I have lived my entire life across from AZ Mills and that rainforest café had been there the whole time. AZ mills used to look so cool growing up and I remember the stars above the theater entrances and there used to be a fountain and all the deco was amazing to look at. Now it's just a generic Simon mall :(
I'm 43 years old, born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and live in Gilbert. 90s in Phoenix was a good time. The house I grew up in and lived at for 16 years was right in the center of it all, on 24th Street and Osborn. I remember life was a lot easier in those days. Now everything in that area is expensive. The house I grew up in sold for 80k, now it's worth over 450k! And the house is in way worse shape than it was when I lived in it. My fondest memories of monsoons at that house was the power of those storms back in the 80s! I remember as a kid I would go out and swim in our big backyard pool, now it's just a dead lot filled in with dirt, and when a monsoon would come in, to see that wall of clouds, it was spectacular especially at sunset when the massive clouds would be dark purple/gray, and orange. One of my best past times during the summer was to drown wasps that landed in the pool for a drink by jumping in nearby, it pisses them off, but this got dangerous when a wasp crawled into my swim trunks and stung me, then i stopped it.
I'm a decade younger but I grew up in the same neighborhood, SW of those cross streets. It was a great spot, loved playing in the irrigation, didn't have a pool sadly. And dust storms were the best part of the summer
Yes I was talking about this with my brother. Our monsoons started becoming almost nothing around the late 2000s and now it hardly rains at all during monsoon season. I remember when I was a kid we frequently got huge storms in the afternoons.
@@michael85225 I left Arizona in the mid 2010s to do my undergrad in LA, and then permanently soon after, everytime I come back for the summer the storms are so underwhelming, there’s more rainfall in the desert during December nowadays!
@@TikkiNikkiclimate change is 100% real, but it also significantly has to do with cloud seeding by surrounding states which Rob's moisture out of the clouds before they get to us
Born in 1989 in Glendale and raised in Phoenix. 1998-2000 was a good time for me as a child. I love videos like this that bring back some of the nostalgia. My dad passed away on the 9th and he raised me as a single father, he worked on the crew of electricians doing a majority of the work at Arizona Mills Mall.
As someone born in 96 in AZ and raised here all my life, I enjoy videos like this. I can only remember certain things from my youth. But I love watching these videos and reading the comments. It gives me a little visual to see what I missed or didn’t understand when I was growing up. Keep them coming if you have more!
Born in 84 at st Joseph's, raised on 27th Ave and indianschool and still here. Thought I would never leave this place, but it has gotten so bad & can't wait to move asap
Yeah, that was a true landmark. I grew up about 6 miles east of there and that building was always on the horizon driving west down Southern at night. It was basically how I knew where the mall was.
I still call it Bank One Ballpark at times, it just sounds so much better, just like America West Arena. Those Chandler neighborhoods with the water are pretty much for retirees with lots of money. I helped my family flip houses post 2008 and we did one such house in an area like that, there was always some dude jet skiing every morning. I remember we lived on Pecos and Alma School around '99. On Az Ave and Pecos, there was a bar called the Pecos Lounge and south of that there was nothing, not even the 202. Now I think that building is a title loans place, Lol. We pretty much always lived in the East Valley (and a brief stint in Payson) and it is wild to see how much everything has grown My great aunt has lived in the same spot in Tempe since 1985 and she remembers when Tempe had fields all over, Imagine. This was also the time when 3TV was "The place with more stuff!" and I loved their "Good Morning Arizona" segment intro.
So nice to see a video like this. I feel like a unicorn sometimes when I'm the only person in the group to say, "I was born and raised here. " hope you can share more!
I was the Director of Restaurant services at the Rainforest Café, part of the opening hiring and training team. In the three years I was there we did 15 million dollars the first year, 13.5 the second and ended up mellowing out and averaged over 10 mill a yr. after that.
Having been born and raised here, I've witnessed significant changes in the valley. Now at 50, I recall the orange trees lining the center of I-17, dividing the freeway as if it were a wall. The I-10 didn't pass through Phoenix; it ended at 107th Avenue, and one had to navigate local streets to reconnect with the I-10 via I-17. My grandfather was part of the team that constructed the nuclear power plant. The monsoons used to be more intense, featuring grander light displays and brief rains that lasted 2-5 minutes each night, then vanished, leaving behind an incredible scent.
Tempe from ‘99 to 2006 was the greatest time in my life. Progressive trance was at its peak too. So the club and rave scene was phenomenal during this time.
This was when the urban heat island effect was barely around. Phoenix was so different back then, it was pre boom for the most part and it will never be like that again. It’s kinda heart breaking. Even if the population shrinks back to late 90s numbers, the city would practically look abandoned.
I live in Phoenix now (moved here in 2018). My first time here was in 1978 when I went through training at Williams Air Force Base (now closed). The transformation from the 1970s to the present is simply astonishing.
born and raised here in phx, most of these videos are from right before i was born. i only got a tail end of the glory days but man the vibes were just different. hearing my own worst enemy playing on 104.7 is WILD
We moved here in the early 70's. I adored the place back then, and the monsoons were absolutely awesome. They pretty much ceased in the late-90's. Sadness.
Nothing like the "Old Phoenix".... True paradise back then. Thanks for the memories.... I remember seeing the Mesa Financial Building lights miles away. That was until people complained and the City considered it light pollution.
One of the great things about Phoenix then, as now, is that its non-descript skyline becomes almost like a dreamy, sepia vision blurred by the filthy brown air. Almost like something from a Stephen King novel. It screams loudly, "We're here to stay, and we don't care WHAT you think!" Charmless, yes - but charmless in an almost surreal way.
Great time capsule. I'm going to be turning 38 in a few days and I've lived in AZ for all those years. Never have lived in another state. Took weekly pictures of BOB being built for a while. Had season tickets for 1998 and 99 with my dad. Great times but boy has my state changed. Going to miss having a much smaller population and simpler times.
11:49 Bank of America building in mesa on Alma school and southern. I remember that building growing up in mesa around the time the footage was made. BofA sold the building in 2010 and has changed ownership since
I had just moved to Phoenix in '99 and this brought back lots of memories! SR51 was not even done back then! It stopped at Northern. Also, back then Phoenix had a Techno/Dance station. Phoenix was awesome back then.
