Missing Glendale Hometown (Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa: condo, crime, hotel)

[SDHYDE17]

Hi All, I've been lurking for the past year and have developed a near addiction to this website . Lots of great topics and lots of interesting stories. I was born in Phoenix in the late 70's and lived in the same house all my life until I moved away in the 90's after high school. I visited a lot for about a year until almost all my friends had relocated for college or whatever, I seemed to lose track of most of them because back in the 90's there was no internet or even cell phones so when someone moved it was really hard to keep track of them especially since I only visited about once a month. Eventually I just gave up looking for them and so I have had no real connection to "The Valley" for about 20 years now.
I got married 15 years ago and have a family but........maybe its the whole mid life crisis thing? I did turn 40 this year.....I really miss the things of my childhood these days.
I have visited Phoenix about 10 times over last 3 years and I really miss it. Even though so much has changed there is a big part of me that wants to move back to phoenix. I have a great job, nice house, new truck etc... the town I live in is great to raise kids but I feel like outside of my work I am dying of boredom.
I miss sports teams and good shopping and nice restaurants. A million different things that Phoenix has to offer that a small town does not. Tucson doesn't do it for me either. I dont really like Tucson...no offence but that city is a dump. The whole town needs a makeover.
I really miss the green lawns and trees. I grew up mowing lawns and working at a Smitty's grocery store in high school. I lived near Glendale Ave and 27th. Went to Washington High. Most all the places I grew up with are gone now.
Anybody else out there grow up in Phoenix in the 80s-90s? Any memories to share?

[Dewey59]

How do you remember Phoenix? Stories from long time residents...

[SDHYDE17]

Originally Posted by Dewey59

How do you remember Phoenix? Stories from long time residents...

Thanks and yes, this was the thread that got me started on this site a year ago or so.
I am just more curious if there are others who grew up in the Valley, moved away and later in life are wanting to return back. I personally should be in a position in the next 3-5 years to purchase a small condo in the Valley and start spending the weekends in Phoenix.

[Ponderosa]

I came here around the time you were born. The place is nothing like it was back then. Your nostalgia is misplaced. The quality of life here has drowned in a wave of humanity originating from both within and without the US, all looking for jobs, sun and escape. Phoenix is hotter, far more congested. The air is filthy. Horrible vehicle accidents and violence take up half the news broadcasts each day. Where you lived is now rundown and "ghetto". You are better off where you are, I think.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

I came here around the time you were born. The place is nothing like it was back then. Your nostalgia is misplaced. The quality of life here has drowned in a wave of humanity originating from both within and without the US, all looking for jobs, sun and escape. Phoenix is hotter, far more congested. The air is filthy. Horrible vehicle accidents and violence take up half the news broadcasts each day. Where you lived is now rundown and "ghetto". You are better off where you are, I think.

That's certainly one of the most pessimistic views of Phoenix, I'll offer my own feedback which is certainly more positive than this.

- the growth has created a more urban feel to multiple parts of the valley, Tempe is taking on a bigger city feel and a live/work/play lifestyle is now possible with less dependence on a vehicle. I happen to see this as a positive, I know some other don't. Infill has become more popular and at least slows down the endless sprawl - bit, I call that a win.

- downtown Phoenix is thriving like I've never seen in my 15 years here, there are new restaraunts and residents popping up daily. It's another example of a growing urban node in Phoenix and a lot of us are excited to see the transformation. This has led to more creative spaces, a developing warehouse district and quite a few new jobs choosing to locate downtown. This has been exciting to watch.

- the culinary scene here continues to grow and evolve, local chefs are opening new concepts faster than most of us have time to check them out. We've received some national recognition for this. The Asian population is booming and West Mesa is slowly starting to feel more like a china town of sorts, another aspect of growth I really enjoy here.

- there are 3 new museums opened recently and talks for even more in the future, a perk I certainly appreciate.

- do we have more traffic, congestion and pollution? I guess, does it rival places like LA, NY and Chicago in these categories? No way.

[timtemtym]

I love Glendale and the west valley. We visit usually once a year and stay at a resort (Oh the bargains you can get in the dead of summer!). I like the newness and privacy of life in Arizona. You aren't confronted with the complete lack of space on a daily basis like out here in LA. That being said, the low teacher pay keeps me out of Arizona. One day I'll retire though and take my California pension to AZ or NV where I can afford a pretty nice retirement.

[ShampooBanana]

Don't hear a lot of people saying they miss the green lawns and trees of Phoenix. In fact, that's the one thing I don't like about Phoenix, is the lack of green. Guess you must be somewhere even more brown than here, which is saying something!

[SDHYDE17]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

I came here around the time you were born. The place is nothing like it was back then. Your nostalgia is misplaced. The quality of life here has drowned in a wave of humanity originating from both within and without the US, all looking for jobs, sun and escape. Phoenix is hotter, far more congested. The air is filthy. Horrible vehicle accidents and violence take up half the news broadcasts each day. Where you lived is now rundown and "ghetto". You are better off where you are, I think.

