'Double-edged sword': Historic Garfield neighborhood in Phoenix retains roots amid transformation

Amidst the hustle and bustle of revitalization, through waves of changes, historic Garfield remains grounded in its roots. People define the neighborhood. Gallery owners, community activists, business owners and families infuse Garfield with support and spirit.

The change it faces today means new neighbors, smatterings of upscale Airbnbs, million-dollar teardowns, trendy eateries and Teslas parked in driveways. Garfield is shedding the reputation it had decades before: a hub of crime and violence.

The old guard swaps stories from the 1980s and ‘90s. Drug dens in uninhabitable homes. Frequent gunfire from street gangs. Prostitutes hauling mattresses into alleyways for quickies. Multiple murders a year.

Considered undesirable, mortgages and rent prices went for practically nothing. The average rent was $264 a month in Garfield — around 30% cheaper than the average in Phoenix at the time.

Now regarded as a trendy landing spot, those rents have skyrocketed. Today, rents go for $1,490 a month in the neighborhood, 13% higher than the average in Phoenix.

Immaculately preserved historic homes and manicured grass yards fill Phoenix's other historic neighborhoods, yet Garfield still holds its funky charm.

Violet bungalows sit alongside orange and blue clay adobes. Squat, quirky bungalows surround brick Victorians. Weeds and cars overtake yards and chain link fences surround homes. Stray cats roam sidewalks, making their homes under stoops. Stray humans wander in the alleyways and lie behind the Watermill Express.

And while these pockets of Garfield's history remain present, an economic transformation is unfolding in the neighborhood.

Safer streets, high-class restaurants and simple pleasantries have emerged in recent years. A sense of fear in Garfield festers as residents worry that, with the growth of the neighborhood, the generational families and vibrant character of the streets will diminish.

But the Garfield neighborhood is no stranger to change.

Throughout its extensive history, Garfield residents pushed through challenging times: racist housing practices, the development of Arizona’s freeway system and even an attempt to plop a football stadium on the border of the historic neighborhood.

The History of Garfield

John Dennis, a settler who moved to the Valley in 1868, established today's Garfield neighborhood, which spans one square mile bounded by Interstate 10 and Van Buren, Seventh and 16th streets.

Garfield became one of Phoenix’s first "streetcar subdivisions" in 1895. It grew as the streetcar system expanded into the area, according to Phoenix’s Historical Preservation Office.

The peak of the streetcar's ridership coincided with an infamous federal housing loan process in the 1930s. Known as redlining, the practice was a “flat-out racist look at neighborhoods,” said Helana Ruter, a Phoenix historic preservation officer.

The Federal Housing Authority labeled these mostly non-white areas, including Garfield, as “hazardous” or “definitely declining” and refused to provide mortgage loans to people there, according to Mapping Inequality.

Unable to get regular mortgages, families relied on exploitive-priced housing contracts which surged the cost of housing and gave them no equity until the delivery of their last payment.

Phoenix’s downtown and the surrounding area experienced elevated levels of “white flight” in the 1960s. The majority-white residents of the area, including Garfield, moved to the north and central Phoenix suburbs.

A small group of middle-class Mexican Americans purchased scattered lots across Garfield, according to a Phoenix Hispanic Historic Property Survey. The neighborhood evolved into a primarily Hispanic neighborhood by the 1980s.

As Garfield was experiencing this change, Phoenix began constructing its major freeway systems. Papago Freeway, a section of I-10, sliced through the neighborhood, demolishing 106 homes and cutting off 250 from Garfield, according to Phoenix’s Garfield Neighborhood Plan.

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Raleigh Domek, a realtor who moved to Garfield in the mid-1990s, hosted dinner parties that were interrupted by prostitutes and their clients driving by and “spit(ing) or drop(ping) a condom” in front of his historic house. Domek's 1922 Pieri-Elliott House or "the Old Manse" is on the National Register of Historic Places.

He witnessed rampant drug use, gang activity and gunfire.

Garfield had 42% greater criminal activity than the rest of Phoenix in 1990, which increased by 10% since 1975, according to Phoenix's city documents.

Federal programs poured money into Garfield in the 1990s to build affordable housing, fill empty lots and tackle crime. A neighborhood group — The Garfield Organization — formed to organize these funds and improve the neighborhood.

