East Valley vs. West Valley: How different are they? (Phoenix: travel, work)

[Great Joy]

Originally Posted by sheena

Hi Joy, oh that's sweet. I was actually a NW sider at one time and enjoyed it very much. I wouldn't mind moving up that way at all. It's my husbands mom that is in Mesa. My mom was in Mesa but passed away lasy July

Hi sheena. I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[markas214]

Originally Posted by movin'on

Yes, they are very different and I'd never live in the West Valley. I live in North Scottsdale and, if I had to live anywhere else, I would not live here. My advice? Stay away from the West Valley.

Since you've never been to any of the well planned and maintained new communities in the west, what is it you base your opinion on? I'm not being facetious. I really would like to know. Frankly I've been to Scottsdale and there are many areas there that I wouldn't live. Older homes, traffic, pollution, etc. Personally I like the far northwest.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by Great Joy

Hi sheena. I'm so sorry to hear about your mom. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Thank you, it's going on a year now

[vmtartesso]

I have lived her now 27 years and I can tell you that the stigma of west side being less attractive than east side is slipping more and more and over the next few years they will probably be equal. For those of you who have not really checked out all there is in the west valley you should. For example if you really drive through Arrowhead area in Glendale it is very prestiges looking. Also Marley Park in Peoria looks like a small version of a Beverly Hills type area. Same can be said with Litchfield Park and Parts of Avondale and Goodyear especially Estralla. Have you seen Verrado in Buckeye? I don't know of to many if any other areas more greener and picture perfect than Verrado. Now I found the lots to be to small for me and the houses to close for my taste and that is why I did not buy there but other than that it rivals if not exceed many of east side communities as do all the other areas I mentioned. Then there is Tartesso which like Verrado is part of Buckeye as well as Sun City Festival and both of these areas are very beautiful. In the next few years the largest mall in all of Arizona will be built in Buckeye and as already mention lots of sports venues have moved to the west side.

I think mostly when people think of the west side they do not think of the areas I mentioned but tend to think of the older more run down areas which if you look are also available on the east side in parts of not only Mesa but Tempe, Scottsdale, Gilbert and Chadler. Also Gilbert and Chandler's crime rates have soared past many of the other cities in the Valley. Point is there no place better than the other these days and it is all mostly hype. Also not all homes selling at lower prices mean that it will be an area of riff raff as they say because I have live in many areas during my life and sometimes ones living in the higher priced areas have not kept up their areas either and I have lived in areas where the cost was lower and the area looked like a million dollars as they say so bottom line is if you like area then it should not matter if it is east side or west side because they are starting to become more and more equal.

[ibarrio]

Marley Park in Peoria looks like a small version of a Beverly Hills type area.

Your right expect for the fact that Marley Park is Surprise...

[Stevyp]

Well, even though some of this thread is a battle, there is a lot of good information here as well.

As someone who's still trying to decide where to relocate, I've seen many areas listed here that I haven't looked at yet.

Anyway, as far as what side, I've seen ups and downs with both. I first started in the east side (not scottsdale as I don't want to live in an older home as that's all I can afford there). Mainly I was looking at East Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler. All the areas seemed nice, schools were good and of course the areas were built up with shopping and everything needed. What I wasn't seeing much of (granted it's summer from what I hear) was people outside and interracting. Also I found it near inpossible to distinguish between 1 neighborhood to the next. They just all look the same. Not that there's anything wrong with it since as I said, I like the look.

THen I started looking on the west side. People in work told me some areas to avoid so I started off my search in Marley Park (BEAUTIFUL) but then driving out and around it, I just wasn't too thrilled with some of what I saw in Surprise. I still have a lot more exploring to do there though before I make my final decision. From there I moved to Verrado (WOW) and Estrella and then Vistconsia. The west side definatly seemed to have more of a unique feel to it from the East, BUT far less developed. Some of the areas I drove to would of course be in the middle of nowhere (Verrado) with very little to no shopping very close by. But what I did take from those areas, I saw people interracting, schools were great, unique look and feel, felt very family oriented.

I'm not saying I like 1 area over the next yet as far as east and west. Both have their pros and cons. It actually makes it harder to decide. Do I want much more convienence at the potential sacrafice for community or more community at the expense of shopping / dinning. (I could be way off on community, as I'm basing it upon my weekend observations over the past 6 weeks in those areas).

Anyway, great post, I now have even more places I'll need to go looking at to confuse me even further.

[TurcoLoco]

The only 2 things I noticed or gave a crap about the difference between the two:

1. Going East in the morning there is way more traffic (and the other way around in the late afternoon).
2. Going East in the morning, the sun is in your eyes, damned near blinding (and the other way around in the late afternoon).

[cassandra24]

I think it depends on what you are looking for. I loved living in Tempe..went to ASU..and I think it is great for young people looking to go to bars and having everything pretty much within about twenty minutes from you. I lived in Phoenix for five years and I got the feeling when I went to the West side that it was way more family oriented than the East Valley. This is probably due to the fact that ASU and several community colleges are in the area- Mesa, Scottsdale, Chandler, so a younger population seems to dominate.
I personally moved out of Tempe after college into Mesa. It doesn't look the most appealing in a lot of areas, but I didn't experience any crimes in my apartment complex. Scottsdale is nice, if you can afford it. And if you can put up with the droves of fake people.

[trudawg]

The west side is Mexico, and the East side is America.
There I said it................I know you all were thinking it......LOL

[ibarrio]

The west side is Mexico, and the East side is America.
There I said it................I know you all were thinking it......LOL

West side is Mexico?

Sheriff Joe did a sweep yesterday in Surprise and picked up a grand total of three illegals (Source is AZ Central).

Compare that to his round up in other areas...including the ones on the East Side of town.