Thoughts on N. Scottsdale after 60 days (Phoenix, Fountain Hills: homes, neighborhood, to buy)

[bobbito33]

My wife and small child just moved to DC Ranch 2 months ago , just in time for the heat from the east coast. We did as much research on the internet as we could, and made a trip out here in the spring and made the purchase. We were looking for a single family home in a nice family-oriented community. We are also love the outdoors, so the proximity to McDowell Mtns was a big plus.

After I made the purchase, I discovered these message boards. Needless to say, from what most of you all say about N. Scottsdale, I was having very strong second thoughts about moving here. I was getting worried that our neighborhood was going to be filled with the "Real Housewives" and that my little girl was going to ask for cosmetic surgery for her sweet sixteen.

However, after having been here for 2 months. I'm amazing at how completely wrong everything was that I read. My neighbors are all extremely kind, hardworking professionals. There are tons of kids playing in the streets, and the community center has tons of activities for both adults and children. This is exactly what we were looking for to raise our family. Granted, we have spotted some plastic looking women driving Range Rovers, but the average single family home price is $600-800k ---- you're going to get some plastic people in that price range. We saw the same thing back east, and most people just laughed at people like that.

Mod Cut: Not necessary Thanks

[Mares84]

Welcome!! My husband and I with our 8 month old twins just moved to Fountain Hills from the Midwest and we love it!! I agree with you about the "plastic people" Hope you enjoy it as much as us. Direc message me if you guys need some local friends to chat with.

[impala666]

I'm just west of Troon Village and I agree totally about the people here, hard working professionals.
I've done more work in the last few weeks than I did for several months in California.
The whole environment makes me feel ten years younger.

[enigmadsm]

I'm from Scottsdale and i love the area you mention! Glad you found a great fit, and its unfortunate so many people tried to steer you away

[azdr0710]

very glad all of you are happy with the areas you chose....I think I may have been one of the "downers" who made disparaging remarks about certain areas of N Scotts. despite having grown up in that area myself....

my concern is how the area has changed from a low-key, tasteful, "classy", desirable place to a somewhat pretentious, ostentatious, car-oriented sprawl of homes and self-important speeding drivers....yes, I know this pattern exists in most major cities, but it's what I've noticed here, too.....

but happy you are liking it....

[azfan]

IMO its jealous people that bash Scottsdale. Mod Cut..Not necessary. To each his own, live life and be happy.

[twiggy]

Glad you like it, I guess it isn't for everyone but I found Scottsdale to be a nice part of town. There are all walks of life around Phoenix, I have some very "fake" friends but I also have some really down to earth friends. It all depends on what you choices you make.
Glad you like it, and I think what you will find on cd are plenty of opinions in both directions. I'm sure there were a lot of comments on how nice an area Scottsdale was as well. To me it seems pretty mixed on here. Some good, some bad, just like the people of the valley.
Most people just pick out the comments of the people who feel as they do, but in reality you can't get your advice from a forum. That's like getting your advice from a gossip mag. Glad you made the move despite some shotty advice.
It's just opinion for the most part on here, there might be someone right now who just moved to Scottsdale and hates it. They post as well, we are all different, and don't all enjoy the same things. But I'm sure you are aware of that.

[Zippyman]

Mod Cut: Responding to deleted quote.


I can only comment on my experiences, and they weren't favorable after living in the area for a couple of years.

In a couple million miles of driving over the past twenty years, across the country from New York to LA, and everywhere in between - I didn't collect as many "hand signals" from other drivers as I did in North Scottsdale. Often, these same drivers would pass on both sides, even if there wasn't a ROAD where they were driving.

Watching 3-5 people continue to make left turns after a traffic light turned red, despite the camera taking their pictures was regular occurrence in the areas that I frequented in Scottsdale.

Shopping for groceries was an experience as well, I had my toes run over multiple times because my fellow shoppers were in such a hurry to get past/around/over me.

I had people cut in line when I was trying to buy a few slices of cheese from the deli - that never happened to me in Detroit.

I really can't say if it was my "socioeconomic prejudices" or my American car, or my dollar-store-sunglasses that caused other residents to believe they were more important and that their time was "worth" more than mine, but that was my experience.

One of the residents in my neighborhood frequented that same gas station I did, at similar times. She would routinely leave the top down and the engine running on her $90K+ sportscar while she casually walked in and picked up a Dasani. That seemed "out of touch" with reality to me.

If my first experiences with living in AZ had been in North Scottsdale, I would have packed up, left, and never looked back.

I'm glad your experiences are different, but that doesn't make me wrong.