Happy New Year from North Phoenix Blog!

As we bid farewell to 2008 and open our arms to embrace 2009, the staff here at the North Phoenix Blog (me) would like to thank you for your patronage this past year. Thanks for reading our articles and posting your comments. Please keep it up!

We hope you have enjoyed reading our stories about life in North Phoenix and that through our pictures and stories you have gained a better understanding about what it's like to live here. Phoenix is not just an endless sea of shopping malls and suburbs, there is a real city here with real treasures, waiting to be discovered.

Join us, won't you, as we continue our quest for the most interesting stories and the best photographs of life in the Valley of the Sun. Thanks for reading and we hope you have a happy and prosperous new year!

Free Rides Continue on Phoenix Light Rail

Last weekend, Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa celebrated the grand opening of the Valley Metro light rail system. This improvement to our public transit system has been long-overdue and is a welcome change for many Phoenix residents.

The new trains will carry passengers along a 20-mile track that runs from downtown Phoenix through ASU and into Mesa. To celebrate the completion of this gigantic project (approximately 8 years from planning to completion), the light rail is offering free rides to everyone through December 31st.

Read Entire Post >>

Merry Christmas To All!

We here at the North Phoenix Blog would like to wish all of our readers a very Merry Christmas this holiday season.

Christmas is a time of togetherness for family, friends, and loved ones. It is a time of forgiveness and understanding. It is a time for celebration, for decoration, and for tradition. For many of us, Christmas is filled with good food and the excitement of finding the perfect gift for that special someone in your life.

We hope that you will remember the true meaning of Christmas, and join us in celebrating the birth of a savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. It is never too late to find room for Him in your life!

May the spirit of the season warm your heart and bring you health, happiness, and prosperity this holiday season. Merry Christmas and God Bless!

Phoenix Businesses Hit Hard By Recession

The collapse of the sub-prime mortgage industry. The credit crunch. The recession. Whatever you call it, there's no question that the economy is going through some serious turbulence.

The red-hot housing, banking, and construction industries have cooled off dramatically over the past year. To make matters worse, several of the nation's largest banks went through a series of hasty marriages and divorces..

Now the economic slump has spread to other industries like travel, leisure, and retail sales. There's just no reason to take vacations or buy big-ticket items when you just got laid off and your company is bankrupt.

Read Entire Post >>

'Tis the Season for Christmas Lights

Christmas in Phoenix is different from Christmas in other places. While it can get very cold here, it does not snow in the Phoenix metro area. 'Round these parts, White Christmas is nothin' but a song on the radio.

So what can you do to make it feel like Christmas when there's no snow? For many North Phoenix residents, the answer is to put up Christmas lights. For some, it means going completely overboard with Christmas lights.

In almost every neighborhood, there is one house that puts all others to shame. I am not talking about a simple string of icicle lights above the garage here. I'm talking about the house that has a herd of animatronic reindeer on the front lawn and one of those giant inflatable snow globes. The house that's responsible for slowing traffic along your road to a crawl. The house that's lit up like the runway at Sky Harbor Airport.

Read Entire Post >>