Scottsdale | Scottsdale Sucks

My other half speaks....

She posted this a while back as a comment but it deserves its own post. After all, we *did* meet in Scottsdale:

First off let me introduce myself as Frank's girlfriend. A little background: I moved from NYC to Scottsdale for a job. From month one, I was so mad that I did. I hated it. The town pretends it is as cool as LA and NY. Not even close. There is no culture... I used to spend my weekend days at a museum or a fair, and evenings at different restaurants. These were family restaurants, not Olive Garden or Cheesecake Factory... but individual places with character. Scottsdale is severely lacking in those two areas. I can not even begin to think about the people with their C class mercedes, and 3 series BMW's all thinking that they are so cool. Hello it is not cool if the bank owns it and you rent it from them. LOSERS!!! And don't get me started on the fake millionaires and their oversized unaffordable houses.

We live in CA now. (Thank God) So far 75% of the people I have met are super nice. Anywhere you go there will be a few snots, but nothing compared to those who I met in AZ. No one starts off the conversation with what part of town do you live in, what do you do, or what do you drive. Those aren't important. Actually funny story.. for Easter Frank and I went to my cousin's house in LA. Frank has known my cousin for 2.5 years now, and after all that time never once did they discuss what the other did for earning income. Both have much more interesting things to talk about then "What do you do?" Somehow it was brought up and my cousin turns to Frank and said "You are an author... huh I never knew that." Had my cousin been from AZ I am sure it would have been one of his lead questions.

And a response to Steve Rivero-Lowen... hello dickhead... you are obviously the loser if you like Scottsdale so much but need to read about why the rest of the intelligent world doesn't. Read the post above.. all comments were closed due to Frank being away. That is why this is the only open thread. What a compete idiot.... wait you must have graduated from a Scottsdale School. What's with the two last names.. can't decide or your whore of a mother got married a few too many times....

Who should move to Arizona?

Thanks to war_shu_duck for this - it certainly debunks the propaganda that Arizona is a "young vibrant" community:

I have read through the list a couple comes and here is the conclusion I have come to. Scottsdale/Phoenix metro area is a place to come to die. If you are on the tail end of your life not looking for excitement or to have a future perhaps this is the place for you. Older people tend to like to have a simple routine. They are not concerned about jobs, traffic (they don't drive much), schools (their children are grown), Culture is not an issue as long as people their same race are around, and as far as the weather goes older people don't mind staying in the house.

Now if you're a bright eyed young person with all the hopes and dreams in the world this is where those dreams will probably be shattered. It's hard to save for or build a bright future without good paying jobs. Also if you don't have good people around you how can you ever expect to succeed at anything? How can you find a husband or wife in a sea of sharks, crooks, con-artists, and gold diggers? If you come here and already have a husband/wife and kids do you want to put your kids into one of the worst schools systems in the country? What type of little dimwits will they turn out to be?

The perfect fit for Scottsdale/Phoenix:

1) Old folks waiting for the grim reaper.

2) Unreliable, unstable, flakes who have already failed in or been ran out of other cities.

Is LGO hedging themselves against AZ's demise?

LGO group, owners of the ever popular Le Grande Orange, Postino, and other restaurants, are opening locations in Southern California at a seemingly frantic place, and Dallas is next.

Why?

Do they know Arizona's economy is history? (The owner does live in Los Angeles so he can be objective about it.) Do they have the foresight to see that the packed crowds in their restaurants were just throwing around HELOC money? Are the crowds disappearing now that the free cash has disappeared?

Restaurant/winebars like theirs will make an absolute killing in So Cal - more so than they did in Phoenix - but you have to wonder why they're in such a mad rush to build in CA instead of the usual pace of growth.

Top 10 Reasons to NOT move to Arizona

Thanks to Blinky for this gem!!

TOP TEN REASONS NOT TO MOVE TO AZ

Of course, there are literally dozens of reasons not to or even consider moving to Arizona. For some reason though, people keep on coming without even thinking about the potential consequences. Maybe this list will make just one person think twice before making a move which he or she will come to regret every single day. Feel free to add your reasons for not relocating to Arizona below.

10. Traffic Cameras - the Valley is absolutely littered with traffic cameras, whether it be radar cameras or red light cameras or a combination of the two. Driving in Arizona is a disaster as it is, but you constantly got to be on the look out for speed traps, mobile radar vans, or lights that could be moments from going red. How many other states do you know that generate the majority of their revenue from speed traps and poorly timed traffic signals?

9. Overcrowded - there is already far too many people packed into the Valley. Everyone who moves here just adds one more car on the road, more pollution, and increased commute times for everyone. Do you really want to be surrounded by traffic and smog as well?

8. Culture - what culture? The majority of Arizona residents spend their days and nights getting black out drunk. There’s not much else going on. Enough said.

7. The people - liars, thieves, illegals, con-artists, white trash, felons, 30k millionaires, fakes, and everyone else who moved here hoping to blend in. Arizona is filled with a number of low class individuals, and it shows in every aspect of day-to-day life. The people here are generally rude, arrogant, unfriendly, and not even worth dealing with.

6. Weather - temperatures well over 100 degrees for at least 4 months of the year. Is there really any other way to put it?

5. Traffic - not only is the traffic terrible, but Arizona boasts some of the worst drivers in the country. The Valley is so spread out that you are forced to drive anywhere and everywhere. Don’t forget - somewhere around 40% of Arizona’s drivers are uninsured.

4. Schools - Arizona public schools consistently rank just about dead last in every ranking done across the country. These schools are under-funded, over-crowded, and teachers are underpaid. More on Arizona schools later.

