Why don't people in the suburbs identify as Phoenix? (Mesa: houses, living in)

[sargeant79]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

I guess that's what the OP is talking about. That's weird to me. Most people not from the area won't know where Chandler is. IMO, it comes off as if you're a bit disconnected to assume that they would.

"Where are you from?"
"I'm from Chandler, AZ."
"Where's that?"
"A suburb of Phoenix."
"Oh, cool."

or

"Where are you from?"
"Phoenix."
"Oh, cool."

I'm right there with you on this. I think it is something fairly unique to the Phoenix area, as I've always heard people who live in suburbs in other metro areas reference the main city when telling people where they're from. People from Dearborn Hills say they're from Detroit. People from Whittier say they're from LA. People from Oak Lawn say they're from Chicago. But people from Chandler say they're from Chandler. It's definitely different here.

[asufan]

I tell people here I'm from Mission Viejo or South OC and I think they know where that is. I would never say LA because that's a different world. Not really a threadworthy or Phoenix specific topic though

[KurtAZ]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

I meant disconnected from reality; as in it's strange to say you're from some random suburb when traveling elsewhere and speaking to someone unfamiliar with the area.

Would you not expect someone from Coppell (insert random suburb) to say that they're from Dallas (insert major metro area)?

I don't find it disconnected from reality at all. Chandler is a city, just as Phoenix is a city and as such would not meet the definition of a "suburb" of Phoenix. Granted Phoenix is a bigger city and is the State Capital...I would argue that Chandler is a much better run city that regularly runs a budget surplus. When all the City of Phoenix public pools shut down a couple of years ago due to lack of funding, all the Chandler pools and water parks were open and working just fine. We have two of the better school districts in the State and are attracting major bio-med firms as well as housing Intel, Orbital and a number of other tech companies. I have run into people that don't know where Chandler is and that extra exchange of "oh, it's about 30 miles SouthEast of Phoenix" is really not that difficult.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by KurtAZ

I don't find it disconnected from reality at all. Chandler is a city, just as Phoenix is a city and as such would not meet the definition of a "suburb" of Phoenix. Granted Phoenix is a bigger city and is the State Capital...I would argue that Chandler is a much better run city that regularly runs a budget surplus. When all the City of Phoenix public pools shut down a couple of years ago due to lack of funding, all the Chandler pools and water parks were open and working just fine. We have two of the better school districts in the State and are attracting major bio-med firms as well as housing Intel, Orbital and a number of other tech companies. I have run into people that don't know where Chandler is and that extra exchange of "oh, it's about 30 miles SouthEast of Phoenix" is really not that difficult.

Chandler is not a suburb of Phoenix? Wow. You're comparing a city of 200k people to one of 1.5mm. It has nothing to do with how a city is run compared to another. It's about size, population and notoriety. You live in Metro Phoenix like it or not.

This is an interesting topic and I agree with the OP; this weird sort of "my city is the center of the universe" attitude doesn't seem to exist elsewhere. It's peculiar.

[observer53]

I often say I'm from the "Phoenix area" which implies that I don't live IN Phoenix, if I did, I'd say so.

[KurtAZ]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

Chandler is not a suburb of Phoenix? Wow. You're comparing a city of 200k people to one of 1.5mm. It has nothing to do with how a city is run compared to another. It's about size, population and notoriety. You live in Metro Phoenix like it or not.

This is an interesting topic and I agree with the OP; this weird sort of "my city is the center of the universe" attitude doesn't seem to exist elsewhere. It's peculiar.

Ah...now it is Metro Phoenix. Yes, Chandler is in the Phoenix MSA. Doesn't mean it is a suburb:

a : an outlying part of a city or town - Chandler is a City, not part of The City of Phoenix.
b : a smaller community adjacent to or within commuting distance of a city - Again, not a community...The City of Chandler is a City...not a community.
c plural : the residential area on the outskirts of a city or large town - I think you get the point.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by KurtAZ

Ah...now it is Metro Phoenix. Yes, Chandler is in the Phoenix MSA. Doesn't mean it is a suburb:

a : an outlying part of a city or town - Chandler is a City, not part of The City of Phoenix.
b : a smaller community adjacent to or within commuting distance of a city - Again, not a community...The City of Chandler is a City...not a community.
c plural : the residential area on the outskirts of a city or large town - I think you get the point.

