Living Scottsdale’s Shea Corridor

10/07/2026

Paige Productions Youth Theater is presenting an original play written by a 15-year-old this fall.

👇Read the full story in the comments below

09/26/2026

Big changes coming to the McCormick Ranch lakefront

The longtime office property at Scottsdale Rd. + McCormick Pkwy. is being redeveloped into The Lakefront at Scottsdale, with restaurants, retail and office space planned.

Already announced: La La Land Kind Cafe, V Modern Italian and Sushisamba.

We love seeing spaces along the corridor become places the community can actually use and enjoy.

McCormick Ranch neighbors, what would you like to see here?

Great update from Anne Ryman at ABC15 below 👇

A building that has anchored McCormick Ranch since 1978 is being redeveloped into a mix of office, retail and restaurant space.

09/22/2026

📣 Speaking at tonight’s SUSD public hearing? Make your two minutes count.

September 22 at 6:00 PM
Desert Mountain High School Auditorium
12575 E. Via Linda

Speaker details:

* Attend in person and arrive early to sign in.
* Each speaker gets two minutes; time cannot be transferred.
* The Board will listen tonight but will not vote. Closures and boundary changes are scheduled for consideration on October 6.

Options:

* 1/A: Move Cheyenne Traditional to Copper Ridge; move Laguna Prep and Redfield to Cheyenne.
* 2/B: Create a K–8 Desert Canyon at Copper Ridge; close Laguna.
* 3/C: Close Copper Ridge and Laguna.

Boundary variations apply.
In your comments, name the option/model you support or oppose and make a specific request. Focus on student impact, boundaries, programs, capacity, transportation or finances.

Governing Board Memo: https://www.susd.org/our-district/district-committees/phase-ii-design-advisory-team

Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/live/tZOXPnaGjbY?is=vIHeEfdOlKcHPAM9

09/10/2026

This made me ridiculously happy.

I ordered some briskets at Rusty Nail Meats, I crossed the street to Lior the Baker to get Challahs, rugelach, and babka, and then when I went to pick up the meat I discovered that Flower to Table had opened right next to the butcher.

It’s a beautiful little shop filled with flowers, plants and thoughtfully curated nature inspired gifts, artistic floral photography and they feature Arizona-grown and local flowers whenever possible. I could have stayed all day in there!

This is the kind of easy neighborhood living I love: three local businesses, all right around Frank Lloyd Wright and Via Linda. I may never leave the Shea Corridor again.

📍 Rusty Nail Meats: 11162 N Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd.
📍 Flower to Table: 11162 N Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd.
📍 Lior the Baker: 10953 N Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd.

What locally owned Shea Corridor business should I visit next?

09/06/2026

I was leaving Mountainside Middle School when I locked eyes with the most popular girl on campus.

Farley. 🐾

Just casually rolling with her homies like she owns the place.

But behind this funny little moment is something I care deeply about.

Farley is one of four crisis canines serving students across SUSD. These dogs provide comfort on some of a child’s hardest days, the days when words may not be enough, but sitting beside a dog can help a child feel safe, supported and a little less alone.

It costs approximately $45,000 each year to sustain all four dogs throughout the district.

This cannot belong to one school, one PTO or one small group of donors. These dogs touch children and families across SUSD, which means sustaining them has to belong to all of us.

Our PTOs do incredible work for their individual campuses. The SUSD Foundation helps make districtwide programs like this possible. When our PTOs, families, community members and Foundation work together, we can support children far beyond the boundaries of any one school.

As a Foundation board member, I’ve also realized how many people still don’t know what the SUSD Foundation does, or how much of its work directly reaches our students. Please follow the SUSD Foundation, learn about the programs it supports and help more families discover its work.

If Farley or one of SUSD’s crisis canines has touched your child, your school or someone you love, please consider helping sustain this program.

I’ll put the donation link in the comments. You can also contact me directly, and I’ll connect you with the people leading the effort.

And even if you cannot donate today, sharing this post matters. Help us reach the people who believe every child deserves this kind of support.

❤️Lara

https://susdfoundation.org/support-the-foundation/

09/06/2026

Just a normal Saturday night. Portillo's

09/05/2026

I learned Thursday that Scottsdale will send an irrigation expert to your house for free.

How did I not know this?

Scottsdale Water customers can schedule a free outdoor water-efficiency check. A certified irrigation specialist will walk your property with you and help you:

💧 Read your water meter
💧 Program your irrigation controller
💧 Determine how often you should be watering
💧 Identify potential irrigation repairs

Call 480-312-5650 to schedule one.

I learned this while touring the Scottsdale Water Campus and talking directly with the people who manage our water supply, treatment, quality and long-term planning.

I also learned that Scottsdale has been treating and recharging highly purified recycled water into our aquifer for more than 30 years. Reclaimed water is used to irrigate 23 North Scottsdale golf courses, reducing their reliance on groundwater.

But honestly, my biggest takeaway was how valuable it is to go straight to the source.

There is so much information, misinformation, over-information and so many scary headlines about Arizona water. It can be nearly impossible to separate the facts from the noise.

Scottsdale Water actually wants residents to ask questions and they created an email address specifically for that:

[email protected]

What have you heard about Scottsdale’s water that you would like to know is true, or not true?

Leave your question below. I’d love to take some of them directly to the source and share what I learn here.

09/01/2026

How much do you actually know about the history of the Shea Corridor?

If you’ve lived in this part of Scottsdale for a long time, I’d especially love to hear what you remember.

We are looking at how this part of Scottsdale grew, what was here before, and why the neighborhoods look the way they do today.

08/30/2026

Scottsdale didn’t become what it is all at once.

If you travel east along Shea, you can actually see different chapters of the city’s growth in the homes around you.

Older postwar neighborhoods gave way to larger planned communities. Roads and schools followed the housing. Via Linda became another thread through the residential areas north and east of Shea. And by 1993, the City of Scottsdale had formally adopted a Shea Area Plan addressing not only neighborhoods, but transportation, trails, employment, medical uses and the character of the corridor itself. (ScottsdaleAZ)

Keep going east and the landscape changes again: newer development, more visible desert, and eventually the foothills.

Today, the story is shifting from outward expansion toward infill, redevelopment and reinvention.

That’s what we want to explore here.

Not just what homes are worth but when they were built, why they were built there, what grew around them, and what those patterns tell us about Scottsdale now.

This carousel is the quick version.

Next, we’re going back for the details. 🌵

Sources: City of Scottsdale Long Range Planning Shea Area Plan and Neighborhood Planning; Applied Economics demographic and enrollment analysis.

SheaBoulevard ScottsdaleLiving

08/29/2026

A little behind-the-scenes from Lara: Through my role on the SUSD Foundation Board, I’ve been helping bring this event together for our real estate community, and I’m really excited to finally start talking about it.

The goal is simple: give real estate professionals better tools for navigating education conversations, Fair Housing, and finding reliable information when clients ask questions about our schools and community.

If you work in Scottsdale real estate or know someone who does please share this with them or tag them below on the SUSD Foundation post. November 2 is one to put on the calendar.

Scottsdale Real Estate Professionals: Save November 2

Inside SUSD: Be the Source is designed to be more than a district update. It will bring together professional learning, reliable community information, and direct connection with the people and resources that help Realtors navigate education-related conversations with confidence.

📅 November 2, 2026
📍 Coronado High School

An SUSD Foundation initiative in collaboration with Scottsdale Women's Council of Realtors.

More details are coming soon.