IRELAND TODAY: IT’S JUST over a year since Wall Street and its Irish cheerleaders chanted “We are where we are” while Main Street reeled. Since then, every wrong-headed, populist Government economic policy, every catastrophic failure of the Financial Regulator, every rampantly greedy, short-termist instinct of the financial institutions and builders/developers has been exposed…

A year ago, commentators were predicting something akin to the end of capitalism as we know it. Citizens were demanding humility, apologies, accountability, a purpose of amendment, radical reform, fewer tax breaks, an end to the bonus culture and a fairer share-out of the tax burden. So how is your head now, a year on? Still looking for other heads on plates?

There is a lot to rage against.

Only this week, headlines announced that banks are being “forced” to pay bonuses. But how long can a people sustain a condition of mass, impotent rage while remaining relatively sane and healthy? A few weeks ago, 1,200 people packed out the National Concert Hall at €25 a head to hear four journalists (“Four Angry Men”) give their scathing take on the culprits of the crash.

But when this reporter conducted a straw poll beforehand, it was evident that many people had moved on; they wanted to hear more about the future, less about the past. And yet, the bestseller lists are dominated by these men’s books. UK writers have produced similar works but failed to colonise the top five. So, clearly, Irish people continue to search for explanations – but what does that say about their state of mind?

In the past week, a broad-ranging social opinion poll, Ireland Today , conducted for this newspaper by Behaviour Attitudes, provided some answers – among them, the rather surprising one that the nation has indeed moved on. Emphatically so. That’s despite the fact that half the participants believe the economy will be in a worse state this time next year. Asked to name the biggest personal lessons learned from the recession, overwhelmingly and unprompted, they said they should have spent less and lived within their means.

Just one in eight said it had taught them to beware of poor government and corrupt politicians, and even fewer blamed bankers. As for arming themselves against future recession, the aim is self-reliance; save more, spend less. Just three in 100 will approach the next recession by looking beady-eyed at government and corrupt politicians; only two in 100 will focus on untrustworthy banks, the same number who plan to be positive and take one day at a time.

This was no surprise to Dr Pete Lunn, a behavioural economist with the ESRI and author of Basic Instincts: Human Nature and the New Economics. “It’s very rare, when we take the biggest economic decisions or purchase of our lives, to get direct feedback. We never know what would have happened, for example, if we had taken the other option . . . Psychologists would tell you that if you want learning to be quick, what you need is direct feedback and make it salient. And that’s what’s happened here. It’s taken the biggest recession in 70 years but a whole generation has got direct and salient feedback about their behaviour . . . Everyone’s got a whacking slap in the face.”

AND NO-ONE could accuse the survey respondents of being uninformed. Nearly two-thirds said they keep up with what’s going on in the business world. The same number pay more attention to the news than they did a year ago. Even more believe the recession here is worse than in most other European countries. Successive opinion poll results suggest that voters are doggedly intent on a change of government.

The survey’s finding that nearly 70 per cent have not had a pay cut or had their working hours reduced, though backed up by CSO figures, has met much quiet scepticism on the part of economists. Dr Lunn is one of the exceptions, saying it backs up solid evidence that for morale and productivity reasons, most company managers prefer to sack people than make pay cuts across the board.

The question of whether people are working longer, harder hours for the same pay was not addressed in the survey. Whatever the truth, the salient fact is that that some 800,000 people in this small country have seen someone in the household lose their job and one in five have had their hours reduced by an average of more than 40 per cent. Unsurprisingly, CSO figures reveal one in five households is in arrears.

Yet despite all that, three-quarters of those surveyed say they are content with their way of life. Even more impressively, 84 per cent believe Ireland needs to start believing in itself again.

Gerard O’Neill, chairman of Amárach Research, characterises this as “private contentment and public anguish”. It’s all about family, he says. “Family features massively in the Irish psyche. Irish satisfaction with family life is among the highest in Europe.”

That’s the private contentment. As for the public anguish, O’Neill suggests people are prepared to leave their warm homes to listen to the likes of Four Angry Men because they are seeking new channels through which to vent concern – and to find new ways to deal with uncertainty. “If you talk to charities, or look at the community response to the floods, people are rolling up their sleeves and coming together.”

But are we somewhat amnesiac when it comes to the axis of politicians, bankers and developers? “I don’t think people will forget what they’ve been through. They will carry huge levels of personal debt into the next decade in the form of negative equity, business loans, investments that went pear-shaped.” But remember, says O’Neill, “88 per cent of the workforce is still in employment, that’s something to keep in mind.”

Dr Maureen Gaffney, psychologist and chair of the National Economic and Social Forum (and currently writing a book on these matters) was another who wasn’t remotely surprised by the sense of positivity and desire to move on.

“The Irish are temperamentally cheerful, which is great,” she says, but we are in danger of being ground down by the pessimists.

“It’s an incredible tribute to our temperament that we are not so afflicted by all the pessimism around us. We have evidence on this ever since we started conducting polls on wellbeing and happiness; the Irish have consistently come out in the top four and that dipped only slightly in the last recession. The tragedy is that cometh the hour, cometh the pessimists and they are now the overwhelming voices.”

ISN’T THAT dangerously close to suggesting we stop analysing the forces that got us here or the high-stakes solutions on offer? “No, it’s not. In an evolutionary way, we need optimists and pessimists – and I don’t mean optimists in a Pollyanna way. We clearly do need that realistic assessment of the challenges, but we also need to believe there is a way to overcome them and that’s the way of learning, personal happiness, experimentation, economic prosperity. The evidence for this is overwhelming and while it’s appropriate to point the finger, it’s gone way too far . . . There is a whole other story about accountability and that one hasn’t been resolved. But where is this downward spiral going to end? The fact that people believe in the future isn’t surprising, but as many implications flow from that as from the doom-laden figures in the news.”

Dr Gaffney’s passion for the subject implies a scepticism on the part of others that psychology has a vital role to play in the nation’s recovery. Dr Lunn points out that the British treasury department just released a document by behavioural economists, outlining the lessons learned in recent years.

