Tell me what you hate about the Valley (Phoenix, Mesa: houses, buy)

[Montanama]

FWIW, I live in a little city in Montana most of the time when we're not in "the valley". Here in MT we have homeless people begging outside the library and panhandlers on EVERY corner. That's a life thing, not a PHX thing.

[Montanama]

Originally Posted by locolife

I'll add one more to this list.

People who live in Surprise, the Far East Valley, or the far North Valley and so on. Then they complain about how their us no urban environment, there are only chain restaurants exist, etc.. etc...

If you can't find a fun/hip urban environment or lots of local places to eat/shop, it's your own damn fault. We moved to Tempe specifically because this stuff was important to us and other than when an out of town guest wants to eat at a chain of some sort, we never have a problem chowing at our favorite local spots. Also pretty exciting with how the Tempe music scene is progressing. Also digging the energy that's happening around Roosevelt Row.

Right. This is about my only "complaint" if you could call it that, but it would make no sense to be unhappy about it. I would not go so far as to call it something I "hate", more just a wish, if everything could be ideal, that each of the cities had their own downtown core, the type with local restaurants and shops. The reality is that this isn't how the outlying cities, now not necessarily outlying but cities in their own rights, evolved. And you really can't retrofit that, though I see some of the cities trying with varying degrees of success. So there it is. I'm not a snob about chain restaurants, like them just fine for what they are, but in a perfect world I'd have a choice in Goodyear between the box shopping districts and a true "downtown" walkable area.

But we chose Goodyear, not Tempe, knowing we were giving that up.

You won't hear me complaining--we picked it, we knew there were trade-offs, and we're happy. We can drive to walkable areas, lol.

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by Renegade007

What's there to hate about the Valley? Great weather, access to every outdoor activity you can imagine, professional sports, great nightlife in Tempe and Scottsdale, fishing and water skiing... it's fantastic!

I could counter by saying the weather isnt that great in summer, you dont have natural access to winter sports in the Valley (ie skiing, snowmobiling, etc), nightlife is only centered in two tiny districts, which is lame for how HUGE the Valley is.

I love it here, but if one isnt into outdoors-y activities, it isnt a super exciting place to live. Lucky for me, Im outdoors to the core, so I love the Valley for the most part.

[DougStark]

Lack of shade and the monotony of home architecture are two of my biggest complaints. Almost all homes are stucco with tile roofs. Where's the creativity here? How about some metal roofs, brick siding, etc, etc. Also, the flatness of the valley is unattractive to me.

It's called "building on the cheap." Thank you, homebuilders.

I almost forgot my two pet-peeves. The quality of the drinking water here (Phoenix municipal) sucks. I measure the amount of minerals in the water regularily, and they're usually at 800 parts per million. Compare that to Seattle with about 80 parts per million. That's why most people don't drink it (although it's not unhealthy necessarily- it just tastes terrible)
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Also, the soil here sucks if you like to garden. Rocks, boulders, gravel, caliche, alkalinity and no organic matter

[AZgarden]

The homebuilders were all told, "If you build it, they will come." They all came.

[ScottsdaleMark]

I have seen a few metal roofs springing up lately, which is interesting. You see them all over much of the country but they haven't made much of a splash here yet. I think they look better on smaller properties...a huge house with a metal roof I think might look too imposing or industrial. What I don't know is how they perform in hailstorms...what I've been able to find online warns that the metal can get dimpled just like a car left out in the rain, but maybe they make hail-rated metal roofing.

At least we don't see much aluminum siding here in the Valley.

[DougStark]

Good points, ScottsdaleMark. My brother has a beautiful home in the Colorado mountains with a green metal roof. The roof withstands near hurricane force winds every winter without any apparent problem.

It seems to me that metal roofs would be less of a "heat sink" in this hot climate than the concrete tile roofs they put up now. After all, the metal roofs have much less MASS to retain heat than concrete does. And, there would be considerable rigid insulation underneath the metal, also.

I've seen some modernistic homes built in San Diego where the builder used galvanized corrugated metal siding. Modern, interesting look and almost zero maintenance. But, the house sat on the market a while, so I don't know if the public was ready for it. I thought the house looked good.

[belgirl]

Originally Posted by LBTRS

Lots of renters that don't give a crap about the neighborhood they live in and make terrible neighbors.

This.

[belgirl]

Originally Posted by azdr0710

people kept moving here after I moved here

And this.

[ScottsdaleMark]

Thank you Pbenjamin and exit2lef, I wasn't sure how many here had already read the Rogue website. I only myself became aware of it relatively recently.

I do know what you mean about being negatively nostalgic. I just kind of ignore that aspect of it because I have had a hard time finding places online that really talk about Phoenix and Arizona history and so forth. That's one reason I have read these forums off and on for years and finally started posting here. It's just nice to talk with other people about Phoenix and learn new things.

I do plan to buy his Phoenix book as I have to assume for a broad-based book, it won't be too political and will be well-written and a lot of fun to read.

I have some overdue library books so if anyone has any reading recommendations for Phoenix/valley history let me know. Haha.