General Phoenix Metro Discussion Thread

[biggus diggus]

that's not to say the statement wouldn't apply to you if you were surprised to see homeless people...

[fawd]

I have a place in Huntington Beach, and am in DT San Diego at least twice a month, DT Los Angeles twice a month, and San Francisco once a month.

The homeless issue is beyond severe in San Francisco, honestly Los Angeles isn't far behind. San Diego also has much higher rates of homelessness than Phoenix.

The difference between SD and SF/LA is that the city does a good job of keeping the issue out of sight of visitors. Vagrants used to be just south of the ballpark, but as the DT area expands, homeless continue to be pushed farther out. Head over to J-Street and the i-5 area, you'll get the idea.


.... oh, and reminder there was a hepatitis outbreak in DT San Diego last year that killed 20 people.

LA has an ongoing Typhus outbreak too.

Yuck!

[muertecaza]

I don't have a WSJ subscription but if someone does or has a work around and wants to post:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-decade-after-the-housing-bust-the-exurbs-are-back-11553610771

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by muertecaza

I don't have a WSJ subscription but if someone does or has a work around and wants to post:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-decade-after-the-housing-bust-the-exurbs-are-back-11553610771

I can already imagine the article. but the truth is the amount of exurban development is way less speculative and way less omnipresent than it was back in the day.

You will always have new development pushing the sprawl but if its balanced with infill and now at the insane pace it used to be I can live with it.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Obadno

I can already imagine the article. but the truth is the amount of exurban development is way less speculative and way less omnipresent than it was back in the day.

You will always have new development pushing the sprawl but if its balanced with infill and now at the insane pace it used to be I can live with it.

Exactly! I read similar pieces a year ago.

There's been lots of hoopla over millennial migration to urban areas (rightly so) but those markets tend to be dominated by certain developers and it's only natural that suburban development would rise from the ashes. "Drive until you qualify" is still a primary reason and most urban development is high dollar (per foot) stuff. Additionally it's hardly a surprise that for yesterday's millennials their tastes and priorities have changed as time moves along.

[TakeFive]

I can't tell you how disgusting this is.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

I can't tell you how disgusting this is.

This is what happens when gentrification runs up against the ghetto.

Melrose is the border between a very rough neighborhood and Midtown/Uptown/Encanto.

Its right on the Indian school bus line which brings all sorts of shady people right up to 7th and central.

Ive been close to this area for 9 months and there has already been a number of shady businesses closed, new businesses and development but especially on indian school itself there are a lot of sketch people and activity.

This kind of attention will force a police response and hopefully push the criminal activity down to 15th or 19th

[CrestedSaguaro]

Speaking of Melrose, I guess the locals fought to keep that Pink liquor building for nothing? Not a thing has happened to that building except some graffiti on the backside facing the Curve.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by RonnieFoos

Speaking of Melrose, I guess the locals fought to keep that Pink liquor building for nothing? Not a thing has happened to that building except some graffiti on the backside facing the Curve.

The person who bought the building has recently been occupied with opening another business, Lovecraft, located on Cactus just west of 32nd Street in northeast Phoenix. It's an alehouse with a kitchen serving smoked meats with New Mexican touches. I asked her about the plans for the Googie and didn't get a precise answer.

[Phxguy]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

I can't tell you how disgusting this is.

Same thing happened in Garfield last fall. There was an uptick in break-ins, I myself was broken in and most of my electronics stolen. The poor sod came back a week later and tried again but we were able to prevent it. It was the combination of piss-poor response time (I waited 2-3 hours for a unit to show up) and a lack of any officers assigned to actually handle the obvious trend. It got so bad, 1-2 break-ins were happening per day, everyday, for a week or so. Some happening in broad day-light. It has since tapered off, but it put the PHXPD in a new light. Seeing to most of my neighbors broken into, night after night, honestly made me lose my faith in their ability to resolve our problem. It’s unfortunate the people of Melrose have to be the victims of this wave, best of luck the PD took notes from our situation and resolves it sooner rather than later.

[soled]

Originally Posted by Phxguy

Same thing happened in Garfield last fall. There was an uptick in break-ins, I myself was broken in and most of my electronics stolen. The poor sod came back a week later and tried again but we were able to prevent it. It was the combination of piss-poor response time (I waited 2-3 hours for a unit to show up) and a lack of any officers assigned to actually handle the obvious trend. It got so bad, 1-2 break-ins were happening per day, everyday, for a week or so. Some happening in broad day-light. It has since tapered off, but it put the PHXPD in a new light. Seeing to most of my neighbors broken into, night after night, honestly made me lose my faith in their ability to resolve our problem. It’s unfortunate the people of Melrose have to be the victims of this wave, best of luck the PD took notes from our situation and resolves it sooner rather than later.

I don't think people have any real idea how short handed Phx PD is, and how that's playing out on the calls they can get to.

And it's only going to get worse. Because of non-competitive pay, and the targets they've become at the hands of criminals secondary to political biases/agendas, they are leaving the job as soon as humanly possible. The fear in their wives, husbands and children are making their home lives much more challenging until they do leave the job. They'll be quite a few more leaving over the next few years.

And now Admin is having to hire very young, very inexperienced folks who aren't quite as well equipped.