That's crazy to think about the 51 ending at northern. I know that area well. I remember that dance music station then one day it changed to oldies music. If I'm not mistaken that was energy. KNRJ 101.1 and 92.7
I turned 11 on Aug 15th, 1999, and i remember that monsoon. It was my bday right before my 6th grade year started. We drove to AZ mills to get my ear (singular) pierced so i could look fresh for school, lol. Then we stopped and had dinner at gordon biersch on mill Ave and watched the storm.
My bday is aug 26th! I too remember that storm, I actually graduated earlier in May of 99. Time flies, I remember the 101 ended at shea and az mills was the spot
Chandler native here, and not only is it odd to have lakes, but we also have a few golf courses around (dumb). I went to that rainforest cafe somewhere between ages 4-6, and it terrified me. When I moved to CT, everyone asked me if there were plants out there, and if we all wore cowboy boots.
I took my wife to the Rainforest Cafe on our first date in 2000. It was new and we had to wait in line even though we had a reservation. Took the kids there years later it was still pretty cool. Went again a few years ago. It was getting run down. The fish tanks which were awesome in the past were empty. Food was mediocre. Not very busy. I'm surprised it's still open. I was surprised you didn't mention America West Arena where the Suns played.
Lived in one of those lake houses in Chandler back in '95! We were one of the first houses in the neighborhood, my sibling and I use to ride our bikes through the empty lots, and throw rocks in the lake near the house all the time. Crazy how fast that all built up in the first 5 years we lived there.
I grew up in Glendale around 67th avenue and Cactus, which in the 90's and 00's was a relatively new develpoment, and similar to what the happy valley area is today. I remember when the Cactus to 101 onramp wasn't even there, lol. You either had to go to Grand or Thunderbird. Anyways, I distinctly remember one specific monsoon during the early 00's that it rained so hard and for so long that our street was completely flooded and there were underpasses that flooded up to the freeway. We were floating around on rafts in the street, it was wild. It hasn't rained like that in Phoenix in 20 years at least.
I remember that monsoon! I was just a kid but man was it going so hard that night. The thunder, the rumbling, the window shaking, the shadows from the trees sway back and forth with the street lamps. And it was just like you said after, just flooded up and down everywhere! I was at 67th and Peoria!
We had record rain around 2014 when we had the 100-year storm. It was absolutely insane. Retention basins were completely full, people riding jet skis in them.
I lived in Phoenix for college in 98-99. I loved waking up Saturday mornings and just driving around Phoenix and Scottsdale. And yes, Arizona Mills mall was awesome!
I grew up in north Phoenix in the entirety of the 90s before moving away in Y2K. Dad worked with AlliedSignal Aerospace Division at the facility near the airport and my uncle was a pilot with American. This was definitely a nostalgia bomb for me.
I can’t watch this without tears in my eyes.. Something special about the Arizona in the 90s/Early 2000s. I’m glad to have grown up here, but sad that I’ve stuck around long enough to see what its become. 😕
I moved here in late 1978. We lived near Indian bend and Hayden before that huge shopping center was built just to the east past Pima road. Bell road & Scottsdale Road, (heading west on Bell) was a dirt road in parts. My mom wanted to buy some land around that area & I remember my dad telling her that nothing would really come of that area, so they didn’t invest…omg, I’d be a wealthy person today..Remember when Rawhide was off of Scottsdale Road, north past bell? I slowly watched the landscape change as we took every family member that visited from back east there. The carriage rides through the desert slowly, over time brought retail shops and gas stations that ruined the whole “out west” experience…the day they relocated Rawhide I swore I’d move…but now? Here I sit, raising my own family out west where it was really desolate…near around 75 th Ave. Legend City gone…going tubing at Saguaro Lake isn’t the same, nothing is…it’s crowded, polluted, people aren’t as friendly, except us older people who can relate to simpler times. I miss Los Arcos Mall…and to think I hated my parents for moving me here from back east, as I finally finished Catholic School and was about to go to public school where my siblings went, and I left behind my friends. It was so quite back then it drove me crazy…..and now? I’d do anything for it to be like it was then….how fast we learn to appreciate life and those simpler, quiet, more friendly, less polluted & crowded times when Metro Mall was the place to hit with your Xmas list and you could go shooting out in the desert just for fun, 15 mins from your house….❤🌵
This video is such a treat! Thank you! I moved to Phoenix in 2000 as a little kid, about 8 years old! I live right down the road from that Mesa financial plaza building!
Lived in the east valley now for 40 years! Great videos brought back so many memories. I worked at Rainforest Café for one day right when it opened. The long lines of people waiting to get into the restaurant gave me massive anxiety, so I ran for the hills.😂😂
Awesome you’ve still been there for that time! All that anxiety that everyone must have experienced and they were probably paying like a “generous” $5.15/hour for all of that work 😂😅
Reason we don't have monsoons anymore is because there's a heat bubble in the valley. All the concrete and asphault heats up the whole valley to the point clouds cant even pass through most the time
I finally came back after a long time in the army, and it’s changed so immensely. Lots of weird people and weird places, everywhere I look it’s new apartment buildings and freaks. Don’t know if it still feels like home honestly.
It’s a derogatory term equivalent to “cunt.” Piestewa is the surname of the first Native American woman to die in combat in the US military. It’s good to correct bad history.
I miss all the fields on power road and as of a month ago the last one got turned into a warehouse complex. There were a ton more fields all around the city 10 years ago but now they are gone
I was born in 1999 on august, my family said I was born on the biggest monsoon storm of that year and its so cool on these videos to see the storms leading up to my birth on this video! im glad got people like you archiving footage and posting them on the internet
Thanks for watching! Yeah I remember the late 90’s seemed to be the biggest years for monsoons I remembered, at least in the parts of Tucson that I lived in
Wow so cool thanks for sharing. This was right when my family moved here, back when I was just 3 years old. Definitely remember the monsoons being a bigger deal. Barely even rained this year. Nowadays it seems like we just get the humidity without any major storms :(
That isn't Camelback mountain, it's the McDowell Mountains with Tovrea Castle in the foreground. The Thing is a mummy, an actual very long dead human. What I remember most about it is the smell, it was strange. It is actually east of Benson, so the other side of Tucson from Phoenix. The John Wayne Ostrich farm is still there and quiet a lot larger than shown here.
