Scottsdale vs. Gilbert (neighborhood, suburbs, driveway)

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by DixieWrecked

If you don't like my opinion of the area then ignore it. Gilbert is a very generic and boring city to live in far away from the basic amenities Phoenix has to offer, there should be comparison.

Obviously you don't like Gilbert, and that's fine. Everyone has different requirements.

Personally I like Scottsdale and we go there often for dinner and entertainment, but I prefer Gilbert for my residence for many reasons.

You probably know a lot about Scottsdale, and you can be very helpful to the OP if you would list the things that you like about Scottsdale. Tell them about the housing choices the entertainment choices, and anything that you feel will be helpful to them in making a decision. The OP will appreciate your information.

[sarahrose]

We looked into Gilbert as well, but my husband hated it...he said it smelled like farmland and cow poo...although, I was attracted to the school district, we ended up choosing Scottsdale because of his work....Glibert really is FAR out there.

[azaly]

If you moved in the past because your neighborhood got too "rednecky" then I discourage you from moving to Gilbert. Large noisy raised trucks, lots of tats and parties in the driveway are not uncommon here. My neighbor is having one as I write this. And it is not just this neighborhood, culturally Gilbert is just more working class than some other areas. There are newer and more upscale neighborhoods but they tend to be in South Gilbert farther from jobs and cultural activities. I personally enjoy a quiet, relaxing white collar neighborhood, that is not as common in Gilbert as it is in Scottsdale. Just one opinion.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by DixieWrecked

Gilbert lacks restaurants, hotels, eporting events, and culture. Compared to Scottsdale, gilbert is a waste of time.

Gilbert is not a cultural or sporting center, and doesn't pretend to be.

It is a bedroom community, with plenty of shopping and dining. It also has hotels and new hospitals.

In Val Vista Lakes, I'm 30 minutes from the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, and old Town Scottsdale.

We're 20 minutes from the Mesa Arts Center and 25 from The Chandler Center.

We're about 30 minutes from the US Airways stadium in Phoenix. About 25 minutes to ASU Grammage.

The Hale Theater, a great little theater is in Old Town Gilbert.

There are plenty of cultural events within a reasonable distance from my home in Gilbert.

Gilbert is about 30 minutes from hiking in the Superstition mountains

For people who are looking for all that, Gilbert is a great place.

If one is looking to live within walking distance to cultural events and night life, then Gilbert is not the place for them.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by azaly

If you moved in the past because your neighborhood got too "rednecky" then I discourage you from moving to Gilbert. Large noisy raised trucks, lots of tats and parties in the driveway are not uncommon here. My neighbor is having one as I write this. And it is not just this neighborhood, culturally Gilbert is just more working class than some other areas. There are newer and more upscale neighborhoods but they tend to be in South Gilbert farther from jobs and cultural activities. I personally enjoy a quiet, relaxing white collar neighborhood, that is not as common in Gilbert as it is in Scottsdale. Just one opinion.

The information above is not quite correct.

There are some newer homes in southern Gilbert, and some are upscale, but not all.

There are many tract homes in south Gilbert.
There are many upscale homes in northern Gilbert.

• Fastest growing municipality in the United States from 1990-2003. U.S. Census Bureau

• Currently the 4th fastest growing municipality in the United States. U.S. Census Bureau - 2009
• Ranked by CNN's Money magazine in 2008 as one of the best places to live in the United States.[14]
• One of the top 25 safest cities in the United States.

2009 Estimated Population Age 25+ Educational Attainment:

• 92.33% High School/GED or Higher
• 35.5% Bachelor's Degree or Higher
• 10.46% Master's Degree or Higher

2009 Estimated Households by Household Income:

• $98,213 Average Household Income
• $86,077 Median Household Income
• $30,559 Per Capita Income

• 3.28% of Families are Below the Poverty Level

Here's one of the not-so upscale neighborhoods in North Gilbert:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aC14-VWBJg

[azaly]

Let me clarify Capt. Bill. I'm not saying that all of South Gilbert is upscale, but there are several beautiful upscale subdivisions. There are several in North Gilbert also, but overall Gilbert is not an upscale area. The stats you gave for income are not reflected in the overall culture here. This is overwhelmingly a blue collar town, and since the collapse of the housing market many of those high paying blue collar jobs have disappeared. I am not down on Gilbert, but realistically if someone has stated that they are looking for a more white collar suburb their odds of finding what they want are much better in Central to North Scottsdale. It's not about stats, it's about people finding a place they feel comfortable and fit in.

[Captain Bill]

Azaly, the stats show that Gilbert is not overwhelmingly a blue collar town, and that's why I posted them.

There are a few small areas in Gilbert near the Old Town that are low income and I would say are blue collar, but the vast majority of Gilbert is white collar, and medium to upper income.

However, the OP didn't state that they were looking for a more white collar suburb, but if they did, then Gilbert would fit that description, and so would Tempe and Chandler and Scottsdale, although all of them have communities with blue collar workers.

What the OP asked for was:

What are the pro's and con's of each community? How are the schools? Crime? Etc...

The statement that you made below may be typical in your community, but it is in no way typical of Gilbert. There is no way one can portray Gilbert as "rednecky".