Well I can feel ya on that...the place certainly isn't what it used to be but then I dont think anywhere is what it used to be anymore. The town I live in was about 15-20K population when I moved her 20+years ago and now its around 80K if you count all the close by rural areas. Still feels like a tiny town though where everyone knows everyone and it some ways that is oppressive in its own right. I met a guy working at a Hotel last year when I was staying in phoenix and he was from my town. He told me he hated the small town where everyone knows everyone else and loved Phoenix for the amenities and anonymity. He wasn't much younger than I , maybe early 30s.
I hope you find somewhere that suits you well in the "Valley". I still think Phoenix beats the pants off a lot of other big cities like LA, Chicago and Denver. Last time I was in Peoria/ Glendale near 51st Ave it didn't look too much different than when I left. A little older and grayer maybe but then again so am I now.
To each their own. Thanks for the comment.

[SDHYDE17]

Originally Posted by locolife

That's certainly one of the most pessimistic views of Phoenix, I'll offer my own feedback which is certainly more positive than this.

- the growth has created a more urban feel to multiple parts of the valley, Tempe is taking on a bigger city feel and a live/work/play lifestyle is now possible with less dependence on a vehicle. I happen to see this as a positive, I know some other don't. Infill has become more popular and at least slows down the endless sprawl - bit, I call that a win.

- downtown Phoenix is thriving like I've never seen in my 15 years here, there are new restaraunts and residents popping up daily. It's another example of a growing urban node in Phoenix and a lot of us are excited to see the transformation. This has led to more creative spaces, a developing warehouse district and quite a few new jobs choosing to locate downtown. This has been exciting to watch.

- the culinary scene here continues to grow and evolve, local chefs are opening new concepts faster than most of us have time to check them out. We've received some national recognition for this. The Asian population is booming and West Mesa is slowly starting to feel more like a china town of sorts, another aspect of growth I really enjoy here.

- there are 3 new museums opened recently and talks for even more in the future, a perk I certainly appreciate.

- do we have more traffic, congestion and pollution? I guess, does it rival places like LA, NY and Chicago in these categories? No way.

- I love biking and walking...that is one of the big reasons for wanting to get a condo in the Phoenix area or maybe near Papago Park somewhere, I love the Phoenix mountains and the Camelback Mountains. I make the trip to Phoenix at least 3 times a year just to bike and hike etc...I grew up riding my bike everywhere, to school, to work, to the theater, or the pool, to friends houses or the malls, or ballgames or wherever I wanted to go. It is one of the big things I miss about Phoenix is being able to find anything I am looking for within a bike rides distance. I live 20+ miles from town in the country right now and there is no way I can ride to anywhere on my bike or walk anywhere for that matter.

- I work for a construction company so the more commercial business the better as far as I am concerned. I am blown away by the urban sprawl as are most from my generation...Phoenix probably led the nation in urban sprawl from the 90s - on, just a guess on my part, not saying that as fact. I love green spaces and bike paths and all the hiking trails. The only thing I do not like is the excessive heat which I can deal with and bad traffic, but Phoenix has a lot of high speed roadways now and I am only talking about the weekends and not a daily commute anyway. Crime and drugs tho...It would be nice to see phoenix seriously crack down on the heavy drug problems. The meth thing is the one that really gets me...those guys are nutz

- Culinary scene, YES PLEASE. I live in a town that has an Olive garden and 15 small mom & pop wanna be restaurants...I love to cook so I dont have to eat out but it sure is nice to have good choices when you want them. I miss that I surely do.

[SDHYDE17]

Originally Posted by timtemtym

I love Glendale and the west valley. We visit usually once a year and stay at a resort (Oh the bargains you can get in the dead of summer!). I like the newness and privacy of life in Arizona. You aren't confronted with the complete lack of space on a daily basis like out here in LA. That being said, the low teacher pay keeps me out of Arizona. One day I'll retire though and take my California pension to AZ or NV where I can afford a pretty nice retirement.

I agree with you, even though I live in a small town I traveled a bit for work as most did during the recession and I can say I do not like any big city I visited in the west as much as I do Phoenix. Part of it is plain old bias but I really do not like LA, San Diego, San Fran, Vegas, San Antonio or Denver...in fact the only other big city I actually sort of liked was Albuquerque NM. It seems to be more of an outdoorsy town, maybe Utah but I've never been there?... Phoenix does still give me the impression of having everything close and convenient but still being able to jump in my truck whenever I want and leave it all in the rearview mirror and escape quickly to a solitary place.
Please, take that retirement and come on out to Arizona. Honestly the California retirees have brought a lot of commerce and class to the whole state of Arizona and we need that more than the ultra low pay scale uneducated workers that seem to flock here and clog up the system. I would take all the California retirees we can get. Ya'll might be more liberal than most Arizonians but I seem to get along with Californians just fine.