The
East side of Central Avenue From Southern
to Greenway Road The business
people who have been along Central Avenue for a long time have a sense of
community. They know each other and
the history of the area and are very proud of the way they have continued to
support each other.
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Southern Avenue |
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McDonald’s is on the corner of Southern and
Central. On the exterior many tiles
form a border in an AZTEC design.
Inside the McDonalds, Our Lady of Guadalupe is in a prominent place in
the dining room. Other plaques and
decorations adorn the restaurant. It
truly has unique additions to the McDonald’s tradition. |
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On a large lot just south a construction
crew from Suft Construction is in the process of building an OSCO Drug. |
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The Southside Animal Hospital has been at
6045 South Central for over 30 years in a modest house. Prior to the Animal Hospital, the house
served as a rectory for St. Catherinie’s Parish. The church is across Central and the school is one-half block
to the south. |
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Emergency Chiropractic at 6207 S. Central is
located in a building that was previously a restaurant. The covered patio is still in front of the
building. The patio is a pleasant
space of light and shadows with a few plants to add life. No one at the site could indicate the year
of the change. |
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Burk’s Complete Auto Repair was the
highlight of the afternoon. Bob has
been owner/operator of the business since 1981. A car repair business has been at this site since 1950 (52
years). He lives in South Phoenix and
has a passion for restoring old Studebaker cars as well as an interest in the
community. |
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Bob Burk currently has a 1924 Touring Car in
his shop. We asked about the
Isenglass curtains and horsehair seats and he took us round back to see
them. He believes that it will be
complete by early summer. Bob invited
us back for a ride. |
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Bob’s Shop (Blue Building) and the neighbor
to the south, El Fenix Panadoria Mexicano.
This establishment not only has the best smelling breads and cakes but
also offers a fine selection of Statues, pinyadas, candles, cast iron and
large wash tubs as well as a selection of miscellaneous items. The bakery as been at this site for 23
years. |
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6231 South Central is Desert Dentistry. Several times we stopped but no one was ever
present. Without windows, doors
locked, the building has a coold feel that seems almost forbidding. |
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The Corral has been the Corral all of its
life. First, more than 45 years ago,
it was Corral Burgers. Looking at the shape of the building will take you
back to the car hops and rootbeer or the 1950’s Rock n Roll movies. It is a classic old drive in
(semi-circular shaped) building that you just expect to see a car hop come
out of on roller skates. For the last 35 years, however, it has been
the Corral Drive-in Dry Cleaners. The
current owner has owned the building for 25 years. |
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Alta Vista Avenue |
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St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School. The church across the street and this
school leave little doubt as to why the street to the south is named St.
Catherine Avenue. |
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St Catherine Avenue |
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Life Choices is a Women’s Clinic that has
been at this location for two years. |
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The Statue of Liberty is on the curb in
front of Virginia’s and the Fast Tax Refund. Virginia’s Beauty Salon has been here only a
short time. Little store fronts, this
one and the one next door have changed many times over the years according to
one of the beauticians. Twenty five
years ago, it was a beauty salon, she remembers, then a laundry mat. Fast Tax Refund is renting for the tax
season. |
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LLANTERA Arellano Tire Company has been a
tire company for two years, according to one of the gentleman bending over a
tire he was fixing. Previously, it
was a gas station. They have the tire baths and the stacks of
tires in the back. During the time we
were there, they were doing a brisk business. |
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St. Anne Avenue |
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Turk’s Fish and Chips has at least 4
varieties of fish as well as barbecue and hamburgers. They are famous for their cracker battered
cod according to the waitress. The
restaurant has been at this site for 30 years. Before that, it was a chinese restaurant. The current owners have owned Turk’s for 7
years. The feature that catches my
attention is the lack of windows – all of the walls are solid. We had lunch, Cod and a mountain of fries
that came with it. |
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Sue’s Fashions – School Uniforms is a new
building with exposed ductwork and silver covered insulation up at the
ceiling. You can tell how new it is
by all of the glass. Most of the
buildings we have been in have small windows or now windows. The parking lot is enclosed with a wrought
iron fence with a huge rolling gate. |
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St. Charles Avenue |
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A house at 6629 South Central Avenue. This is the only open yard in the
half-mile of central. What a
difference from the neighbor with the chain link fence and gate. |
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This house at 6645 South Phoenix was
completely surrounded by chain link and had a sliding gate. If we needed to talk to this family, we
would need to hang a message on the fence.
If the postman or the person from the Census comes to this house, they
have no way to reach this family. The
trade off seems to be safety for isolation.
This house is an island and is so different from the businesses along
the avenue. |
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The business on the northeast corner of
Central and Vineland is closed. The
high stucco wall is clean and gives no hint of the buildings previous
existence. The neighbor to the north
walls us out. We can not ask about
the people who once created their lives here. Did they move on to better or did they fail? |
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Vineyard |
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American Child Child Care is a storefront
with a high wall. Some daycare
facilities have open walls and it is fun to watch the children play. The children at this day care are hidden
behind the wall. |
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The Law Office was well kept with an
architectural style that looked more like Payson than South Phoenix. |
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Little Ceasar’s Pizza looks the same in this
neighborhood or any other around the United States. Some are cleaner or neater than others but they have their
identity. The presence of the major
chains usually affects a cohesive community.
The individual flavor of small town America is lost and the
neighborhood becomes gradually “anytown USA.” |
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Greenway Road |
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