3. Crime - the crime in Arizona is continually getting worse and absolutely nothing is being done about it. Don’t forget that pulling over the guy for going 5 miles over the speed limit is more important than catching the real criminals who will rob you at gunpoint or break into your house while you are there.

2. Job Market - everyone always says there are plenty of jobs across the Valley. That is, if you want to work in a call center or sell used cars or work for the fast food industry. There are very few corporate, white-collar positions in the Valley and this will not be changing anytime soon.

1. Economy - let’s face it, Arizona’s economy is sinking, and sinking fast. Arizona’s economy was almost solely tied to the real estate market and with that crashing down, what is everyone going to do? The recent housing crash will end up affecting every Valley resident for years to come and then some. Unlike most areas, Arizona has nothing to fall back on and who really knows what will become of the Valley and its people in the coming years.

Can Scottsdale restaurants survive?

Last time I was in Phoenix & Scottsdale, where I have to admit there are some really great restaurants, I noticed two things:

1. The restaurants were pretty dead. Nearly empty.
2. The food wasn't as good as I'd remembered, presumably because they're being forced to use cheaper and therefore lower quality supplies.

Now the AZ Republic reports sharp rises in Arizona restaurant prices due to the upward swing of food costs. In a Valley where the restaurant business is already reeling from the collapse of the fake real estate economy and no more HELOC cash, do they have any chance of surviving at all? Will the Valley's remaining good restaurants close and leave a bland, faceless mass of fast food garbage in its place?

Can unemployed Scottsdale people ever get jobs again?

This crossed my mind now that unemployed realtors and mortgage brokers are finding it virtually impossible to get a new job. Look at CareerBuilder or Monster.com and look at how many ads specifically say "NO REALTORS OR MORTGAGE PEOPLE NEED APPLY." Since Scottsdale is synonymous with these industries, and is known as a magnet for shysters and con artists, will Scottsdale's recently unemployed even stand a chance?

If I were an employer I'd shy away from Scottsdale applicants for fear of them trying to sell multi-level-marketing scams at work, running con games at lunchtime, getting everyone mixed up in evening parties to pitch Amway, selling drugs on the side, getting high on the job, etc etc.

Thoughts?

Our favorite angry Scottsdale guy is back

This email turned up in my spam folder today:

I guess you are off Scottsdale and onto your scam shit, you pathetic asshole. By the way, afraid to have other views on 'Scottsdale Sucks'. No, old boy I am sure you suck, and your ugly picture shows you to be the low class cock sucker you engender.

Fondly,
Steve Rivero-Lowen

My response: Steve, we know you're angry that you can't make the house payments anymore now that your no-doc, no-down, option-arm loan has reset. We know it's stressful to have to look both ways before opening your garage and constantly dodge the repo man. We know it sucks to enter the McJobs program and spend your days saying "Would you like fries with that?" after those years of easy, six-figure commissions peddling scam mortgages. We know you and the rest of Scottsdale are angry - hell, we can see it in the way you people drive. But get over it already. Being an angry old man won't help your cause.

And hey, there's good news, they're building luxury apartments in the west valley off the Loop 303 that will be connected to Sam's Club, so you can live well and you won't even need that soon-to-be repossessed BMW to buy your groceries anymore!

Scottsdale Culinary Festival ruined by cops, drunks

The once-enjoyable (doesn't that describe all of Scottsdale?) Scottsdale Culinary Festival is no fun anymore, thanks to loser Scottsdale drunks and the police who are now needed to keep them in check. Yep, it's gotten that ugly.

My girlfriend and I have been to the event because we love culinary festivals and go to every one that comes up. Even just a few years ago, 2005 I believe, we had a good time there. Granted we went into the costlier indoor part of the event, but still, it wasn't a bad time hitting the outside part too. Now it appears that it's degraded into another pseudo frat party with loser Scottsdale alcoholics and their skank STD-carrying girlfriends acting like animals and ruining it for everyone else.

I heard it from commenters on this blog, and now this article confirms how bad it's gotten ... it even says that the number of food booths has gone down because it isn't worth it for the restaurants.

And speaking of restaurants, I remember another article just after the event complaining that all the restaurant booths have been replaced by Subway, Chipotle, and other fast food crap. Yep, this town is "affluent" with "high society" tastes for sure!!

The Valley makes HousingPanic (again)

No surprise here, and it's a story we all know too well by now, but it's worth reprinting here. Thanks to HousingPanic for this one:

Phoenix was the town that inspired a good share of the leading bubble blogs. A town full of get-rich-quick scamsters and fraudsters, fly-by-night flippers, lying and ignorant realtors, illegal Mexican laborers, greedy builders, corrupt appraisers, incompetent "rolodex-of-realtors" REIC-bribed media, corrupt realtor politicians and scum mortgage brokers. A nice town in the 80s and 90s that got killed by a corrupt and out-of-control REIC.

The post-crash Phoenix area is now littered with foreclosures, blighted neighborhoods, jobless illegals, unpaid credit card bills, and years worth of unwanted homes for sale. Phoenix based its fake economy on housing, the people went along for the ride, and now that its #1 industry has blown up in spectacular fashion, Phoenix will become the new Detroit.

Phoenix Magazine exposes corrupt side

Phoenix Magazine, which I received while living in Arizona to learn about upcoming events, fired its longtime restaurant critic Nikki Buchanan.

Why?

Because she refused to give preferential reviews to advertisers. In other words, she was honest and objective, just like a food critic is supposed to be.

What amazes me isn't so much the fact that they fired her for refusing to give good reviews to advertisers who have suckass food, but for the fact that they can publicly state that as their reason for firing her, and nobody in the Phoenix area seems to think there's anything wrong with their corrupt policies.

Unbelievable. No wonder why the bottom feeders all move there ... shysterism is welcome and openly accepted.