If you moved in the past because your neighborhood got too "rednecky" then I discourage you from moving to Gilbert. Large noisy raised trucks, lots of tats and parties in the driveway are not uncommon here

Let's have a little fun on this nice sunny morning in beautiful upscale Gilbert :

You may be a red neck IF:

• your car uses more oil than gas.
• you think "harass" are two words.
• you have a beer cooler on your riding lawn mower.
• your Mama yells, "Close the screen door boy, you're letting all the bugs out!"
• you hunt deer from a moving vehicle.
• you finally mow your front lawn and you find the pickup truck that you thought was stolen.
• your beer can pyramid is taller than your trailer.

Note: the photo below is courtesy of bogus.whipnet.net. They allow public use by providing credit.

FOR SALE:

BEAUTIFUL RUSTIC REDNECK HOME LOCATED ON LUSH GREEN WATERFRONT PROPERTY IN UPSCALE VAL VISTA LAKES, GILBERT AZ

• BEER COOLER AND OPENER NOT INCLUDED

• WON'T LAST LONG
• MAKE OFFER
• MAY TRADE FOR GOOD PICKUP, SHOTGUN AND A GOOD ***** (female dog)

SHOWN BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

file:///C:/Users/ADMINI%7E1/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-2.png (broken link)

[Zathras]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

Azaly, the stats show that Gilbert is not overwhelmingly a blue collar town, and that's why I posted them.

There are a few small areas in Gilbert near the Old Town that are low income and I would say are blue collar, but the vast majority of Gilbert is white collar, and medium to upper income.

However, the OP didn't state that they were looking for a more white collar suburb, but if they did, then Gilbert would fit that description, and so would Tempe and Chandler and Scottsdale, although all of them have communities with blue collar workers.

What the OP asked for was:

The statement that you made below may be typical in your community, but it is in no way typical of Gilbert. There is no way one can portray Gilbert as "rednecky".

Let's have a little fun on this nice sunny morning in beautiful upscale Gilbert :

You may be a red neck IF:

• your car uses more oil than gas.
• you think "harass" are two words.
• you have a beer cooler on your riding lawn mower.
• your Mama yells, "Close the screen door boy, you're letting all the bugs out!"
• you hunt deer from a moving vehicle.
• you finally mow your front lawn and you find the pickup truck that you thought was stolen.
• your beer can pyramid is taller than your trailer.

Note: the photo below is courtesy of bogus.whipnet.net. They allow public use by providing credit.

FOR SALE:

BEAUTIFUL RUSTIC REDNECK HOME LOCATED ON LUSH GREEN WATERFRONT PROPERTY IN UPSCALE VAL VISTA LAKES, GILBERT AZ

• BEER COOLER AND OPENER NOT INCLUDED

• WON'T LAST LONG
• MAKE OFFER
• MAY TRADE FOR GOOD PICKUP, SHOTGUN AND A GOOD ***** (female dog)

SHOWN BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

That's a beautiful home you have for sale there Cap'n.. I'd trade ya fer it, but I ain't gittin rid o my ol gal.

As far as the comparisons between Gilbert & Scottsdale, here's a point to keep in mind- Phoenix itself is huge- the 5th largest city in the US. Additionally, five of its suburb cities, including Gilbert & Scottsdale, are also in the top 100 cities in the US, with over 200k population.

So we're talking about a HUGE, spread out metro area, with very large suburb cities. Therefore, no matter where you are, there will be interesting things that are close to you, and interesting things that are quite far away.

Now, within the large suburb cities themselves, they all will have the basics- malls, hiking, golf, recreation, etc. They all have good areas and bad. They all have major 4-6 lane freeways running through them.

So while I agree that overall, Scottsdale is a bit more upscale than Gilbert, there are certainly upscale places in Gilbert, and less-than-desireable places in Scottsdale. One big difference in my mind is that Gilbert is 'landlocked' if you will, by other suburbs, whereas Scottsdale borders a lot of undeveloped land (state/reservation) on its east and north.

Since the OP works from home, that eliminates what usually should be a primary factor when deciding on an area to live in.

The best advice I can give is to make one or more trips out here and spend the time driving around and looking at things. Only you are going to be able to know for sure which one feels right for you.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by Zathras

That's a beautiful home you have for sale there Cap'n.. I'd trade ya fer it, but I ain't gittin rid o my ol gal...

I'll have to think about that trade. This house has lots of memories because it doubles as a party boat. It's really valuable and without the dog you've got to throw in some better boot.

quote=Zathras...The best advice I can give is to make one or more trips out here and spend the time driving around and looking at things. Only you are going to be able to know for sure which one feels right for you.

Great advice. There is no substitute for seeing the areas first hand.

On this forum I talk about Gilbert in general because it's my primary territory. And while I'm familiar with all the east valley areas, I'm much more knowledgeable about Gilbert and many of it's communities.

However, when one on one with a client, I learn their needs and will make suggestions according to the way I understand their needs and desires. Gilbert is certainly not the city for everyone. I'll help them find the city and community that is best for them.

Recently a client was looking at homes in Chandler, and I realized that this was probably not the best for this client, and felt Scottsdale would be the better fit. So I suggested they check out areas of Scottsdale so see if that would work better. The client did that and discovered that certain areas of Scottsdale was much better suited to them. So that's where we're concentrating our search now.

[azaly]

Keep in mind that people have different standards. However, the poster said he considered pick-ups and tats "rednecky." By his definition Gilbert fits. This place is overwhelmingly truck, tat and driveway "fun" filled. Drive through almost any neighborhood on a Saturday and you will see this to be true. I don't want to argue, but I wish someone had opened my eyes to the culture here before I moved. I would definitely prefer a different vibe. Again, my experiences and therefore my opinion.