In defense of cookie cutter homes (Scottsdale, Gilbert: houses, rent, employment)

[Jammie]

Ponderosa, I'm glad you brought this up. I also don't care for the remarks downgrading the "cookie cutter" homes. It almost seems to me that a few of those commenters should take a trip to a third world country and see what lowly living really is. Some people just obviously have TOO much money since they can thumb their noses at something like this.

[Balco9]

Jammie you must be on hippy lettuce...
We are not a third world country, not even
close. Why bring that up!!!!!!!
Hey i would live large in a third world county, but
hey why does AZ have to refer to a TWC?

[rambrush]

Why go to another country? I was working for a fire department about 20 years ago that covered Cashion and Lingas areas.
Avondale has now anexed those areas but in the old days those areas had lean 2's pallets cardboard whatever would work to create a roof over there heads.
I have worked all over the valley from Gilbert-Queen creek-fountain hills to rio verde - cave creek/carefree back to Litchfield Park.
I have been there and done that seen cookie cutter houses and not very impressed.
Just my 2 cents

[Jammie]

Balco, I am NOT on hippy grass. This is what I'm saying~if some of those people who belittle cookie cutter homes, apartment living, mobile home living, etc. had to live in a third world country for a while, they may not snub their noses at the things I just mentioned. Some people just have too much money or credit and have become too haughty. And duh, I know we're not a third world country.

You may bypass my posts in the future. You made no attempt at trying to understand what I was saying and your reply was rude.

[MoMark]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

I've seen a number of posts disparaging the architectural styles of the new subdivisions in the Phoenix, Tucson, and Prescott areas and I just have to rise in defense. The new sub-divs are so much better than the ones of ten years ago. Back then a new development might have 3-4 floorplans and 2-3 elevations of each. All houses were painted the same color (Navajo White). There was no attempt at disguising or blending garage into the home so driving thru the developments gave the feel of visiting a mini-storage.

In contrast, today many developments feature 5-6 or more floorplans with several elevation per plan. Colors are all shades of brown but there are several choices. And most developments have side-entry garage options particularly with three car garage homes. The town I live in, Goodyear, has city ordinances, that require houses next to each other not be painted the same or have the same elevations and so forth. Other cities have the same rules. The other side of the coin is that lot sizes have shrunk so the homes really looked packed in. But all in all, new subdivisions are, to my eye, more attractive than those of ten years ago. That's progress of sorts.

I agree with you. I like the newer developments much better than older ones for both architectural beauty and better planning with variety. My home in Las Vegas was in a planned community and all the houses were of Mediterranean design, some two story, most one story, and the roof tiles were either a mottled white, or the traditional red tile and it varied from house to house. All the houses are also that off-white stucco, no browns, but somehow they look good even though they're all the same in that neighborhood. It has to do with the arches and architectural touches that varied from house to house, and a lot use false rock siding on the porch pillars, etc. I didn't know the thick looking details around windows and balconies were built of chickenwire and styrofoam...then covered with a layer of stucco, but it looks nice! On my house the stucco had been damaged by a thrown basketball and when I looked closely, I saw styrofoam underneath..I was shocked, how to repair it? So, I stuffed it with toilet paper and then used a tube of bathroom seal in a tube, took a butter knife and imitated the texture of the surrounding stucco, and it blended in perfectly!!! I did that back in 2000 and it still looked perfect when I sold the house in June of last year! But the newer developments are better planned no doubt, I think neighborhoods like that age better than the "mini-storage" look of yesteryear. When I see houses that were built in the late sixties through the early 80's, they look so badly constructed, aged terribly, and look cheap. I think home developments now are far better myself too, even with smaller lots many times.
However, homes in Missouri where I live are often brick and my current home I bought in January here is a custom brick home that is built much better than my Las Vegas house. My Missouri house was built in 1993 and there's no particle board or pre-formed stapled trusses in the attic, no cheap plywood. The house is built of solid brick and the interior walls are actually thick wood plank construction. Even when I went under the house to find a water leak (check your icemaker connection if the leak is near your refrigerator!!!! HINT HINT!), I discovered the floor boards are really floor boards..thick wooden plank construction with no staples and then sheathed in 1" solid real plywood on top, not particle board. In the attic the roof trusses are built in place with real metal joints, not that webbed metal square net they use nowadays and staple. In my attic, it's actually bolted and the cross pieces are again...wood plank, not particle board that's pressure treated sawdust like in Vegas. The walls are 10" thick and solid. It's amazing to me the quality difference in construction between where I lived and here, which...I guess is good as the weather conditions are so different.

[Need_affordable_home]

We have lots of cookie cutters here. The townhouses and condos are the worse, they all look exactly alike! Some of the smaller houses are identical, only difference is a few different shades of color, no two identically colored houses adjucant(next to) Cookie cutters save the developers money in several ways. You can request a custom house, alot of upscale neighboors are like that where you design your own blueprints and get it approved. Not cheap though! Older houses may also be unique

[aj661]

Tract homes just aren't what they used to be. Most middle class people have no choice but to live in one. As I said earlier, we do not like the fact that our home looks so much like the others in the neighborhood, and I hate stucco. In the wonderful world of HOA's there's little we can do about the outside color. However, we did personalize the inside and the back yard. The only remaining white paint is in the laundry room and the ceilings. We have a great floorplan, installed hardwood flooring -not pergo- in the master bedroom and our backyard is very private; our sanctuary from the world.

Momark, I don't know about the late 60's, but we lived in a Cox home in SE Scottsdale built in 1962, slump block construction. Those houses were built by craftsmen, unlike today's which are built by unskilled illegals (mine was, I watched). From the time I was 8 until I was 13, I practiced pitching in the back yard, throwing baseballs against the side of the house. I never even cracked the mortar. If I threw at this stucco over styrofoam and chicken wire it would be embedded in the wall. You have a beautiful place in MO. I still have family living in Wichita Falls TX living in brick homes.

There would be nothing wrong with "cookie cutter" houses if they would simply change the exterior cosmetics. And maybe the construction material. A few more guys on site that can read a measuring tape would be helpfull also. Even my wife's cookie cutter in the kitchen has different shapes!

Bottom line on our c/c: it's a love/hate relationship.

[Boatdrinks]

Originally Posted by aj661

I live in a cookie-cutter and I love it (on the inside). Outside, everything is brown or beige or tan. There were many floorplans to choose from, but somehow they still look the same.
Ponderosa, the new trend you're talking about hasn't reached the east side yet. I wish it would.

Agritopia, in Gilbert (on Ray and Elliot, I think? somewhere near there) looks VERY east coast and unlike any houses I've seen out here. They're all craftsman style houses, many with basement options. I felt like I was back east when we walked through them. They're very nice, though I will say that I've grown so used to the open, airy feeling in the homes here that I started feeling a little clausterphobic in the Agritopia homes. Many models have the square footage, but the rooms are smaller and darker. Still nice, just not necessarily my style.

Verrado is also nice, but I also felt kind of clausterphobic in some of those models. Also, it's WAY the heck out west...

I do think the new homes in the Phoenix area aren't quite as "cookie cutter" as they are in the older neighborhoods. But, to a degree, you're going to get that no matter where you go. We're from Northern VA, and that area is like the Keebler Factory - cookie cutter central!

[Blue Grass Fever]

Originally Posted by Jammie

It almost seems to me that a few of those commenters should take a trip to a third world country and see what lowly living really is. Some people just obviously have TOO much money since they can thumb their noses at something like this.

Take a trip into the west side (or south side) of Phoenix. That is about "third world" you can get without having to leave the country.

There is no cookie cutter homes there!

Once we'd had the electricity go out so we called to report it and wouldn't you believe it, the technicians were afraid to come to our home to repair the lines. We had to tell 'em, sorry- this ain't Snottsdale.

[MotleyCrew]

I have to agree that some of the newer developments are fairly vanilla. Some do an excellent job in keeping some variations, like in Vistancia. The landscaping here is awesome. Marley Park is another nice development. We are from N. CA where it was just vanilla everywhere. We tried to talk some of the devopers we worked with on large custom homes to do some other stucco color besides Oatmeal. When visiting here, we were very excited that they used some of the darker colors. It helps, nothings perfect unless you can afford to build a custom home on very expensive desert dirt.