[biggus diggus]

My alarm went off last week and the sensor was the back door so I was positive it was a break in. They called me and I said send the police. I left the office and went straight home. I saw the officer knocking on my front door on my camera 14 minutes later. FOURTEEN MINUTE response time. The officer told me that was pretty normal in his area.

I guess response times are lower when your neighbors are attorneys and politicians. It's a pretty sad reality, actually.

Turned out my alarm malfunctioned.

[soled]

Originally Posted by biggus diggus

My alarm went off last week and the sensor was the back door so I was positive it was a break in. They called me and I said send the police. I left the office and went straight home. I saw the officer knocking on my front door on my camera 14 minutes later. FOURTEEN MINUTE response time. The officer told me that was pretty normal in his area.

I guess response times are lower when your neighbors are attorneys and politicians. It's a pretty sad reality, actually.

Turned out my alarm malfunctioned.

I get there's cynicism when you're not privy to the inside baseball of it all, but time of day, present call load, manpower, call priority that is secondary to all these other obstacles and so many other issues are some of the reasons for the disparity in response times. Neighborhood political power and money really aren't. I've lived and worked with these guys for over 3 decades. Their response times affect me so much more than the vast majority of society, and it's on an almost daily basis. Sometimes we get quick response times-sometimes, poor. And this is no matter whether we're in affluent neighborhoods or poor. Sorry, but this is true.

[Obadno]

Cool Blog with some very old 100+ year old aerials

https://www.roguecolumnist.com/rogue_columnist/2019/02/phoenix-overhead.html

Central Ave Brophy Prep 1928

[muertecaza]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Cool Blog with some very old 100+ year old aerials

https://www.roguecolumnist.com/rogue_columnist/2019/02/phoenix-overhead.html

Central Ave Brophy Prep 1928

Great photos. This is a fun map to mess with for historical aerials:

https://gis.maricopa.gov/GIO/HistoricalAerial/index.html

The 1949 map is fairly clear and is the most interesting to me--pretty wild to see how agrarian the Valley was at the time; how rural Phoenix was north of Camelback; and how small the East Valley towns of Mesa, Tempe and Scottsdale were.

[biggus diggus]

https://www.builderonline.com/design/con...-to-move-to-these-metros-and-heres-why_o

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by biggus diggus

https://www.builderonline.com/design/con...-to-move-to-these-metros-and-heres-why_o

Ive been arguing with people for years about this stuff. They claim, and Im sure other cities on this list in Texas and Tennessee have the same naysayers, that 2nd tier cities "Cant attract young Talent".

This is another example that Phoenix is now more than capable of attracting talent and landing business. Every time you hear the same tired nonsense that Phoenix is still a retirement city you need to push back on that perception.

They might have been true in 2002 but it isnt true today almost 20 years later. The stereotype that all millennials want to live in NY and San Francisco is simply untrue.

Although even in that article it claims the salaries in Phoenix are "very low" but they really arent that low they are average.

[TakeFive]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Ive been arguing with people for years about this stuff. They claim, and Im sure other cities on this list in Texas and Tennessee have the same naysayers, that 2nd tier cities "Cant attract young Talent".

This is another example that Phoenix is now more than capable of attracting talent and landing business. Every time you hear the same tired nonsense that Phoenix is still a retirement city you need to push back on that perception.

They might have been true in 2002 but it isnt true today almost 20 years later. The stereotype that all millennials want to live in NY and San Francisco is simply untrue.

Although even in that article it claims the salaries in Phoenix are "very low" but they really arent that low they are average.

Here's an even more interesting take on the topic. (I used it to stir the pot on the Denver thread and it did )

The problem with the above piece is it generalizes millennial's and then disproves certain points. It's simple: not all millennial's are the same; in fact you could easily define 2 or 3 different sub-groups - actually they do point to education as one key.

If there's one thing the politico's did right it was their $billions of investment in ASU combined with their support of keeping community colleges affordable. It's just taken time for results to percolate. The second big plus is the politics changed. It went from anal to business progressive.

The (current) affordability in Phoenix is huge. IMO the great diversity is also huge.

It's now all coming together.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by TakeFive

Here's an even more interesting take on the topic. (I used it to stir the pot on the Denver thread and it did )

The problem with the above piece is it generalizes millennial's and then disproves certain points. It's simple: not all millennial's are the same; in fact you could easily define 2 or 3 different sub-groups - actually they do point to education as one key.

If there's one thing the politico's did right it was their $billions of investment in ASU combined with their support of keeping community colleges affordable. It's just taken time for results to percolate. The second big plus is the politics changed. It went from anal to business progressive.

The (current) affordability in Phoenix is huge. IMO the great diversity is also huge.

It's now all coming together.

As a region we are really entering "breakout" phase. A lot of things are happening at the same time that will finally push the city into the big leagues.

Edit: Read the article, Oh man that has to get the City chauvinists in a bind, All of the top spots are so despised by people in NY and SF.

It is funny though last august went on a lake trip to California and many of my California friends were (for the first time ever) shockingly complimentary of Phoenix and Arizona, I guess its finally really turning the corner.

I dont blame them however it is really recent that our city has become a fun place to live, especially for young people.

[TakeFive]

Great news for Arizona from the Upper River Basin

Last year and now this year