I live in Mesa, work in Chandler and grew up in scottsdale. This was a great watch 😊 I remember before the 101 was built, there were several overpasses built in the middle of the desert in anticipation of the highway on the reservation.
i was a baby when this was filmed and never got to really experience any of this even though i am from here...only got to experience early 2000's from what i remember, kinda crazy!
I used to fly AWA all the time before the US Air merger. I still remember the old America West commercials, especially the one that collaborated AWA & Bashas' partership. Eddie Basha stood on the wing of the plane. We still had stores like Smith's, Smitty's, Fry's Electronics and others. Arizona Mills was ok, I temember "Just For Feet" at the mall where the 10th pair was free. Just For Feet also had a basketball half court in the store. I always prefered Fiesta Mall myself. I lived in Payson during that time. I remember the trips down the hill to go shopping, we always brought the ice chest for the Costco trips!
0:21 Damn...I miss America West!!! I started traveling for business, like 40 weeks a year, just before the US Airways merger. So wished they kept the America West naming but, they weren't just an upstart airline anymore. Hated that merger. You could walk up to any AWA counter in any airport to check in and say...Hi...and be greeted with a big smile and hello...always thanking you for flying with them. Great flight crews.... especially the Vegas flights lol. After merge, I was checking in at the counter in Philly (originally from that area), said..Hi...to the woman and I'm counter and before I could saying something else she just said m....WHAT? Yea, wasn't use to that lol. Apparently, US Airways had a lot of wage cuts and union issues. Layoffs. The employees took it pretty hard for a few years. Yes, I was in Philly but....come on. They aren't that bad lol. It was great having a hometown (Phoenix for 45 years now) airline with so many direct flights. Every smaller city after the merge...had to go through Charlotte or Philly. I've been in the Charlotte airport second most...after Phoenix lol. Miss AWA!
The ostrich farm is actually really cool, or it was a decade ago or so, idk if it's still any good, but they also had goats and a room full of little birds! They'd give you little cups of nectar, and you'd go in, and the birds would flock to you, pop the lid off your little cup, and indulge, it makes for quite the photo shoot to be swarmed by little birds. If you go, be sure to check out the cafe at black canyon city, it's nearby and they're known for their delicious pies
I remember the Red Line bus route was basically replaced by the Lightrail, The 101 Pima/Price Freeway was constructed from at Raintree and Chandler Blvd. The Salt River finally became Tempe Town Lake and Van Buren was a “good time.”
Forgot to mention 98.3 was Power 92.3, KDKB was 93.3, 101.5 was the Zone, KSLX KUPD and KISS FM are still the same, 106.3/100.3 The Edge took over 103.9 The Party. No smart phones, iPods or mp3 players, only Music Warehouse.
Thank you very much for posting this. I was born in ‘88 and grew up in Chandler. The 90s and early to mid 2000s was the best time in human history (at least for western civilization). One summer (I forgot which year, maybe it was ‘95) a storm was so bad that the winds threw our riding lawn mower across our yard and uprooted two huge tamarack trees. We lived on a horse ranch type area with dirt roads in the neighborhood. There were cotton fields surrounding most of our property so we think it may have been a small tornado that uprooted the first huge tree, hopped across our backyard, and then landed right on the other huge tree that it also uprooted.
I was born in 88 and remember that storm well. Our metal shed literally just blew away and our old brick wall fell over. It was like a tornado came through the valley.
Grew up in Northern peoria back when there where orange tree field to the north (now its just infinitely more houses) its somehow become more of a monsoon seasonin winter and the early spring. My greatest memory from monsoons was when me and my friends went to a music concert and suddenly it started raining so hard the streets were flooding in less then an hour.
One memory for me as a kid in the very early 2000s was flying in an America West turbo-prop plane from Flagstaff to Phoenix. Such a different feeling from flying today.
I miss those Dash-8 turboprops too! Especially because you can watch the wheels fold up since the wing was over the fuselage. We always flew from Phoenix to San Luis Obispo, CA and Santa Fe, NM
Bank One Ball Park. Still remember the DBack's World series games with Gonzo, Johnson, Schilling, Bautista, Brenley and Bell. What a healing game series that was, Yanks vs Dbacks.
Very reminiscent😊. And it’s funny that you ended with that underpass getting onto the I-10 from Highway 87… it’s no longer there. It’s now an updated overpass since the 10 has widened into 3 lanes each way. I miss the 90’s❤
Born and raised in Phoenix, the starkest change I would say is the downtown area. It's been built up a ton, lots of residential towers, none of that used to exist. Also a ton of art and food culture in the area. IMO, the light rail really brought a lot of life to the inner part of the city.
AZ, I was 13…My Baseball Team Won the Junior league State Championship, The Dbacks Let us Go Wild in the DBacks Shop..and we all got Professional DBacks Type Special Jersey’s, We Beat Tucson For State and So the Dbacks Got us a Private plane to fly to play in the regionals, The Teams were massively advanced we hung in there but Yo, We were happy to win state because We wanted it to be known, THE SOUTH SIDE BOYS ARE THE HARDEST. BASEBALL CHAMPS! Back In Az days! Shout to Coach Mike Kirby and John Williams!! They took a chance on us…PEACE LOVE AND UNITY 2 all!!!
