Is the Phoenix area like... (Mesa, Scottsdale: crime rates, mortgage, houses)

[HelloWorld!]

Is the Phoenix area, or the Scottsdale area like California; are there upscale attitudes? I know you •probably• get this a lot but; are Arizonans snobby or spoiled? ••• I forgot something; are some people "wannabes"??

[MaxPower123]

Arizonans are the best people you will ever meet.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by HelloWorld!

Is the Phoenix area, or the Scottsdale area like California; are there upscale attitudes? I know you •probably• get this a lot but; are Arizonans snobby or spoiled?

Theres a reason Scottsdale's nickname is Snottsdale. Yes, there is tons of upscale attitudes in Scottsdale and some other areas (ie Carefree, PV), but there are also tons of down-to-earth folks as well.

[sweettearose]

Originally Posted by HelloWorld!

Is the Phoenix area, or the Scottsdale area like California; are there upscale attitudes? I know you •probably• get this a lot but; are Arizonans snobby or spoiled?

That's relative to where you came from. I was in Texas and people say that Texans and southerners are really friendly. I found them to be friendly but very inappopriate at the same time. They often casually include racial, anti-foreign and politically incorrect speech without giving any thought to how they might be perceived or if they have offended someone else. Phoenix may not have the most open and friendly people when compared with the midwest and the south but they are also appropriate which I respect. This is not a redneck city by any means although there are some small areas of that. In Texas, even the wealthy and educated people in cities like Dallas and Houston makes these inappropriate comments. I have yet to observe that same phenomenon in Phoenix. You can thank our much maligned California influence for that. I would rather deal with snobby liberals than friendly racists

[HelloWorld!]

Are there extremely affluent areas? Is Scottsdale a hub for "wannabe" type people or are they not "wannabe" just rich?

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by HelloWorld!

Are there extremely affluent areas? Is Scottsdale a hub for "wannabe" type people or are they not "wannabe" just rich?

I'm not sure what you mean by "wannabe" type people? People are people and they usually treat others as the others treat them. I work throughout the valley and I don't see a snobish attitude, and maybe I wouldn't recognize it because I judge people by the way they treat me, and I treat everyone with respect, so perhaps I'm just blind to that.

As far as affluent areas, Scottsdale is definitely an affluent area. However, there are also other affluent areas, with homes upwards of a million dollars in Mesa, and many other cities.

[sweettearose]

Originally Posted by HelloWorld!

Are there extremely affluent areas? Is Scottsdale a hub for "wannabe" type people or are they not "wannabe" just rich?

I think the term wannabe is amusing. It's as if it's a crime to mimic success. When people criticize Phoenix for trying to be like LA, I have to laugh. So that's a bad thing? LA is one of the most appealing and growing cities in the world. There is a reason it outgrew Chicago in the last 20 years. There is a reason why houses cost so much there and why people want to live there. So it's bad for Phoenix to copy the things that have made LA successful? What are we supposed to do, mimic Santa Fe, NM? I'm sorry but I just don't get it. We don't have to copy everything about LA but I don't see anything wrong with copying many of its strengths. If someone says is Phoenix an LA wannabe, I absolutely say yes and don't think there is anything wrong with it. I just see that type of comment as a form of jealousy because they envy the growth and success Phoenix has had in the last 20 years. Some people don't want to see Phoenix grow and evolve into a true cosmopolitan city.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by sweettearose

I think the term wannabe is amusing. It's as if it's a crime to mimic success. When people criticize Phoenix for trying to be like LA, I have to laugh. So that's a bad thing? LA is one of the most appealing and growing cities in the world. There is a reason it outgrew Chicago in the last 20 years. There is a reason why houses cost so much there and why people want to live there. So it's bad for Phoenix to copy the things that have made LA successful? What are we supposed to do, mimic Santa Fe, NM? I'm sorry but I just don't get it. We don't have to copy everything about LA but I don't see anything wrong with copying many of its strengths. If someone says is Phoenix an LA wannabe, I absolutely say yes and don't think there is anything wrong with it. I just see that type of comment as a form of jealousy because they envy the growth and success of Phoenix in the past 20 years.

And along with L.A's success came hardcore crime rates, obnoxious housing costs, etc. Seriously, if PHX continues to "wannabe" L.A. and becomes as attractive to relocatees, then sooner or later you can expect to pay upwards of 400K for a dumpy old house in the ghetto. Seriously. You dont want it to come to that, or else you all will be priced out of AZ like many Californians have been priced out of CA.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Thoughts from a constant visitor and soon to be resident are that Phoenix is Phoenix and there is a great microcosim of the nation within its area. I love the Phoenix area. Do they have so called wannabes? Sure they do, everyone does. Plenty of people pretending to be who they aren't. My personal thoughts are that many of them tried to act like there neigbors by getting in over there heads on homes that they couldn't afford but that the mortgage companies found away for them to pull it off for a while. Some of those people have left the area, or are facing forclosere. That also is happening in other parts of the nation as well, Phoenix is no different and isn't even the worse offender.

There are also a lot of genuine people that I have met over the past 5 years that live in the Phoenix area. Great people that are down to earth and are just living there lives. People that grew up in the area, people from California, and people from across the nation. Just great people working on living the American dream, because in the Phoenix area that dream is alive and well.