While he and Dr Gaffney might approach this from different angles, they are both adamant the psychology of human behaviour is as important as anything traditional economists might have to say. “We should be putting all our energies into finding ways to maintain this positive spirit because without that, we won’t be able to collectively keep going,” says Dr Gaffney. “I just think people are completely underestimating that you need a particular psychology to prosper . . . When you set out to do something, you have to believe you’re going to achieve it. The nature of a big challenge is that you don’t have all the information. You have to take a stance. The evidence is that the most fundamental thing to have is belief.”

Her frustration is palpable – and not only with the pessimists colonising the media. “The biggest, most serious lack facing this country now is that there is nobody at senior level in Irish society articulating a persuasive vision – that word is so overused – or scenario of the kind of Ireland that we can build. Nobody is totting up the things that are still right with us. Think of the people who have to deal with the most appalling personal adversity – in the face of the most awful challenges, you have to pick yourself up and begin again in a new way. Obviously, we have to know the pain ahead. But when was the last time you heard an account of what Ireland will be like in 2015, one that we can all relate to?”

Dr Gaffney detects a “huge hunger” out there for this persuasive vision. But who should articulate it? “It should be coming from political leaders on all sides of the House, from civic leaders, from anyone who has an influence on Irish society and opinion. We all have a responsibility.” So where does that leave the Four Angry Men and their ilk? “I think we should be drawing up a panel of optimistic women – no, okay, optimistic people,” she says with a wintry laugh. “And if I can’t get a panel together, I’ll do it myself.”

Article by KATHY SHERIDAN – Irish Times.

Ireland Property – Daft Property – http://daftproperty.blogspot.com

IRELAND TODAY: IT’S JUST over a year since Wall Street and its Irish cheerleaders chanted “We are where we are” while Main Street reeled. Since then, every wrong-headed, populist Government economic policy, every catastrophic failure of the Financial Regulator, every rampantly greedy, short-termist instinct of the financial institutions and builders/developers has been exposed…

A year ago, commentators were predicting something akin to the end of capitalism as we know it. Citizens were demanding humility, apologies, accountability, a purpose of amendment, radical reform, fewer tax breaks, an end to the bonus culture and a fairer share-out of the tax burden. So how is your head now, a year on? Still looking for other heads on plates?

There is a lot to rage against.

Only this week, headlines announced that banks are being “forced” to pay bonuses. But how long can a people sustain a condition of mass, impotent rage while remaining relatively sane and healthy? A few weeks ago, 1,200 people packed out the National Concert Hall at €25 a head to hear four journalists (“Four Angry Men”) give their scathing take on the culprits of the crash.

But when this reporter conducted a straw poll beforehand, it was evident that many people had moved on; they wanted to hear more about the future, less about the past. And yet, the bestseller lists are dominated by these men’s books. UK writers have produced similar works but failed to colonise the top five. So, clearly, Irish people continue to search for explanations – but what does that say about their state of mind?

In the past week, a broad-ranging social opinion poll, Ireland Today , conducted for this newspaper by Behaviour Attitudes, provided some answers – among them, the rather surprising one that the nation has indeed moved on. Emphatically so. That’s despite the fact that half the participants believe the economy will be in a worse state this time next year. Asked to name the biggest personal lessons learned from the recession, overwhelmingly and unprompted, they said they should have spent less and lived within their means.

Just one in eight said it had taught them to beware of poor government and corrupt politicians, and even fewer blamed bankers. As for arming themselves against future recession, the aim is self-reliance; save more, spend less. Just three in 100 will approach the next recession by looking beady-eyed at government and corrupt politicians; only two in 100 will focus on untrustworthy banks, the same number who plan to be positive and take one day at a time.

This was no surprise to Dr Pete Lunn, a behavioural economist with the ESRI and author of Basic Instincts: Human Nature and the New Economics. “It’s very rare, when we take the biggest economic decisions or purchase of our lives, to get direct feedback. We never know what would have happened, for example, if we had taken the other option . . . Psychologists would tell you that if you want learning to be quick, what you need is direct feedback and make it salient. And that’s what’s happened here. It’s taken the biggest recession in 70 years but a whole generation has got direct and salient feedback about their behaviour . . . Everyone’s got a whacking slap in the face.”

AND NO-ONE could accuse the survey respondents of being uninformed. Nearly two-thirds said they keep up with what’s going on in the business world. The same number pay more attention to the news than they did a year ago. Even more believe the recession here is worse than in most other European countries. Successive opinion poll results suggest that voters are doggedly intent on a change of government.

The survey’s finding that nearly 70 per cent have not had a pay cut or had their working hours reduced, though backed up by CSO figures, has met much quiet scepticism on the part of economists. Dr Lunn is one of the exceptions, saying it backs up solid evidence that for morale and productivity reasons, most company managers prefer to sack people than make pay cuts across the board.

The question of whether people are working longer, harder hours for the same pay was not addressed in the survey. Whatever the truth, the salient fact is that that some 800,000 people in this small country have seen someone in the household lose their job and one in five have had their hours reduced by an average of more than 40 per cent. Unsurprisingly, CSO figures reveal one in five households is in arrears.

Yet despite all that, three-quarters of those surveyed say they are content with their way of life. Even more impressively, 84 per cent believe Ireland needs to start believing in itself again.

Gerard O’Neill, chairman of Amárach Research, characterises this as “private contentment and public anguish”. It’s all about family, he says. “Family features massively in the Irish psyche. Irish satisfaction with family life is among the highest in Europe.”

That’s the private contentment. As for the public anguish, O’Neill suggests people are prepared to leave their warm homes to listen to the likes of Four Angry Men because they are seeking new channels through which to vent concern – and to find new ways to deal with uncertainty. “If you talk to charities, or look at the community response to the floods, people are rolling up their sleeves and coming together.”

But are we somewhat amnesiac when it comes to the axis of politicians, bankers and developers? “I don’t think people will forget what they’ve been through. They will carry huge levels of personal debt into the next decade in the form of negative equity, business loans, investments that went pear-shaped.” But remember, says O’Neill, “88 per cent of the workforce is still in employment, that’s something to keep in mind.”