Chandler is most certainly a suburb of Phoenix. That's beside the point though.

When traveling abroad, I would laugh at someone telling locals that they're from Grapevine or Fishers or Surprise or Katy. A reasonable person would say I'm from Dallas or Indy or Phoenix or Houston. It seems arrogant to expect people to know some random little city versus the major metropolitan area in which you reside. Again, this is a phenomenon that I haven't experienced elsewhere. Hell, Detroit can be a flaming turd and people from an hour away will still say they're from Detroit.

[KurtAZ]

Well then we have a difference in experiences. Most of the time, back when I was traveling more, many people knew where Chandler and Scottsdale are (Scottsdale more so than Chandler of course) probably from the large amount of people moving here.

I still don't agree with your supposition that Chandler is a "suburb" of Phoenix simply because Chandler has it's own history that only in the last 20 or so years was it connected to Phoenix. Case in point: 1995 I was working with a contracting company moving the Cigna Healthcare office on Chandler Blvd. I lived in Scottsdale just off of Bell Road. The company rented out hotel rooms to house the crew because they felt it was too far to commute everyday for the project. When I moved to Chandler it was because the company I worked for moved their offices to Chandler. When I switched jobs last year, I almost had to commute to Tempe but they moved the group to downtown Phoenix. Would that have meant that Chandler was then a suburb of Tempe? I find it arrogant to assume that people from elsewhere only know where Phoenix is in relation to the Phoenix MSA.

[UtahNative67]

Originally Posted by KurtAZ

Well then we have a difference in experiences. Most of the time, back when I was traveling more, many people knew where Chandler and Scottsdale are (Scottsdale more so than Chandler of course) probably from the large amount of people moving here.

I still don't agree with your supposition that Chandler is a "suburb" of Phoenix simply because Chandler has it's own history that only in the last 20 or so years was it connected to Phoenix. Case in point: 1995 I was working with a contracting company moving the Cigna Healthcare office on Chandler Blvd. I lived in Scottsdale just off of Bell Road. The company rented out hotel rooms to house the crew because they felt it was too far to commute everyday for the project. When I moved to Chandler it was because the company I worked for moved their offices to Chandler. When I switched jobs last year, I almost had to commute to Tempe but they moved the group to downtown Phoenix. Would that have meant that Chandler was then a suburb of Tempe? I find it arrogant to assume that people from elsewhere only know where Phoenix is in relation to the Phoenix MSA.

No. Tempe and Chandler are suburbs of PHOENIX. Simple.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by KurtAZ

Well then we have a difference in experiences. Most of the time, back when I was traveling more, many people knew where Chandler and Scottsdale are (Scottsdale more so than Chandler of course) probably from the large amount of people moving here.

I still don't agree with your supposition that Chandler is a "suburb" of Phoenix simply because Chandler has it's own history that only in the last 20 or so years was it connected to Phoenix. Case in point: 1995 I was working with a contracting company moving the Cigna Healthcare office on Chandler Blvd. I lived in Scottsdale just off of Bell Road. The company rented out hotel rooms to house the crew because they felt it was too far to commute everyday for the project. When I moved to Chandler it was because the company I worked for moved their offices to Chandler. When I switched jobs last year, I almost had to commute to Tempe but they moved the group to downtown Phoenix. Would that have meant that Chandler was then a suburb of Tempe? I find it arrogant to assume that people from elsewhere only know where Phoenix is in relation to the Phoenix MSA.

Chandler, Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale, Gilbert, Goodyear are all suburbs of Phoenix. All of varying size with various offerings but still suburbs of a larger, major city. Perhaps you're confusing suburbs and exurbs. Irrelevant though.

Arrogance is expecting people from another country to know your relatively small city.