Alhambra village section of Phx. (Phoenix: crime rate, home, luxury)

[LocoAZnative]

Originally Posted by fcorrales80

I always thought using the word village was cute too but not necessarily "funny" or a mockery like you are insinuating. Not sure why the City decided to use village to name the sections of the city but my guess is that it offered a "livable" vibe and sounds pleasant and quaint. My mom said she is familiar with the village part of the sections of the city but said people use the old names of the villages but do not say village; like etc. etc. Are you people who are "20 year" residents of the metro area trying to say you've never heard of those names before???

I never said i never heard Alhambra, Ahwatukee, Encanto, Maryvale, Noone not one person in my whole life has ever used village when describing an area, and as a previous poster said South Mountain Village is called South Phoenix by everyone.

[Valley Native]

The Village concept was pretty ridiculous to begin with. The Alhambra I always knew was only slightly better than Maryvale ... that is, fewer gangs, fewer drug houses, fewer drive by shootings than Maryvale, but still a predominantly blue collar, lower income section. Why the so called experts drew the Alhambra Village boundary from west Phoenix all the way over to north Central Phoenix is beyond comprehension.

Another reason why the Village plan was poorly designed is that there's no Arcadia Village, no Biltmore Village, and no Sunnyslope Village. Sunnyslope, for instance, will always be referred to as Sunnyslope ... not North Mountain Village. The Camelback East area is appropriately named, but Arcadia and Biltmore are completely separate entities. I think what needs to happen is a complete overhaul of the Village concept, and name each neighborhood or district correctly based on their original titles! A lot of those street signs that identify which Village you're in are faded and illegible anyway.

[fcorrales80]

ALL your explanations are shortsighted and still ridiculous. If they named the villages after EVERY neighborhood name, there would be HUNDREDS of these municipal government committees!!! Imagine the logistics in figuring out that mess and the cost of employing board, council, and city employees to keep track of all that paperwork, securing office space and meeting space! What a governmental pitfall! The concept of the Villages are to break the city up into zones that can coordinate city functions, planning, zoning, policing, etc. etc. The Villages DO NOT replace neighborhood names, but rather incorporate neighborhoods into functioning committees that support establishing safe and growing communities!

It isn't that hard of a concept to grasp and it is working for the city. AND the City Planning and Zoning Committee DOES NOT ignore the individual Village Planning Committees AS proposals, bids, and submission of projects must FIRST be approved by the village committee and passed to the City Planning and Zoning Department. Again, the Villages DO NOT replace existing neighborhoods like Biltmore, Arcadia, Camelback Hills Estates, Encanto-Palmcroft, etc. etc. but create synergy between the neighboring hoods to help create a thriving community and foster strong partnerships and ties within communities.

This trend is much stronger in central and historic neighborhoods but nonetheless is clustering out into the newer, "synthetic" villages. It's a smart and very logical concept that is resulting in wonderful transformations for the city as a whole. Get with the program! It is doing wonders for the community despite some of you not knowing about the existence of these Villages or if you THINK natives know about them or not. That is a mute point.

1. Ahwatukee Foothills Village...so named because the village lies mostly within the foothills of the Ahwatukee area
2. Alhambra Village...so named because the largest neighborhood in the area was originally Alhambra and the entire area served by the Alhambra School District
3. Camelback East Village...so named because the neighborhoods in this village can point to East Camelback Rd. as being the main artery of the area
4. Central City Village...so named because this area is the central/heart of the City of Phoenix which includes the downtown core
5. Deer Valley Village...this area is traditionally known as Deer Valley along with the Deer Valley Unified School District
6. Desert View Village...a new synthetic name applied to an area that once was desert long after the city was thriving, Desert Ridge Market Place being a core element.
7. Encanto Village....Encanto Park is a city landmark and of historical significance, a beautiful park near the core of the city and Encanto Blvd traverses this village and runs to Encanto Park anywhere in the village
8. Estrella Village...this area of southwest Phoenix runs up to the Sierra Estrella Mountains and is the main geological feature of the area and among the tallest ranges visible throughout the valley
9. Laveen Village...this is a LOOOONG standing name for the area
10. Maryvale Village...another a LOOONG standing name for the area
11. North Gateway Village...a newer name adopted for an area recently annexed by the city and is the "gateway" village into the city from I-17
12. North Mountain Village...the neighborhoods in this village all surround and are nearby the very visible geographic landmark known as North Mountain in the large Phoenix Mountain and Desert Preserve
13. Paradise Valley Village...a long standing name that also encompasses the Paradise Valley Unified School District
14. Rio Vista Village...a newer village name for the extreme northwest area of Phoenix which nears the once flowing Agua Fria River, hence the Rio Vista or in english, River View.
15. South Mountain Village...named after the area's main geological feature, South Mountain and the country's largest municipal park, South Mountain Municipal Park and Preserve

[LocoAZnative]

Originally Posted by fcorrales80

ALL your explanations are shortsighted and still ridiculous. If they named the villages after EVERY neighborhood name, there would be HUNDREDS of these municipal government committees!!! Imagine the logistics in figuring out that mess and the cost of employing board, council, and city employees to keep track of all that paperwork, securing office space and meeting space! What a governmental pitfall! The concept of the Villages are to break the city up into zones that can coordinate city functions, planning, zoning, policing, etc. etc. The Villages DO NOT replace neighborhood names, but rather incorporate neighborhoods into functioning committees that support establishing safe and growing communities!

