The Roosevelt Historic District in Central Phoenix

If you’re originally from the Back East or the Midwest, you’re in a good business. So many people have relocated their homes and families to the sunnier side of the United States, that it seems to be becoming harder and harder to find an actual Phoenix native.

But no matter how long you’ve lived in Phoenix, something evokes “back east” childhood memories every once in a while and that spot in Phoenix might just be the Historic District of Roosevelt. Homes include big sunny porches to read a book on during the summer break, attics to explore “like grandma’s,” and dining rooms with pocket doors that can be so handy when playing hide and seek.

Roosevelt is one of the founding neighborhoods of Phoenix, with vast homes constructed for the wealthy dating back to the turn of the century. (If you’re really from “back east” and you’ve grown up in a 200-year-old house, you could roll your eyes at that last sentence, but Phoenix is a young city; the city limits didn’t even cover Roosevelt until 1893 and Arizona wasn’t even a state until 1912!

In the Roosevelt Historic District, bungalows are the norm and there are few “fixer uppers” and far between. These bungalows have no “average size” which means anything since they were never cookie-cutter homes, but range from 1800 to over 3000 square feet, usually with at least 4 bedrooms and multiple bathrooms.

Historically a residential neighborhood, today some of the largest homes— especially along Roosevelt Street and 3rd Avenue— because of their proximity to government offices a few blocks south, they serve as lawyers and other professionals. And that is only appropriate since the original residents of Roosevelt were physicians, lawyers and businessmen.

Look closer to Central Avenue where you will find townhomes, condos, and apartments if these large homes seem daunting. Roosevelt Historic District is undoubtedly Phoenix’s first “downtown district,” an industrial area with options. Walk to the Public Market or Famers ‘ Market, to many popular restaurants, if you work in any of the companies that call Phoenix downtown their home.

Walk to Comerica Theater or Puppet Theatre (it’s no longer just for kids) or catch the light rail and go to a Chase Field ballgame. If the kids need a book to read over the summer break, there’s the Burton Barr Library on Central right there. If the dog needs a change of scene, walk her through a tunnel below to the linear Margaret Hance Deck Park which covers much of the I-10 traffic.

If you feel the need to use a car, be warned that the Roosevelt streets were built in days of horse-and-buggy. When you park along one of the residential streets in Roosevelt, don’t try to open the curb-facing car door or you’ll get a good scrape here as a reminder of the ultra-high curbs! If you like the Roosevelt homes, you might like the F.Q too. Historic districts Story and Alvarado.