Gated Communities

If you spend any time in central Phoenix you will notice the heavy usage of rent-a-fences. As I wander  down Grand I think about the economics of a long term fence rental and whether buying that fence would have been smarter or if something happened and that fence was never supposed to stay up this long and it’s not rented at all. 

It’s easy to dismiss an area on first glance if you’re only looking in one direction. That condemned, possibly (probably) haunted house that’s fenced off represents what was, not what will be. Think for a second how glorious that place that’s being phased out once was some years ago.

We’re surrounded by some pretty interesting architecture. The Westward Ho at Fillmore & Central was the opening shot in Hitchcock’s Psycho. Now it provides much needed subsidized housing in downtown.  The Hotel San Carlos had a dedicated suite for Marilyn Monroe. Now it relies on kitsch for its seasonal clientele. If you want more of these fun facts I recommend the Hip Historian’s monthly lessons at Valley Bar.  We’ve got some fun nostalgia points for a young city.

All to say, buildings, lots, streets have many rebirths. Throw a rock and you’ll hit something that used to be something it’s currently not - like an old warehouse that’s now some totally monochromatic startup relocated from LA or an auto shop that’s now a gallery full of amazing and talented artists’ work, or a luxurious hotel of yesteryear that’s now helping solve a very real housing issue.

If that half torn down building is what was, the fence represents what is, aka the present. They are the barriers that protect as change takes place - either within or outside of the fence - as we progress towards the future.

Sure, some of the changes are a bummer and some of these things that are no more should be mourned and remembered, but change is part of a city and these fences represent something compelling about being part of central Phoenix. We should acknowledge these fences and what they represent as a whole.

Cities aren’t something you can just take in as a snapshot. Although fences seem like they are meant to divide, symbolically I choose to look at them as Phoenix’s chrysalis - the outward expression of our city as  we are evolving and forever becoming - if we choose to. Otherwise, we stay blind to our surroundings and never know the beauty right in front of us in the present moment.