It isn't that hard of a concept to grasp and it is working for the city. AND the City Planning and Zoning Committee DOES NOT ignore the individual Village Planning Committees AS proposals, bids, and submission of projects must FIRST be approved by the village committee and passed to the City Planning and Zoning Department. Again, the Villages DO NOT replace existing neighborhoods like Biltmore, Arcadia, Camelback Hills Estates, Encanto-Palmcroft, etc. etc. but create synergy between the neighboring hoods to help create a thriving community and foster strong partnerships and ties within communities.

This trend is much stronger in central and historic neighborhoods but nonetheless is clustering out into the newer, "synthetic" villages. It's a smart and very logical concept that is resulting in wonderful transformations for the city as a whole. Get with the program! It is doing wonders for the community despite some of you not knowing about the existence of these Villages or if you THINK natives know about them or not. That is a mute point.

1. Ahwatukee Foothills Village...so named because the village lies mostly within the foothills of the Ahwatukee area
2. Alhambra Village...so named because the largest neighborhood in the area was originally Alhambra and the entire area served by the Alhambra School District
3. Camelback East Village...so named because the neighborhoods in this village can point to East Camelback Rd. as being the main artery of the area
4. Central City Village...so named because this area is the central/heart of the City of Phoenix which includes the downtown core
5. Deer Valley Village...this area is traditionally known as Deer Valley along with the Deer Valley Unified School District
6. Desert View Village...a new synthetic name applied to an area that once was desert long after the city was thriving, Desert Ridge Market Place being a core element.
7. Encanto Village....Encanto Park is a city landmark and of historical significance, a beautiful park near the core of the city and Encanto Blvd traverses this village and runs to Encanto Park anywhere in the village
8. Estrella Village...this area of southwest Phoenix runs up to the Sierra Estrella Mountains and is the main geological feature of the area and among the tallest ranges visible throughout the valley
9. Laveen Village...this is a LOOOONG standing name for the area
10. Maryvale Village...another a LOOONG standing name for the area
11. North Gateway Village...a newer name adopted for an area recently annexed by the city and is the "gateway" village into the city from I-17
12. North Mountain Village...the neighborhoods in this village all surround and are nearby the very visible geographic landmark known as North Mountain in the large Phoenix Mountain and Desert Preserve
13. Paradise Valley Village...a long standing name that also encompasses the Paradise Valley Unified School District
14. Rio Vista Village...a newer village name for the extreme northwest area of Phoenix which nears the once flowing Agua Fria River, hence the Rio Vista or in english, River View.
15. South Mountain Village...named after the area's main geological feature, South Mountain and the country's largest municipal park, South Mountain Municipal Park and Preserve

Who cares are you trying to be L33T that you have some inside knowledge if the stupid village concept that nobody knows or even cares about.

[ivanabacowboy]

One of the signs for Desert View village is right on Tatum by the park/horsepark whatever that is there. I always sort of wondered what that meant. Of all things they are putting a musical instrument museum (right at the corner of Tatum & Mayo)-like that is really what a "desert view" needs. There is also some what I think may be age restricted (not sure) housing going in right next door. Right around Mayo before you hit the 101/Desert Ridge Marketplace. There won't be much more desert to "view" once they rip it all out for development so maybe they will have to rename the village to "this used to be a desert view". ;-)

It's hard to believe there really was a time, and I would strongly suspect that was within my lifetime (I will only admit to give or take 40 years), when this entire area was nothing BUT desert.

I do get the idea of planning committees not exactly reflecting "neighborhoods"-the previous poster is right there would be a LOT of them.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by AZnative4Life

Who cares are you trying to be L33T that you have some inside knowledge if the stupid village concept that nobody knows or even cares about.

If you want to be an active citizen and one who actually cares about the community and neighborhoods then it would be a good thing to know about the "stupid village concept." The only thing stupid is remaining ignorant of changes taking place within one's own community that effect the lifestyle and quality of life throughout the city.

Ivana: very true, pretty soon there will be no natural desert to view...however, it is hardly a dense area like the Central City and I have a feeling it will "feel" much more like a desert compared to areas near the center of the city. Given that it is surrounded by desert preserves and such, IMO there will always be a desert view.

