Which is better West Valley or East Valley?(Phoenix area) (Mesa: homes, landscaping)

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by Leaving Arizona

Disclaimer: I'm a professed East Valley snob, born and bred.

One thing has always been true: you know when you cross Central going westward, or at least the 3rd Av/3rd St corridor. It has not changed, even with the Valley's explosive, expansive growth in my lifetime. My (East Coaster) better half didn't believe it until he was doing homeless teen outreach downtown, and he came home one night and said you know, you were right about that. You can be on the west end, with all the familiar stores at an intersection, pretty much identical to a neighborhood anywhere on the east side, but you always know you're west of Central without seeing the street signs. The west side has always had a skeevy overlay. It's hard to explain. It just is.

I'll profess a huge preference for the East Valley any day of the week. Safer, better, and so forth - not that there aren't places on the west side that aren't nice - but it's also the attitude rather than anything visual. This too is hard to explain - you just have to experience it and know it. Maybe other native kids (like me)/longtime residents can explain it better than I can.

I can address Tempe being a crime center a little bit: Tempe is my hometown, but it isn't the place I grew up in. When I was born, it had roughly 16,000 people and was still mostly farmland - you all are aware of the population today. Now, as far as I'm concerned, Tempe might as well be renamed ASUland or Riverside, because that's all the city council cares about. The neighborhood I grew up in about a mile south of ASU now has a huge problem with B&E, car theft, petty theft, assaults, scam artists, etc. Schools are closing because the northern half of the city no longer attracts families as it did, and not because the schools suck; I fully expect my alma mater to close I the next ten years because you can only bus so many kids in to keep it afloat. The house I grew up in is a rare one that isn't a rental on that street, and from former neighbors I hear that there are a lot of problems with trucks driving through the alleys, scouting who is home and not, things stolen off the patios next to the back doors, and so forth.

ASU really is a big magnet for crime, has been for years, and that can't be denied. ASU is a out of control behemoth, and its expansion has ruined Tempe north of the river, as well as the area along Broadway, with problems trickling down towards the 60. That's a pretty big area that's sliding hard, half of the city in fact (McKellips to the north, 60 to the south, 48th St west and the 101 to the east), and it's sadly turning into rentalsville to help support the ever-growing university population. Yes, there are still some lovely pockets in that large square, but they're getting smaller all the time.

Other problems include Section 8 housing along the 60 - I'd bike/walk that alone all the time as a kid; I wouldn't do it now - and the overall downward trend of demographics bleeding outward along Southern from Mill to McClintock. Once that creep starts, it's hard to stop it.

I have a lot to say about Tempe and how it's run nowadays, but this isn't the thread.

The East Valley has its flaws for sure, but if we ever move back (not happening), we'd return to the east side.

The bolded lines were all you had to say to get your point across, the warm memories of a place that was truly mostly perfect in the minds eye. I can almost visualize the unicorns appearing on the horizon in the east valley as I read your post.

Though I'm really disappointed you didn't bring up the 10pm news.

[Leaving Arizona]

Pfff, who watches the 10pm news? Especially in the last decade with the internet? I don't think I'd watched the local news since Bill Close retired. When I got back from my seasonal job in California one year, the anchors looked identical to those glossy bots on the L.A. station and I lost interest.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by DougStark

I'd agree with that. Ever watch the 10 o'clock news? Murders, rapes, robberies mostly on the west side.

I thought that was Mesa

[DougStark]

Originally Posted by observer53

First of all, who cares who wins? I'm not voting, I live in the east Valley, but I like a lot of areas in the west Valley and would not be opposed to living there.

Second, you don't live here any more (so I don't know why you care) and you are new to this forum, but there has been discussion for YEARS about the East Valley/West Valley comparison. Lots of overgeneralizing and stereotyping, but it all comes down to that there are those who love where they are on both sides. The west Valley has changed in many positive respects over the last several years, more than t, so there's been some evolution in the population and in the attitudes of those who live there.

I don't see this thread bringing anything new to the discussion. I'll predict more of what has been posted here before.

Observer, you must not be very "observant". I live in Ahwatukee

I'm not slamming the west side. All I know is what I hear on the 10 o'clock news- convenience store robberies, home invasions, etc. I almost never hear these crimes in Scottsdale or Ahwatukee.

[DougStark]

Originally Posted by Leaving Arizona

Pfff, who watches the 10pm news? Especially in the last decade with the internet? I don't think I'd watched the local news since Bill Close retired. When I got back from my seasonal job in California one year, the anchors looked identical to those glossy bots on the L.A. station and I lost interest.

Oh, so you're the type that buries your head in the sand and hopes everything will be OK? It's uninformed people who elect idiots into office.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by DougStark

Oh, so you're the type that buries your head in the sand and hopes everything will be OK? It's uninformed people who elect idiots into office.

That's not even remotely what he said. In the post 1990s era we have Internet news sources where you can find everything vs. the things that were big enough or noticed enough to appear on the local news. Heck half of the news casts are just them referencing and alluding to their website.

I agree that idiots elect idiots though

[Addaroo]

We moved over the summer from the southeast valley to a larger lot in Goodyear near the base. We are only a couple minutes from the 303 and can be to shopping and things like that very quickly. It seems like a world away from all traffic and people near the old place. Lovin' it. The west valley has many different life styles and income areas. Those who say it is all like Maryvale (which is in Phoenix and is actually closer to Scottsdale than to me!) are just not giving the facts.

[azriverfan.]

We should want ALL of the Valley to succeed.

This is a major reason I'm excited for the 202 extension. It will directly connect the West Valley to the East Valley which will benefit both regions and help blur these artificial lines of West Valley/East Valley. It should just be "Valley"

When the West Valley was belittled as the "West Valley", it was primarily West Phoenix and South Glendale. Back then, the Valley Surprise, Goodyear and Peoria was not as developed. The West Valley has developed a lot in the last 15-20 years. You cannot generalize the entire area as being bad.

Regarding the news and crimes, it seems to be everywhere not just the West Valley. Certain areas (South Glendale, West Phoenix) seem to have the most but overall, it seems to sporadic.

[Finger Laker]

This is flat out idiotic. It was dumb a decade ago, but even more now.

The conversation has pretty much died since 2008 regarding such things, which is kind of how it should be.

Phoenix is a giant sprawling metro. Overall, there isn't that much of a difference between any of the spots. They are vastly more similar than dissimilar.

I live in the west because that's where our employment was when we moved down. It's still where my wife works and we have a great network of friends and a social scene.

This is really just some old snobbery and very outdated.

We live in a giant metro, which is continuing to expand and develop. A metro that when it comes right down to it is all Phoenix

[pbenjamin]

When did "metro" become a noun, anyway?