How do you remember Phoenix? Stories from long time residents... (Scottsdale: apartment, dorm)

[John F Long Grad]

hotashell

seriously and without racism, when did all you white east siders notice the huge hispanic influx.

lived in maryvale until 1971; we had lower income to upper middle income families. most were employed by Luke AFB, and some like my dad was employed by other corporations moving to the area - GE in deer valley. honeywell took over GE and my father was laid off. we started to buy houses in need of repair, fix them up with free labor (my sisters and myself) and sell them for more money. so naturally we were moving away from the newer homes, and into the east valley. when growing up, the kids really didn't notice class or race, we just wanted someone to play outside with. i would say that as the layoffs increased, people moved out of homes that were almost paid off, and others moved in. the closest HS during that time was alhambra & carl hayden - trevor browne was just completely built when we moved. we had split sessions at Maryvale HS my freshman year which means that my first PE class was at 6:30AM

[eam42]

I lived just west of Central in the mid & late 50's, in what is now near north side. There was not a lot of contention between East and West. Granted there were some very elegant homes around the Country Club and North Phoenix HS. (BTW, that was reported to he only school where the cars in the student parking lot were much newer and nicer than the ones in the teachers' lot.) But there were also some very desirable areas around Encanto Park. And of course the further north you went, the better the homes.

Most everything north of Thomas Rd. on the west side was OK at least to 15th or 19th Ave. Maryvale was considered sprawl but not too negative. And it was affordable. The far west areas that were looked down on were closer to Van Buren and Washington and Buckeye Rd. going west from downtown. This was particularly true around Alzona Park and Duppa (sp?) Villa. And then everybody loved all the truck farms to the west, but didn't want to live in Tolleson or Avondale. Too many farm workers? I guess.

But the real division was north and south. No one lived south of downtown, or at least south of the river, unless they absolutely couldn't afford anything else. There was nothing considered worthwhile there until you got to Baseline and the beautiful Japanese flower growing areas.

[PHOENIXtreeguy]

Skating rink at Metro every weekend!

[hotashell]

Originally Posted by PHOENIXtreeguy

Skating rink at Metro every weekend!

this is a chance for us all to meet, what say you?

[PHOENIXtreeguy]

Originally Posted by hotashell

this is a chance for us all to meet, what say you?

That's what we did back in the 1980s.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by hotashell

this is a chance for us all to meet, what say you?

Originally Posted by PHOENIXtreeguy

That's what we did back in the 1980s.

Yes, this is a "memory" thread... the skating rink is gone.

Back to the regularly scheduled topic.

[desertskies]

Originally Posted by PHOENIXtreeguy

Skating rink at Metro every weekend!

One must not forget the skating rink at Tower Plaza. Many a Saturday I would go and since I'm not a top notch skater, my ankles did all the work.

[PHOENIXtreeguy]

Originally Posted by desertskies

One must not forget the skating rink at Tower Plaza. Many a Saturday I would go and since I'm not a top notch skater, my ankles did all the work.

Hmmm... I don't remember that one. Ice skating at Tower Plaza?

[baby sinister]

Originally Posted by PHOENIXtreeguy

Hmmm... I don't remember that one. Ice skating at Tower Plaza?

Yep, didn't the Phoenix Roadrunners practice there at one time?

[learicalAZ]

The west side? My parents and older sister moved here in 1947. When I was born, we lived in the 3300 block of west Granada Road. When my mom was pregnant with my younger sister, my parents realized that we had outgrown the house and needed a bigger place. They bought a brand new John F Long home near 53rd Ave and Campbell, and we moved in late in 1957, just shy of my second birthday. My older sister graduated from Maryvale High in 1965, my brother from Bourgade High in 1970, and I and my younger sister graduated from Maryvale in 1973 and 1975 respectively. I remember walking the nearly mile and a half from St Vincent de Paul Elementary School to home with my brother in the first grade. No worries about gangs or any other nonsense then. We had great neighbors, and we felt safe. My parents lived there until Dad died in 2001, and Mom went to a nursing home. Things were a LOT scarier by then!