Valley this... Valley that... (Phoenix, Tucson: vs., suburban, title)

[wit-nit]

[quote=azriverfan.;4325375]Let's be honest, we can all tell who has and who hasn't been to Phoenix. The people who have never been here think Phoenix is supposed to look like Tatooine on Star Wars. They think we are surrounded by endless miles of sand dunes and everything is brown with sand storns blowing in your face.QUOTE]

[b]You forgot about the 'camels' running wild...:[/B

[sheena]

Originally Posted by ZonyPony

Help me out here.
The Phoenix area always uses the "Valley" designation. To death, I might add.
I realize that Phoenix is in a valley, but why use East Valley as a geographical area or direction instead of just saying the name of a town or city?
For instance, when I lived in Flagstaff, we never said East Mountain or West Mountain, and people in Tucson don't say East Desert or West Desert.

After awhile it becomes a second language and you just used to it and find yourself saying it as well.

[ZonyPony]

Thank you all very much for your input. This helps bring my knowledge about the "Valley" to a new level.

[sablebaby]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

I don't really mind the "east Valley" & "west Valley" labels. What I never liked, however, is how most everything here has to be called ARIZONA this and ARIZONA that. A few examples: Arizona Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Arizona Republic.

The Republic is the nation's largest newspaper that doesn't have a city name attached to it. Can't a major newspaper at least carry the Phoenix name? And just because the Cardinals play in Glendale doesn't mean it can't be named after Phoenix. After all, a few other teams in the nation play in suburban stadiums, but they're not always named after the state. Naming most everything after Arizona gives recognition to the state, but takes away identity from Phoenix. The nation's fifth largest city should have much more name recognition than it does.

I agree, it is annoying. What gets me is when people come on the AZ forum and ask about moving to AZ and don't specify what part. After asking several times, they come back and finally let us know that they are talking about Phx. It's important to post in the right forum!

[mobiusaz]

Originally Posted by sierraAZ

Actually, the word "valley" IS used too much

What do you propose as a substitute? Would you rather people call it the "Phoenix metropolitan area"?

[shiphead]

[quote=nitram;4327336]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Let's be honest, we can all tell who has and who hasn't been to Phoenix. The people who have never been here think Phoenix is supposed to look like Tatooine on Star Wars. They think we are surrounded by endless miles of sand dunes and everything is brown with sand storns blowing in your face.QUOTE]

You forgot about the 'camels' running wild...:

great analogy. hahaha.

A lot of people don't realize how hilly, mountainous, and green Arizona is. This isn't the gobi or sahara desert.

[Ria Rhodes]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

I completely agree. This is a pet peeve of mine. In this naive attempt to unite the state and provide state pride, the city of Phoenix loses it's identity. We are the 5th largest city yet we can't call the Cardinals the Phoenix Cardinals or the Diamonbacks the Phoenix Diamonbacks. Good post. Everything has to be Arizona this or Arizona that.

If I one day purchase the Cardinals, I'm renaming it the Phoenix Cardinals... Actually, I'll rename it Phoenix something and come up with a better mascot but nothing obviously desert-like such as the Coyotes or Diamondbacks. I think Phoenix Fire has a nice ring

How 'bout "Phoenix Furnace"? Accurately summarizes the ambiance of a Phoenix summer (of course the chamber of commerce would never allow it).

[MaikeerinWA]

I don't think state pride had that much to do with it. It was just business and politics for the team owners. The Cardinals wanted to market their team to Tucson and other places in the state. And it makes it easier to marshal legislative and other government support when you're a broadly based "state" team. Personally I preferred Phoenix Cardinals.

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

I completely agree. This is a pet peeve of mine. In this naive attempt to unite the state and provide state pride, the city of Phoenix loses it's identity. We are the 5th largest city yet we can't call the Cardinals the Phoenix Cardinals or the Diamonbacks the Phoenix Diamonbacks.

[miamiman]

Tucson's entirely too small to designate East and West Valley.

You either live on the Eastside, Westside, Midtown, Downtown, Southside, Foothills, or Northwest Tucson.

The whole area, including the few suburbs, is referred to as "the metro" or "eastern Pima County." It's kind of odd considering Tucson is definitely in a more pronounced valley than up here in the Phoenix metro.

[miamiman]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

I don't really mind the "east Valley" & "west Valley" labels. What I never liked, however, is how most everything here has to be called ARIZONA this and ARIZONA that. A few examples: Arizona Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Arizona Republic.

The Republic is the nation's largest newspaper that doesn't have a city name attached to it. Can't a major newspaper at least carry the Phoenix name? And just because the Cardinals play in Glendale doesn't mean it can't be named after Phoenix. After all, a few other teams in the nation play in suburban stadiums, but they're not always named after the state. Naming most everything after Arizona gives recognition to the state, but takes away identity from Phoenix. The nation's fifth largest city should have much more name recognition than it does.

I think the assocation of Arizona with our newspapers and sports teams sparks interest for those outside of the Valley. If I lived in Prescott or Flagstaff, I would be much more likely to pick up the paper if called the Arizona Republic instead of the Phoenix Republic. Most media and sports teams have very a large geographical coverage area and following. The media market area of Phoenix extends from Blythe to Page to Show Low to Gila Bend. That's a significant chunk of the state.

Many of the sports teams have a wide following due to the distance of the cities with the nearest major sports franchises (SD, LA, Denver, San Antonio, SLC). Arizona is not the only Western state where sports franchises are identified by the state. Notice how there's the Utah Jazz, Colorado Rockies, etc. It is also used to spark more of a regional interest. That way people in Tucson, Yuma, Kingman, and Holbrook can all feel like they are served by a major league team.