After Paul Sheldon set up a website for the Neighborhood Association I promised to take photos to provide visuals for the website. After delaying in true artistic fashion, I set out with my camera to capture images that repre-sent our neighborhood. First, there is our name, which means ¨beautiful earth" That must refer to the soil and the fact that Loma Linda was primarily farmland before it was housing. What we can still see is that our land is capable of lush and verdant flora, especially on the many flood-irrigated lots. Another big feature of the neighborhood is Piestewa Peak. It is not close enough to dominate, but is still a key form hovering on our horizon. I photographed a few of the unchanged post World War II homes that make up most of Loma Linda. Small, block, 2 bedroom, 1 bath, single carport homes with steel casement windows. Many homes have been added to, stuccoed, or have had the windows replaced. But there are still many fine examples in original condition. To me they almost have a dollhouse feel compare to the huge overbuilt houses of the suburbs. Our neighborhood was primarily built with what were called "starter homes" Such modest homes have not been in style in recent decades. But we may see a change in values as people reevaluate what really constitutes quality of life. Larger isn't always better. On 23rd street there are some truly distinctive homes including the ¨castle house" a 1927 winner of ¨The My Dream House Award" by the American Home Builders Association. It may be our most iconic home. There are other homes that date to the 30's, which can be identified by the narrower, vertical, wood frame windows. I photographed a beautiful one in the 2300 block of Mitchell. I also photographed some great corner windows, and an example of a typical addition where the carport was filled in. Those are easy to spot as the house is usually block or brick and the add-on is wood. I got a good shot of 2 houses next to each other that demonstrate our freedom with paint colors. I love how the neighborhood has become more and more colorful. In some places I am reminded of the houses of the fanciful Edward Scissorhands movie. Speaking of imaginative fun, my favorite architectural detailing in the neighborhood is the house of chimneys in the 3200 block of N. 21st street. They are a must-see for anyone who lives in Loma Linda.

Then there are still examples of the old-fashioned landscaping of the 50's. Big in my mind is that one type of juniper. I don't know what they are called but they are the ones that grow so round enough to take up much of your yard if allowed. Most are gone, but I found a great example. There are still homes with large full sized oleander hedges. I am not sure how much longer we will have them since 100% mortality is predicted due to an insect that we now have in the valley. But most of our oleanders are already gone due to homeowners who no longer want them. A lot the early landscapes were dominated by hedges of various types. I think people were able to show that they were caring for their homes by cutting grass and trimming hedges. Now there aren't so many perfect box shapes, but I found some good examples. Another plant that connects us to the past are the huge, and wonderful, Aleppo Pines. We don't have any streets like Pinchot, east of 24th st, but they still provide huge dots of green throughout Loma Linda. The best ones are almost always in yards that still receive flood irrigation. I predict that the water rights that give us access to SRP irrigation will eventually become big sellng features for home sales. Maybe even in the next few years. Not everyone has irrigation rights, but if you do it is worth it not to let it go dormant. Another plant that is rarely planted today is the statuesque palm trees of the past. The best example of those is the stately row in the 2200 block of Clarendon. Clarendon is special because there is a strip of green between the sidewalk and street. This is the perfect place for trees, which create a break from the sterile effect that too much pavement can have. Too bad we no longer have the strip of olive trees that used to grow down the center of 22nd street. Now that street is straight and wide-open which creates speeding temptations. The two speed-humps we recently installed have helped, but I would rather have the trees. I also took a picture of a huge tree carob tree, which is special for its sheer size. There is such a power, beauty and sense of time in really old trees. There are also quite a few trees that were pruned badly in the past. It's that type of pruning where all the branches are stubbed back to shapes that look like war amputations. Hopefully that pruning technique will die out, but there is still evidence of it. Most of the trees are dying or dead since that is what eventually happens to a tree that is pruned that way. I photographed an especially neat yard, an extremely lush yard and some very chaotic and creative takes on landscaping. I love examples of alternative landscaping. Some are virtually works of art. I even caught some landscapers in the process of removing grass and converting to gravel. This has been a very common change in the last 10 years. I also took snapshots of a colorful garage sale, Loma Linda Elementary's "We are a Performing School" banner, kids playing, dogs checking me out, and a boy on a skateboard.

I was quite proud to document a speed hump. We received 12 using funds from our second City of Phoenix Fightback grant in the late 90's. But we added 10 more in 2008 with funds given by developer Rich Baxter and the City of Phoenix. Kerry Wilcoxon, of Streets, told us that he had never seen a neighborhood that wanted speed humps more than we did. I see speed humps as a big visual sign that we are a neighborhood that cares. I also documented some trees planted in our 2000 Tree Planting program. Fightback Funds and Phoenix Urban Forestry paid for 219 trees that were provided to Loma Linda homeowners, the school and some perimeter businesses. All trees were planted in easements along front or side property lines.

I ended my walk along the western edge where I documented the canal, our little park, the freeway, and the bike trail. When the freeway went in so did a bike trail that goes from McDowell to Maryland. You can easily connect to the Biltmore and the Arizona Canal, which go from Glendale to Scottsdale. The bike trail goes directly past the business area of Camelback and 20th street. The other thing the freeway brought was public art. We have 3 "Freeway Pots" within our borders. The most visible one proudly stands guard on Osborn, just east of the #51. There are also two beautiful murals tucked under the McDowell Road freeway overpass. And there is the ambitious adobe adornment and column design that dominates the Thomas Road overpass area.

So, while I left the house thinking I would take just a few snapshots, it turned out to be much more of a project than I originally planned. Please check out the Loma Linda website where you will be able to view all the photos I took on my Loma Linda "walk about"