Dr Maureen Gaffney, psychologist and chair of the National Economic and Social Forum (and currently writing a book on these matters) was another who wasn’t remotely surprised by the sense of positivity and desire to move on.

“The Irish are temperamentally cheerful, which is great,” she says, but we are in danger of being ground down by the pessimists.

“It’s an incredible tribute to our temperament that we are not so afflicted by all the pessimism around us. We have evidence on this ever since we started conducting polls on wellbeing and happiness; the Irish have consistently come out in the top four and that dipped only slightly in the last recession. The tragedy is that cometh the hour, cometh the pessimists and they are now the overwhelming voices.”

ISN’T THAT dangerously close to suggesting we stop analysing the forces that got us here or the high-stakes solutions on offer? “No, it’s not. In an evolutionary way, we need optimists and pessimists – and I don’t mean optimists in a Pollyanna way. We clearly do need that realistic assessment of the challenges, but we also need to believe there is a way to overcome them and that’s the way of learning, personal happiness, experimentation, economic prosperity. The evidence for this is overwhelming and while it’s appropriate to point the finger, it’s gone way too far . . . There is a whole other story about accountability and that one hasn’t been resolved. But where is this downward spiral going to end? The fact that people believe in the future isn’t surprising, but as many implications flow from that as from the doom-laden figures in the news.”

Dr Gaffney’s passion for the subject implies a scepticism on the part of others that psychology has a vital role to play in the nation’s recovery. Dr Lunn points out that the British treasury department just released a document by behavioural economists, outlining the lessons learned in recent years.

While he and Dr Gaffney might approach this from different angles, they are both adamant the psychology of human behaviour is as important as anything traditional economists might have to say. “We should be putting all our energies into finding ways to maintain this positive spirit because without that, we won’t be able to collectively keep going,” says Dr Gaffney. “I just think people are completely underestimating that you need a particular psychology to prosper . . . When you set out to do something, you have to believe you’re going to achieve it. The nature of a big challenge is that you don’t have all the information. You have to take a stance. The evidence is that the most fundamental thing to have is belief.”

Her frustration is palpable – and not only with the pessimists colonising the media. “The biggest, most serious lack facing this country now is that there is nobody at senior level in Irish society articulating a persuasive vision – that word is so overused – or scenario of the kind of Ireland that we can build. Nobody is totting up the things that are still right with us. Think of the people who have to deal with the most appalling personal adversity – in the face of the most awful challenges, you have to pick yourself up and begin again in a new way. Obviously, we have to know the pain ahead. But when was the last time you heard an account of what Ireland will be like in 2015, one that we can all relate to?”

Dr Gaffney detects a “huge hunger” out there for this persuasive vision. But who should articulate it? “It should be coming from political leaders on all sides of the House, from civic leaders, from anyone who has an influence on Irish society and opinion. We all have a responsibility.” So where does that leave the Four Angry Men and their ilk? “I think we should be drawing up a panel of optimistic women – no, okay, optimistic people,” she says with a wintry laugh. “And if I can’t get a panel together, I’ll do it myself.”

Article by KATHY SHERIDAN – Irish Times.

Ireland Property – Daft Property – http://daftproperty.blogspot.com

A prestigious, beautiful neighborhood full of spectacular houses and character located in the well established North Central Phoenix.

Rancho Solano is a small community in North Central Phoenix, part of the extension of the original Orangewood subdivision developed by W.J. Murphy. 

It’s the only neighborhood which has pavers for a side walk along Central Ave which make riding a bike quite a vibrating experience.  This is where trees take precedence over streets and where art sits on front lawns.

This is a very beautiful neighborhood of about 90 homes.  It’s characterized by large lots; most are 20,000 s.f. or larger and many are up to an acre; the lawns are green with lush well manicured grass.  You won’t see any two story homes.  It’s bordered by Central Ave., 7th Ave. and Bethany Home then south near Missouri.

Most homes are large ranch homes with individual architectural details like colonial, classical and empire.   They are all single story homes built as early as 1939 and some just a few years old.  Some have been updated but the homes which best fit in are updated homes that retain their original character but have all the amenities for modern living.

There are quaint historic style street lamps along the roads instead of the standard city lights.  These add some individuality to the neighborhood.  

It is an amazing neighbohrood with front porches, social gatherings, parades, and book clubs: lovely.

What is most attractive about Rancho Solano:

• Beautiful architecturally pleasing homes.
• Huge grass covered lots.
• Mature landscaping.
• Well maintained streets.
• Superb location along the Central Corridor.
• Close to Midtown and Downtown Phoenix.

See Also

• North Central Phoenix
  About it, homes for sale and neighbohrood profiles.
• Search the entire MLS for homes
  All homes for sale
• Central Phoenix Realtors
  About us.

A prestigious, beautiful neighborhood full of spectacular houses and character located in the well established North Central Phoenix.

Rancho Solano is a small community in North Central Phoenix, part of the extension of the original Orangewood subdivision developed by W.J. Murphy. 

It’s the only neighborhood which has pavers for a side walk along Central Ave which make riding a bike quite a vibrating experience.  This is where trees take precedence over streets and where art sits on front lawns.

This is a very beautiful neighborhood of about 90 homes.  It’s characterized by large lots; most are 20,000 s.f. or larger and many are up to an acre; the lawns are green with lush well manicured grass.  You won’t see any two story homes.  It’s bordered by Central Ave., 7th Ave. and Bethany Home then south near Missouri.

Most homes are large ranch homes with individual architectural details like colonial, classical and empire.   They are all single story homes built as early as 1939 and some just a few years old.  Some have been updated but the homes which best fit in are updated homes that retain their original character but have all the amenities for modern living.

There are quaint historic style street lamps along the roads instead of the standard city lights.  These add some individuality to the neighborhood.  

It is an amazing neighbohrood with front porches, social gatherings, parades, and book clubs: lovely.

What is most attractive about Rancho Solano:

• Beautiful architecturally pleasing homes.
• Huge grass covered lots.
• Mature landscaping.
• Well maintained streets.
• Superb location along the Central Corridor.
• Close to Midtown and Downtown Phoenix.

