100 South Mill Avenue

There were a few items that caught my eye today, somewhat interrelated. First, I was quite happy to have this editorial called to my attention:

New Monti’s plan a winner for all involved

Tribune Editorial

The Valley’s oldest continuously occupied building —and the airspace above it — has been saved from the bulldozer of progress. So we’d better get this right.The Tempe City Council on Thursday unanimously approved a high-rise development which will surround Monti’s La Casa Vieja, but will not attempt to suspend a 300-foot tower directly over the one-story adobe building, as had been proposed in August.We weren’t crazy about that approach to preserving the structure built on the bank of the then-flowing Salt River by Tempe founder Charles Trumbull Hayden in 1871, but understood the need to update the site, and the steakhouse that’s been there since 1956, to make them economically viable in the future.At the time, we challenged Tempe city officials to protect the old adobe house by coming up with the money to buy it and lease it back to owner Michael Monti, rather than relying on regulation or emotional appeals.They didn’t. But we’ve come out of this with a better plan, which puts the adobe structure at less risk for disintegration by backing the intent of developer 3W Cos. to build the towers away from it. We’re pleased at the unanimous council vote which effectively kills the legal protest filed by adjacent property owner U.S. Airways, allowing Monti to restore both the landmark and his business.

Subsequently I found a nice student-produced video of a hike up “A Butte”, more accurately known as Hayden Butte. The views in the video do a nice job of capturing the present moment, complete with the skeleton of the Avenue Communities Centerpoint project rising in the background. Those panoramas wll be substantially transformed yet again in just a few years. One detail not mentioned in the video is that the City authorities were kind enough to honor my dad i 1995 by naming the trail after him, as a homage to the decades that he and his coterie of friends hiked t on a daily basis.

Video: http://www.azcentral.com/travel/pics/amountainref.jpg

The Leonard Monti Trail in the Hayden Butte Preserve will lead you past a large panel of Hohokam rock art within easy walking distance of the trailhead. For more information on the preserve, visit the Hayden Butte Preserve page or call (480) 350-5200.

Finally, this piece laments the dwindling dude ranch business in our State. It struck a chord with me because my business, too, has had to face change and adapt. When you have been around for generations, your customers and your surroundings change. If you don’t plan for the future and adapt, you become extinct. Oldsmobile and Plymouth are gone; Cadillac is alive and well. There s a reason. You just can’t keep doing the same old things in a changing marketplace and expect better results.

Tucson Dude Ranch Industry Becoming Dud –Associated Press

January 7th, 2008 @ 4:43am

KTAR.COM: Another dude bit the dust in 2007.

Citing difficulty in sustaining a dude guest ranch, the owners of Lazy K Bar Guest Ranch in Marana have leased the property and changed its focus to a venue for weddings and corporate gatherings.

Its departure from the dude ranch scene leaves Tucson with just two spots where guests can check in, saddle up and play cowboy, or cowgirl.

[...]While some smaller ranch owners survived by letting their guests ride on vacant land around their property, Tucson’s growth boxed them in and the sight of rooftops discouraged some visitors, he said.

“Riding through people’s backyards is not the scene people wanted,” said True, who is also vice president of The Dude Ranchers’ Association, a national group.

Part of the dude ranch charm is that they are small, he said, but the operations still incur big-hotel costs such as offering gym facilities and full kitchens.

That, True said, is the bright side of the business.

“There won’t be a chain of Wal-Mart-style dude ranches moving in,” he said. “There’s no money in it.”

Although Tucson’s tourism image is always evolving, interest in the rustic West is still high, said Jonathan Walker, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau.

“The dude ranch and the Wild West culture is still an important part of what we are,” he said.[...]

Evans said encroachment was definitely part of Lazy K’s demise.

“Part of the appeal of a dude ranch is that it’s remote,” he said. “Lazy K is no longer remote.”

[T]he decision to relinquish the dude ranch part of the operation was difficult.“It’s sad for us,” Evans said. “Another dude dies.”