Working in S Scottsdale-Family home in N Gilbert or N Scottsdale?

[strato58]

Wow I wanted to relocate to this area from NJ but it seem that the people are a bunch of Mod Cut: Language.....what a shame. Maybe im better off where im at...

[hart4july]

Originally Posted by kathline

WE moved to North Scottsdale last year with a 15 year old, who has always been popular, successful, etc. We are a well off family, which is why we could afford North Scottsdale, actually Cave creek. Cactus shadows is the high school.

My son hates it. He has developed severe depression from all the snobbery here. Its all about how much money you have and what your daddy does. Unless you are prepared to put out lots of money to dress your kids in the absolute latest fashion, give them a luxury car to drive to school, and basically do the whole Beverly Hills designer thing, you might like to avoid it here.

We are sending him to boarding school out of state for next school year. I have never met people as shallow as this in my life.

The Super Sweet 16 stuff you see on tv is an every day t hing here.

Wow! Sorry its been tough. Teen trouble is hard, my kids would think all that is stupid. But when it surrounds you, its hard to ignore.

I have re-booted my thread because we have finally moved here to Gilbert and we are renting for a year. We really like Gilbert, its very pretty and it seems like a very family oriented area. Also like its history as an agricultural area, as I loved that about the Mid West.The drive from our area near the Civic Center is about 35 mins from S Scottsdale where my husband works. I will be looking in this area to buy, thats for sure. But if I were investment minded, I would probably choose Scottsdale. But for family life, I believe Gilbert is the winner.

[Howard Roark]

I suggest moving to North Scottsdale, but not much further than Shea. Here's why: Your husband can ride his bike to work. I assume it's General Dynamics (Hayden and McDowell). I used to live near Hayden and Osborne and rode my bike down the greenbelt to GD daily. There is a "bike cage" at the Roosevelt building where your bike is very secure. You get a key to the cage and can go inside and lock your bicycle on a bike rack there. There are showers in the building too.

I knew a colleague who lived in Fountain Hills and would drive his truck to the end of the greenbelt near Shea and ride his bike to work from there. I think it's about seven or eight miles. Very good exercise. The greenbelt bike path is very safe. I was really obsessed with the Scottsdale greenbelt path. It is a great way to commute and stress free.

[Howard Roark]

I never noticed any "snobs" in Scottsdale. I noticed people spend too much money on fancy cars though. I'm financially independent but I dress down and I hob nob with people with a much lower net worth than me. I drive a cheap economy car too. I'm not impressed with pretense, but I don't get all twisted up because of some perceived notions. Funny! I was called white trash at one point from someone in a Hummer a few years ago. I still laugh about that to this day. Except for my typos when I write (very fast, due to caffeine), I am highly educated.

Originally Posted by strato58

Wow I wanted to relocate to this area from NJ but it seem that the people are a bunch of Mod Cut: Language.....what a shame. Maybe im better off where im at...

[KatrynS]

Originally Posted by asufan

Val Vista Lakes in actually in North Gilbert, just a little South of US 60. It's a VERY nice neighborhood with one of the best shopping centers in the East Valley to the West with an AJ's and lots of restaurants (Dana something). My one and only problem with this community is it's very close proximity to not so nice parts of Mesa just on the North side of the freeway. People that live there have probably not had any problems, but that would be one of my concerns.




Northwest Chandler and South Tempe were primarily built between 1986 and 1998, with some newer and some older than that range. Typically, those homes built 20 years ago will have larger lots. It is a great location, with homes ranging from about $175K for the smallest gemini style homes up to mansions worth $10 Million or more.

I find the struggle between older (as in mid to late 90's) North/Central Gilbert versus new and shiny SE Gilbert very interesting and would LOVE to hear more thoughts from you folks who know the area better....

Looking at homes and neighborhoods, one of the things we noticed is that many of the newest SE neighborhoods that were built at the height of the bubble (or still building out) have tons of foreclosures/SS (since folks bought in over their heads en masse) and the new folks moving in (resale or from the builder) are often getting in at such a lower price point that there's a concern about how that will shift the neighborhood in the next couple years. Basically we see lots of work trucks and multi-vehicles in driveways that used to have Audis in the parts that have already had lots of turnover.

By contrast, although there are plenty of folks who bought their homes 10yrs ago for $185K and treated it like an ATM, being foreclosed on with a $400K balance, the neighborhoods that were built a little PRE-boom had people buy in at different price points and seem to have less turnover -- perhaps that means the prices will be more stable as well?

Anyway, it's left us feeling like we'd rather get a 10-15yo house in a solid middle class neighborhood (where not everyone is underwater) than a 5yo house in SE Gilbert that was bought into by a slightly more affluent group (or over-extended and stressed out) that is in transition to a more working class neighborhood.

Actually, we saw some very upscale neighborhoods in the much belittled Queen Creek (like QC Ranchettes), but right now are eyeing larger homes/lots in more central Gilbert.

Anyway, these are just our observations. I'd love to hear from those of you who've been here thru the whole last RE rollercoaster ride!

[Howard Roark]

Katryn,

New is not necessarily better. Houses built at a frenzied pace, many unskilled laborers, shoddy construction. I'd say 10 to 15 year old houses are more reliably constructed and have made any necessary foundational repairs to keep the houses up.

On the other hand, when interest rates rise quite a lot, any new construction will be done at a reasonable pace, so more liklihood of better quality. Although that is not really guaranteed!

[SpeedyAZ]

Originally Posted by kathline

WE moved to North Scottsdale last year with a 15 year old, who has always been popular, successful, etc. We are a well off family, which is why we could afford North Scottsdale, actually Cave creek. Cactus shadows is the high school.

My son hates it. He has developed severe depression from all the snobbery here. Its all about how much money you have and what your daddy does. Unless you are prepared to put out lots of money to dress your kids in the absolute latest fashion, give them a luxury car to drive to school, and basically do the whole Beverly Hills designer thing, you might like to avoid it here.

We are sending him to boarding school out of state for next school year. I have never met people as shallow as this in my life.

The Super Sweet 16 stuff you see on tv is an every day t hing here.

Why don't you send him to a different high school? I have friends with kids in different high schools throughout Scottsdale and they don't seem to be depressed. Maybe it's just a bad class that he was placed in?

Every high school will likely have some snobbery just like every workplace will and every community will. You deal with it and move on, one mustn't dwell on the actions of a few.

[hart4july]

I actually prefer the "older" sections of Gilbert so far as they are closer for my husband and I think they may be better built than the "bubble" homes. I also want a better yard with developed landscape. We built in IN in 05 and never did get our back yard done. But the quality was awesome-Amish woodwork, etc. and I am not as confident of the quality done here at that time.

As for biking on the paths of Scottsdale, wow thats a great idea but my husband dislikes sweating before work, and trust me he would I should know. I just feel so comfortable here already that I figure why mess with a good vibe. I feel that this is where we should be.