See Also

• North Central Phoenix
  About it, homes for sale and neighbohrood profiles.
• Search the entire MLS for homes
  All homes for sale
• Central Phoenix Realtors
  About us.

A park, curvilinear streets, single story homes, wide streets, a great history and a superb location are what make Country Club Park a great place.

While rich in history Country Club Park is a vibrant contemporary neighbohrood in the middle of a very dynamic urban city.

The district is locaed south of Thomas Rd. to Virginia, Dayton St. to Eigth St. The district was registered in January 1993. It is one of the later subdivisions with a period of significance from 1939 to 1946.

Country Club Park has a broad ranch of architectural styles and an evolution away from the prior revival period. What you’ll find here are Ranch homes, some Pueblo homes and some treats like a Arte Moderne style home by the park.

Below is a hiatory put together by: Historic Preservation Office of the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Services Department.

And, at the bottom you can view any homes for sale in Country Club Park.

"When first surveyed in 1867, the land that would be Country Club Park was known as the North half of the Northwest Quarter of Section 33, Township 2 North, Range 3 East of the Gila and Salt River Meridian Survey. This dry and rambling label fit the arid, Spartan land, which had been untouched by human presence since the middle of the 15th century. But things were soon to change.

In that same year of 1867, a prospector named Jack Swilling planted the seeds of modern-day Phoenix when he reconstructed the ancient canals abandoned by the Hohokam people, some 400 years before. Establishing himself along the north bank of the Salt River, Swilling began to irrigate the land, growing crops to supply the U.S. Army troops at Camp McDowell, 20 miles to the northeast.

Additional settlers quickly followed, and in 1870 the township of Phoenix was established and platted in a square mile grid. Activity increased as the canals were expanded and more acreage was brought under irrigation. The settlement of Phoenix began to supply the mining towns in the mountain ranges surrounding the Valley. In 1881, Phoenix was incorporated, and in 1889, the thriving city was designated as the Territorial Capital.

Only a year before, in the previous capital of Tucson, Charles H.C. Orme had filled a homestead patent that included the land upon which Country Club Place would be built. Land speculation in the Phoenix area became commonplace, with large blocks of real estate controlled by a small number of investors intending to resell for agricultural and residential development.

Orme held the land for only six months, then sold the northern half to Thomas W. Pemberton who, legend reports, had survived the Great Chicago fire of 1871 by wading in Lake Michigan throughout the night, his business records in hand. With his business safe and sold, Pemberton moved to Arizona with the intent of retiring to raise race horses on his new land.

Too active to retire, Pemberton became treasurer of the Phoenix Savings Bank And Trust (First Interstate), Treasurer of the Arizona Territory, and founder of the utility we know today as Arizona Public Service.

Even in the hands of an active entrepreneur, the future site of Country Club Park remained undeveloped. The early growth of Phoenix proceeded north as residents moved away from the flood plain of the Salt River. Channeled by the streetcar lines, development clustered along Center Street, now Central Avenue, expanding west as streetcar line spurs were added.

The city’s growth also was checked by the vagaries of the river’s flows. Periods of drought would frustrate development as the economy receded in response to the dwindling water. The year of 1902 marked a pivotal event for the Valley. Passage of the National Reclamation Act established federal programs that led to construction of the Roosevelt Dam in 1911.

Completion of the dam harnessed the waters of the Salt River, which in turn produced the initial wave of rapid growth and prosperity in the 1910′s for Phoenix and surrounding communities. The project also foreshadowed the role that the federal government would play in the continued growth of the city a role that would lead directly to the development of Country Club Park.

The year was 1939, and Phoenix was enjoying a third wave of new growth. The first wave, blunted by World War I, returned to crest in the 1920′s. Knocked back again by the Great Depression, growth would be restored by New Deal economics. Of particular impact in the area of housing were the programs sponsored by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

Create in 1934, the FHA was charged with rejuvenating the nation’s sagging housing industry. The federal agency encouraged and promoted home construction and ownership through the generous provisions of its loan insurance programs.

In return for these incentives, the FHA required that qualifying projects meet an array of standards designed to stabilize the housing market. Large projects were favored for their economics of scale and rapid impact on available housing. Uniformity in design and residential styles were promoted based on the prevailing theory that consistency in design would bolster value.

Still undeveloped, the Pemberton land was an excellent candidate for an FHA project. The parcel had passed to Pemberton’s daughter who in 1918 sold it to a Du Pont family heiress. Resisting all offers until 1937, Ecutheria L. Du Pont sold 30 acres to the City for the construction of North High School.

Two years later, the remaining parcels, bounded by Thomas Road, Virginia Avenue, Dayton and Seventh Streets was sold to the Aetna Investment Corporation, the original developers of country Club Park.

Consistent with FHA policies and standards, Country club Park was laid out with curved, non-through streets; three-way intersections; consistent building placement; and the focal point of the neighborhood, a 2-½ acre, and elliptical park. In short, Country Club Park was a model FHA community

Opening in October of 1939, the debut of Country Club Park coincided with the plunge of Europe into World War II. For the next two years, the development thrived despite the war as 50 percent of the lots were developed through speculative sales and the efforts of numerous builders. Country Club Park was one of the last large residential subdivisions in the city to be developed in this manner.

Before the projects’ completion, increased scrutiny by the FHA, teamed with the effects of war, would bring an end to conventional development for the remainder of the War years.

As with all other features, the architectural style of Country Club Park was dictated by the standards of the FHA. Simple, functional, and inexpensive, the Ranch Style home emerged as the predominant architectural style in Country Club Park In fact, various version of the Ranch Style home became the prototype for FHA construction and would dominate the landscape of the country over the next three decades.

Ranch styles would eventually account for 97 percent of the 142 homes within the Country Club Park subdivision. Complementing the French Provincial, California, and Transitional Ranch Styles are several examples of the Spanish Eclectic and Art Moderne Ranch Styles. Basic features and forms are common to most of these variations of the Ranch Style, although Art Modern Ranch homes are particularly distinct.