Love this, thank you so much for posting. I was born in ‘85 and grew up in Chandler so I watched it and much of the valley expand and change. I remember in elementary school when some of my friends had to move and go to other schools because their houses were being torn down to make way for this freeway called the 101. lol I remember being able to see A mountain and ASU stadium from the freeway before all the glass condos covered it. Arizona Mills let you walk around a week before it actually opened to see which stores they put in, Superstition Springs Mall had the playground with the lizard climbing apparatus before they tore it out for the amphitheater, watched the red mountain and San tan 202’s be built, the 60 widen beyond Val vista, Chandler mall be built, Tempe Marketplace be built, San Tan mall, etc. Even my high school was only a year old (Hamilton) when I enrolled. And of course watched a bunch of changes. No more Los Arcos mall, Fiesta Mall, Metro Center, Big Surf, Wet’n’ Wild used to be Waterworld, no more Fiddlesticks, no more GameWorks, no more Incredible Universe/Fry’s Electronics, Honeywell used to be Allied Signal, all the planes at southwest were ‘desert gold’ before they became ‘canyon blue’ and of course all the chain stores and restaurants that went away with the 90s and early 2000s (Blockbuster 😭). Also miss seeing the old abandoned Phoenix Trotting Park off the 10 in Goodyear, but that finally got torn down. I can’t believe that place was only open for 2 years back in the 60s. Anyway, sad, but that’s life. At least we have the memories. 🏜️💖
I was there. I remember mill ave in Tempe was renamed to millennium ave for the year 2000. Also on October 22, 1999 I had a huge UFO encounter in the Superstition Mountains near canyon lake. 10 saucers and two octagon shaped ships. A giant humanoid was on board the octagon and he was 20 feet tall. The rest of the crafts in the fleet contained grey type aliens. True story.
@@NitroGummyBearyou just a baby boo boo. But yes I had major UFO encounters out in Phoenix area don’t care if you believe it or not - lol looks like everybody going to see them soon anyways so whatever
i do hvac here in the valley..while i’m dying from the heat i often times wonder who came over those mountains (from the north) took a look at the desert down below , dry as a bone , and decided 🤔 “yep, this is the place we’re building a city”
@3:07 - Those are The Islands. Drive past them all the time. During Christmas, the residents decorate the back of their houses and float around on boats to look at them. Quite spectacular.
@@rmp5s Quote: "Creosote Bush is commonly named as such because this plant's heavy resinous scent and tacky demeanor has been compared to the smell of creosote found in stove pipes. It doesn't really smell like black soot at all to me, but does indeed have a sweet and musty smell that especially fills the air after rainstorms when it opens it stomata and on cool mornings in the desert where it grows. This plant is also sometimes called Chaparral, possibly because of its scrubby and tangled appearance"
The wholenvibe of phoenix was indescribable. I made friends with so many fellow punks from phienix shows and random parties/hang outs. Never had a fear of getting shot or mugged
A time when the skyline wasn't polluted by Rafi billboards
Rafi must be making bank to advertise his face literally everywhere and even on the radio with that annoying jingle.
Rafi law group is the Worst learn from my Mistake. Your Welcome.
lmao.
and ‘Andrew The Home Buyer’
Im dead af
Call Rafi Rafi..... 😂 Laffy taffy
It is true- I remember when I was younger there were actual monsoon seasons. Now we get basically nothing.
Now we just got unsustainable amounts of illegal immigrants 😢
@@notafortnitegamer Fax
@@notafortnitegamer you're technically an illegal immigrant too if you were born here
Same here in another town in az monsoon doesnt even exist compared to as a child
@@notafortnitegamerarizona was mexicos son
I have lived my entire life across from AZ Mills and that rainforest café had been there the whole time. AZ mills used to look so cool growing up and I remember the stars above the theater entrances and there used to be a fountain and all the deco was amazing to look at. Now it's just a generic Simon mall :(
Yes!!! My favorite was the GameWorks
@@ArizonaAstraLLCI miss that place so much
Couldn’t even speak the words Squaw Peak? So beta.
Phoenix during that time was such a vibe. I miss it.
Ancient PHX?!
Still a vibe, never leaving! Phoenix Phorever!
Now all the liberals ruined it
I'm 43 years old, born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, and live in Gilbert. 90s in Phoenix was a good time. The house I grew up in and lived at for 16 years was right in the center of it all, on 24th Street and Osborn. I remember life was a lot easier in those days. Now everything in that area is expensive. The house I grew up in sold for 80k, now it's worth over 450k! And the house is in way worse shape than it was when I lived in it. My fondest memories of monsoons at that house was the power of those storms back in the 80s! I remember as a kid I would go out and swim in our big backyard pool, now it's just a dead lot filled in with dirt, and when a monsoon would come in, to see that wall of clouds, it was spectacular especially at sunset when the massive clouds would be dark purple/gray, and orange. One of my best past times during the summer was to drown wasps that landed in the pool for a drink by jumping in nearby, it pisses them off, but this got dangerous when a wasp crawled into my swim trunks and stung me, then i stopped it.
I'm a decade younger but I grew up in the same neighborhood, SW of those cross streets. It was a great spot, loved playing in the irrigation, didn't have a pool sadly. And dust storms were the best part of the summer
Same age live here 24th Street and Roosevelt .Grew up in this area.
Whoah. Bad areas, all of these. At least in 1988-1995, this was the ghetto.
I live on 28th st Osborn right now lol
Dust storms, monsoon season in the late 90s/early 2000s were amazing, shame they don’t happen to be the same these days…
Yes I was talking about this with my brother. Our monsoons started becoming almost nothing around the late 2000s and now it hardly rains at all during monsoon season. I remember when I was a kid we frequently got huge storms in the afternoons.
@@michael85225 I left Arizona in the mid 2010s to do my undergrad in LA, and then permanently soon after, everytime I come back for the summer the storms are so underwhelming, there’s more rainfall in the desert during December nowadays!
@michael85225 yet people still deny climate change. Wild
@@TikkiNikkiclimate change is 100% real, but it also significantly has to do with cloud seeding by surrounding states which Rob's moisture out of the clouds before they get to us
@@garethwillmott4234we have cloud seeding in Arizona too
Born in 1989 in Glendale and raised in Phoenix. 1998-2000 was a good time for me as a child. I love videos like this that bring back some of the nostalgia. My dad passed away on the 9th and he raised me as a single father, he worked on the crew of electricians doing a majority of the work at Arizona Mills Mall.
RIP your father.
Mills was the most amazing mall growing up
Dude I was born in 89. In Glendale. Small world. I actually went to independence high school. The 90s were amazing.
@thomasmann3560 Graduated 2008 from Ironwood High School.
Anyone go to desert garden elementary 96-97
When recording who would have thought that what seemed like in random footage would be absolutely iconic footage 🔥.
