Least favorite suburb (Phoenix, Glendale, Scottsdale: HOA, custom home, gated communities)

[elcajones]

Originally Posted by :-D

It's accurate if it's your opinion... lol. That's what I stated in the first post of this thread. Opinions don't need to be fact-based, though they should be.

PV would be nice to live in, if I got to live on one of the mountains. I don't see the appeal to live in PV but in the basin of it personally. I would probably be able to get a similar lot for a better cost in Scottsdale or another suburb at that point, the mountain-living is the whole appeal to Paradise Valley in my opinion. Especially Camelback with city views...

The only person I would let slide about joking about people being inferior is whoever lives in the Castle. They live in a freaking castle... I'm sorry but a castle is above all other types of residences that have ever existed. It's like Phoenix royalty

Did you know a dentist was who originally built the Castle? Some of the house is actually built into the mountain. It's a pretty cool house.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by :-D

It's accurate if it's your opinion... lol.

But it wasn't my opinion. I was being defiant so I plugged in a great spot to live! It's like those AZcentral.com manditory surveys. In order to read an article, they toss a couple of surveys at you. I click as random of information as I can OR polar opposite to my real opinion. I predict the same thing happened with your poll.

There is a reason PV costs more. They have some of the best views in the Valley. IMHO, PV and the ideal parts of Scottsdale have hills and not mountains. The differences between a mountain and a hill is somewhat nebulous (like a pond versus a swamp). PV is only 15 square miles and is ideal. The reality is maybe 30 square miles of the 184 total Scottsdale square miles is ideal looking. So you can live in Scottsdale and pretend you are all that but 80% are dragging down the averages. Too many of the residents are the wannabes who strive to be as close the actual wealth (while others just want to live more central). The lucky wannabes might latch onto a bigger fish and become trophy wives! But there are several residents (too many) that are blowing all their $$'s in an attempt to keep up with the Jones. To actually reach the Jones, you have to stop spending. They refuse to live in some God forsaken Hell hole like Gilbert or Chandler or the slum of all slums (Surprise) where I live. I just wish I could muster up some more money and buy a house where the real beautiful people live in the flat areas of Scottsdale. They're the beautiful people because they refuse to shop at Kohls. JUST kidding!

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by LBTRS

I wonder why Ponderosa finds the city he lives in his least favorite suburb? Especially when he lists the reasons he lives here in this thread and states other "suburbs" he would never live in.

Ponderosa...did you misunderstand the poll or did I miss something?

No. Goodyear has too many traffic lights, none of which are timed or synchronized, and the highest water/sewer bills in the valley. There is no place I would rather live in Phoenix though as I can't stand the place anymore. Too many people now Maybe Fountain Hills...

[maverick974]

Ooooh. I forgot about Fountain Hills.
I can't believe Mesa is leading the pack at this point. I live in far east Mesa and it's wonderful but I'm in a very affluent part of town although my neighborhood is more of a working class kind of area. I'm very near La Sendas. Love the mountains and open areas here. So close to all the lakes.
Oh well, it's perfect for me regardless of what reputation it has. HA!

[Prickly Pear]

Litchfield and Avondale have to be amazing somehow...

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by maverick974

Ooooh. I forgot about Fountain Hills.
I can't believe Mesa is leading the pack at this point. I live in far east Mesa and it's wonderful but I'm in a very affluent part of town although my neighborhood is more of a working class kind of area. I'm very near La Sendas. Love the mountains and open areas here. So close to all the lakes.
Oh well, it's perfect for me regardless of what reputation it has. HA!

Mesa is similar to Glendale in this regard. Small pockets of wealth far from the Downtown areas that are incredibly nice. But near it's Downtown areas well... I'm not that familiar with Southeast Valley but my hair salon is in Downtown Mesa and I won't lie if I say it isn't all that nice of an area. I also know some very rich people in East Mesa as well, near Apache Junction. But I would say the majority of Mesa is not all that desirable. It's not the worst suburb in Phoenix (or I would have voted for it, I picked Tolleson) but it's definitely not the best, either. Chandler and Gilbert are the desirable Southeast parts of the Valley...

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by elcajones

Did you know a dentist was who originally built the Castle? Some of the house is actually built into the mountain. It's a pretty cool house.

I heard about that story. I definitely would own that house if I could, lol.

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

But it wasn't my opinion. I was being defiant so I plugged in a great spot to live! It's like those AZcentral.com manditory surveys. In order to read an article, they toss a couple of surveys at you. I click as random of information as I can OR polar opposite to my real opinion. I predict the same thing happened with your poll.

