Simpson Stump February 2024

Communities Matter. Community Matters.

Hoping everyone had a great holiday season. It’s back to business around here. 

First up: The annual Neighborhood Garage Sale. Yup. It’s back to the original first weekend in March by popular demand. As always, we will be pulling together a map of participating addresses. To be included on the map please reach out to us with details via email or message in the Facebook Group. We will be advertising online via Facebook, Nextdoor, and on AZCentral. There will also be the orange Neighborhood signs on the main roads but feel free to add your own signs to draw more folks into the neighborhood. 

Next up: The GAIN potluck event. This year we are trying something new. Instead of holding this event in the potentially blazing month of October we are having this in the more temperate month of March. March 9th to be exact. We will be shutting down Luke Ave between 19th Drive and 20th Drive. We’ll have all the Grant purchased items including things like window locks, indoor light timers, bike locks, motion lights, flashlights, tshirts, and more to give away to neighbors. Giveaway items are first come first serve. Not enough incentive? By popular demand we will also have a bouncy castle for the kiddos, face painting, and balloon art made in front of you. This event will include potluck food provided by neighbors so bring a dish to share and come enjoy a little time with your neighbors.  

Finally: Anyone who’s walked or driven down some of our main roads in the neighborhood have noticed the litter is beginning to pile up. It is time to gather some neighbors and spend an hour picking up trash April 6th. We have not had one of these street pick up events since pre COVID. We will provide trash bags/buckets, grabbers, and a rally point to start from. Then we will go spend roughly an hour picking up litter off the street before heading off to your regularly scheduled weekend activities. 

19th Avenue Community Safety Plan

The equipment and services for the 19th Ave CSP are still getting set up, but are starting to have an impact. Several stolen vehicles have been recovered, and work on encampments and blight along the major streets is ongoing. We ask that you continue to report any blight and safety issues you see through MyPHX311 to get attention to areas it is needed. It will probably be summer before everything is in place, but hoping we will start to see some visible improvement soon (and we will share statistics at our meetings as those become available as well).

Neighborhood Updates

A few updates on buildings around Simpson. The Dispensary planned for the old Recovery Room near Bethany Home and 21st Avenue is currently no long in progress.  All their variances and permits have expired, and the previous company has merged with another. We’re working with the city to make sure the building is maintained in a secure fashion until more plans develop.

And a small update for Christown Mall. The overall development is still slowly working its way through the review and approval process. In the meantime, Five Below looks like it will be open very soon, and Hobby Lobby not too long after that. The Apartment buildings planned along Montebello (facing Solano Park) are still in the works, with traffic studies and site plans currently in review by the city. The construction fence at that location is for Wal-Mart’s renovation, and I’m hoping that vacant lot will start to become something after that.

And lastly, a small update on Solano Park. As part of the Community Safety Plan, the tug of war for the park activities and safety is underway. The last few weeks the park has looked significantly improved, with the new Pickleball Courts and Skate Park being used, as well as the soccer field and playgrounds.  We’ve seen some success like this before, but hoping there’s enough momentum to keep the improvements going this time.

Community Updates

As there are always things going on in a neighborhood and city this size, here are the ones coming up in the next few months:

Upcoming Events

• Next Neighborhood Meeting will be February 20th @ 6:30 pm - Choice Learning Academy Auditorium (5339 N. 23rd Ave, park in the lot along 23rd).

• Neighborhood Yard Sale March 2nd 2024

• GAIN Event March 9th 2024

• Litter Pick Up April 6th 2024 @ 8am - 1944 W Luke Ave will be the rally point TBD on what stretch of street will get attention 

Get Involved

Volunteer Opportunities abound especially now that we have funding and additional administrative overhead. The time needed for either of these roles should be roughly a couple of hours a month and could easily be done nights and weekends to accommodate busy life/work schedules. 

• Volunteers to assist as a treasurer. This person will help manage the Grant funds. 

• Volunteers to assist as a secretary willing to help coordinate future newsletters, record minutes, and assist with website updates. 

Follow Us

Look for Simpson Neighborhood Group on Facebook or join Nextdoor for additional online interactions. 

Thanks

And we wanted to thank the Phoenix Block Watch Program and their grant funding for allowing us to distribute these newsletter!