CityScape
Perfect for: Bowling enthusiasts, craft cocktail addicts, apartment-dwelling retirees
PAST & PRESENT
Before RED Development unveiled Phase 1 of this $900 million mixed-use behemoth in 2010, the area comprised a few parking structures, a bit of Patriot Square Park and a whole lot of nothin’. Historically a housing district supporting the train yards of old Phoenix, CityScape is today, arguably, Downtown’s only true self-contained neighborhood, as it boasts the area’s lone supermarket – a Fry’s that opened to much fanfare in 2019.
A DAY IN CITYSCAPE
First: Pick up some java at Serafina Coffee Roasters, located in the magisterial Luhrs Building just a quick jaywalk away from CityScape across Jefferson Street. serafinacoffeeroasters.com
Next: Check into your room at the Kimpton Hotel Palomar, Downtown’s first purpose-built boutique hotel. Grab a swim at the Lustre rooftop pool and bar. hotelpalomar-phoenix.com
Then: Feeling peckish? Find the Valley’s preeminent Nashville-style fried chicken at Monroe’s Hot Chicken, from Lo-Lo’s comfort-meister Larry White. monroeshotchicken.com
Finally: Need a laugh? Book a ha-ha at Stand Up Live at CityScape (standuplive.com), Downtown’s lone comedy club. Socially distanced September shows include Jesus Sepulveda and Gary Owen. Then grab a nightcap at nationally renowned Bitter & Twisted Cocktail Parlour (bitterandtwistedaz.com).
Get Your Bearings
Though CityScape proper occupies just the two blocks straddling Central Avenue, its brand includes the immediate surrounding vicinity
Parking Tip
It used to be a cinch scoring a metered space south of CityScape on First Avenue or Madison Street. Now you’re better off just beelining to the CityScape parking structure.