As someone born in 96 in AZ and raised here all my life, I enjoy videos like this. I can only remember certain things from my youth. But I love watching these videos and reading the comments. It gives me a little visual to see what I missed or didn’t understand when I was growing up. Keep them coming if you have more!
Fellow desert land native 🤝
Born in Phoenix in 89 still living in Glendale I miss these days this place has changed so dang much.
it happens so slowly we don’t realize it .. watching this clip making me feel old 😆
It's crazy to think, I am now 35. Seeing these videos makes me relive my child hood. I actually grew up in Glendale too. Went to independence hs
Same, I was born at Maryvale hospital in 91 and still live in Peoria. Left for a few years but came back home to the desert
Born in 84 at st Joseph's, raised on 27th Ave and indianschool and still here. Thought I would never leave this place, but it has gotten so bad & can't wait to move asap
86 baby born at scottsdale memorial, still stick in the state but at least I'm up north lol
Man the bank of America building at night with the lights is so nostalgic, grew up down the street from there. Cant forget about fiesta mall too!
Yeah, that was a true landmark. I grew up about 6 miles east of there and that building was always on the horizon driving west down Southern at night. It was basically how I knew where the mall was.
Yes sir, the movie theater in that plaza across the street next to Atomic Comics, Fiesta Mall was our mall like no other.
its not even the bank of america building anymore, its some college building thing
I still call it Bank One Ballpark at times, it just sounds so much better, just like America West Arena.
Those Chandler neighborhoods with the water are pretty much for retirees with lots of money. I helped my family flip houses post 2008 and we did one such house in an area like that, there was always some dude jet skiing every morning.
I remember we lived on Pecos and Alma School around '99. On Az Ave and Pecos, there was a bar called the Pecos Lounge and south of that there was nothing, not even the 202. Now I think that building is a title loans place, Lol.
We pretty much always lived in the East Valley (and a brief stint in Payson) and it is wild to see how much everything has grown My great aunt has lived in the same spot in Tempe since 1985 and she remembers when Tempe had fields all over, Imagine.
This was also the time when 3TV was "The place with more stuff!" and I loved their "Good Morning Arizona" segment intro.
I lived at Pecos and Alma school not too long ago. Currently a few miles east. It’s a great area.
I still call it BOB(Bank One Ballpark) and the America West Arena... I also still say Westridge Mall and Desert Sky Pavilion
BRAD PERRY!!! and Dan Davis... Good Morning.... GOOD MORNING ARIZONA🎵🎶
I was 11 in Phoenix during these videos. This is such a throw back. Amazing
So nice to see a video like this. I feel like a unicorn sometimes when I'm the only person in the group to say, "I was born and raised here. " hope you can share more!
I was the Director of Restaurant services at the Rainforest Café, part of the opening hiring and training team. In the three years I was there we did 15 million dollars the first year, 13.5 the second and ended up mellowing out and averaged over 10 mill a yr. after that.
@caddylover10 the food was dogshit but the scenery was 10/10
Having been born and raised here, I've witnessed significant changes in the valley. Now at 50, I recall the orange trees lining the center of I-17, dividing the freeway as if it were a wall. The I-10 didn't pass through Phoenix; it ended at 107th Avenue, and one had to navigate local streets to reconnect with the I-10 via I-17. My grandfather was part of the team that constructed the nuclear power plant. The monsoons used to be more intense, featuring grander light displays and brief rains that lasted 2-5 minutes each night, then vanished, leaving behind an incredible scent.
Back when you could actually read the signage around the airport and it wasn't all covered by other overpasses.
It’s still pretty easy to read the signage 💀
Tempe from ‘99 to 2006 was the greatest time in my life. Progressive trance was at its peak too. So the club and rave scene was phenomenal during this time.
This was when the urban heat island effect was barely around. Phoenix was so different back then, it was pre boom for the most part and it will never be like that again. It’s kinda heart breaking. Even if the population shrinks back to late 90s numbers, the city would practically look abandoned.
I live in Phoenix now (moved here in 2018). My first time here was in 1978 when I went through training at Williams Air Force Base (now closed). The transformation from the 1970s to the present is simply astonishing.
That’s cool. My high school (Williams Field High School) was actually named after that base.
born and raised here in phx, most of these videos are from right before i was born. i only got a tail end of the glory days but man the vibes were just different. hearing my own worst enemy playing on 104.7 is WILD
We moved here in the early 70's. I adored the place back then, and the monsoons were absolutely awesome. They pretty much ceased in the late-90's. Sadness.
I remember the carpet and the weird textured concrete pillars of the first floor. That airport used to be ultimate liminal space
That 2-color brown carpet with the airplane shapes in it? That was always ugly.
Yes
Nothing like the "Old Phoenix".... True paradise back then. Thanks for the memories.... I remember seeing the Mesa Financial Building lights miles away. That was until people complained and the City considered it light pollution.
One of the great things about Phoenix then, as now, is that its non-descript skyline becomes almost like a dreamy, sepia vision blurred by the filthy brown air. Almost like something from a Stephen King novel. It screams loudly, "We're here to stay, and we don't care WHAT you think!" Charmless, yes - but charmless in an almost surreal way.
Great time capsule. I'm going to be turning 38 in a few days and I've lived in AZ for all those years. Never have lived in another state. Took weekly pictures of BOB being built for a while. Had season tickets for 1998 and 99 with my dad. Great times but boy has my state changed. Going to miss having a much smaller population and simpler times.
The construction of BOB must have been quite a thing to see!
Born and raised in phoenix also currently working at sky harbor (born in 93) seeing terminal 2 was wild both T1 and T2 are gone now
11:49 Bank of America building in mesa on Alma school and southern. I remember that building growing up in mesa around the time the footage was made. BofA sold the building in 2010 and has changed ownership since
I believe that it was the Western Savings Building in the late 80s.
It’s Alverdo college now
I had just moved to Phoenix in '99 and this brought back lots of memories! SR51 was not even done back then! It stopped at Northern. Also, back then Phoenix had a Techno/Dance station. Phoenix was awesome back then.
You just unlocked like two memories for me 🤯
That's crazy to think about the 51 ending at northern. I know that area well.
I remember that dance music station then one day it changed to oldies music. If I'm not mistaken that was energy. KNRJ 101.1 and 92.7
@@lindseycassella3015 YES!! That was the station!! Such a great station!!
