Almost pulled the trigger.... Shame on you Valley.... (Phoenix, Scottsdale: homes, neighborhood)

[Finger Laker]

Shame for what exactly?

The city hides more of its good than its bad.

Yes, the are a lot of stucco homes. Not something that impacts my life at all. My yard has room for the kids to play, a pool, citrus trees, fire pit and a basketball hoop. The is a park 2 homes down and a large park in the neighborhood.

The home itself is well laid out and fits our needs.

Cover it in stucco and paint it tan, whatever - it's meaningless to me. That is just where my values lie.

The desert is brown? Correct.

I've enjoyed the mountains in Phoenix and they are great if you like that type of recreation. Again, this is a personal value judgment. I also find them to be scenic and love the sunsets over the White Tanks.

Traffic does have some horrible bottlenecks.

The city is massive in size.

However, I will absolutely disagree that you need to travel long distances to do family activities.

There is so much to do here with kids. The hard part is finding it and making sure you don't burn yourself out.

Most of my kids activities are 5-10 minutes from our home in the SW Valley. Downtown is a little over 20 minutes, Tempe a little over 30. Most activities take place when there isn't rush hour and traffic flies. Right now there is a large STEM focused series of events going on all over the metro through spring.

Litchfield Park just had a fishing derby. The tres Rios festival is coming up. So much going on

[rtloucks]

Originally Posted by convextech

Actually, that remark and the title of this thread "Shame on you Valley" makes it seem like the OP expects Phoenix to make things better for visitors, like it's our fault he didn't realize the desert would be...brown.

OH MY... thanks, i almost forgot to mention how BROWN it is.... I wonder if it gets warm there. What? I never even said anyting about brown. I said TAN.... is brown a shade of tan though because i did say 20 shades of tan... when referring to the houses.....

[petroglyphin]

Queen City is beautiful this time of year.

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by rtloucks

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

I think your tone, along with your harping on the obvious is what set people off.

Homes back east have vinyl siding, "WHO WANTS TO LIVE IN A PLASTIC HOUSE?!"

Traffic - lol, only about ten million threads on here already about traffic, "suburban lifestyle", block walls, etc.

If Phoenix isn't your style, we promise not to kidnap you & imprison you in suburban, stucco hell.

Seriously though, as someone born & raised on the other side of the country, with occasional thoughts of going back - each time I look at homes in my old hometown, I'm shocked at how awful most of the homes there are. Decorated by Archie Bunker in 1975, still has the same carpets & wallpaper that were installed when Jimmy Carter was the new president & you could buy a Vega or a Pinto or a Pacer to commute to work.

[sh9730]

Like it or not - any "new" city is going to look just like these.

I traveled A LOT in past lives and every place I stayed starting looking the same. It is just what MOST people want these days. HOA's would not exist if people buying houses did not tell the builders this is what they want - despite all the complaining about them. City Planning departments would require different development standards if people told them they did not want any more brown, stucco houses - but they don't. Many reasons for this - cost and durability in this climate being high on the list.

Yes, you can absolutely find some more "diversity" (and I mean that in a neighborhood sense - not a racial sense) in older cities or in older areas of many cities including the Phoenix metro - BUT, you deal with the opposite of convenience, and the potential neighborhood issues that come with that diversity.

Given there must have been some reason you were interested in Arizona in the first place - while you were here did you think about taking a drive to TUCSON? That city offers a lot more varied architecture and a different type of natural beauty. BUT, the jobs are not as plentiful - as well as other differences!

Most everyone else covered the "tone" of the post well.

[43north87west]

It's not for everyone out here. I'm glad when Midwest people come out here and hate it right away instead of moving here and then having a meltdown about things that are blatantly obvious after a half an hour driving from Sky Harbor to the East Valley. Three years is the breaking point for most of them, and by year four or five they're back "home" in the Midwest.

To be fair, some of your complaints about Phoenix would be like someone complaining about Minneapolis because Eden Prairie sucks. Just strip the stucco and tile roofs and replace with vinyl sided/asphalt shingled stick boxes and you've got the same thing, right down to neighborhood names. Pick any major city across the United States and there is at least one big Gilbert equivalent, if not many more. They just look region-specific. There's nothing special about most of suburban Americana, yet it seems that the most homogenized areas are the ones everyone recommends to other people.

Anyway, I wanted to bring up my favorite Midwest objection to the Phoenix area: PHOENIX IS SO BROWN. Unlike the lush, tropical green of the Midwest...

[DetroitN8V]

You were looking in HOAs and are complaining about uniformity. There are plenty that look like this, outside of HOAs, if you have the dough.

[asufan]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

You were looking in HOAs and are complaining about uniformity. There are plenty that look like this, outside of HOAs, if you have the dough.

Even some newer home communities have been varying styles. Maracay Homes Hawthorn Ranch in Chandler has stucco homes or homes with other looks. This is the "Contemporary Ranch" elevation. Starts in the low 500's though, and this particular elevation is another upcharge from that.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by asufan

Even some newer home communities have been varying styles. Maracay Homes Hawthorn Ranch in Chandler has stucco homes or homes with other looks. This is the "Contemporary Ranch" elevation. Starts in the low 500's though, and this particular elevation is another upcharge from that.

I like it! Right, plenty of options beyond the standard stucco boxes are out there. I think the OP is just complaining about what he was able to find within budget. Maybe I should go to the LA forum and complain that everything is a far-out beat up shack.

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by rtloucks

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.

That's a little like posting "I HOPE YOU, YOUR CHILDREN AND EVERYONE YOU LOVE ALL DIE IN A FIERY THERMONUCLEAR BLAST "