East Valley vs. West Valley: How different are they? (Phoenix: home, neighborhood)

[fcorrales80]

Both sides have roughly the same attractions that happen to be presented differently. One side has a major professional NFL team and a massive stadium, the other side has a national collegiate football team and massive stadium...the rest can be listed side by side for each part as well!

[LBTRS]

I live in the West Valley (Goodyear) and just took my first real drive through some of the East Valley (Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe). I have to say I don't know what all the fuss is about with the east valley. Everything seemed old and somewhat run down and lots of older vacant buildings. I know I didn't see the entire east valley but the 4 hours of driving I did today didn't show me any place that made me say "I wish I lived here".

I like the newer appearance of the West Valley based on what I seen today. I'll try and make it to Scottsdale, Chandler and Gilbert on my next trip.

[Boompa]

Apparently people from the West Vaalley couldn't go to the East Valley for a Hockey game and Vice Versa, that's why the Coyotes are leaving

[asufan]

The East Valley is held in higher regard for one simple reason: Proximity to higher paid employment. While the West Valley has made some strides (Arrowhead area, North I-17 corridor), it is still clearly lacking in this area, and it may never match what the East Valley has.

Chandler alone probably has better employment than the entire West Valley with such places as Intel (2), Microchip, Orbital Sciences, Amkor, Avnet, etc. Not to mention the emergence of Bio-Technology with the recent opening of Covance, which is likely to attract more Bio-Tech companies. The price corridor has many tracts of land available still, and is courting more "silicon valley" types of companies, and it's the only location in the valley with infrastructure already in place to accomodate them.

The West Valley, while they have a handfull of corporate headquarters, seems to me to be drawing a lot of distribution centers (warehouses), which only offer a few positions earning more than 75K.

If you have close proximity to higher paid jobs, typically along with that goes better shopping/dining, better schools and higher property values. Sound familiar?

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by LBTRS

I live in the West Valley (Goodyear) and just took my first real drive through some of the East Valley (Phoenix, Mesa and Tempe). I have to say I don't know what all the fuss is about with the east valley. Everything seemed old and somewhat run down and lots of older vacant buildings. I know I didn't see the entire east valley but the 4 hours of driving I did today didn't show me any place that made me say "I wish I lived here".

I like the newer appearance of the West Valley based on what I seen today. I'll try and make it to Scottsdale, Chandler and Gilbert on my next trip.

This is somewhat unfair as the West Valley has plenty of the same especially along Grand Ave, Buckeye Rd., Glendale Ave, 99th Ave, etc etc. However, there are both very desirable locations on both sides. One difference there certainly is however is the fact that there are no residences in the West Valley that can compare to Paradise Valley (the town), Camelback Mountain, Scottsdale, Arcadia, Blitmore, etc. That is one primary difference. However, the adundance of very nice neighborhoods on both sides is available and comparable save the ultra chic and expensive areas of Central Phoenix and the East Valley. That is about the only difference; there are no $6 million, $10 million, $20 million, or $34 million dollar mansions in the West Valley.

[Finger Laker]

however, the west valley has some of the highest household incomes in the valley

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

however, the west valley has some of the highest household incomes in the valley

But they have to drive to the east valley to get those high salaries

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by asufan

The East Valley is held in higher regard for one simple reason: Proximity to higher paid employment. While the West Valley has made some strides (Arrowhead area, North I-17 corridor), it is still clearly lacking in this area, and it may never match what the East Valley has.

Chandler alone probably has better employment than the entire West Valley with such places as Intel (2), Microchip, Orbital Sciences, Amkor, Avnet, etc. Not to mention the emergence of Bio-Technology with the recent opening of Covance, which is likely to attract more Bio-Tech companies. The price corridor has many tracts of land available still, and is courting more "silicon valley" types of companies, and it's the only location in the valley with infrastructure already in place to accomodate them.

The West Valley, while they have a handfull of corporate headquarters, seems to me to be drawing a lot of distribution centers (warehouses), which only offer a few positions earning more than 75K.

If you have close proximity to higher paid jobs, typically along with that goes better shopping/dining, better schools and higher property values. Sound familiar?

Not exactly, the West Valley is a Mecca for older and retired people whose income is sufficient enough to make most of us pretty envious; but they worked for it. It also is a medical and healthcare hot-bed with the emergence of medical centers, research and specialty hospitals, and some of those warehouses are not distribution centers but fabrication facilities for tech equipment, medical devices, etc etc. The West Valley in the last 10 years has experienced heavy development of fine and upscale shopping, dining, entertainment, etc. Exceptional schools, excelling schools, and schools that compete with Chandler, Scottsdale, etc are everywhere in the West Valley as well. The only difference as mentioned before is the ultra pricey mansions, most of which aren't in the East Valley but in Central and East Central Phoenix and Paradise Valley. The West Valley can match the $1, $2, $3 million Scottsdale McMansions however.

[Finger Laker]

not necessarily - jobs are located all over the place

i know a lot of people who live in palm valley and make really good incomes who don't go past the I-17 for work, many don't commute more than 20-30 minutes

the east valley definitely has some larger employers though

i think it's just development lag - the WV will get employers to settle there as well, just like they've added many of the other amenities and continue to add more and more

not sure how it is now, but a nice thing about the WV during the housing rush is that it was considerably cheaper to buy in the WV

i think the similiraties definitely outweigh the differences though, and in another 10-15 years there will be little to distinguish them

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

not necessarily - jobs are located all over the place

i know a lot of people who live in palm valley and make really good incomes who don't go past the I-17 for work, many don't commute more than 20-30 minutes

the east valley definitely has some larger employers though

i think it's just development lag - the WV will get employers to settle there as well, just like they've added many of the other amenities and continue to add more and more

not sure how it is now, but a nice thing about the WV during the housing rush is that it was considerably cheaper to buy in the WV

i think the similiraties definitely outweigh the differences though, and in another 10-15 years there will be little to distinguish them

In 10-15 years vast swaths of the east valley will be ghetto. I lived in the east valley and was here for the opening of Fiesta Mall. Now the place and the surrounding area is a dump. That's how it goes here - ten years of glory, ten years of mediocrity and ten years of decay - as people move further and further away. Much of the east valley is already in stage 2 and 3. I lived in Ahwatukee over 20 years ago. That whole area is getting long in the tooth.