If this were any city other than Phoenix, Sunnyslope would already be our Beverly Hills. Instead, this sleeping beauty — with its gorgeous mountain terrain, its dazzling views of downtown, its proximity to freeways, resorts, and the Central Corridor — has been dogged for decades by a lousy reputation that evolved from its days as the original Tent City, back when it was a lowly convalescent camp where the sick and dying came to soak up the sun.

Founded a century ago by an architect who fell for its unique skyline and klieg-lit, hilly terrain, Sunnyslope has been kept in a continuous holding pattern by that crummy rep. It’s maintained its place as a community on the brink of significance, a place of great paradox. Its handsome, hilly landscape — which stretches from 16th Street to 19th Avenue, between Northern and Cactus Roads — has long been populated by drug dealers and hookers, undesirables whose derelict homes rest in the shadow of million-dollar hillside housing. It’s a community that’s often mistaken for a town; one that’s been home to both one of the city’s best-regarded high schools and its highest concentration of crime.

And though developers have been busy building stadiums and relocating college campuses and renovating fallen neighborhoods all over town, the denizens of Sunnyslope have been quietly rebuilding their community, one street at a time. It’s an eccentric, grass-roots effort unlike any other in the Valley, one born of necessity by this overlooked, redheaded stepchild of a borough, and funded by a corporate benefactor — a hospital, no less — that owes its very existence to Sunnyslope.

So wrote Robert Pela last year in Sunnyslopetopia, his New Times article celebrating Sunnyslope.

In the article, he interviews “the mayor of Sunnyslope” Mike Nielsen, interior designer and gallery owner, whose home you can tour this week during the Third Annual Sunnyslope Home Tour.

Here you’ll see a short history of distinguished building in Phoenix: two homes from the 1920′s, including the renovated Bohn Home — an adobe home built as a labor of love during 1928; a Mid-Century Modern ranch; and two modern homes. In addition to Nielsen’s home, the distinctive Young residence will be on display.

Mr. Young, an architect with the Woolsey Studio designed the home for his personal use. He chose Sunnyslope as the site of his home because of its magnificent views right in the city and its tolerance for creative design. No McMansions here!

When? Saturday and Sunday, November 15 & 16
Time? 9 AM to 3:30 PM. Each tour lasts approximately 90 minutes.
Where? Guided tour buses leave every half hour from Sunnyslope Historical Society, 737 E Hatcher Rd
Cost? $35 per person, benefitting the non-profit Sunnyslope Historical Society Museum. Tickets must be purchased in advance by cash or check.

Travel and Leisure Magazine is holding its annual online survey for America’s Favorite Cities. Only twenty-five cities are listed to chose from. Between us, Greg and I have lived in five of these. My own hometown, Cleveland, isn’t in the running. Nor is the closest big town to where Greg grew up, Indianapolis. But he was raised in Danville, and Chicago is the nearest big Illinois city to where he grew up.

Last year, the only single-digit ranks that visitors gave Phoenix were a 9 for Weather (obviously those visitors weren’t here in March), an 8 in Shopping for Home Design, and a 6 for Relaxing Retreat. Number One for Relaxing Retreat last year went to Santa Fe. Well, apparently those voters weren’t in Santa Fe in August for Indian Market. Now really, just what is so relaxing about shopping, dining, gallery/museum hopping and Opera 24/7?

Anyway, that’s what visitors thought about Phoenix. We natives have a pretty similar point of view. Last year we ranked Phoenix in the top ten in four categories: 9 for Weather (we know the truth about August), two 8‘s — one for Sports Fan’s Vacation and the other for Attractive People — and we share the visitor’s sentiment that Phoenix is the sixth most Relaxing Retreat.

I hope the declining housing market we’re in doesn’t hurt our scores this year. If you want to vote in this year’s polls, just go to Travel & Leisure’s 2008 Survey of America’s Favorite Cities.

ArtLink’s First Friday is tomorrow night. I don’t know about you, but the heat’s been rough on me this week. Plus, the weatherman’s warning us of possible thunderstorms tomorrow evening. But rather than skipping this month altogether, I’m going to try making it to Burton Barr’s @Central Gallery. They’re sponsoring a First Friday Reception from 7 to 10 PM, featuring photographs by Michael Lundgren:

The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture Public Art Program partnered with the Phoenix Office of Historic Preservation in 2006 to create the Historic Buildings Photography Project. Recognizing the rapid rate of development in Phoenix, this project intends to capture a specific historical era in local architecture. The City commissioned artist Michael Lundgren to create a photographic portfolio of important Phoenix buildings from the latter half of the 20th century. Lundgren worked closely with the Public Art Program and the Office of Historic Preservation to select the buildings and to create a view of each that best communicates its architectural significance. As the City continues to change and grow, these images will become a valuable resource for residents, planners, and scholars interested in the City’s more compelling historic structures.

Then, if it turns out the weather turns in our favor, the guardians of Modern Phoenix are chatting about an open house at DWL Architects, 2333 N. Central Ave. from 6 to 10 PM.

Nota Bene: I was honored to hear from Michael Lundgren, who pointed out that this post was confusing, because it isn’t clear that the photographs I used here are my own, not his. He’s right, and I offer my sincere apology. Of course, all you have to do is go to Mr. Lundgren’s site, and take a look at his masterpieces to know that the above photos are made by an amateur.

My gratitude to Michael Lundgren for pointing out my error, and for being patient for me to fix it while I dealt with the recent death of my father.

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I have a modest collection of Phoenix postcards, and a favorite view of the artists is of Central Avenue, looking north from just south of Adams to just south of Monroe. So today, when I was downtown in this very vicinity, I pulled out my trusty real estate camera and snapped this stretch as it looks today.

This was taken at about 2:00 this afternoon. Amazingly little traffic compared to days gone by, even considering construction for the light rail tracks.

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