Photos: Arizona

A view of downtown Phoenix, Arizona was observed from East 16th Street on 8-January-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Updates to my photo site continue this week with a wrap-up of my trip to the west coast. A visit to the Valley of the Sun around Phoenix, Arizona from 8-11-January-2010 allowed for exploration of the new Valley Metro light rail system, the Heard Museum, a meal at Pizzeria Bianco, and family time with Bruce Carson, Julie Malloy, and their children Brett and Marina.

Culture: Visiting the Heard Museum

The entrance to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona was observed on 8-January-2010

TEMPE, ARIZONA - A high priority for me during this visit to Phoenix was a visit to the Heard Museum. A Phoenix Point of Pride, the museum had been founded in 1929 by Dwight B. and Maie Bartlett Heard to house their collections, and has since become one of the foremost centers to experience Native cultures, particularly those of the southwestern United States, in the world.


A portion of the original 1929 building remained a part of the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona on 8-January-2010

While the museum has greatly expanded from the original house-sized building and features contemporary (including commissioned) Native art, the permanent exhibits still focus on the collection provided by the Heards and other donations made over the years from tribes that live or lived in what is now the state of Arizona. A large portion of the museum displays a portion of the permanent collection of art from the desert, Colorado Plateau forest, and high desert tribes.


A display of a Hopi Katsina dance was but a small portion of the Hopi Katsina collection at the Heard Museum on 8-January-2010

Where I spent most of my time, though, were in two other exhibits. A large hall was dedicated to the twenty-one tribes that have reservations within the state of Arizona, and each had a display on their history, many of them with hands-on exhibits related to their history or art. Another amazing exhibit was on the Indian Schools, telling the story of how Native children were taken from their families to centralized facilities for education for generations. Some of the stories told in this exhibit, including the story of how an Indian School football team once defeated all but one of the Ivy League schools in a season, were rather unexpected.


The entrance to a special exhibition on Native artist Allan Houser showed the contrast between his traditional and abstract pieces on 8-January-2010

The temporary exhibitions were also quite interesting. I never knew that there was more to Henry Fonseca's career than his "Coyote" era of artwork, and an Allan Houser exhibit did a great job of showing how the same artist could create pieces on the same subjects in radically different forms.


A purple heart earned by a Navajo during World War II had been incorporated into this bracelet seen in the Heard Museum on 8-January-2010

Some had warned me that the Heard Museum could be an all-day activity, and I have to admit I was skeptical that it was large enough for this to be the case. The warnings were correct; I certainly could have used more than the four hours I spent inside.

Transport: Riding Valley Metro

A Valley Metro light rail train sat at the end of the line, Sycamore and Main in Mesa, Arizona, on 8-January-2010.

TEMPE, ARIZONA - Continuing my tour of new light rail systems on the west coast that included Portland's MAX Green Line and Seattle's Sound Transit Central Link, the first thing on my agenda today was to ride the length of the Valley Metro system here in the Valley of the Sun. The light rail system opened on 28-December-2008, just after my last visit, so this was my first chance to ride the 20-mile system. While the 50 vehicles in the fleet looked quite distinct in appearance with their silver and bridge green paint, upon closer inspection I realized that the Kinki-Sharyo cars were actually of almost an identical design to those I had just experienced on Central Link in Seattle. An attractive paint scheme and well-designed skirts go a long way toward creating a nice image.


The interior of the Kinki-Sharyo cars used on the Valley Metro light rail cars was observed from the raised end seating on 8-January-2010

The best comparison for the Phoenix light rail system is likely that to the one in Portland. Most of the line runs in the middle of major streets, with no apparent priority signaling. Stations are spaced reasonably far apart, except perhaps at the far northwest end of the line, where they seemed closer together. So, the speed advantage of the system is mainly at rush hour, not when I rode at mid-day.


Two Valley Metro light rail vehicles were noted at the northwest end of the line, 19th and Montebello, in the middle of the street in Phoenix, Arizona on 8-January-2010

The most annoying thing about the system is that most of its stations, particularly in suburban areas, are located in the median of major streets. Often, reaching them requires crossing in two crosswalks, and vehicles making left-hand turns are usually given the right to make their turns first in the cycle, before pedestrians can proceed. It leaves the impression that pedestrians and transit riders are just an afterthought, as they take up to three minutes just to get across the intersection to their platform, potentially missing their train in the process.


This view of the Tempe Town Lake was taken from a passing Valley Metro light rail train on 8-January-2010

Still, with a day pass costing just $3.50 (compared with C$10 in Toronto) and well-placed stations in the downtown core and at the Arizona State campus in Tempe, the system seems to be doing its job, and I appreciated the scenery at Tempe Town Lake and the views downtown and along Central Avenue. A sign on a new residential unit on Apache Boulevard touted that it was "on the rails," implying some degree of popularity of the system.


The Campus Suites advertised their "on the rails" status in Tempe, Arizona on 8-January-2010

Future expansions of Valley Metro light rail are planned to the northwest, northeast, west, south farther into Tempe, and east farther into Mesa, but only a four-mile extension to the northwest is currently proceeding, with an expected opening date in 2012--but if I visit Phoenix again, I suspect I'll be riding it before then.