Visitors of Alwun House, an art gallery on Roosevelt and 12th streets, had their cars broken into while attending exhibitions. One patron’s wife stopped him from going to the gallery after his vehicle was burgled twice.

Dana Johnson and Kim Moody, co-owners of the venue, joined the efforts to build the neighborhood up as “it only benefited us,” Johnson said. He serves as the president of the Garfield Organization.

A staple of Garfield, Moody founded Alwun House in the 1912 burnt-orange bungalow in 1971. The couple lives in the space with their Great Dane, Shiva.

The organization, along with government officials, funded the police force and Bush-era initiatives. These programs included an art-based youth group, tree-planting efforts, community policing, food boxes and massive neighborhood cleanups.

“From the ‘90s, what choice did we have but to build this place up?” Johnson said.

As community organizers cleaned up the neighborhood, they staved off remodeling efforts of the historic area.

In 2002, the Arizona Cardinals almost built their football stadium bordering Garfield, at a site northwest of Fillmore and Seventh streets. If the plan had gone through, dozens of homes would be bulldozed, leading to a "dead zone" and the displacement of 180 Garfield residents.

Residents frequently met with the city and received support through funds, projects and constant communication in the 1990s and 2000s. That involvement tapered off as the city has shifted its focus from the neighborhood: officials have become harder to contact and projects have been delayed.

“I’d say things and snap, things would happen,” Johnson said. "It isn’t that way anymore. We were spoiled.”

Garfield residents led a recent initiative ensuring 13th Street — a muddy, dusty area that suffered from a lack of curbs and draining — received sidewalks and plumbing. Residents attended all 19 of Phoenix City Council's budget meetings to demand the project resume.

“All the city staff got to be like, ‘Oh, it’s them again," Johnson said.

Revitalization efforts by community leaders and government officials succeeded in improving the neighborhood. Garfield has seen lower rates of crime, increased safety and cleaner streets. Simple pleasantries that would have been unheard of in '90s-era Garfield, such as dog walking, flourish in the neighborhood.

While the neighborhood has experienced fluctuating crime rates in recent years, overall, the crime rate has decreased since its peak in 1990, according to Phoenix's crime data. Garfield's rate for Part 1 crimes in January 2022 — consisting of theft, drug offenses and motor vehicle theft — was around 33% greater than Phoenix. However, that rate was around 50% lower in Garfield than the rest of the city in January 2016.

Dombek called these improvements “a double-edged sword."

A neighborhood in transition

Andrew Raub has seen notable change in Garfield since moving in over a decade ago. Following a layoff in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and having a friend in the area, “I literally showed up with my car and $200,” Raub said.

Raub and his friend split the $800-a-month rent in 2010 for an entire 1920s bungalow-style home in the district. Raub and his wife, Gabriella Saavedra, later bought the 939-square-foot home and live in it today.

“This used to be the affordable place to live … a lot of poor people lived here,” Raub said.

Raub is a computer programmer for ASU's College of Health Solutions and Saavedra is a case assistant for a youth and family services agency.

Almost 30% of residents lived below the poverty line in 1980, according to city documents. A decade later, rent was around 30% cheaper in the neighborhood than the city-wide average.

Today, it costs $1,490 per month in rent for the average one-bedroom apartment in Garfield, according to Apartments.com. This is around 13% higher than the average cost in Phoenix.

Poverty rates remain high today in the neighborhood. Its 85006 ZIP code, which contains Garfield and the historic Coronado neighborhood, has 23.4% of residents living below the poverty line, according to the U.S. Census. 13.9% of Phoenix residents live below that line.

Garfield's income levels are lower than the city of Phoenix as its per capita income and medium household income are 38% and 34% lower than the city in 2022, respectively, according to the U.S. Census.

Outside investors flip homes and own Airbnbs throughout the neighborhood. Around 130 Airbnbs are in Garfield today, according to the company’s website.

Some Garfield residents see a different reason for Garfield's economic change in the mid-2000s: Arizona State University’s establishment of its downtown Phoenix campus in 2006.

The Dean of ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor Law School, Stacy Leeds, explored Phoenix's historic neighborhoods in search of a home walkable to the law school. Her search led her to a former Airbnb in Garfield. She purchased the 1,051-square-foot 1930s bungalow in 2021.