Omg I loved that station! It was hard to get it in Flagstaff but it would come through and I always searched for it lol
I turned 11 on Aug 15th, 1999, and i remember that monsoon. It was my bday right before my 6th grade year started. We drove to AZ mills to get my ear (singular) pierced so i could look fresh for school, lol. Then we stopped and had dinner at gordon biersch on mill Ave and watched the storm.
My bday is aug 26th! I too remember that storm, I actually graduated earlier in May of 99. Time flies, I remember the 101 ended at shea and az mills was the spot
Thank you for this! I remember growing up here so seeing it took me back! I was born in 1997
Chandler native here, and not only is it odd to have lakes, but we also have a few golf courses around (dumb). I went to that rainforest cafe somewhere between ages 4-6, and it terrified me. When I moved to CT, everyone asked me if there were plants out there, and if we all wore cowboy boots.
I took my wife to the Rainforest Cafe on our first date in 2000. It was new and we had to wait in line even though we had a reservation. Took the kids there years later it was still pretty cool. Went again a few years ago. It was getting run down. The fish tanks which were awesome in the past were empty. Food was mediocre. Not very busy. I'm surprised it's still open. I was surprised you didn't mention America West Arena where the Suns played.
Lived in one of those lake houses in Chandler back in '95!
We were one of the first houses in the neighborhood, my sibling and I use to ride our bikes through the empty lots, and throw rocks in the lake near the house all the time.
Crazy how fast that all built up in the first 5 years we lived there.
I grew up in Glendale around 67th avenue and Cactus, which in the 90's and 00's was a relatively new develpoment, and similar to what the happy valley area is today. I remember when the Cactus to 101 onramp wasn't even there, lol. You either had to go to Grand or Thunderbird. Anyways, I distinctly remember one specific monsoon during the early 00's that it rained so hard and for so long that our street was completely flooded and there were underpasses that flooded up to the freeway. We were floating around on rafts in the street, it was wild. It hasn't rained like that in Phoenix in 20 years at least.
I remember that monsoon! I was just a kid but man was it going so hard that night. The thunder, the rumbling, the window shaking, the shadows from the trees sway back and forth with the street lamps. And it was just like you said after, just flooded up and down everywhere! I was at 67th and Peoria!
We had record rain around 2014 when we had the 100-year storm. It was absolutely insane. Retention basins were completely full, people riding jet skis in them.
@@brainchildgurubut back then we had monsoons every year that made it looks crazy
I lived in Phoenix for college in 98-99. I loved waking up Saturday mornings and just driving around Phoenix and Scottsdale. And yes, Arizona Mills mall was awesome!
I grew up in north Phoenix in the entirety of the 90s before moving away in Y2K. Dad worked with AlliedSignal Aerospace Division at the facility near the airport and my uncle was a pilot with American. This was definitely a nostalgia bomb for me.
I can’t watch this without tears in my eyes.. Something special about the Arizona in the 90s/Early 2000s. I’m glad to have grown up here, but sad that I’ve stuck around long enough to see what its become. 😕
I wasn't here in the 90's, but I've been here since 2005, and even in that time the area has changed a LOT.
Love this! Born in 98 so this is very interesting
I moved here in late 1978. We lived near Indian bend and Hayden before that huge shopping center was built just to the east past Pima road. Bell road & Scottsdale Road, (heading west on Bell) was a dirt road in parts. My mom wanted to buy some land around that area & I remember my dad telling her that nothing would really come of that area, so they didn’t invest…omg, I’d be a wealthy person today..Remember when Rawhide was off of Scottsdale Road, north past bell? I slowly watched the landscape change as we took every family member that visited from back east there. The carriage rides through the desert slowly, over time brought retail shops and gas stations that ruined the whole “out west” experience…the day they relocated Rawhide I swore I’d move…but now? Here I sit, raising my own family out west where it was really desolate…near around 75 th Ave. Legend City gone…going tubing at Saguaro Lake isn’t the same, nothing is…it’s crowded, polluted, people aren’t as friendly, except us older people who can relate to simpler times. I miss Los Arcos Mall…and to think I hated my parents for moving me here from back east, as I finally finished Catholic School and was about to go to public school where my siblings went, and I left behind my friends. It was so quite back then it drove me crazy…..and now? I’d do anything for it to be like it was then….how fast we learn to appreciate life and those simpler, quiet, more friendly, less polluted & crowded times when Metro Mall was the place to hit with your Xmas list and you could go shooting out in the desert just for fun, 15 mins from your house….❤🌵
I loved watching this, thank you for sharing! This is the Phoenix of my childhood
Born and raised in Glendale/Phoenix in late 70’s. Back then there was nothing like growing up here. Thank you for the awesome flashback.
I'm a 40 year old phoenix native.... born and raised.. a lot has changed... So odd seeing this old footage..
Came to PHX in 2012 and all my sons are born here. Videos like this are always interesting for someone not originally from southern AZ
Man wish I would’ve been able to see this I was born in 02, but Damm no wonder my parents loved it here when they arrived in late 90s
This video is such a treat! Thank you!
I moved to Phoenix in 2000 as a little kid, about 8 years old!
I live right down the road from that Mesa financial plaza building!
Great commentary and also fun to see PHX from 90s 🎉
Thanks, I always get nervous when I voiceover!
Lived in the east valley now for 40 years! Great videos brought back so many memories. I worked at Rainforest Café for one day right when it opened. The long lines of people waiting to get into the restaurant gave me massive anxiety, so I ran for the hills.😂😂
Awesome you’ve still been there for that time! All that anxiety that everyone must have experienced and they were probably paying like a “generous” $5.15/hour for all of that work 😂😅
ha .. the valley has changed soo much ..
It's interesting to see how Phoenix was back then. I didn't get a chance to experience Phoenix in the late 90's because I was born in 1999.
Reason we don't have monsoons anymore is because there's a heat bubble in the valley. All the concrete and asphault heats up the whole valley to the point clouds cant even pass through most the time
Bro I grew up here going to fiesta mall and AZ mills. My mom worked for America west airlines too. Such nostalgia watching this
Thanks for sharing. I grew up in mesa and graduated in 2002!