There is a reason PV costs more. They have some of the best views in the Valley. IMHO, PV and the ideal parts of Scottsdale have hills and not mountains. The differences between a mountain and a hill is somewhat nebulous (like a pond versus a swamp). PV is only 15 square miles and is ideal. The reality is maybe 30 square miles of the 184 total Scottsdale square miles is ideal looking. So you can live in Scottsdale and pretend you are all that but 80% are dragging down the averages. Too many of the residents are the wannabes who strive to be as close the actual wealth (while others just want to live more central). The lucky wannabes might latch onto a bigger fish and become trophy wives! But there are several residents (too many) that are blowing all their $$'s in an attempt to keep up with the Jones. To actually reach the Jones, you have to stop spending. They refuse to live in some God forsaken Hell hole like Gilbert or Chandler or the slum of all slums (Surprise) where I live. I just wish I could muster up some more money and buy a house where the real beautiful people live in the flat areas of Scottsdale. They're the beautiful people because they refuse to shop at Kohls. JUST kidding!

Yes it does have some of the best views while still being centrally located. You have Four Peaks to the East along with the reservation which will always stay a desert (to some this is a plus), Downtown to the Southwest, the mountains in Scottsdale to the Northeast... I wasn't going to deny that.

The other best view places in the Valley are not centrally located. Like Cave Creek and east Mesa (Superstitions). Perhaps Ahwatukee if you have some elevation over your neighbors, and overlooking that reservation, which still is centrally located but the 202 extension will hurt those house values I think. West Valley doesn't really have any, the White Tanks are so isolated (Glendale and Peoria are in the flattest and widest part of our Valley arguably, except maybe SE Valley) that the views are not as stellar from them. NW Valley has some good views the closer you are to Lake Pleasant, but it's still undeveloped for the most part up there. But Paradise Valley is the only place with stellar mountain views that is centrally located, since the people who can afford those mansions live to work. It also has the convenience of being extremely close to Phoenix's best amenities, like the nightlife, the airport, the zoo, etc. (most of these in other cities are closer to the Downtown area) and this concentrates the pocket of wealth even more towards the PV area.

People appear to be answering pretty truthfully for the most part. At least those who have posted on here, anyway.

[i'm not a cookie]

Originally Posted by :-D

Litchfield and Avondale have to be amazing somehow...

No, I think it's more so the fact that those two suburbs are on no one's radar lol.

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by :-D

I heard about that story. I definitely would own that house if I could, lol.



Yes it does have some of the best views while still being centrally located. You have Four Peaks to the East along with the reservation which will always stay a desert (to some this is a plus), Downtown to the Southwest, the mountains in Scottsdale to the Northeast... I wasn't going to deny that.

The other best view places in the Valley are not centrally located. Like Cave Creek and east Mesa (Superstitions). Perhaps Ahwatukee if you have some elevation over your neighbors, and overlooking that reservation, which still is centrally located but the 202 extension will hurt those house values I think. West Valley doesn't really have any, the White Tanks are so isolated (Glendale and Peoria are in the flattest and widest part of our Valley arguably, except maybe SE Valley) that the views are not as stellar from them. NW Valley has some good views the closer you are to Lake Pleasant, but it's still undeveloped for the most part up there. But Paradise Valley is the only place with stellar mountain views that is centrally located, since the people who can afford those mansions live to work. It also has the convenience of being extremely close to Phoenix's best amenities, like the nightlife, the airport, the zoo, etc. (most of these in other cities are closer to the Downtown area) and this concentrates the pocket of wealth even more towards the PV area.

People appear to be answering pretty truthfully for the most part. At least those who have posted on here, anyway.

Not true. Here in the southwest valley in Goodyear in the Estrella Foothills, good size portions of the estrella mountain community is situated in the Estrella mountains and has nice foothills/mountains galore/open desert surrounding us.

In addition, parts of Waddell are very close/situated nicely near the White tanks.

[Bates419]

I have come to the conclusion that a high percentage of the East Side folks who write generalizations about West Side living have never actually been to the communities that they write about. In my housing search I have no problem saying that Estrella and Verrado are as nice of a community as any that I viewed in East Valley in comparable price ranges.

Originally Posted by stevek64

Not true. Here in the southwest valley in Goodyear in the Estrella Foothills, good size portions of the estrella mountain community is situated in the Estrella mountains and has nice foothills/mountains galore/open desert surrounding us.

In addition, parts of Waddell are very close/situated nicely near the White tanks.