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i don't know that its fair to jump all over my OPINIONS telling me Im wrong all over
Nobody is jumping on you. But your opinion sounds as if you are accusing us of lying to you about being in the desert, when in fairness, I probably would have just said it wasn't what I expected, and then gave my trip report.
You sound angry at us, when it's likely anger at yourself that you spent all that money to come down here before doing your homework online and seeing that it is indeed brown here, and there's nothing that is going to change that.
If all you saw was crumbling Spanish tile, you were not in the nice areas to begin with. Not everybody can afford to keep up their homes; it is expensive to live here.
"Congestion: Driving through Chandler and Gilbert reminded me a lot of driving through Fairfax VA only without the pretty scenery. IT was stoplight after stoplight, red light after red light, and what felt like a million cars on the road. Took me 44 minutes to get off 60 at Gilbert road, drive south to Warner road, then east to val vista, then back north to get on 60.... at 2:30 pm"
Now this is funny. 44 minutes to drive that 9 miles at 2:30? Even though most residents know to avoid driving through Downtown Gilbert and you did (it gets congested and the speed limit is 25) there's no way this trip should have taken more than 15-20 minutes at 2:30 PM, barring complete road closures due to construction or stopping for a bite to eat. Myth busted.
""When people are kind enough to be honest on here,"
"Here" as in the forums is how I read it. And yes, that's an opinion and you have a right to it of course, but it's condescending to people here who have a valid honest opinion and express the on this forum. And "shame on you valley" in your thread title seemed a bit general.
But again, at least speaking for myself, as I stated and others have stated you have every right to your opinion. No worries! The only thing pointed out is some constructive words back to you that you should have looked around a bit more in an area the size of the state of RI.
Well I guess I thought a full day in each city/area of nothing but driving around each area of the metro was pretty good. we ate and shopped, we looked at schools, we met with locals, form sun up to sundown each day. Avondale, Goodyear, Glendale, Scottsdale, Fountain hills, Mesa, Tempe (not as much as others) Gilbert, Chandler and even north phoenix. What city did I miss? Peoria? C'mon. We even got with a real estate agent to look at homes so we could literally look behind the outside walls. We have moved 13 times and have gotten pretty good at this. SO its not like we just drove through a couple of neighborhoods in Chandler and said NAH.
I'm not sure why everyone wants to argue rather than point out something we missed then. Y'All just say NO NO NO you're wrong basically. But why am I wrong?
What should others like myself and family know before we come exactly?
Are there more than 20 shades of Tan? Im not sure?
IS it less than 25-35 miles from the east burbs to downtown on average?
Does Traffic NOT back up there?
What areas are NOT suburban? Zipcodes?
Can we eat the oranges that fall to the ground or not?
Why do the police fly by me as im doing 50 in a 45?
Are the Mountains or Hills in Phoenix?
Are there not really cattle farms up and down some of the main roads through Chandler and Gilbert that have new subdivisions backing up to them?
Are there not big cement walls around everyone's property almost everywhere?
Is it NOT pretty flat all over except the hills in the background?
Are the homes not 96% stucco built? and TAN? I did see a orange house, 1 blue-ish house and a red one though.
It is not like Im on here complaining that Phoenix is HOT. Im simpy stating some observations. feel free to correct me where i am wrong
You know, OP, I had an Arizona mountain town all picked out, was practically packed and ready to move. Read comments about it on this forum for YEARS. It sounded ideal and I had been there.
Visited it one more time and guess what? It really isn't for us after all. There were some aspects I hadn't considered. That's not a slam on that very nice mountain town, the people who live there or the folks that posted about it here. Everyone's different. We just didn't want to be located 100 miles away from things that are important to us, so that town is out.
As I've just demonstrated, it's possible to indicate one's disappointment without attacking people.
"Shame on you Valley" is not you merely stating your opinion. Since the areas you explored didn't live up to your ideas of Utopia, you're scolding the entire area? I still think it's the areas in which you looked that turned you off. There are other areas with great schools, varying housing styles, buried power lines, lush landscaping, activities, amenities, etc., that are nowhere near farmland and without scorpion problems. Chandler has nice, upscale parts, but Gilbert wouldn't be for me either.