Cruzing Central, windows down 95 out. Memories
Do more please I was born and raised in Mesa, I love seeing all these tapes it reminds me of my childhood 😎
This was amazing, and that 90s radio clip in the car at sky harbor 😂😂😂
Thanks for posting this! Phoenix Phorever!
I finally came back after a long time in the army, and it’s changed so immensely. Lots of weird people and weird places, everywhere I look it’s new apartment buildings and freaks. Don’t know if it still feels like home honestly.
I’ve been in Phoenix since 1972. Squaw Peak will always be Squaw Peak to me.
It’s a derogatory term equivalent to “cunt.” Piestewa is the surname of the first Native American woman to die in combat in the US military. It’s good to correct bad history.
I miss all the fields on power road and as of a month ago the last one got turned into a warehouse complex. There were a ton more fields all around the city 10 years ago but now they are gone
Great vid! I’m glad you took the time back in the day to get all the footage!
I was born in 1999 on august, my family said I was born on the biggest monsoon storm of that year and its so cool on these videos to see the storms leading up to my birth on this video! im glad got people like you archiving footage and posting them on the internet
Thanks for watching! Yeah I remember the late 90’s seemed to be the biggest years for monsoons I remembered, at least in the parts of Tucson that I lived in
That's cool
I remember that main entrances to AZ Mills would play a welcome message in many different languages.
Wow so cool thanks for sharing. This was right when my family moved here, back when I was just 3 years old. Definitely remember the monsoons being a bigger deal. Barely even rained this year. Nowadays it seems like we just get the humidity without any major storms :(
That isn't Camelback mountain, it's the McDowell Mountains with Tovrea Castle in the foreground.
The Thing is a mummy, an actual very long dead human. What I remember most about it is the smell, it was strange. It is actually east of Benson, so the other side of Tucson from Phoenix.
The John Wayne Ostrich farm is still there and quiet a lot larger than shown here.
Just past by that and The Lions Den on my way back from a work trip in Tucson. Never checked out The Thing but i kinda wanna pet an Ostrich haha!
Thank you for sharing this. I am from Tucson. I looked forward to going to Phoenix growing up.
I live in Mesa, work in Chandler and grew up in scottsdale. This was a great watch 😊 I remember before the 101 was built, there were several overpasses built in the middle of the desert in anticipation of the highway on the reservation.
Aww man, makes me miss my childhood. Thanks for posting this 🙏
Thanks for the good memories
i was a baby when this was filmed and never got to really experience any of this even though i am from here...only got to experience early 2000's from what i remember, kinda crazy!
I used to fly AWA all the time before the US Air merger. I still remember the old America West commercials, especially the one that collaborated AWA & Bashas' partership. Eddie Basha stood on the wing of the plane. We still had stores like Smith's, Smitty's, Fry's Electronics and others. Arizona Mills was ok, I temember "Just For Feet" at the mall where the 10th pair was free. Just For Feet also had a basketball half court in the store. I always prefered Fiesta Mall myself. I lived in Payson during that time. I remember the trips down the hill to go shopping, we always brought the ice chest for the Costco trips!
0:21 Damn...I miss America West!!! I started traveling for business, like 40 weeks a year, just before the US Airways merger. So wished they kept the America West naming but, they weren't just an upstart airline anymore. Hated that merger. You could walk up to any AWA counter in any airport to check in and say...Hi...and be greeted with a big smile and hello...always thanking you for flying with them. Great flight crews.... especially the Vegas flights lol.
After merge, I was checking in at the counter in Philly (originally from that area), said..Hi...to the woman and I'm counter and before I could saying something else she just said m....WHAT? Yea, wasn't use to that lol. Apparently, US Airways had a lot of wage cuts and union issues. Layoffs. The employees took it pretty hard for a few years. Yes, I was in Philly but....come on. They aren't that bad lol.
It was great having a hometown (Phoenix for 45 years now) airline with so many direct flights. Every smaller city after the merge...had to go through Charlotte or Philly. I've been in the Charlotte airport second most...after Phoenix lol. Miss AWA!
That's Tovrea Castle @4:21 if you're interested. Cool history. I tried to break into it once. Neat place.
no further question.
@@markkelly6305 😂🤔
The ostrich farm is actually really cool, or it was a decade ago or so, idk if it's still any good, but they also had goats and a room full of little birds! They'd give you little cups of nectar, and you'd go in, and the birds would flock to you, pop the lid off your little cup, and indulge, it makes for quite the photo shoot to be swarmed by little birds.
If you go, be sure to check out the cafe at black canyon city, it's nearby and they're known for their delicious pies
Thanks for the insight scoop, hope to visit the coup one day!
I remember the Red Line bus route was basically replaced by the Lightrail, The 101 Pima/Price Freeway was constructed from at Raintree and Chandler Blvd. The Salt River finally became Tempe Town Lake and Van Buren was a “good time.”
Forgot to mention 98.3 was Power 92.3, KDKB was 93.3, 101.5 was the Zone, KSLX KUPD and KISS FM are still the same, 106.3/100.3 The Edge took over 103.9 The Party. No smart phones, iPods or mp3 players, only Music Warehouse.
Shout out to this dude capturing my childhood I member
Tucson native here!! It was such a treat to go to Phoenix!!!
Thank you very much for posting this. I was born in ‘88 and grew up in Chandler.
The 90s and early to mid 2000s was the best time in human history (at least for western civilization).
One summer (I forgot which year, maybe it was ‘95) a storm was so bad that the winds threw our riding lawn mower across our yard and uprooted two huge tamarack trees. We lived on a horse ranch type area with dirt roads in the neighborhood. There were cotton fields surrounding most of our property so we think it may have been a small tornado that uprooted the first huge tree, hopped across our backyard, and then landed right on the other huge tree that it also uprooted.
I was born in 88 and remember that storm well. Our metal shed literally just blew away and our old brick wall fell over. It was like a tornado came through the valley.
It’s so weird, it’s like 95% of commenters were born in ‘88. Including yours truly.
@Chevelle Man it’s great to know others remember it too. Not surprised to hear that storm did that kind of damage.