[azdr0710]

the "village" idea was a City of Phoenix concept adopted in the mid 1980s or so....for purely municipal planning efficiency and a little bit of a regional ID feel, apparently....

it's true that nobody IDs themselves as living in *** village and shouldn't have to....long before the village concept was adopted, locals had been saying they live in Arcadia, Maryvale, Sunnyslope, Willo and that habit will stay.....also, many locals do say they live "at" a particular intersection...it's just easier that way for any resident to quickly understand....(no hard feelings, fcorrales!!)....and no self-respecting North Central resident would say they live in Alhambra (!!)...omigod, no!

interestingly, it appears the city planners deliberately named the villages in a way that tried to downplay negative local reputations that neighborhoods had.....there is no "South Phoenix", no "Maryvale", no "Sunnyslope".....further, they tried to avoid highlighting the more desireable neighborhoods....there's no "Arcadia", no "North Central"........

it was mentioned to create more villages in this thread....obviously, the added bureaucracy of that move probably negates that option

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by azdr0710

the "village" idea was a City of Phoenix concept adopted in the mid 1980s or so....for purely municipal planning efficiency and a little bit of a regional ID feel, apparently....

it's true that nobody IDs themselves as living in *** village and shouldn't have to....long before the village concept was adopted, locals had been saying they live in Arcadia, Maryvale, Sunnyslope, Willo and that habit will stay.....also, many locals do say they live "at" a particular intersection...it's just easier that way for any resident to quickly understand....(no hard feelings, fcorrales!!)....and no self-respecting North Central resident would say they live in Alhambra (!!)...omigod, no!

interestingly, it appears the city planners deliberately named the villages in a way that tried to downplay negative local reputations that neighborhoods had.....there is no "South Phoenix", no "Maryvale", no "Sunnyslope".....further, they tried to avoid highlighting the more desireable neighborhoods....there's no "Arcadia", no "North Central"........

it was mentioned to create more villages in this thread....obviously, the added bureaucracy of that move probably negates that option

True, I wasn't trying to say that people NEED to or MUST use the village name depending on where they live. I was explaining the necessity of them and the good that has come from these Village committees. I live in the Roosevelt neighborhood and never have used the Central City Village name when talking about my neighborhood. However, some village names are very appropriate when talking about a neighborhood; you made a mistake, Maryvale is widely used, probably the most widely used village name along with Laveen, Paradise Valley, Deer Valley, Ahwatukee, etc.

As I said before the purpose of the Village concept IS NOT to replace the individual neighborhood names but to create a sense of interaction, cooperation, and such throughout the area. On top of that, some neighborhoods like Biltmore, Arcadia, Sunnyslope, North Central, even my Roosevelt neighborhood are rather small, naming a whole urban village after one of these small neighborhoods would be more of a fallacy then the current names associated with the villages. Unlike what other say, the Villages are not arbitrary, useless, unimportant, or whatever negative they want to call it. Just because a few uninformed posters are unaware of the village concept doesn't debunk their appropriateness.

[lyzzard]

Originally Posted by fcorrales80

I always thought using the word village was cute too but not necessarily "funny" or a mockery like you are insinuating. Not sure why the City decided to use village to name the sections of the city but my guess is that it offered a "livable" vibe and sounds pleasant and quaint. My mom said she is familiar with the village part of the sections of the city but said people use the old names of the villages but do not say village; like Alhambra, Ahwatukee, Encanto, Maryvale, etc. etc. Are you people who are "20 year" residents of the metro area trying to say you've never heard of those names before???

It's so funny how things are taken out of context when written down and not heard in person. Perhaps the word giggle instead of laugh would have given you a different perspective of what was going through my mind.

I don't associate the term Village to any areas in a large city. I think of the term Village in reference to population size, such as when I lived in Germany I lived in a small village (yes, I really did), or when driving around in Iowa there were a lot of villages. Bigger than a hamlet and smaller than town. I guess the definition of it has changed to include the US use of it:

vil⋅lage

Pronunciation [vil-ij]

–noun 1. a small community or group of houses in a rural area, larger than a hamlet and usually smaller than a town, and sometimes (as in parts of the U.S.) incorporated as a municipality.

It just comes off as weird for me when hearing them called Sunnyslope Village or Alhambra Village. So, is Moon Valley really Moon Valley Village?

[silverbear]

Originally Posted by fcorrales80

It's a smart and very logical concept that is resulting in wonderful transformations for the city as a whole.

FC80, you and I agree on almost all the issues, but sometimes you go way overboard with the Phoenix boosterism. I think that very few individuals, even at City Hall, would agree with the exaggerated "wonderful transformations" wording. For the most part, the City of Phoenix is efficiently governed, but the villages concept has been unevenly executed over the years, and has little relation to the ways in which actual Phoenicians perceive their city. You can be pro-Phoenix while still acknowleding occasional mistakes by the city. In fact, conceding those occasional mistakes actually makes a pro-Phoenix point of view more credible.