In general, they are one-story residences with low to medium pitched gable or hipped roofs, brick walls that are sometimes stuccoed. They also have metal-framed windows and often a porch over the entry or a broad eaves overhang to shade the entry walkway. The Spanish Colonial Ranch often has a hallmark red tiled roof, white stucco walls and a massive stucco or brick chimney stack. With America’s entry into the war in 1941, the construction of homes across the nation was dramatically curtailed.

But intervention by the federal government once again would counter the natural economic downturn to the benefit of the Valley. Safe from coastal attack, Phoenix was considered an excellent site for the location of war production plants. Sic additional military facilities were located in the Valley, giving rise to the need for housing.

All "non-essential" construction was halted, and development was put under direction of the War Production Board (WPB) with the interaction of three other federal agencies. Local businessmen formed the Eureka Investment Company to continue the development of Country Club Park under the auspices of the WPB.

Still attempting to honor the uniformity sought by FHA guidelines, the architectural firm of Lescher and Mahoney was retained to match the style of existing residences and plan of Country Club Park. Despite the limitations posed by wartime rationing, the substitution of materials allowed for construction of modest homes with only minor architectural adjustments.

By the end of the war, in 1946, the subdivision of Country Club Park was complete – only seven years since its inception. With its roots in the pioneer West, the Country Club Park neighborhood transcends time to tell the story of wartime America. Its form, its style, and the materials that comprise it speak of that spirit and ingenuity of a national and the triumphs of its people through adversity."

Below are the homes currently for sale.  And you can explore the other districts on our very comprehensive historic neighborhoods page.

See Also

• The Historic Districts of Phoenix
  in detail with photos, history and homes for sale.
• Coronado Historic District
  Coronado is located just to the south of Country Club Park

A park, curvilinear streets, single story homes, wide streets, a great history and a superb location are what make Country Club Park a great place.

While rich in history Country Club Park is a vibrant contemporary neighbohrood in the middle of a very dynamic urban city.

The district is locaed south of Thomas Rd. to Virginia, Dayton St. to Eigth St. The district was registered in January 1993. It is one of the later subdivisions with a period of significance from 1939 to 1946.

Country Club Park has a broad ranch of architectural styles and an evolution away from the prior revival period. What you’ll find here are Ranch homes, some Pueblo homes and some treats like a Arte Moderne style home by the park.

Below is a hiatory put together by: Historic Preservation Office of the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Services Department.

And, at the bottom you can view any homes for sale in Country Club Park.

"When first surveyed in 1867, the land that would be Country Club Park was known as the North half of the Northwest Quarter of Section 33, Township 2 North, Range 3 East of the Gila and Salt River Meridian Survey. This dry and rambling label fit the arid, Spartan land, which had been untouched by human presence since the middle of the 15th century. But things were soon to change.

In that same year of 1867, a prospector named Jack Swilling planted the seeds of modern-day Phoenix when he reconstructed the ancient canals abandoned by the Hohokam people, some 400 years before. Establishing himself along the north bank of the Salt River, Swilling began to irrigate the land, growing crops to supply the U.S. Army troops at Camp McDowell, 20 miles to the northeast.

Additional settlers quickly followed, and in 1870 the township of Phoenix was established and platted in a square mile grid. Activity increased as the canals were expanded and more acreage was brought under irrigation. The settlement of Phoenix began to supply the mining towns in the mountain ranges surrounding the Valley. In 1881, Phoenix was incorporated, and in 1889, the thriving city was designated as the Territorial Capital.

Only a year before, in the previous capital of Tucson, Charles H.C. Orme had filled a homestead patent that included the land upon which Country Club Place would be built. Land speculation in the Phoenix area became commonplace, with large blocks of real estate controlled by a small number of investors intending to resell for agricultural and residential development.

Orme held the land for only six months, then sold the northern half to Thomas W. Pemberton who, legend reports, had survived the Great Chicago fire of 1871 by wading in Lake Michigan throughout the night, his business records in hand. With his business safe and sold, Pemberton moved to Arizona with the intent of retiring to raise race horses on his new land.

Too active to retire, Pemberton became treasurer of the Phoenix Savings Bank And Trust (First Interstate), Treasurer of the Arizona Territory, and founder of the utility we know today as Arizona Public Service.

Even in the hands of an active entrepreneur, the future site of Country Club Park remained undeveloped. The early growth of Phoenix proceeded north as residents moved away from the flood plain of the Salt River. Channeled by the streetcar lines, development clustered along Center Street, now Central Avenue, expanding west as streetcar line spurs were added.

The city’s growth also was checked by the vagaries of the river’s flows. Periods of drought would frustrate development as the economy receded in response to the dwindling water. The year of 1902 marked a pivotal event for the Valley. Passage of the National Reclamation Act established federal programs that led to construction of the Roosevelt Dam in 1911.

Completion of the dam harnessed the waters of the Salt River, which in turn produced the initial wave of rapid growth and prosperity in the 1910′s for Phoenix and surrounding communities. The project also foreshadowed the role that the federal government would play in the continued growth of the city a role that would lead directly to the development of Country Club Park.

The year was 1939, and Phoenix was enjoying a third wave of new growth. The first wave, blunted by World War I, returned to crest in the 1920′s. Knocked back again by the Great Depression, growth would be restored by New Deal economics. Of particular impact in the area of housing were the programs sponsored by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

Create in 1934, the FHA was charged with rejuvenating the nation’s sagging housing industry. The federal agency encouraged and promoted home construction and ownership through the generous provisions of its loan insurance programs.

In return for these incentives, the FHA required that qualifying projects meet an array of standards designed to stabilize the housing market. Large projects were favored for their economics of scale and rapid impact on available housing. Uniformity in design and residential styles were promoted based on the prevailing theory that consistency in design would bolster value.

Still undeveloped, the Pemberton land was an excellent candidate for an FHA project. The parcel had passed to Pemberton’s daughter who in 1918 sold it to a Du Pont family heiress. Resisting all offers until 1937, Ecutheria L. Du Pont sold 30 acres to the City for the construction of North High School.

