don photos Phoenix from the air on his trip to San Jose...

[andrewkfromaz]

I drove to LA late Friday morning and got back into town late Sunday night. Sounds like a popular weekend to be away/traveling. You weren't all going to weddings too, were you? :p

[combusean]

A discussion about Phoenix's riverfront goes hand in hand with the Water Department. Phoenix leaders have extracted money out of them before for an arguably nefarious task that, altho had nothing to do with pipes undergound, ultimately proved to be well worth it. Phoenix's City Hall today wasn't funded by voters. After the S&L bust, an expensive, squat, internationally-designed courtyard approach was shot down by voters. So they came up with a Plan B, and I'm so glad they did. The tower is one of the best modern buildings in the Southwest, but its relatively short height has never given it many specific accolades to my knowledge. Oh well.

[KevinFromTexas]

Neat pictures Don. Always cool to see aerials.

[Buckeye Native 001]

When flying into Phoenix from California, there is no more asinine approach than to come in from the east. Adds another twenty minutes to your flight just flying around the East Valley.

As for the aerials: Superb as always, Don! I can see my office in Midtown in that one picture (the old Park Central Mall)

[dktshb]

This is my favorite Tempe pick. I used to work in the Chase building (the building with a blue roof farthest to the right side and top of the picture)... I was in that Tower Records across the street almost every lunch hour. I'm sure its probably gone now.:


These following 2 pictures are phenomenal:

[Buckeye Native 001]

That Tower Records has been gone for at least five years now

[Austinlee]

Awesome pics Don.

I was wondering about that peculiar river too...

[vertex]

Originally Posted by andrewkfromaz

You weren't all going to weddings too, were you? :p

As a matter of fact, I did go to one. But then again, I was gone for 3 weeks, and this wedding wasn't the primary reason for my trip.

[Azndragon837]

I was in Los Angeles for New Year's Eve weekend, and a few days the air was abnormally CLEAR (I was going on the 110 north from the 105 and you can see the skyline and mountains).

Don, awesome shots of Phoenix and LA!!! I can't believe how clear it was that day where you can see the islands.

-Andrew

[PhxPavilion]

Originally Posted by byrdman

Nice shots, Phoenix is huge, i mean F'n huge. But why is their downtown only as big as Dayton, Oh. lol. And where's all of the golf courses. I heard Phoenix is a city of Golf Courses

The downtown has been largely neglected until recently precisely because the city is so large, it is a city of sprawl. All the development in Phoenix for the past 15 years has been mostly of massive suburban communities and surrounding mega malls to supplement them.

The gold courses are around but most of them are located in Scottsdale and western Phoenix which aren't shown in the pictures.

[Phil McAvity]

I love the irony of opening a thread about aerial shots of Phoenix only to find the best aerial of L.A. i've ever seen. Even though i've been to L.A. a few times, i've never even heard of San Clemente island, let alone seen it.

Thanks Don.

[WZ1]

Originally Posted by Archdevil

Are you seriously suggesting that you have never heard of or seen a dam?

umm .. no.. but if you look, the water looks like it continues on....

[pj3000]

Easily the most beautiful lake in America.


Cool photos, don. As much as I despise the very fact that Phoenix is an unsustainable environmental scourge, and in my eastern greenery-influenced opinion, quite ugly, I like the place for some reason. And these photos make me want to visit again soon.

[James Bond Agent 007]

Kewel.

[MplsTodd]

The Tempe and Phoenix photos are great, but that photo of the LA basin is incredible!!!

[Buckeye Native 001]

Originally Posted by pj3000

Easily the most beautiful lake in America.


Cool photos, don. As much as I despise the very fact that Phoenix is an unsustainable environmental scourge, and in my eastern greenery-influenced opinion, quite ugly, I like the place for some reason. And these photos make me want to visit again soon.

Tempe's managed to do an excellent job of using the lake to bring a shitload of urban (albeit lowrise) development to the area. Seems like Mill Avenue (the heart of Downtown Tempe) looks better everytime I'm there, and I have to go there for my job at least once a week.

[poconoboy61]

This might sound weird, but Phoenix/Tempe looks so much better from the ground than the sky.