Without ASU’s presence, Leeds “probably wouldn’t have looked at the neighborhood.”

Leeds is not alone. Today, university staff, professors and students fill the neighborhood.

With ASU’s growing influence in the neighborhood, upscale restaurants and shops have popped up. In 2017, friends of Phoenix Chef Doug Robson suggested that he check out a space in the neighborhood for his restaurant, Gallo Blanco.

Garfield's American Way Market sat on the corner of Pierce and 10th streets for decades and served as the neighborhood's grocery store. The market put out advertisements in the local paper dating back to 1942.

Robson transformed the renovated grocery store into his Mexican restaurant. It is outfitted with a high wood-vaulted ceiling, colorful murals, whimsical prints by local artists, sleek half-booth style seating and a rustic, yet modern, bar. The menu features $14 margaritas, $18 enchiladas and a $40 steak served with tortillas.

Robson’s goal was “not to gentrify, but to complement." He has made efforts to preserve the building’s integrity and blend into Garfield.

Across the street from Gallo Blanco are Buena Vida Bodega and Welcome Diner. Rather than self-serve soft drinks or salty snacks, the bodega contains an artisan wine club with bottles featuring crisp, funky labels, $10 miso potato chip chocolate bars, a $24 bottle of olive oil, various colorful incense, sage and crystals.

A staple of Garfield since 2004, Welcome Diner serves southern-style diner food with a stylish interior and several pricy cocktails. The diner called a trailer in Garfield home before it moved into a larger establishment.

These establishments are unaffordable to longtime residents.

Raub has seen these expensive eateries and the growing university “increase the value of everything around here” — including property taxes.

His increased by around 15% between 2015 and 2022, however, other homes in the neighborhood, including that of Leeds, saw increases of almost 450%.

Public tax data from the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office of 100 homes in the neighborhood showed the average home had an over 92% increase from 2015 to 2022 in property taxes. The homes that experienced the highest increases saw an average of 210%.

The county-wide property tax rates have experienced a slight decrease since 2016, yet homeowners still pay more. The assessed values of homes in Phoenix have increased by $11.2 billion between 2019 and 2023.

While some Garfield residents purchased renovated homes nearing half a million dollars, others line up at 6 a.m. for the monthly food bank in Aim Right Ministries’ parking lot, Saavedra said. This has created an economic chasm in the community.

“It's more and more people every month,” she said.

To support their beloved neighborhood — and with history once again repeating itself — residents take matters into their own hands to support those in need.

Supporting their community

Located across Roosevelt Street from Garfield Elementary School, Aim Right Ministries hosts food drives, provides after-school programming and collaborates with the school, under the lead of Jeff Chupp, Aim Right’s executive director.

Around 100 kids from low-income homes in Garfield come to the religious organization each week. Inside the school, the organization operates a food pantry, established a guitar club and helps with recess and lunch.

The school houses an extensive gardening project, which opens to the community as a farm stand once a month. Produce — such as cucumbers, cilantro and cauliflower — is sold at a cheaper price, said Garfield Principal Jonathan Avilez.

Garfield's students adopted Gallo Blanco's Robson as “the neighborhood chef of the school” as he volunteered to cook with students and rebuilt the school’s kitchen.

Programming, such as organizing free swap markets, combating the feral cat population, installing murals in alleyways and sharing food in community pantries and fridges, dominate the neighborhood’s community-run projects today.

Saavedra organizes a quarterly free swap market dubbed the Garfield Really Really Free Market at Aim Right. Residents bring unneeded items and services to exchange with others — all for free.

Saavedra, with the help of husband Raub, also organizes the monthly Garfield Litter Lifters.

In February, a record 29 neighbors gathered on a rainy Saturday morning to collect trash throughout Garfield.

Afterward, neighbors gathered in Dombeck’s prairie-style historical home. Inviting well-known neighbors, first-time Litter Lifters and everyone in between, Dombeck hosted a lavish buffet-style breakfast, complete with mimosas, potatoes, sausage, bacon and more.

“I don’t see the same type of community involvement of helping your fellow neighbor ... in other neighborhoods,” Saavedra said. “It’s something that I think is really embraced here.”

Reach reporter Morgan Fischer at morgan.fischer@gannett.com or on X, formally known as Twitter, @morgfisch.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Historic Garfield neighborhood in Phoenix retains funky charm