I remember staring out the window of my dad’s office on the 23rd floor of the Chase Tower — back then it was the Bank One building — and seeing the city below. I felt small but empowered, lifted above the warm streets and separated from the world by a thin sheet of glass. Every glittering skyscraper window seemed to say the city loved my presence.
A similar feeling rose inside me whenever I saw the tall city buildings while traveling south through the Dreamy Draw pass on state Route 51. As soon as I could make out the skyline through the smog, my heart would jump and I would smile.
Downtown Phoenix has always felt comfortable to me, akin to a blanket on a chilly January evening or the first blast of air conditioning on a hot August afternoon.
To be honest, I don’t remember the first time I set foot south of McDowell Road. I know it was between ages 3 and 5. I was probably wearing a cute sundress with pigtails and white sandals as I ran up and down the stairs at the Arizona Science Center on a Sunday afternoon.
Sometime in those early years, a seed of love for downtown Phoenix was planted in my heart.
I may not run around the Science Center in a sundress and white sandals anymore, but I still get the same feeling when I drive through Dreamy Draw and see my city 8 miles away. Now that I’m older, I can better put into words what it is that I love so much about downtown Phoenix.
I feel at home and accepted when I can recognize that I am a small existence in something much larger than myself. In my late high school and early college years, the seed planted in childhood began to grow and blossom as I became a living, breathing part of the geography I had always admired.
I became familiar with local restaurants and businesses such as Fair Trade Cafe, Jobot Coffee, Lawn Gnome Publishing and Crescent Ballroom. I did not attend ASU Downtown Phoenix campus during my freshman year of college, but I started spending afternoons on couches that weren’t mine, late nights listening to bands I’d never heard and mornings sipping spicy chai and blinking in the sunshine. My freshman year gave me the freedom to explore an area that always intrigued me.
While some are intimidated by unfamiliar places, I am often inspired. It wasn’t difficult for me to find these locales — I had heard of them time and time again and noticed them during everyday life. A natural sense of curiosity and a desire to belong led me to experience the pure, unadulterated neighborhoods that are a part of downtown Phoenix.
The gems I have grown to love are not hidden — they are plain and simple, out in the open. Anyone can find a spot to feel at home in downtown Phoenix if they spend enough time getting to know the area, and nobody should be afraid of it. It offers the same services as any other part of the city, but with a more authentic attitude and honest, personable interactions with people who love you for who you are.
Contact the author at alacasse@asu.edu
