ode to Phoenix

I am loving life. And by life, I mean all of my living breathing daily existence except for my job, which I am not going to talk about here. Change-- all in time.
Phoenix has seriously grown on me in the past month. Sure, it's a sprawling car-driven suburban disaster with no coherent growth plan, pathetic public transit, scary numbers of immigrant-hating bigots and a sheriff to lead them (anybody heard of Joe Arpaio?), but at the same time it's got a lot going for it.
I feel the potential in this city- and I do wildly and irrationally love potential. First, LOCATION. Within the city limits are at least 4 mountain preserves with hiking trails, unspoiled wilderness areas of sahuaro and orange wildflowers, and stunning views. The snowy mountains (skiing and snowboarding!) of Flagstaff are a 2.5 hour drive away. Beautiful red rock hippy town Sedona is an hour and a half. Actually, a million beautiful outdoor areas, from waterfalls to canyons to desert mountains, are within easy reach. Arizona is so much more than desert- come see for yourself! And then, there's the city itself. Turns out Phoenix is not all shiny new soul-less subdivisions. Central Phoenix is a fascinating maze of historic neighborhoods, great swathes of them undiscovered and neglected. Then there's a scattering of little restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and music venues housed in beautifully restored Craftsman style houses tucked away in corners of neighborhoods, hidden from the intrusion of uninitiated suburbanites. There's 16th street, little Mexico, strewn with mariscos shacks and taco stands and quincenera dress shops and a fantastically huge Mexican market. Downtown is inexplicably scarred by huge vacant lots, prime real estate destined to become condo skyscrapers once the economy turns around. And there are stirrings of life. There's a light rail line going in down Central, due to open in December. Classical music concerts take place in a fantastic venue that was an old icehouse by the railroad tracks. The city is really trying to reinvigorate the downtown area, long neglected. And rising gas prices are only going to speed the migration back to the center of the city.
I'm excited to be in a place where the first green tips of a daffodil emergence are poking through the snows of city-flight neglect. (is that an inappropriate analogy for a desert city?) I want to stick around to see what happens. I want to buy a big old house in a sketchy neighborhood in the heart of downtown and fill it with kindred spirits and the smells of homemade food and plant bouganvilla and basil and rosemary in pots and watch the city transform itself around me.
I also want to kick Joe Arpaio and his legions to the curb, but hey- change comes slowly sometimes. But I think I'm willing to wait for it here, for a while.