By Catherine Reagor, The Republic | azcentral.com
Retail has long followed new rooftops out to the edges of the Valley. But now, new and trendy restaurants are flocking to central Phoenix to be in and near older rooftops.
More than a dozen restaurants, mostly backed by local, popular chefs, have opened on vacant lots or in older rehabbed buildings across downtown and uptown Phoenix during the past few years. Plans call for several more hip eateries to open up in the central areas this year.
Home values in many of these neighborhoods surrounding these new restaurant hubs are climbing faster than almost all other parts of the Valley: