City of Phoenix services declining (low crime, landlord, live)

[shiphead]

I had a bag of tools that I used around the house, that was stolen. My friend's house was broken into and all his electronics were stolen. Protecting you and me is not the job of the police anymore. Keeping order is their new directive. The stability of the city is ranked higher than individuals. The stability directive include high ranking city officials. I am surprised they didn't question you for drugs or weapons.

[new2colo]

I agree that the quality of services are going down. Roads seem to be in declining condition, quite a few street lights and the illuminated street name plates are out for months or longer, graffiti on city property seems to be sticking around longer, and it sounds like police response time is going down as well. It is sad to see this city in such denial. The mayor and city council try to tout Phoenix like it's on the upswing and a place that is growing and business friendly. Meanwhile, we learn that the city is in tens of millions of dollars of debt that it had no idea it was in, office vacancy rates along the Central corridor and Downtown are sky high, there are tons of vacant commercial spaces, roads and related infrastructure seem to be increasingly neglected, the city is not growing quickly at all, and many of the big name businesses are locating outside of city limits and not even looking at the city. It's a sad state of affairs. However, as long as city officials keep their heads in the sand and try to act like we doing better than ever, we will not see any improvements any time soon.

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by new2colo

I agree that the quality of services are going down. Roads seem to be in declining condition, quite a few street lights and the illuminated street name plates are out for months or longer, graffiti on city property seems to be sticking around longer, and it sounds like police response time is going down as well. It is sad to see this city in such denial. The mayor and city council try to tout Phoenix like it's on the upswing and a place that is growing and business friendly. Meanwhile, we learn that the city is in tens of millions of dollars of debt that it had no idea it was in, office vacancy rates along the Central corridor and Downtown are sky high, there are tons of vacant commercial spaces, roads and related infrastructure seem to be increasingly neglected, the city is not growing quickly at all, and many of the big name businesses are locating outside of city limits and not even looking at the city. It's a sad state of affairs. However, as long as city officials keep their heads in the sand and try to act like we doing better than ever, we will not see any improvements any time soon.

not sure where you're getting the info on streetlights & graffiti - I've reported both using the Iphone app & gotten a response in a couple of days. as for vacancy rates downtown, that's not the problem of government - price it right & it'll get rented. roads.. again, seems neighborhood specific - both my rentals had the roads out front resurfaced last year & I got stuck with a $0 special assessment.. that really creamed my corn!

[Jukesgrrl]

You say you haven't had a break-in from years past, so what are you comparing police response time to? I ask because you mention several times that city services have "declined."

As for your complaint about over-paid executives, it's being addressed. Former city manager David Cavazos was criticized for his high pay and the so-called "pension spiking" that took place in recent years. He has now left his job and is being replaced by Ed Zuercher, whose annual compensation package is said to be about $50,000 less than Cavazos' $315,000 pay. Cavazos is now in Santa Ana, CA, and they are said to be paying him the same salary he made in Phoenix, plus more perks. And BTW, Santa Ana is less than a quarter of the size of Phoenix. The city manager of Santa Monica, CA population 92,000), makes an almost identical salary to the one Phoenix pays; 20 cities in cash-strapped California pay city managers more than $300,000, as do Dallas and San Antonio. The city manager of Scottsdale makes $200,000 and they don't even have a quarter of a million residents.

Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher's Contract: No Pension Spiking

[Desertspiritsteve]

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

As for your complaint about over-paid executives, it's being addressed. Former city manager David Cavazos was criticized for his high pay and the so-called "pension spiking" that took place in recent years. He has now left his job and is being replaced by Ed Zuercher, whose annual compensation package is said to be about $50,000 less than Cavazos' $315,000 pay.

The Phoenix City Council just voted to raise Zuercher's pay to $315. yesterday.
I'm putting a link to an Arizona Central article about it and the outrage at a time that the city couldn't foresee the terrible financial mess that they find themselves in. So much for addressing the overpaid executives.

Phoenix council OKs city manager pay

[new2colo]

Originally Posted by Zippyman

not sure where you're getting the info on streetlights & graffiti - I've reported both using the Iphone app & gotten a response in a couple of days. as for vacancy rates downtown, that's not the problem of government - price it right & it'll get rented. roads.. again, seems neighborhood specific - both my rentals had the roads out front resurfaced last year & I got stuck with a $0 special assessment.. that really creamed my corn!

Info? I live here. I see it with my own eyes on a daily basis. I've reported both to the city and haven't seen significant improvement. I'm glad to hear that you've had a different experience.

Vacancy rates are tied to the overall declining feel of the city. There was a time where there was demand enough to build all the towers along Central and now most buildings are half empty. The city has pandered to developers at the expense of the overall quality of the city and it is really starting to show. Central, which from photos looks like it use to be a very vibrant street all the way between downtown and Indian School, is now full of half empty towers and empty lots with overgrown weeds. If the issue was just with price, the problem wouldn't be so extreme. Building owners could just lower rents and fill those buildings up again. It's not happening. Drive on Cactus between Cave Creek Road and Scottsdale city limits and you will see exactly what I mean about the road quality. It's not good at all. My gripe about roads is well behind issue with just some local streets.

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by new2colo

I agree that the quality of services are going down. Roads seem to be in declining condition, quite a few street lights and the illuminated street name plates are out for months or longer, graffiti on city property seems to be sticking around longer, and it sounds like police response time is going down as well. It is sad to see this city in such denial. The mayor and city council try to tout Phoenix like it's on the upswing and a place that is growing and business friendly. Meanwhile, we learn that the city is in tens of millions of dollars of debt that it had no idea it was in, office vacancy rates along the Central corridor and Downtown are sky high, there are tons of vacant commercial spaces, roads and related infrastructure seem to be increasingly neglected, the city is not growing quickly at all, and many of the big name businesses are locating outside of city limits and not even looking at the city. It's a sad state of affairs. However, as long as city officials keep their heads in the sand and try to act like we doing better than ever, we will not see any improvements any time soon.

Where did you get that from?

Metro Phoenix’s office vacancy rate has dropped to about 22 percent, based on research reports from metro Phoenix brokerages. The vacancy rate soared above 27 percent in 2009.

Some office areas in the Valley are faring better.

Downtown Phoenix has drawn several new tenants during the past few years, as well as more restaurants and other amenities. The overall office vacancy rate downtown has dropped to 15 percent, according commercial-real-estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

Rents for office space are climbing as a result.

Commercial real estate set to heat up in Phoenix area

[Juram]

Originally Posted by West Phx Native

Your lucky, when my house got broken into, the Phx PD did not even want to send anyone out. There were well defined boot prints on the back door, they did not care, it was more or less, DON'T BOTHER US.

This. I was involved in a hit-and-run accident, the driver crashed into the back of my car, took off, I chased after him just to be able to copy down his license plate. I called the police and when the two officers showed up they both had this attitude of "cool story bro." It didn't seem like they wanted to do much of anything, instead making it sound like I had no case at all since I hadn't actually seen the driver. They reluctantly sent someone to the house to check it out where the driver self-identified but they didn't want to take an accident report or anything else at all.


I mean, it may not be a big deal to them, but for the average person, who wants to get stuck footing a bunch of bills because the police are too disinterested to follow up properly?

[West Phx Native]

What sucked even more about the whole deal was I contacted my insurance company and was basically told that while I could file a claim, my rates would go up, and if I filed another claim, I would be cancelled, talk about getting screwed twice..

[jaredC]

Originally Posted by phetaroi

Sounds to me if the city can't afford to hire sufficient police. In other words, not enough tax dollars.

Yes the city is run by a bunch of corrupted a holes. We are down something like 600 officers in all of Phoenix.