East Valley vs. West Valley (Phoenix, Mesa: crime rates, houses, living in)

[Stiery23]

Which do you prefer and why?

[LBTRS]

I live in the West Valley and it seems everything that happens is in the West Valley. I've lived here going on two years and I've been to many events personally and with my work (which is downtown) and every event has been in the West Valley for some reason (Concerts, Conferences, Ball Games, Picnics, night clubs, Dinner Meetings, Ceremonies, etc.). I've never traveled to the east valley other than a Sunday drive to see what all the fuss is about and I never found what all the fuss is about.

[las vegas drunk]

The west valley.

[1999corvette]

I found when I first moved to Phoenix in 2005 that the east side seemed to have more trees, grass, and a "old fashioned" feel, as if it has been around for a while.

Where I was living in Phoenix seemed like it was all concrete, rocks, and industry, more pollution etc.

Also, have noticed it seems to be a bit cooler in Queen Creek than say Tempe or Phoenix, maybe 5-10 degrees at a time, by feel and the temperature readout on the car.

It could be because the urban areas have so much more concrete that retain heat.

I had made up my mind being in Arizona for about a month that I liked the east side better, my brother got all mad at me.

[TomB90]

East side all the way!!!!

[Shadow Dude]

West Valley, the East Valley has been said to have some of the most boring cities in America.

[Mouser]

I would have to say West Valley as this is where I live
but to be honest I love the entire Valley and would not
have any issues living in the East Valley

[acrylic]

From my limited experience, it seems like there's generally "more to do" in the East Valley. A lot of it just seems closer to all the action (Tempe, Scottsdale, Mesa)...other than Glendale, you don't hear of too many happenings in the West Valley like you do in the East Valley. So that's where my vote goes.

[azriverfan.]

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. The West Side has come along way and I can honestly say there are many nice areas on the West Side but if you are comparing it to the East Valley, how can anyone argue it offers more or has more to do. That's a joke of a statement. Nothing could further from the truth. You are going to compare Glendale, Goodyear, Peoria and Surprise to Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler and Gilbert? There is no competition. The best nightlife in the valley is in Scottsdale. Tempe has ASU and Mill Avenue. Chandler has all of the technology companies. Gilbert was the fastest growing city in the country at one point. The West Side was associated with Gangs and Rednecks for the longest time until Arrowhead developed in the early 2000's and they built Westgate and added the stadiums. Even today, there are still redneck/gang references to the West Side and people will mockingly pronounce it as West Siiiiiide whenever something funny occurs in the west side; it's used to allude to to the old reputation of the west side and it's redneck and gangbanger culture. And even with this development, most of the crime in the valley is in the West Side. There is a lot of meth on the west side. Watch the news, and most shootings are on the west side. Goodyear just had a huge meth ring bust. A lot of kidnapping drop houses are on the West Side. The West Side is constantly developing and improving but saying it offers more than the East Valley....sorry but the West Side has a long way to go before it can make that claim and that's not a slam against the West Side, it's just the truth.

I've lived in both areas and I have fond memories of the West Side. There are some great places to eat but I will NEVER live there again. Let me give you an example of the West Side mentality. I was having lunch with friends at Arriba 5 years ago. One of our friends is known to be loud and curses. This guy sitting behind us comes to our table, slams his fists on our tables and says "Can you F sticks keep it down, I have 3 month old baby and you F...ers need to shut the F up and quit your cursing" This guy had a mullet and apparently worked for the fire dept there. He was right but there are countless other ways he could have told us to keep it down. We would have gladly done so but this guy decides to come out of nowhere and slam his fists on our table. Here is another example. One of my kids is a vegetarian so when we go to McDonalds, I'll order her a grilled cheese by asking for a cheeseburger w/out meat. Whenever we went to any McDonalds on the west side, they would always give us a hard time about ordering that. They would either laugh or not understand. Being in Chandler, we can orderthat and it's never an issue like it was in Arrowhead. That is totally West Side!!! I don't miss the lower sophistication of the west side. I also felt like service in restaurants was a lot worse there too.

I think there are exceptions. Surprise, Sun City and Sun City West felt pretty intelligent and laid back and reminded me of people in Chandler. Glendale, Peoria and Goodyear, however are another thing entirely.

[LBTRS]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Let me give you an example of the West Side mentality. I was having lunch with friends at Arriba 5 years ago. One of our friends is known to be loud and curses. This guy sitting behind us comes to our table, slams his fists on our tables and says "Can you F sticks keep it down, I have 3 month old baby and you F...ers need to shut the F up and quit your cursing" This guy had a mullet and apparently worked for the fire dept there. He was right but there are countless other ways he could have told us to keep it down. We would have gladly done so but this guy decides to come out of nowhere and slam his fists on our table. Here is another example. One of my kids is a vegetarian so when we go to McDonalds, I'll order her a grilled cheese by asking for a cheeseburger w/out meat. Whenever we went to any McDonalds on the west side, they would always give us a hard time about ordering that. They would either laugh or not understand. Being in Chandler, we can orderthat and it's never an issue like it was in Arrowhead. That is totally West Side!!! I don't miss the lower sophistication of the west side. I also felt like service in restaurants was a lot worse there too.

When I started reading your post I was reading it with some seriousness and thought it may be a credible argument and was treating it as such. However, once I got to the above paragraph you lost all credibility. You're using ordering a grilled cheese at McDonalds and a guy "with a mullet" as your argument between the East and West Valley? So you're trying to get me to believe that the Mexicans that work in McDonalds in the East Valley are more "intelligent" and sophisticated than the Mexicans that work in the McDonalds in the West Valley? You're sure the guy with the "mullet" lived in the west valley? He wasn't a snowbird, passing through from California, or visiting from the east valley?

You can't use the interaction with one person as an argument to compare a large group of people or large areas or regions such as the east and west valley. Now, statistics like crime rates, education performance, money spent on services, available entertainment venues, etc. would make an intelligent argument to compare the east and west valley but your current argument is just silly.