Relocating summer of '20 to Glendale area and need advice

[wase4711]

this is one of the most interesting thing about this area, is how "one town" can have both fantastic areas, and horrific blight, all within a short distance of each other...my Scottsdale "friends" are always insulting Glendale, Peoria, and other areas around here, since they claim all the crime and violence in the Valley seems to goes on in these towns, but, as MN and others have pointed out, how its common to have crime ridden areas in the same named town, its not usual for those same towns to have million dollar neighborhoods as well..

[Sno0909]

Agreed. The size of cities out here amazes me. In Michigan, a city is either nice or not. You can't just paint with a broad brush in AZ. In Moon Valley, we literally have million $$ mountain homes overlooking a run-down trailer park. Very odd to me.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by wase4711

this is one of the most interesting thing about this area, is how "one town" can have both fantastic areas, and horrific blight, all within a short distance of each other...my Scottsdale "friends" are always insulting Glendale, Peoria, and other areas around here, since they claim all the crime and violence in the Valley seems to goes on in these towns, but, as MN and others have pointed out, how its common to have crime ridden areas in the same named town, its not usual for those same towns to have million dollar neighborhoods as well..

That's because they think they know the area because they passed through it. So their perception becomes their reality. No different than our MN friends assuming they know anything about where I live because they drove from the Grand Canyon to Vegas. They think I live in a town like Kingman (which is less than ideal to my eyes). But hey, they were in AZ once and nothing is going to change their mind shy of actually experiencing things 1st hand. Or since they visited Vegas, they assume PHX looks and feels like Vegas (minus the gambling) which would make Vegas a sh_ithole. They extrapolate however their mind wanders that it might be. Good luck convincing them otherwise. They are smarter than you about where you live because they imagine so!

It's how we might all picture Saudia Arabia because of sand blown hills in the movies. But we really don't know anything about it so we shouldn't comment.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Sno0909

Agreed. The size of cities out here amazes me. In Michigan, a city is either nice or not. You can't just paint with a broad brush in AZ. In Moon Valley, we literally have million $$ mountain homes overlooking a run-down trailer park. Very odd to me.

Most of the Phoenix suburbs started out as encampments and housing for farm labor and people of color who were not allowed to live in better parts of town (yes, we had Jim Crow here primarily against blacks and lower/working class Hispanics). As the city spread outward, new builds took over those areas but the core of poverty and substandard housing generally remained intact. If you had terrain features nearby, the most expensive developments concentrated around those with the higher the elevation, the higher the price. So you end up with the impoverished core of varying size, a ring or margins of upper middle homes, and a terrain feature with high end homes. You see it all over the metro.

[wase4711]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Most of the Phoenix suburbs started out as encampments and housing for farm labor and people of color who were not allowed to live in better parts of town (yes, we had Jim Crow here primarily against blacks and lower/working class Hispanics). As the city spread outward, new builds took over those areas but the core of poverty and substandard housing generally remained intact. If you had terrain features nearby, the most expensive developments concentrated around those with the higher the elevation, the higher the price. So you end up with the impoverished core of varying size, a ring or margins of upper middle homes, and a terrain feature with high end homes. You see it all over the metro.

that's a perfect explanation of how these areas became what they are today..

its funny, the comments from people who have been here once or twice in the last 20 years, thinking that Peoria is like Kingman, or, how they'd love to live in Flagstaff, but it gets more snow than Chicago, (actually 200 inches last year in Flagstaff, vs 30 inches in Chicago, hardly even similar)and, that they know everything about Arizona, and can't imagine why anyone would live here.
Even after reminding them that Maricopa County has been either the fastest growing county or at least in the top 3 in the usa for a while now, they still think Arizona is what it was 25 years ago..

Too bad that still doesn't keep so many of them from moving out here, and whining about what they don't like about the state..

We planned on moving out here for many years, and, coming here often over the last 20 years, we are impressed with the progress that has been made here, and wouldn't even consider moving to another state..

[Sno0909]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Most of the Phoenix suburbs started out as encampments and housing for farm labor and people of color who were not allowed to live in better parts of town (yes, we had Jim Crow here primarily against blacks and lower/working class Hispanics). As the city spread outward, new builds took over those areas but the core of poverty and substandard housing generally remained intact. If you had terrain features nearby, the most expensive developments concentrated around those with the higher the elevation, the higher the price. So you end up with the impoverished core of varying size, a ring or margins of upper middle homes, and a terrain feature with high end homes. You see it all over the metro.

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing. I wonder what happened to Sunnyslope then? That must be the exception to the rule, because that area is very run down just at the southern foothills of North Mountain.

[ringler24]

Originally Posted by Sno0909

Just out of curiosity, why would you never send your kids to Great Hearts or Basis? I know a few people that have kids there and they love it. You're the first person I've heard say otherwise.

And I have no skin in the game, as my wife homeschools. Just simply curious.

I'm not interested in schools that are so academically driven that they suck the life out of children and their families. Basis and Great Hearts are charters that design themselves and locate themselves in such a way that they don't provide access to children who might struggle or need a great amount of support to not fail. Additionally we like the idea of a neighborhood school where all the kids in the neighborhood go to school together. That's what we have in our local school. JMO.