Two years later, the remaining parcels, bounded by Thomas Road, Virginia Avenue, Dayton and Seventh Streets was sold to the Aetna Investment Corporation, the original developers of country Club Park.

Consistent with FHA policies and standards, Country club Park was laid out with curved, non-through streets; three-way intersections; consistent building placement; and the focal point of the neighborhood, a 2-½ acre, and elliptical park. In short, Country Club Park was a model FHA community

Opening in October of 1939, the debut of Country Club Park coincided with the plunge of Europe into World War II. For the next two years, the development thrived despite the war as 50 percent of the lots were developed through speculative sales and the efforts of numerous builders. Country Club Park was one of the last large residential subdivisions in the city to be developed in this manner.

Before the projects’ completion, increased scrutiny by the FHA, teamed with the effects of war, would bring an end to conventional development for the remainder of the War years.

As with all other features, the architectural style of Country Club Park was dictated by the standards of the FHA. Simple, functional, and inexpensive, the Ranch Style home emerged as the predominant architectural style in Country Club Park In fact, various version of the Ranch Style home became the prototype for FHA construction and would dominate the landscape of the country over the next three decades.

Ranch styles would eventually account for 97 percent of the 142 homes within the Country Club Park subdivision. Complementing the French Provincial, California, and Transitional Ranch Styles are several examples of the Spanish Eclectic and Art Moderne Ranch Styles. Basic features and forms are common to most of these variations of the Ranch Style, although Art Modern Ranch homes are particularly distinct.

In general, they are one-story residences with low to medium pitched gable or hipped roofs, brick walls that are sometimes stuccoed. They also have metal-framed windows and often a porch over the entry or a broad eaves overhang to shade the entry walkway. The Spanish Colonial Ranch often has a hallmark red tiled roof, white stucco walls and a massive stucco or brick chimney stack. With America’s entry into the war in 1941, the construction of homes across the nation was dramatically curtailed.

But intervention by the federal government once again would counter the natural economic downturn to the benefit of the Valley. Safe from coastal attack, Phoenix was considered an excellent site for the location of war production plants. Sic additional military facilities were located in the Valley, giving rise to the need for housing.

All "non-essential" construction was halted, and development was put under direction of the War Production Board (WPB) with the interaction of three other federal agencies. Local businessmen formed the Eureka Investment Company to continue the development of Country Club Park under the auspices of the WPB.

Still attempting to honor the uniformity sought by FHA guidelines, the architectural firm of Lescher and Mahoney was retained to match the style of existing residences and plan of Country Club Park. Despite the limitations posed by wartime rationing, the substitution of materials allowed for construction of modest homes with only minor architectural adjustments.

By the end of the war, in 1946, the subdivision of Country Club Park was complete – only seven years since its inception. With its roots in the pioneer West, the Country Club Park neighborhood transcends time to tell the story of wartime America. Its form, its style, and the materials that comprise it speak of that spirit and ingenuity of a national and the triumphs of its people through adversity."

Below are the homes currently for sale.  And you can explore the other districts on our very comprehensive historic neighborhoods page.

See Also

• The Historic Districts of Phoenix
  in detail with photos, history and homes for sale.
• Coronado Historic District
  Coronado is located just to the south of Country Club Park

How do you solve a problem like Clongriffin?

The bubble burst leaving the new north Dublin suburb in the lurch. Now designers and architects are figuring out what can be done to create a sense of community…

SO WHAT do you do with a place that’s merely a fragment of what was planned? Clongriffin, on the north fringe of Dublin, was supposed to have a population of 30,000 to 40,000, with all the communal facilities they would need. But construction ground to a halt when the bubble burst, leaving the area’s residents high and dry.

Enter Designing Dublin, a unique initiative by Design 21st Century, founded by Jean Byrne and Jim Dunne, who are both members of the Crafts Council of Ireland with backgrounds in business. Dunne was inspired by an exhibition at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art about how design could address current challenges.

They brought in Vannesa Ahuactzin, a young American architect who did a year’s programme at the Institute Without Boundaries in Toronto, which specialises in design innovation and inter-professional collaboration.

“We see the designer as a problem solver with the ability to effect positive change for humanity,” says its website.

The outcome was Designing Dublin: learning to learn , a pilot project to show how it’s possible to bring together people from different backgrounds to work together intensively for three months – an experience that would be transformational for them and “could transform this country in the next five years”, according to Jean Byrne.

“A lot of people are now volunteering to work overseas, but we need to get things done here as well. Unemployed architects and engineers could get involved in this kind of work all over the country, building and shaping a whole new way of doing things. If we could get even 10 per cent of those unemployed, it could really transform Ireland.”

With the support of Dublin city manager John Tierney and former Accenture chairman Terry Neill, who’s now on the board of CRH plc, the project developed legs. More than 100 people applied to take part, and 17 – divided equally between the public and private sectors – were selected following the personal ordeal of a day-long interview.

The chosen theme of the project was to “find the hidden potential of place”, and the challenge was to apply this to Clongriffin, a place that barely exists. Apart from all the new apartments, its main “boulevard” has just five businesses operating – a Chinese takeaway, an off-licence, a chemist, a hairdressing salon and (what else?) a Centra.

All of the remaining retail units are vacant, giving the boulevard a desolate air. “We realised there was a lot of wastage in this country during the Celtic Tiger years,” says Vannesa. “So in working on Clongriffin, we wanted to see what is there to tap into, to engage residents in taking ownership of area, make it more interesting.”

The 17-strong project team, ranging in age from 21 to 53, set about trying to understand the place by talking to the people who live there. Not surprisingly in a new area, many of them felt isolated – but many were also keen to get involved in building a community spirit, especially as they are now pretty well locked into living in Clongriffin.

Working with kids (no less than 13 nationalities are represented there) in the two prefab schools, the team gave them a series of images of things in the area, asked them to draw a picture of their favourite place, and ended up with a series of paintings that were put on exhibition in a vacant shop which was turned into a café for a day.