@brainchildguru Probably the best year to be born, plus it’s the year of the dragon in the Chinese calendar.
Grew up in Northern peoria back when there where orange tree field to the north (now its just infinitely more houses) its somehow become more of a monsoon seasonin winter and the early spring. My greatest memory from monsoons was when me and my friends went to a music concert and suddenly it started raining so hard the streets were flooding in less then an hour.
One memory for me as a kid in the very early 2000s was flying in an America West turbo-prop plane from Flagstaff to Phoenix. Such a different feeling from flying today.
I miss those Dash-8 turboprops too! Especially because you can watch the wheels fold up since the wing was over the fuselage. We always flew from Phoenix to San Luis Obispo, CA and Santa Fe, NM
@shearprzeslica87 Yes!
The Arby's fish sandwich comes and goes getting updated every few years. Last one was decent
Bank One Ball Park. Still remember the DBack's World series games with Gonzo, Johnson, Schilling, Bautista, Brenley and Bell. What a healing game series that was, Yanks vs Dbacks.
Very reminiscent😊. And it’s funny that you ended with that underpass getting onto the I-10 from Highway 87… it’s no longer there. It’s now an updated overpass since the 10 has widened into 3 lanes each way. I miss the 90’s❤
Ayyyy another 90’s Lee from AZ! I still got my Opening day ball from BOB
Born and raised in Phoenix, the starkest change I would say is the downtown area. It's been built up a ton, lots of residential towers, none of that used to exist. Also a ton of art and food culture in the area. IMO, the light rail really brought a lot of life to the inner part of the city.
AZ, I was 13…My Baseball Team Won the Junior league State Championship, The Dbacks Let us Go Wild in the DBacks Shop..and we all got Professional DBacks Type Special Jersey’s, We Beat Tucson For State and So the Dbacks Got us a Private plane to fly to play in the regionals, The Teams were massively advanced we hung in there but Yo, We were happy to win state because We wanted it to be known, THE SOUTH SIDE BOYS ARE THE HARDEST. BASEBALL CHAMPS! Back In Az days! Shout to Coach Mike Kirby and John Williams!! They took a chance on us…PEACE LOVE AND UNITY 2 all!!!
Omg KZZP, I’m about to cry lol
Love this, thank you so much for posting. I was born in ‘85 and grew up in Chandler so I watched it and much of the valley expand and change. I remember in elementary school when some of my friends had to move and go to other schools because their houses were being torn down to make way for this freeway called the 101. lol I remember being able to see A mountain and ASU stadium from the freeway before all the glass condos covered it. Arizona Mills let you walk around a week before it actually opened to see which stores they put in, Superstition Springs Mall had the playground with the lizard climbing apparatus before they tore it out for the amphitheater, watched the red mountain and San tan 202’s be built, the 60 widen beyond Val vista, Chandler mall be built, Tempe Marketplace be built, San Tan mall, etc. Even my high school was only a year old (Hamilton) when I enrolled. And of course watched a bunch of changes. No more Los Arcos mall, Fiesta Mall, Metro Center, Big Surf, Wet’n’ Wild used to be Waterworld, no more Fiddlesticks, no more GameWorks, no more Incredible Universe/Fry’s Electronics, Honeywell used to be Allied Signal, all the planes at southwest were ‘desert gold’ before they became ‘canyon blue’ and of course all the chain stores and restaurants that went away with the 90s and early 2000s (Blockbuster 😭). Also miss seeing the old abandoned Phoenix Trotting Park off the 10 in Goodyear, but that finally got torn down. I can’t believe that place was only open for 2 years back in the 60s. Anyway, sad, but that’s life. At least we have the memories. 🏜️💖
I was there. I remember mill ave in Tempe was renamed to millennium ave for the year 2000. Also on October 22, 1999 I had a huge UFO encounter in the Superstition Mountains near canyon lake. 10 saucers and two octagon shaped ships. A giant humanoid was on board the octagon and he was 20 feet tall. The rest of the crafts in the fleet contained grey type aliens. True story.
Had me there in the first half, chief….
@@NitroGummyBear guess you don’t know Phoenix at all then bub
@@ufonomicon haha how? Cause I don’t believe his alien encounter? Lmao I’m 25 and was born here my guy.
@@NitroGummyBearyou just a baby boo boo. But yes I had major UFO encounters out in Phoenix area don’t care if you believe it or not - lol looks like everybody going to see them soon anyways so whatever
‘
I lived in here in Arizona since 1984 - I lived in Chandler , Tempe , Phoenix and now currently living here in Mesa
Yes, I once saw The Thing. It shook me to my foundation. I don’t want to talk about it.
Rainforest Cafe is still at AZmills
i do hvac here in the valley..while i’m dying from the heat i often times wonder who came over those mountains (from the north) took a look at the desert down below , dry as a bone , and decided 🤔 “yep, this is the place we’re building a city”
I moved to Phoenix in July 2001. Still not a fan of the heat but I’ll probably never leave. I love it here.
I grew up in both Tucson and Phoenix. The 90s was great time to be alive in Arizona.
I miss old down town Tempe! You could walk up A Mountain and actually have a view
@3:07 - Those are The Islands. Drive past them all the time. During Christmas, the residents decorate the back of their houses and float around on boats to look at them. Quite spectacular.
Ah the smell of creosote right after a rain!
Is THAT what that smell is?...
@@rmp5s it depends, if there are creosote bushes near you when it rains, then that is probably what you are smelling. It is intense.
@@koreyb I'll have to look into that...I thought creoste was a brand of paint or something. 🤣
@@rmp5s Quote: "Creosote Bush is commonly named as such because this plant's heavy resinous scent and tacky demeanor has been compared to the smell of creosote found in stove pipes. It doesn't really smell like black soot at all to me, but does indeed have a sweet and musty smell that especially fills the air after rainstorms when it opens it stomata and on cool mornings in the desert where it grows. This plant is also sometimes called Chaparral, possibly because of its scrubby and tangled appearance"
@@koreyb Very interesting...thanks!
The wholenvibe of phoenix was indescribable. I made friends with so many fellow punks from phienix shows and random parties/hang outs. Never had a fear of getting shot or mugged
what do you think of phx now? still safe?
I love my Arizona!