The Southside neighborhood is just south of the train tracks in the small town of Flagstaff. The two streets that were observed for this analysis were, South San Francisco Street and Benton Avenue, which make an “L” within the neighborhood. Flagstaff began to grow because of the immigrants who traveled and moved there. This area of the town was often referred to as the “melting pot,” because of the accruing diverse population. The Basque and Hispanic people define the Southside of Flagstaff by integrating their culture simple lifestyles to the area. Based on history classes that I have taken and the date of 1939 on the church located on Benton Avenue. The church resembles that of European style which American’s strayed away from as they settled, building houses and business buildings that were more useful and economical. Flagstaff began to grow during and after World War II, because of the timber industry. The Railroad made it easy to transport the logs to different areas of the U.S., as well as an easy way for people to get to Flagstaff. Enough about the background though, Benton Avenue is a street full of small “A” frame style houses. These houses were most likely built for single families, but they appear to be on quite large lots. This alludes to the idea that the street has done some demolition, because the street is located on a flood plain, or that tenants used to use the land for animals, crops, or other necessities. The construction, use of basalt, lack of garage or car port indicates that these were lower class families that lived here, which makes sense due to the immigration pattern that was observed in Flagstaff.
On the contrary San Francisco Street is filled with small businesses. The architecture is simple, but the signs are neon and flashy to catch people’s attention today. In the mid 20th century these signs would be non existence, so business owners would have to get people’s attention in other ways. Despite these signs, the architecture is very tall which alludes to vertical growth. Either businesses were on top of each other or Flagstaff was known as a “Walking City.” Walking Cities are tall buildings that have people living above the shops. The craftsman lives above the shop. The journey man, who is a skilled worker without tools, lives above the craftsman. The apprentices live at the top of the building. These types of buildings were common when establishing cities in the United States because it made it easy to walk to work. This is just speculation, but based on the architecture style it seems causable.
However, Flagstaff’s dynamic has changed a lot since mid 20th century. Benton Avenue is now most likely occupied by college students, because of the amount of bikes and cars in front of each house. As well some of these houses have had additions to update the mid 20th century outdated houses. Most of these houses haven’t had much upkeep though because they sit on a floodplain, but there is one exception to that. Recently a house on Benton Avenue has been built out of shipping containers. This house is eco-friendly, but baffles me, because Flagstaff’s historic downtown has such strict rules on the color scheme and signage that is used in front of each store. Despite the historic downtown regulations the house is one of a kind and has put Flagstaff on the map locally and globally. Today San Francisco has a multitude of businesses and it’s the street that connects to Northern Arizona University to downtown. This is essential to businesses, because students make up most of the population surrounding downtown today. Benton Avenue and San Francisco Street differ, but each offer significant attributes from the mid 20th century and today that add to what makes up Flagstaff today!