"Congestion: Driving through Chandler and Gilbert reminded me a lot of driving through Fairfax VA only without the pretty scenery. IT was stoplight after stoplight, red light after red light, and what felt like a million cars on the road. Took me 44 minutes to get off 60 at Gilbert road, drive south to Warner road, then east to val vista, then back north to get on 60.... at 2:30 pm"
Now this is funny. 44 minutes to drive that 9 miles at 2:30? Even though most residents know to avoid driving through Downtown Gilbert and you did (it gets congested and the speed limit is 25) there's no way this trip should have taken more than 15-20 minutes at 2:30 PM, barring complete road closures due to construction or stopping for a bite to eat. Myth busted.
Nope, this is the honest to GOD truth ( can i still say GOD) I was on the phone with my wife the whole time. Like i sad i got off 60 at Gilbert road. Drove south around 2:30p turn left/east onto Warner Road, then drove by a neighborhood at Concord St. to see how far it was from the Target plaza up the road, then turned left onto N Val Vista and back to 60 . Nothing but stop lights the whole way. And i hit every one of them. It was 3:18 on my clock. so i was giving it the benefit of the doubt for the 3-4 minutes that i could have been off.. I looked at my clock a half mile or so on Gilbert it was like 2:32p so do the math i guess. Id imagine it isnt like that every day. Like I mentioned weekend traffic was a breeze. BUt it wa pretty heavy all over all day monday (even for being a holday) and Tuesday.
You know, OP, I had an Arizona mountain town all picked out, was practically packed and ready to move. Read comments about it on this forum for YEARS. It sounded ideal and I had been there.
Visited it one more time and guess what? It really isn't for us after all. There were some aspects I hadn't considered. That's not a slam on that very nice mountain town, the people who live there or the folks that posted about it here. Everyone's different. We just didn't want to be located 100 miles away from things that are important to us, so that town is out.
As I've just demonstrated, it's possible to indicate one's disappointment without attacking people.
Thank you for sharing, Im not attacking anyone at all. I went out of my way to claim that the post may not be for the sensitive. Knowing some people take things personally. Its like when your favorite foot ball team wins or loses and someone else pokes fun. Do you take offense if they lose? Do you brag if they win? WHY... are you ON THE TEAM? Not you personally by the way, just in general
Well people may live IN THE Town but this isnt a slam, funny how everyone cherry picked my negative opinions from the post but refuse to point out the compliments i left. I have continuously bragged about the nice people, the weather is fantastic, how it is clean everywhere overall, ho certain areas are so beautiful, ho the fruit trees are amazing, etc. But I am being crucified for the opinions I have about some of the things I didn't care for? Hmmmm. well luckily I was a masterDEbater...careful now, and do not take offense I promise. So if some of my writing sounds like I am put off, I am not. I just dont always accept things for what the consensus agree they should be. But you are right, Like you we decided that it wasnt for us because of the thing WE do not like, not because things are not likeable. THat is why I have alasy stood by my comment for others to investigate further for themselves but not overlook
i don't know that its fair to jump all over my OPINIONS telling me Im wrong all over when I clearly labeled this post as MY OPINION.
No offense, but opinions can be disproven by fact, and it's not realistic to expect people to leave a potentially misleading opinion uncorrected in a forum that's meant to inform people. In fact, I think people are generally agreeing with you about Chandler and Gilbert being overly suburban.
If you don't want heavily suburban, that's valuable information. Lots of people all over the country are homebodies and think suburbia is the go-to solution for raising a family and will assume that's what you want, too, unless you communicate clearly about your wish to be convenient to cultural amenities and shopping.
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I could go on about several other things like $400k and up homes that back up to horse ranches and cattle farms all over.
I don't know where you mean, specifically, but people on this forum do complain about parts of Gilbert being farmy. On the flipside, being zoned for horses is considered desirable in some areas of the Valley.
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Or Power lines in every neighborhood, or the artificial inflation investors in the area area creating to drive up home prices.
You should have seen the prices before the housing bubble burst. All desirable markets attract investors, but Phoenix is generally viewed as being one of the more affordable metros in the west.
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Everyone's roof is decaying. rotted, dried broken tile roofs everywhere. How about untreated homes with little baby scorpions crawling around like ants
These sound like pretty questionable neighborhoods. What price range are you looking in?
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We concentrated on Chandler and Gilbert for family friendly housing with the understanding that it is suburbia, but wow that takes it to the extreme. But the west valley towns are hideous. empty and industrial feeling.
I'm wondering why, if you went to Fountain Hills (which also can mean a lot of driving for basic amenities), you didn't look around more in Phoenix and Scottsdale. "Chandler and Gilbert" vs. "West Valley" is something of a false choice, especially when you're complaining that you can't find certain amenities.
