East Valley vs. West Valley (Phoenix, Glendale: gated, to live, zip code)

[thatguyoverther]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. The West Side has come along way and I can honestly say there are many nice areas on the West Side but if you are comparing it to the East Valley, how can anyone argue it offers more or has more to do. That's a joke of a statement. Nothing could further from the truth. You are going to compare Glendale, Goodyear, Peoria and Surprise to Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler and Gilbert? There is no competition. The best nightlife in the valley is in Scottsdale. Tempe has ASU and Mill Avenue. Chandler has all of the technology companies. Gilbert was the fastest growing city in the country at one point. The West Side was associated with Gangs and Rednecks for the longest time until Arrowhead developed in the early 2000's and they built Westgate and added the stadiums. Even today, there are still redneck/gang references to the West Side and people will mockingly pronounce it as West Siiiiiide whenever something funny occurs in the west side; it's used to allude to to the old reputation of the west side and it's redneck and gangbanger culture. And even with this development, most of the crime in the valley is in the West Side. There is a lot of meth on the west side. Watch the news, and most shootings are on the west side. Goodyear just had a huge meth ring bust. A lot of kidnapping drop houses are on the West Side. The West Side is constantly developing and improving but saying it offers more than the East Valley....sorry but the West Side has a long way to go before it can make that claim and that's not a slam against the West Side, it's just the truth.

I've lived in both areas and I have fond memories of the West Side. There are some great places to eat but I will NEVER live there again. Let me give you an example of the West Side mentality. I was having lunch with friends at Arriba 5 years ago. One of our friends is known to be loud and curses. This guy sitting behind us comes to our table, slams his fists on our tables and says "Can you F sticks keep it down, I have 3 month old baby and you F...ers need to shut the F up and quit your cursing" This guy had a mullet and apparently worked for the fire dept there. He was right but there are countless other ways he could have told us to keep it down. We would have gladly done so but this guy decides to come out of nowhere and slam his fists on our table. Here is another example. One of my kids is a vegetarian so when we go to McDonalds, I'll order her a grilled cheese by asking for a cheeseburger w/out meat. Whenever we went to any McDonalds on the west side, they would always give us a hard time about ordering that. They would either laugh or not understand. Being in Chandler, we can orderthat and it's never an issue like it was in Arrowhead. That is totally West Side!!! I don't miss the lower sophistication of the west side. I also felt like service in restaurants was a lot worse there too.

I think there are exceptions. Surprise, Sun City and Sun City West felt pretty intelligent and laid back and reminded me of people in Chandler. Glendale, Peoria and Goodyear, however are another thing entirely.

Are there really rednecks in the Phoenix area??? I have been to Phoenix twice and did not pick up on that. I am moving to Phoenix from NC and I was hoping that I could get away from the redneck thinking and culture that is part of the south. The south gets real old real quick...

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by thatguyoverther

Are there really rednecks in the Phoenix area??? I have been to Phoenix twice and did not pick up on that. I am moving to Phoenix from NC and I was hoping that I could get away from the redneck thinking and culture that is part of the south. The south gets real old real quick...

AZ rednecks are rank amateurs compared to NC rednecks. Seriously, AZ looks and feels nothing like the SE United States.

[El_Waiboi]

Revived thread, huh? Ok, I'll bite.

I would say a lot of people get confused between:
West Side Phoenix / West Valley Suburbs
AND
East Side Phoenix / East Valley Suburbs

I.E. - When people talk about the "crime" on the "avenues", they are talking about W/S PHX, not the W/S burbs, there's a big difference.

But IMHO - I like Central Phoenix best, with downtown Tempe as a very close runner up. And I really dislike most of the suburbs in all directions, N, S, E or W. (No disrespect to you if you like them, that's just my opinion).

[magnum0417]

Originally Posted by El_Waiboi

Revived thread, huh? Ok, I'll bite.

I would say a lot of people get confused between:
West Side Phoenix / West Valley Suburbs
AND
East Side Phoenix / East Valley Suburbs

I.E. - When people talk about the "crime" on the "avenues", they are talking about W/S PHX, not the W/S burbs, there's a big difference.

But IMHO - I like Central Phoenix best, with downtown Tempe as a very close runner up. And I really dislike most of the suburbs in all directions, N, S, E or W. (No disrespect to you if you like them, that's just my opinion).

I don't disagree Westside PHX makes up a good part of the "Avenue" crimes heard more frequently than the Eastside and East Valley. However, some of the more heinous crimes involving armed robbery, rape and murder also seem to frequent areas of Laveen and Glendale. Whereas, I hear far less about Tempe (where I live) along with the other established East Valley burbs.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by magnum0417

I don't disagree Westside PHX makes up a good part of the "Avenue" crimes heard more frequently than the Eastside and East Valley. However, some of the more heinous crimes involving armed robbery, rape and murder also seem to frequent areas of Laveen and Glendale. Whereas, I hear far less about Tempe (where I live) along with the other established East Valley burbs.

Well, Laveen is Phoenix too and most of it is further east than the Avenues of Maryvale. Arrowhead is both in Glendale and the same "avenues" as Maryvale but is a very upscale, safe and desirable area. But anyway, the maxim is that the murderers are on the west side and the child molesters on the east. It is easy to over-generalize this huge metropolitan area but some still insist on doing it.

[magnum0417]

Originally Posted by thatguyoverther

Are there really rednecks in the Phoenix area??? I have been to Phoenix twice and did not pick up on that. I am moving to Phoenix from NC and I was hoping that I could get away from the redneck thinking and culture that is part of the south. The south gets real old real quick...

I associate "redneck" with Far Right conservative social and political views.Has nothing to do with "Southern Twang/Dialect." More of a "State of Mind." Basically a significant portion of the Tea Party and Mormon population in the PHX area is every bit as narrowminded as the best The South has to offer. That population tends to be in the Far East Valley like Far East Mesa, Gilbert and Apache Junction. The more Moderate/Libertarian vibes take place more centrally in the likes of Tempe and Scottsdale. I find Tempe to be very in line with my social and political thoughts being a Libertarian.

[ibarrio]

Two safest cities in the Phoenix area are Gilbert (East Valley) and Surprise (West Valley).

[Ponderosa]

Gilbert may be losing that honor with the murders there this summer.

[KurtAZ]

I have lived here for 26 years and the same rule applies as it did in High School in 1990. Stay out of the Avenues.

[CodyW]

This thread is as full of generalizations as always.

By all means, stay out of the avenues. We have enough traffic as it is. Lack of sophistication because you can't make a stupid order at McDonald's? Say it isn't so. And yes, the man referenced earlier could have used a number of ways to tell him and his friends to be quiet, but then again, who goes into a restaurant and swears up a storm, anyway? THAT is lack of sophistication on BOTH parts.

There's nothing wrong with the west side. I prefer it over the east side. People are friendlier. Things are quieter. Food is better and cheaper. If I want to do something, I can commute to one of the "classy" suburbs. But I won't choose to live in one.

Grew up in MARYVALE of all places. Not once was I shot. Not once were we robbed. Never had any cars stolen. We knew our neighbors.. Please no more generalizations. Either you like the west side or you don't. No one is forcing you to live here or venture over here - but don't make small minded generalizations about a place - any place. No place is completely bad. Just like no place is completely good.

As for rednecks, the further out into the west side farms you get, you WILL encounter that. Though I wouldn't call them rednecks so much as the "cowboy crowd." Places like old Buckeye have this segment of population. Friendly folks.. They'll give you the shirt off their backs if you need it. Nothing to be afraid of or avoid.