Mike Padgett, Journalist, with more than 30 years experience in newspapers, mostly in Arizona. Received many writing awards. Currently focusing on literary journalism. Media experience includes:

• www.ArizonaNotebook.com: 2008 – present. Founder, writer and photographer.

• The Phoenix Business Journal: 1998-2006. Senior reporter.

• The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.: 1997. General assignment reporter.

• The Phoenix Gazette, Phoenix, Ariz.: 1987-1997. General assignment, features.

• The Mesa Tribune, Mesa, Ariz.: 1978-1987. Police, fire, courts and features beats.

In 1983, a horse named Crow was my ride to the top of the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix. My guide was riding his other horse, Ringo. 

My friend offered the ride to give me a high-altitude view of the desert. We followed a narrow game trail to the top of the mountain and back. In a few places, our horses slipped and sat down on the loose gravel and rock.

Years later, I looked back at that ride as a glimpse into the future. It occurred to me when I was flying in a helicopter over central Arizona, from Casa Grande to Chino Valley. I was writing about freeway construction, urban sprawl and the state’s water supplies. It was during those flights in helicopters, and once in a two-seater kit airplane, that I remembered seeing the future from the back of a palomino broomtail named Crow.

For more than 40 years, I have watched Phoenix and its suburbs march across the desert. The growth can be compared to an approaching storm or the first rays of a new dawn, depending on one’s perspective.

I arrived in central Arizona in 1968. I was transferred from the NATO base in Iceland to the public information office at Luke Air Force Base west of Glendale. Later, I graduated from Arizona State University. Over the next 30 years, I worked as a reporter for the Mesa Tribune, The Phoenix Gazette and The Phoenix Business Journal. I wrote about the light rail system, the expansion of the freeway network and the perennial efforts to redevelop the downtowns of Glendale, Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale and Phoenix.     

Since my early retirement in 2006, my Best Friend and I have been traveling. We have visited Australia, Ireland, Oregon, California, New Mexico, Texas, Washington state, and Southern Arizona’s Whetstone Mountains.

Arizona ranges from scorching deserts to evergreen mountains to deep, take-your-breath-away canyons. This state is resilient and fascinating. On this blog, I plan to tell you about new projects in the state’s high-growth regions. I’ll be chatting with architects, contractors, city planners, developers, business owners, homeowners and other noteworthy people. All have stories to share.

I hope to introduce you to some of my contacts. Several of them encouraged me to launch this blog.

I also hope to catch up with a few long-time residents whose links with Arizona’s history can help sharpen the business community’s collective focus for the future.

There are no maps showing the boundaries of this electronic media frontier, so your input and your ideas are welcome. Thank you.

Mike Padgett

(To avoid missing the latest news on www.ArizonaNotebook.com, sign up for convenient email alerts in the Feedburner box in the right rail. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose.)

(Comments from readers are moderated and will not appear until the administrator has approved them.)