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This was purely meant to share my OPINIONS of what we experienced with others who may want to do the same. Too bad you all feel the need to jump down someones throat for having an opinion..... may be another reason some people are turned off by the area if they are surrounded by close minded people. Some of us are open and honest and its too bad that others cant take a step back and say...."Okay, fair enough. they have an OPINION." it mmay not be a popular opinion but non the less its our own.
You're welcome to it, but I'm sure you can see why some people might look at your language and get the feeling that you're really committed to being negative in spite of any contrary facts. People are offering constructive feedback (and admittedly, having a little fun about your seemingly surprised observations about the desert) because they're concerned that there's some important information missing that might confuse other readers.
Personally, we've spent the money to visit several times and haven't bothered to look at Chandler and Gilbert yet because suburbia isn't our thing - even Desert Ridge was a little intense for us in that regard. It is, however, lots of other peoples' thing, or Gilbert wouldn't be growing at such a crazy pace.
Well I guess I thought a full day in each city/area of nothing but driving around each area of the metro was pretty good. we ate and shopped, we looked at schools, we met with locals, form sun up to sundown each day. Avondale, Goodyear, Glendale, Scottsdale, Fountain hills, Mesa, Tempe (not as much as others) Gilbert, Chandler and even north phoenix. What city did I miss? Peoria? C'mon. We even got with a real estate agent to look at homes so we could literally look behind the outside walls. We have moved 13 times and have gotten pretty good at this. SO its not like we just drove through a couple of neighborhoods in Chandler and said NAH.
I'm not sure why everyone wants to argue rather than point out something we missed then. Y'All just say NO NO NO you're wrong basically. But why am I wrong?
What should others like myself and family know before we come exactly?
Are there more than 20 shades of Tan? Im not sure?
IS it less than 25-35 miles from the east burbs to downtown on average?
Does Traffic NOT back up there?
What areas are NOT suburban? Zipcodes?
Can we eat the oranges that fall to the ground or not?
Why do the police fly by me as im doing 50 in a 45?
Are the Mountains or Hills in Phoenix?
Are there not really cattle farms up and down some of the main roads through Chandler and Gilbert that have new subdivisions backing up to them?
Are there not big cement walls around everyone's property almost everywhere?
Is it NOT pretty flat all over except the hills in the background?
Are the homes not 96% stucco built? and TAN? I did see a orange house, 1 blue-ish house and a red one though.
It is not like Im on here complaining that Phoenix is HOT. Im simpy stating some observations. feel free to correct me where i am wrong
What's your budget? 85258 is where you should have looked if you can afford it. Or maybe Ocotillo as asufan suggested. If not, maybe you're just complaining that you can't afford to live in the parts of the valley that meet your expectations, because they are out there, just with a higher price tag.
Are there more than 20 shades of Tan? Im not sure? There's varying colors, I've seen grays, blue-grays, whites, off whites, beiges, browns, etc.
IS it less than 25-35 miles from the east burbs to downtown on average? To Downtown Phoenix it is a long commute. There's many people including my family that never go downtown. No need
Does Traffic NOT back up there? Yes, like any other metro area of over 4.5 million. Were you not expecting that?
What areas are NOT suburban? Zipcodes? Most of the valley is suburban in nature, much like metro LA. Phoenix metro was built around the automobile unlike East coast cities.
Why do the police fly by me as im doing 50 in a 45? Maybe going on a call? Do police never speed anywhere else?
Are the Mountains or Hills in Phoenix? There's both
Are there not really cattle farms up and down some of the main roads through Chandler and Gilbert that have new subdivisions backing up to them? I know of zero in Chandler that back up to a cattle farm, not positive on Gilbert
Are there not big cement walls around everyone's property almost everywhere? Never seen a cement wall around a house. Here we have block walls, some on the waterfront have view fencing, some communities have fake wood and some older communities have wood or chain link.
Is it NOT pretty flat all over except the hills in the background? Yes, which makes for great parks and yards. This is the valley, not a hillside city. There's hillsides here and there in the metro area you could find
Are the homes not 96% stucco built? and TAN? I did see a orange house, 1 blue-ish house and a red one though The newer houses are mostly stucco. Mine has stucco, stone, wrought iron, precast concrete and a synthetic shutter. Houses here are built for the climate, much like new construction in So Cal. A stucco home would not work in the NE, but it works in our climate.
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The only thing pointed out is some constructive words back to you that you should have looked around a bit more in an area the size of the state of RI.
