TO SOUTH PHOENIX,
METROPOLITAN PHOENIX,
AND THE GLOBAL VILLAGE,April 8, 2002 

THIS LETTER IS IN RESPONSE TO AN URBAN ANTHROPOLOGY COURSE INSTRUCTED BY DR. KOPTIUCH AT ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY WEST.THE OBJECTIVE OF THE COURSE "…INVOLVE[D] BOTH THE STUDY OF SOUTH PHOENIX, AND THE STUDY OF URBAN PROCESSES, PATTERNS, AND EVERYDAY PRACTICES IN SOUTH PHOENIX." 

HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES OF HOW WE SPENT OUR TIME.ON FEBRUARY 1^ST, WE SPENT THE DAY WITH HABITAT FOR HUMANITY AT SOUTH RANCH II.WE WERE INTRODUCED TO THE PROCESSES OF HOW THE ORGANIZATION IS ABLE TO PROVIDE AFFORDABLE HOUSING TO INDIVIDUALS WHO COMPLETE AND PASS THE APPLICATION PROCESS.  WE ALSO HELPED WITH THE LANDSCAPING AND ROOFING OF TWO HOMES.ON FEBRUARY 15^TH, WE MET AND DISCUSSED THE FUTURE OF SOUTH PHOENIX WITH DISTRICT 8's COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE MIKE JOHNSON.WE THEN HEARD FROM DEAN BRENNAN, A MEMBER OF THE CITY OF PHOENIX PLANNING DEPARTMENT.BRENNAN WAS ABLE TO GIVE US MORE OF THE SPECIFICS ABOUT ZONING AND OTHER URBAN PLANNING PROCESSES.ON MOST DAYS WE WERE GIVEN A FEW HOURS TO RESEARCH AREAS OF SOUTH PHOENIX THAT WERE OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO US.SOME OF US TALKED WITH RESIDENTS AND/OR BUSINESS OWNERS OF SOUTH PHOENIX TO GET THEIR VIEW ON THE CHANGES THAT ARE TAKING PLACE.OTHERS TOOK NOTICE TO THE NEWER HOUSING GOING UP, PARTICULARLY ALONG BASELINE ROAD.THE WHOLE CLASS TOOK PART IN THE DOCUMENTATION OF BUSINESSES ALONG CENTRAL AVENUE, SOUTH OF THE SALT RIVER BED.THE REMAINING PART OF THIS LETTER INVOLVES MY TAKE ON LEARNING FROM SOUTH PHOENIX. 

SOUTH PHOENIX MARKET
 CENTRAL & BROADWAY

MY GRANDPARENTS USED TO LIVE JUST EAST OF CENTRAL AVENUE ON SOUTHGATE. MY FATHER GREW UP IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, AND GRADUATED FROM SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL IN 1963. I REMEMBER GOING TO THE SOUTH PHOENIX MARKET WITH MY DAD AND THE TWENTY DOLLARS MY GRANDFATHER GAVE HIM TO BUY SODA, SLIM JIMS AND BEER. AT THE TIME I DIDN'T THINK OF THESE AS BEING SPECIAL OCCASIONS, BUT NOW, OVER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER, I FEEL DIFFERENTLY.I SUPPOSE I'M FEELING SORT OF NOSTALGIC; FOR THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE, FOR THE PEOPLE WHO USED TO LIVE THERE, AND FOR THE HOMES AND BUSINESSES THAT I HAVE A MEMORY FOR, THAT FOR NOW, ARE STILL THERE.

BEYOND THE BANKS

THE RIO SALADO PROJECT, INCLUDING THE "BEYOND THE BANKS" AREA OF THE RIVER, WILL NO DOUBT HAVE A TREMENDOUS EFFECT ON THIS URBAN LANDSCAPE. IN IMPERIALIST NOSTALGIA BY RENATO ROSALDO, THERE IS A DISCUSSION OF "SALVAGE ETHNOGRAPHY," THE PROCESS OF "RECORDING THE PRECIOUS CULTURE BEFORE IT DISAPPEARS FOREVER"(115). IN DOCUMENTING SOUTH PHOENIX IN GENERAL AND CENTRAL AVENUE IN PARTICULAR, I SENSE THE URGENCY, OR RAPIDITY OF CHANGE, AND, AS WAS MENTIONED BY PROFESSOR KOPTIUCH, MAYBE  WE ARE ATTRIBUTING TO THIS CHANGE BY PROVIDING A MORE POSITIVE IMAGE OF THE SOUTH-SIDE ON OUR WEBSITE.

ALTHOUGH AS A CHILD I WAS SOMEWHAT FAMILIAR WITH THIS AREA, GOING BACK AS AN ADULT WITH AN ADJUSTED SOCIOANTHROPOLOGICAL LENS PUT THINGS INTO A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE. AT TIMES MY OBSERVATIONS SEEMED MORE VOYEURISTIC THAN ACADEMIC. SUSAN PHILLIPS IN HER ESSAY MUSEUM ANTHROPOLOGY, WRITES ABOUT "CLASS PRIVILEGE" AND A "NEOCOLONIAL BENT...DRAWN TO AREAS DIFFERENT AND UNIQUE"(179). PERHAPS IN REMEMBERING OUR POSITION IN SOCIETY AND BY APPLYING AN EFFORT TO UNDERSTAND VARIOUS CULTURES, MAYBE A LITTLE EXOTICISM IS PERMISSIBLE. IN THIS GLOBAL VILLAGE THAT WE LIVE IN TODAY, MANY OF US EMBRACE HETEROGENEITY, OR DIVERSITY, IF FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN JUST WANTING SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM OURSELVES TO EXIST.CORYN ANDERSON, A CLASSMATE WRITES, "SOUTH PHOENIX IS FAMOUS FOR ITS INDIVIDUALITY AND DIVERSE CULTURE…,"WHICHREFERS TO THE GENTRIFICATION PROCESS THAT IS TAKING PLACE IN SOUTH PHOENIX AND HOW ITS DIVERSE CULTURAL ENVIRONMENT IS IN JEOPARDY.NICOLE KIST, ANOTHER CLASSMATE, WRITES ABOUT THIRD-WORLDING WITHIN THE FIRST WORLD.SHE ADDRESSES THE NATURE OF INEQUALITY AND HOW IT IS MANIFESTED IN CERTAIN AREAS OF SOUTH PHOENIX.IT CONJURES UP A TOUGH QUESTION; HOW DO WE ADDRESS THE ISSUES OF POVERTY WITHOUT DISRUPTING A PARTICULAR CULTURE'S WAY OF LIFE? 

SOUTH MOUNTAIN
    VILLAGE KIDS

SO, IN TIME, MAYBE I WILL BE UNABLE TO RECOGNIZE MUCH OF THE AREA I VISITED IN MY YOUNGER YEARS--BUT, I AM SURE THERE WILL BE WHISPERS OF FAMILIARITY HERE AND THERE. WHO KNOWS, MAYBE SOUTH PHOENIX MARKET WILL SURVIVE THIS RESTRUCTURING OF THE URBAN LANDSCAPE-AND ON MY WAY TO THE SALT RIVER BED, OOPS, I MEAN THE RIO SALADO, I CAN STOP IN AND BUY MY KIDS A SODA AND A SLIM JIM. 

THANK YOU SOUTH PHOENIX! 

TAKE CARE, 

KIM SMITH-DODSON
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY WEST
SPRING SEMESTER 2002