I felt that we were very special to be a part of this we met so disabled athletes that just kicked ass.  If you are interested in learing more about this amazing event check: http://usparalympics.org/news/2011/03/22/alyeska-resort-hosts-the-2011-u-s-adaptive-alpine-championships/41521

This is the Crow Creek Mercantile, the only place to buy groceries in town, and they have a very limited selection of everything. There are numerous fancy restaurants in town to cater to the tourist population, but the hotel does not have microwaves in their rooms so the demand for raw food is not principal. It is a single story building, personally owned store, however they do accept Safeway cards.

Girdwood is a great little town with a very interesting history. Its has great skiing, and all sorts of other winter activities. In the summer the hotel remains open as there is world class mountain biking here as well.  

Suburbia to beyond

       Suburbia- Boulder Point

The concept of suburban neighborhoods came about with the mass production of automobiles and the latter construction of nice, maintained, accessible roadways. People who could get places much easier and quicker and soon everyone had a car, this in turn allowed people who wanted to live away from the busy city to do so, while still commuting to their job and errands in the commercial district in the city.

       The suburban neighborhood that we looked at for this class, is a great part of town. I live in the Arbors condominiums which is just down the hill from the Boulder Point neighborhood. First off i noticed the houses were all different colors and quite well maintained; everything including sheds and main building attachments were freshly painted matching colors. Even the fences were nicely painted/finished or deliberately made to look rustic.

The yards of these houses are all maintained but they are very picturesque. Not very many of the yards that I saw were grass, but rock and shrubs and small trees, which is great for the water conservation movement. There are a lot of Ponderosa Pines in front yards and even more in the backyards. All these houses have at least two are three car garages, and the ones that are open sometimes didnt even have room for more than one car, they rest was packed with all sorts of different stuff. The garages all had entrances to the house, and in some cases they had doors too even more places. The houses with these grand garages usually had even more grand front entrances, with carved wooden pillars and stone steps, most of these facades were build on the front of house facing the street, but again, there were also less grand but not shabby external entrances on other sides of the houses.

The driveways of all these houses were paved with concrete and it was not oil spotted or seriously damaged, the asphalt in the road is recently tarred and properly painted with appropriate markings. This is interesting for me because there is a significant of geologic activity in Flagstaff, so it really must be high maintenance to keep all the asphalt and concrete in this neighborhood in good repair, and if they were not regularly maintained the sidewalk would look like the sidewalks around the Uni Heights Apartments, which are very cracked and have major differences in the heights of the slabs. The exception to the great neighborhood street repair is going west on University because it is FILLED with potholes and crap. In spirit of the civil engineering we talked about this is a picture of the LOVELY well maintained, car safe curb in Boulder Point. 

NAU Campus: North and New

 

This is the Old Main Building on NAU north campus. It has the historic office of the dean in it. 

  
       Walking through the North Campus of Nau provides a great insight into the history of the school, and for me I have had classes or errands to do in many of these building so it was really interesting to learn about their individual histories. Plus North Campus is beautiful to walk around in; first off, I noticed the direction of North Campus, all the building are directed to Old Main, except the 1899 Grill place which if facing north toward the town, even that used to have a courtyard that was a third space facing the center of the circle. There is a big traffic round about through the center, and lots of sidewalks through out the buildings.  There is lots of big trees and open spaces, the buildings are very grand and Victorian and it is apparent that even in the modern additions the brick color and symmetry of the building was preserved.

This is the main entrance to the old Main Building

This is the main entrance to the Old Main building, one thing I did notice about this entrance way was that the steps were dark polished granite, they didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the architecture so I think they were probably replaced when the less hard sandstone eroded from use.

This is an example of a biforate window on campus. This one is found in the old Gammage Library now used for the financial aid and bursars office.

I really like the design of this building, outside of the picture frame the leaf pattern around the doorway continues into an arch and the ashlar is stratified with rustication around and up. I also really like how this building is smaller than some of the others but is very solid, and pretty. 

To conclude this blog, I really like how the history of North campus has been preserved despite modern enhancements. The inside of the building has been re done and are very nice, it is important that the original architecture of North Campus is maintained because it is so important to the history of the university.

Breaks in NAU campus development

Nau is a mix of pretty old and very new architecture. From walking to NW campus to the more central area around Mckay village there are so many different influences seen.  This is the very space age looking Science building, right next to Campbell hall which feature red sandstone and Greek columns like the rest of North campus.  The building below however also is similar to other building on campus like the Communications building and parts of the Education building. These great breaks in the landscape is one of the things that makes NAU such a beautiful and interesting campus.

The pictures below are of Mckay village, in central campus right next to University St. They are NAU newest apartment style housing. They have a central-ish court with many sun shades and grilling hookups, this is an example of NAU deliberately planning third spaces to encourage productive "campus approved" student interaction.