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Scott Blair

Phoenix Civic Space, Photo by Craig Smith, courtesy of ForeSite Design & Construction, Inc.; Camelback Mountain Dru Springfield/Wikipedia

Blair is a senior regional editor for Southwest Contractor and Southwest bureau chief for ENR, has called Phoenix his home for the past 17 years.

Best Historic Architecture
“Built in 1929, the Arizona Biltmore Resort demonstrates Frank Lloyd Wright’s organic response to the desert environment. The Deer Valley Rock Art Center was built in 1994, but exhibits and preserves the efforts of what could be considered Phoenix’s first landscape architects. More than 1,500 petrogryphs, some dating back more than 1,000 years, provide a unique window into the Valley’s original inhabitants.”

Best New Architecture
Civic Space Park
“Featuring undulating shade canopies adorned with photovoltaics, pervious paving, a renovated historic building, and desert-appropriate landscaping, the sustainable aspects enhance the public’s experience at the park.  LED light columns and a massive, suspended amoeba-like art piece make it clear that downtown Phoenix is courting a young, 21st century urban lifestyle.”

Favorite “Off-the-Beaten-Path” Architecture
“Located along the historic Arizona Canal, Arizona Falls creates a stunning park and art installation where Phoenix’s first hydroelectric plant once stood. The site still generates renewable energy while entertaining visitors with three waterfalls.”

“Where else but in the Valley of the Sun would a water treatment plant become an inviting outdoor public space? The Chaparrel Water Treatment Plant in Scottsdale features the interweaving of wire and rock gabion walls, architectural steel panels and tensile shade structures to create public spaces.” 

“The newly built Water Tower Plaza reinvigorates a small one-acre site underneath an iconic 1920’s-era water tower located in Gilbert, a suburb of Phoenix. The plaza consists of four different water features, an amphitheater and other gathering spaces plus the renovation of a historic adobe pump house.”

Best Museum
ASU Nelson Fine Art Center
“Designed by Antoine Predock, FAIA, and opened in 1989, the Native American-inspired building offers itself as a public art space, with a labyrinth of underground and elevated walkways, aqueducts, pools and courtyards. The lavender-hued stucco and cast-in-place concrete structure echoes the majesty of ancient Mayan and Aztec ruins.”

Best Restaurant
“The Farm at South Mountain cooks up flavorful cuisine while giving visitors a sense of place that is otherwise nearly extinct in modern downtown Phoenix. A throwback to the agriculture that existed at the base of South Mountain in the early years of Phoenix, the 12-acre Farm offers three separate dining experiences nestled among a shady grove of pecan trees. The Morning Glory Café offers fresh breakfasts made from locally sourced ingredients, including to-die-for sausage and vegetables grown just feet from the outside dining area. The Farm Kitchen lunch spot is popular among locals for a quick sandwich basket. The Farm’s crown jewel is Quiessence, located in a converted old house, offering award-winning fine dining through a daily menu of seasonal, contemporary American dishes.”

Best Hotel
Valley Ho
“The 2006 expansion and rehabilitation of Valley Ho, located in downtown Scottsdale, brought new life to an aging destination that was once notorious as a Hollywood hipster hangout in the 1950’s.”

Best Shopping
“With a fantastic mix of mom-and-pop tourist shops, high-end art galleries, unique restaurants and a massive shopping mall all within walking distance of each other, nothing beats Downtown Scottsdale for shopping nirvana.”

“For fashionistas on a budget, the clandestinely located Nordstrom Last Chance will make you feel like you are in on the best-kept shopping secret in Phoenix, if you can find it. Located in the basement of a non-descript strip mall along the Camelback Corridor, Last Chance is literally the last chance for many of the high-end retail giant’s finest fashions.”

Best Outdoor Activities
“Urban parks across the U.S. are usually fairly sedate. Not in Phoenix. Tackling the trail to the 2,704-ft-tall summit of Camelback Mountain is not for the faint-of-heart or the weak-kneed. The strenuous hike negotiates some tricky terrain, including a slippery/steep rocky slope that requires hanging on to a guardrail for dear life. The trail’s best amenity is people watching.  You can watch the die-hards that effortlessly run past you on their third trip up for the day and peer into multi-million dollar homes nestled into the dramatic red rocks of Echo Canyon.”

“Mountain bikers will appreciate one of the largest urban parks in the nation, South Mountain Preserve. Featuring 51 miles of trails within 16,000 acres of desert terrain, the park woos visitors with the dramatic views of downtown Phoenix. For those disinclined to pedaling themselves, there’s a winding, cliff-hugging road to the top that has been featured in many automobile commercials.”