“We only had Thermos flasks and paper mugs, but it was very, very successful,” Jean recalls. “Parents came along, of course, and even curious teenagers walked in and started participating. In no time we had all these conversations going about what they’d like to see happening in Clongriffin.”

One thing the locals are very proud of is Father Collins Park, which Dublin City Council opened last May, with five wind turbines to generate electricity.

At 52 acres, roughly twice the area of St Stephen’s Green, it was designed by Argentinian architects Abelleyro + Romero, who won an open competition for the €20 million project in 2003.

“The park is a huge asset, people are really inspired by it so that’s very good at building optimism,” says Vannesa. But the Designing Dublin team found that the children also wanted access to “wild nature” – like the pond with swans in it half-way along an unfinished pathway to the coast. For them, this is a magical place.

One of the five projects selected for detailed study by a sub-group is to complete the missing link of 300 metres, so that Clongriffin residents can make use of the trail.

The aim is to get them directly involved in the project, even designing it themselves, so that the community will have a sense of ownership of this potentially important amenity.

Another project is called Hothouse – essentially, a community centre where people can meet. Prototype designs for this much-needed facility, on a site just south of Father Collins Park, are being worked up by local residents with the aid of four architectural technicians from the DIT School of Architecture. The final scheme might even be built.

Other projects include Grow Local, which aims to help budding entrepreneurs by providing space for them to develop their ideas, using one or other of the many vacant retail units as a base.

Gerry Gannon, who owns most of the development land in Clongriffin, is said to be sympathetic to the idea of making premises available.

Another sub-group is looking at Local Expression, which is essentially about enlivening the area and perhaps even transforming some of the areas of wasteland left over after the boom came to a sudden end. This might include painting hoardings around the sites and turning them into art objects, like the gable murals in Belfast.

Finally, residents felt there was a need for a “communications exchange” to let people know what’s going on.

They already have a website (www.clongriffinresidents.com) and big billboards packed with local information, but the more innovative ideas include messages in the sky, given that it’s visible on the approach to Dublin Airport.

End-of-project activities this Saturday from 11am to 9pm include a “60-minute makeover”, transforming an empty shop beside Centra on Clongriffin’s main street into a prototype community “hothouse”, an exhibition of models made by local children showing how they see the future, and to cap it all, an an “imagination celebration”.

Report Environment Editor FRANK McDONALD – Irish Times.

Ireland Property – Daft Property – http://daftproperty.blogspot.com

How do you solve a problem like Clongriffin?

The bubble burst leaving the new north Dublin suburb in the lurch. Now designers and architects are figuring out what can be done to create a sense of community…

SO WHAT do you do with a place that’s merely a fragment of what was planned? Clongriffin, on the north fringe of Dublin, was supposed to have a population of 30,000 to 40,000, with all the communal facilities they would need. But construction ground to a halt when the bubble burst, leaving the area’s residents high and dry.

Enter Designing Dublin, a unique initiative by Design 21st Century, founded by Jean Byrne and Jim Dunne, who are both members of the Crafts Council of Ireland with backgrounds in business. Dunne was inspired by an exhibition at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art about how design could address current challenges.

They brought in Vannesa Ahuactzin, a young American architect who did a year’s programme at the Institute Without Boundaries in Toronto, which specialises in design innovation and inter-professional collaboration.

“We see the designer as a problem solver with the ability to effect positive change for humanity,” says its website.

The outcome was Designing Dublin: learning to learn , a pilot project to show how it’s possible to bring together people from different backgrounds to work together intensively for three months – an experience that would be transformational for them and “could transform this country in the next five years”, according to Jean Byrne.

“A lot of people are now volunteering to work overseas, but we need to get things done here as well. Unemployed architects and engineers could get involved in this kind of work all over the country, building and shaping a whole new way of doing things. If we could get even 10 per cent of those unemployed, it could really transform Ireland.”

With the support of Dublin city manager John Tierney and former Accenture chairman Terry Neill, who’s now on the board of CRH plc, the project developed legs. More than 100 people applied to take part, and 17 – divided equally between the public and private sectors – were selected following the personal ordeal of a day-long interview.

The chosen theme of the project was to “find the hidden potential of place”, and the challenge was to apply this to Clongriffin, a place that barely exists. Apart from all the new apartments, its main “boulevard” has just five businesses operating – a Chinese takeaway, an off-licence, a chemist, a hairdressing salon and (what else?) a Centra.

All of the remaining retail units are vacant, giving the boulevard a desolate air. “We realised there was a lot of wastage in this country during the Celtic Tiger years,” says Vannesa. “So in working on Clongriffin, we wanted to see what is there to tap into, to engage residents in taking ownership of area, make it more interesting.”

The 17-strong project team, ranging in age from 21 to 53, set about trying to understand the place by talking to the people who live there. Not surprisingly in a new area, many of them felt isolated – but many were also keen to get involved in building a community spirit, especially as they are now pretty well locked into living in Clongriffin.

Working with kids (no less than 13 nationalities are represented there) in the two prefab schools, the team gave them a series of images of things in the area, asked them to draw a picture of their favourite place, and ended up with a series of paintings that were put on exhibition in a vacant shop which was turned into a café for a day.

“We only had Thermos flasks and paper mugs, but it was very, very successful,” Jean recalls. “Parents came along, of course, and even curious teenagers walked in and started participating. In no time we had all these conversations going about what they’d like to see happening in Clongriffin.”

One thing the locals are very proud of is Father Collins Park, which Dublin City Council opened last May, with five wind turbines to generate electricity.

At 52 acres, roughly twice the area of St Stephen’s Green, it was designed by Argentinian architects Abelleyro + Romero, who won an open competition for the €20 million project in 2003.

“The park is a huge asset, people are really inspired by it so that’s very good at building optimism,” says Vannesa. But the Designing Dublin team found that the children also wanted access to “wild nature” – like the pond with swans in it half-way along an unfinished pathway to the coast. For them, this is a magical place.

One of the five projects selected for detailed study by a sub-group is to complete the missing link of 300 metres, so that Clongriffin residents can make use of the trail.

