Author: Silvia H.

I’ve  had a great time splashing though the puddles over the last week. I find the rain fun, but what I really enjoy is being in a community where the rain can’t stop me from doing the things I love. One of the main reasons for my move to Downtown Phoenix 10 years ago was the easy access to my favorite social and entertainment interests. My first night in my new apartment I looked over my balcony railing and read, “MOBY, TONIGHT” on the marquee of the Web Theater. At that very moment I knew I had made the right decision. If my friends thought I was crazy, well they could go right ahead a think that because I will be in Downtown Phoenix at a MOBY concert. 

Downtown Phoenix has so many different ways to entertain yourself and satisfies so many different interests, that at this moment I couldn’t imagine myself living anywhere else in the Valley. I would not be able to experience the crowds of the World Series or the annual Mexico vs. (fill in blank) soccer game from my patio.

The Orpheum Theater is one of the most beautiful historic theaters in the country, with the original Wurlitzer Organ still intact and in use, and host to a wide variety of performances like Defending  the Caveman or Riverdance and other Broadway performances. Not to mention all the local artists who perform there because it is so accessible and affordable. The Dodge Theater brings in countless great acts like Alicia Keys, Kathy Griffin and The Blue Collar Tour. Alice in Chains and  the Pink Floyd Laser Light Spectacular play in February and this week I can enjoy the music of Queen and Led Zeppelin with a rock band and full orchestra.  Moreover, I can walk there! 

The Herberger Theater and Symphony Hall are home to many of my favorite theater companies. The Arizona Opera who performs La Boheme’ this week, Ballet Arizona with Sleeping Beauty coming up in a few weeks, Arizona Theater Co. who just brought in Ain’t Misbehaven’ and will bring in Second City at the end of the season. How about Actors Theater, who brings in great comedy like Triple Esspresso and Pulitzer Prize winning shows like Shipwrecked, which plays through the end of this week.

I am not super huge on sports, but being in the middle of a high energy crowd at the Suns games or our two-time world champions, the Mercury, can give you a great feeling of intensity that I love. Supercross and, this weekend, Monster Truck Jam, are seen every year at Chase Field, and the Diamondbacks bring in millions during the summer, giving you a year-round experience.

 There are so many great things to do that it isn’t humanly possible to attend everything. But I challenge anyone to try, for even if you fail you win.

I love my city. I’ve called Downtown home for 10 years. I’ve seen my share of successes and failures down here. (Monroe’s will always hold a special place in my heart.) When I first joined the Downtown Pioneers, the energy Downtown was like a few sparkling grains of sand. You found a grain at the Web Theater, you picked up another grain or two over at the Bentley Projects or Lodo, and on the right night a golden handful at Modified Arts. If you weren’t careful or if the wrong person breathed on it, the sand would blow away, leaving nothing to show for your dedication and no way to prove to  the naysayers that what you found was unique and worth nurturing.

Well, my fellow Downtown Pioneers, we have our victory at long last! The community we’ve cared for and lovingly nurtured with scraped and bleeding hands has finally come to life. Its energy is palpable, heavy in your hand. You can breathe it in like fresh herbs or your favorite corner restaurant. And we can laugh in the faces of the naysayers as they now scramble for a plot in our beautiful urban garden.

If you would like to experience what I have just described then I say, “No more excuses!” You will not find a better example of what Downtown has become than this weekend, which just so happens to be my favorite weekend of the entire year. Want to know why? Here’s the rundown: The P.F. Chang’s Rock N’ Roll Marathon will bring at least 40,000 bodies Downtown. AMA Supercross will bring another 50,000 inside Chase Field, and another 10,o00 taking part in the FanFest all day Saturday before the racing begins. The Herberger is playing host to one of the best musicals ever written, Ain’t Misbehavin’, and will surely bring another few thousand people Downtown for the last shows of the musical’s wildly successful run. Kathy Griffin is in town at Dodge (5,000 people there), Master Peter’s Puppet Show’s Don Quixote will pack 2,400 into Symphony Hall, Disney On Ice has four shows scheduled at US Airways Center with 9,000 attending each one, and the World Music Festival is bringing two acts and 2,400 people to the Orpheum Theater.  

That doesn’t include the great family activites at Arizona Science Center, the Saturday market at Phoenix Public Market, Third Fridays Concert at Civic Space Park, or any of the restaurants and bars that will be spilling over with people.

So… remember that Downtown energy I mentioned earlier?