What is "the valley"

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by miamiman

The Valley is not just the Salt River Valley, but the entire Phoenix metro area. Fountain Hills and Ahwatukee are examples of suburbs/neighborhoods that are technically outside of the Salt River Valley, but would still be considered "The Valley."

No one is saying that. They included the reference to orient the OP as to where the term "Valley" originated from.

[sh9730]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

That definition includes all cities in Pinal County including parts of Marana. I don't think any intelligent person would argue those particular areas in Marana are a part of the Phoenix metropolitan area simply because it's technically within Pinal County. Pinal County is fairly large and parts of cities like Apache Junction and Queen Creek are in both Maricopa and Pinal counties. I think any reasonable person can note the difference in proximity between cities like Apache Junction/Queen Creek and Casa Grande/Florence with regard to it's proximity to Phoenix. This is not a criticism of Casa Grande but to outsiders who are considering moving to Phoenix they should be aware that Casa Grande is not really a part of the Phoenix metro like the aforementioned cities on this forum.

Which is actually why I like it here. Far enough outside to not seem like it is just part of Phoenix, but yet as someone else earlier mentioned I can be in parts of Chandler/Ahwatukee or Gilbert (depending on the route taken) in 35 mins from my house, to the airport in 45 mins, and downtown in under an hour.

BUT, I am also close to the Tucson metro area so can enjoy the differences between PHX and TUC whenever I want.

Plus, since we are right on the I 8 also, the drive to San Diego is a breeze!

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by sh9730

Which is actually why I like it here. Far enough outside to not seem like it is just part of Phoenix, but yet as someone else earlier mentioned I can be in parts of Chandler/Ahwatukee or Gilbert (depending on the route taken) in 35 mins from my house, to the airport in 45 mins, and downtown in under an hour.

BUT, I am also close to the Tucson metro area so can enjoy the differences between PHX and TUC whenever I want.

Plus, since we are right on the I 8 also, the drive to San Diego is a breeze!

I agree. I'm seeing the light with regard to Casa Grande. My group is considering establishing a practice there because there are not enough providers in that area and we get a lot of patients from CG. The area is growing like crazy. And it's really not that far from certain parts of the Valley. I'm closer to Casa Grande than I am to certain areas in the Valley. And I know a lot of people who prefer the tranquility of CG for the reasons you stated plus being fairly close to Tucson.

Nonetheless, I'm sure you agree that saying CG is not a part of the Valley is in no way criticizing it. It's just being informative to outsiders who might get the impression that CG is just another suburb of Phoenix like Chandler or Gilbert.

[turkpbr]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

There is no development for miles before Case Grande so you can't call it a part of the Valley, it's not really adjoining to the other suburbs. As more development progresses south and ultimately joins Casa Grande, it will then become a part of the Valley but as of now it's not.

The only development you'll see through here is the expansion of the freeway to 6 lanes. That is all District's 3, 4 and 5 of the Gila River Reservation. Casa Grande and Maricopa are in the Gila River Valley

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

East Valley describes cities in the Eastern part of the Phoenix Metro such as Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe and Scottsdale. The West Valley includes Glendale, Peoria, Avondale, Goodyear, Surprise, and Sun City.

The notion that Scottsdale is part of the "East Valley" is not universally held. Many consider the East Valley to be south of the Salt River, east of I-10. The newspaper divides the area into Phoenix, Scottsdale, East Valley and West Valley.

[Ritchie_az]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

The notion that Scottsdale is part of the "East Valley" is not universally held. Many consider the East Valley to be south of the Salt River, east of I-10. The newspaper divides the area into Phoenix, Scottsdale, East Valley and West Valley.

I had never heard of one not considering Scottsdale as "east valley" until this post.

In my mind, Central Ave divides "east valley" and "west valley". I've always wondered why you never hear "north valley" or "south valley".....

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by Ritchie_az

I had never heard of one not considering Scottsdale as "east valley" until this post.

In my mind, Central Ave divides "east valley" and "west valley". I've always wondered why you never hear "north valley" or "south valley".....

Central divides things into east side and west side, for sure. But I have always heard East Valley referring to the Mesa-centric piece in the southeast.