The aim is to get them directly involved in the project, even designing it themselves, so that the community will have a sense of ownership of this potentially important amenity.

Another project is called Hothouse – essentially, a community centre where people can meet. Prototype designs for this much-needed facility, on a site just south of Father Collins Park, are being worked up by local residents with the aid of four architectural technicians from the DIT School of Architecture. The final scheme might even be built.

Other projects include Grow Local, which aims to help budding entrepreneurs by providing space for them to develop their ideas, using one or other of the many vacant retail units as a base.

Gerry Gannon, who owns most of the development land in Clongriffin, is said to be sympathetic to the idea of making premises available.

Another sub-group is looking at Local Expression, which is essentially about enlivening the area and perhaps even transforming some of the areas of wasteland left over after the boom came to a sudden end. This might include painting hoardings around the sites and turning them into art objects, like the gable murals in Belfast.

Finally, residents felt there was a need for a “communications exchange” to let people know what’s going on.

They already have a website (www.clongriffinresidents.com) and big billboards packed with local information, but the more innovative ideas include messages in the sky, given that it’s visible on the approach to Dublin Airport.

End-of-project activities this Saturday from 11am to 9pm include a “60-minute makeover”, transforming an empty shop beside Centra on Clongriffin’s main street into a prototype community “hothouse”, an exhibition of models made by local children showing how they see the future, and to cap it all, an an “imagination celebration”.

Report Environment Editor FRANK McDONALD – Irish Times.

Ireland Property – Daft Property – http://daftproperty.blogspot.com

Strikes no answer to crisis…

AT A time when social solidarity and a sense of personal responsibility are needed as never before, employees in the most protected sector of the economy have behaved selfishly. A one-day strike by a quarter of a million State workers – and the threat of more to come – has damaged our international reputation and made the task of economic recovery even more difficult. When all the rhetoric and special pleading by trade union leaders is stripped away, what is left is the unattractive face of mé féinism.

Public sector workers can argue they are not responsible for the recession and that they have already been forced to pay a pension levy. But their anger at the banking sector; at the Government’s mishandling of the situation and the various regulatory failures that contributed to our current difficulties is shared by workers in the private sector and does not exempt them from the tough fiscal actions that are now required to correct the public finances. Just as their colleagues in the flooded regions of the west and south continued to work yesterday in order to help threatened communities, they also have a duty of care to the citizens of this State. The threat posed to the future welfare of Irish society by a €25 billion shortfall in the public finances is as immediate and fundamental as the rising waters of the Shannon.

This is a time of national emergency. There is no point in vested interests demanding that others should carry the burden of financial repairs, while seeking immunity for themselves. Every individual and group should be required to contribute according to their means. Next month’s budget will represent just the first step in an extended recovery programme that will, inevitably, involve reform of the taxation base and a restructuring of the State’s public services.

The Government and the main Opposition parties have acknowledged the need for a €4 billion cut in public spending next year. And while they disagree on how those savings might be achieved, they accept it will be necessary if public debt is not to spiral out of control. The Government plans to save one-third of this amount on the public pay and pensions bill. It has invited public sector unions to discuss the issues today. For their part, union leaders have offered to consider changes in work practices and reductions in numbers. They have urged delay in repairing the public finances. And they have threatened further industrial action if pay cuts are imposed. On the face of it, it would seem impossible for the Government to achieve its proposed savings without confrontation.

Strike action solves nothing. It sows the seeds of division at a time when we need to work together. It is being used here to defend the existing pay and conditions of a privileged group of workers. If the Government backs off, additional cuts in services and welfare benefits will be required. The most vulnerable sections of society will be affected. That would be neither equitable nor fair in current circumstances. If social partnership means anything, it should involve discipline and responsibility. This will be its ultimate test.

Report – Irish Times

Ireland Property – Daft Property – http://daftproperty.blogspot.com

Strikes no answer to crisis…

AT A time when social solidarity and a sense of personal responsibility are needed as never before, employees in the most protected sector of the economy have behaved selfishly. A one-day strike by a quarter of a million State workers – and the threat of more to come – has damaged our international reputation and made the task of economic recovery even more difficult. When all the rhetoric and special pleading by trade union leaders is stripped away, what is left is the unattractive face of mé féinism.

Public sector workers can argue they are not responsible for the recession and that they have already been forced to pay a pension levy. But their anger at the banking sector; at the Government’s mishandling of the situation and the various regulatory failures that contributed to our current difficulties is shared by workers in the private sector and does not exempt them from the tough fiscal actions that are now required to correct the public finances. Just as their colleagues in the flooded regions of the west and south continued to work yesterday in order to help threatened communities, they also have a duty of care to the citizens of this State. The threat posed to the future welfare of Irish society by a €25 billion shortfall in the public finances is as immediate and fundamental as the rising waters of the Shannon.

This is a time of national emergency. There is no point in vested interests demanding that others should carry the burden of financial repairs, while seeking immunity for themselves. Every individual and group should be required to contribute according to their means. Next month’s budget will represent just the first step in an extended recovery programme that will, inevitably, involve reform of the taxation base and a restructuring of the State’s public services.

The Government and the main Opposition parties have acknowledged the need for a €4 billion cut in public spending next year. And while they disagree on how those savings might be achieved, they accept it will be necessary if public debt is not to spiral out of control. The Government plans to save one-third of this amount on the public pay and pensions bill. It has invited public sector unions to discuss the issues today. For their part, union leaders have offered to consider changes in work practices and reductions in numbers. They have urged delay in repairing the public finances. And they have threatened further industrial action if pay cuts are imposed. On the face of it, it would seem impossible for the Government to achieve its proposed savings without confrontation.

Strike action solves nothing. It sows the seeds of division at a time when we need to work together. It is being used here to defend the existing pay and conditions of a privileged group of workers. If the Government backs off, additional cuts in services and welfare benefits will be required. The most vulnerable sections of society will be affected. That would be neither equitable nor fair in current circumstances. If social partnership means anything, it should involve discipline and responsibility. This will be its ultimate test.

Report – Irish Times

Ireland Property – Daft Property – http://daftproperty.blogspot.com