Scottsdale | Scottsdale Sucks

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The New Scottsdale Sucks

Enjoy!
Frank

Kona Grill: Another One Bites The Dust

Kona Grill is losing big bucks, reporting a 2nd-quarter loss of $535,000 this year.

They are blaming "higher labor costs" which is total b.s. because that would be the first I've heard of increased labor costs. If anything, labor costs DROP in a down economy as more people are willing to take less-desirable jobs.

The truth of the matter is that, if you've been to Kona Grill, you know it's full of the absolute worst of the worst of Scottsdale, even lower than the garbage that frequents Barcelona. It's nothing but dirtbag, broke, 20- and 30-somethings who still think they're 19 and living in the frat house, mixed in with a few desperate, sleazy old men in Tommy Bahama shirts who buy drinks for the strippers who hang out there and never get anything for it.

Even at the height of the housing bubble, there was no money in this joint. It was only a matter of time before we saw it go bust.

Shyster Scottsdale raising 'impact fees'

The shyster and hard-up-for-money City of Scottsdale is raising what they call 'impact fees' on builders.

Impact fees cover the city's cost to expand water and sewer lines and service. Costs for water and water resources for 1,000 square feet in that area, known as Zone A, would increase from $949 to $2,754. Sewer fee costs in the same area would rise from $480 to $2,611.

But, there are two little problems here with Scottsdale's fee increase:

1. These are not fee hikes on builders; builders admittedly and readily pass them on to home buyers.

2. We all know this has *nothing* to do with infrastructure costs. In reality, the City of Scottsdale is seriously hard-up for money thanks to their failing photo radar program, plummeting sales tax revenue now that the Scottsdale phonies can't buy new cars anymore, and the fact that nearly half of property tax bills are going unpaid this year since Scottsdale's fake broke-ass residents can't afford to pay.

Yep, it looks like we've got just another scam on our hands to extort money from citizens without choice or representation. Typical Scottsdale.

Invasion of the Zonies

A few observations having seen lots of cars with Arizona plates so far this summer:

- Walked into Starbucks one day and some guy was in there acting like a loud obnoxious jackass, wearing the trademark Scottsdale dragon t-shirt and backwards baseball cap ... I thought this was unusual for the area and I got worried for a second, thinking my beloved town might be turning into Scottsdale, until I saw him get into an Audi A4 with Arizona plates and a 'Scottsdale Audi' license plate frame and I breathed a sigh of relief.

- The one time I've been cut off in recent months, it was another Audi with Arizona plates and the 'Scottsdale Audi' frame.

- Driving on a surface street with a 50 mph speed limit the other day, I saw cars going around some idiot driving slow in the left lane. I got closer and saw that it was a Mercedes with Arizona plates.

There have been dozens of examples of this last situation. I'm not complaining so much as I'm astonished that such a large populace has been trained by the threat of police enforcement to drive unusually slowly, even when they're in a rather fast-paced locale where driving slow causes problems and creates a traffic hazard.

Comment of the Day

Another great one from Dean, complete with a dedication to Mr. Hyphen himself (a.k.a. Steve):

I see Mr. Hyphen has had the point sail a mile or two above his head.. "you sonsabitches should just accept that our wonderful government has seen fit to snap your picture and shake you down for a couple hundred bucks." Mr. Hyphen, whether the citation is "fair" or not is really irrelevant. The point is that a tourist who just dropped a few grand on a Snottsdale or greater Arizona vacation is in all likelihood going to be mighty pissed when he gets his thank you letter from Comrade Napolitano shaking him down for a few hundred more to pay for her socialist "investments". You think that guy is going to sit down with the wife and go "you know honey, at first I was a little upset by these photo radar tickets. But now that I think about it, it really does make sense. Can you hand me the checkbook sweetie? And don't forget, we need to call our travel agent and book our vacation for north Scottsdale next year!" I say no, that guy isn't coming back. And the holier-than-thou tools like yourself, Comrade Napolitano and her enablers in the Arizona Kremlin will be clueless until the tourism numbers take a dump. By then, the damage will be done.

I probably wasted my time with this response, but I enjoy the battle of ideas nonetheless. If I can win over one leftist worshipper of big government I consider that a success.

Comment of the Day

From Joe Jacari:

Here's the dead givaway: if Scottsdale were so high-class and had a truly affluent tax base--say like Beverly Hills or Palo Alto, California--why would they need to sheist people, by slapping up cameras on every corner, to try to turn a quick buck through petty traffic fines?

Answer: they wouldn't.

Bingo!

Exactly! There are about a thousand reasons or more to prove that Scottsdale is NOT affluent, and this is a great perspective on why you don't see speed cameras and abusive traffic enforcement in truly affluent communities!

Photo Radar's Negative Impact On Tourism

Dean Kennedy posted this insightful comment, and my response follows:

I wonder if Supreme Soviet Napolitano considered the tourism consequences when she unleashed this nauseating money grab. Think about it... a tourist from back east comes out in January to pay a few hundred a night to stay at a hotel and a hundred or two to play golf each day, and when he gets home he gets a thank you from the state of Arizona with a few hundred bucks worth of speeding tickets. Think he's coming back? The sad part is that the idiot politicians will be in denial for a few years before they figure it out. So they will have to rescind the Big Brother cameras and spend $50 million or so more of taxpayer money begging people to come back to the new, somewhat less Soviet like state of Arizona. Maybe Comrade Napolitano will end up as Comrade Obama's running mate. If it sounds desperate, it is. I can dream, can't I?

My response:

There is DEFINITELY a tourism hit coming from the speed cameras. Here's a true story to demonstrate:

Last fall my girlfriend's relatives in North Scottsdale had family from all over the country come out for Thanksgiving. They came from New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Los Angeles, and Orange County.

They were all immediately shocked, outraged, and disgusted at the presence of speed cameras everywhere. One was pulled over "on suspicion of DUI" even though she hadn't had a drink at all that day. The reason? She turned on her headlights about a second after she put the car into gear. This was "just cause" for a DUI stop, complete with two cop cars and a breathalyzer.

Luckily for her the breathalyzer came in at .00, which makes a conviction tough even in arrest-happy Scottsdale. So she got away that time.

The point here is that everyone in attendance swore never to return to Scottsdale. Not only were they unimpressed by the town itself - everyone thought it was bland, barren, and boring - but the presence of the Soviet-style cameras was a huge turnoff.

To top it all, one of the cousins from LA was greeted at home by three photo tickets in the mailbox. You see, in So Cal, you can drive up to 85 mph on the freeways with no fear of cops. Scottsdale seemingly capitalizes on this by speed-trapping visitors from states were you can actually drive without Big Brother watching you every single minute.

F*ck Scottsdale. Writing this has gotten me pissed off all over again. Oh yeah, we're one of the many visitors from that weekend who swore never to return again. We may go visit friends in Phoenix but will not set foot, nor give one cent in sales tax revenue, to the corrupt and despicable City of Scottsdale.

To sum it up:

- Scottsdale is experiencing a crash in property tax revenue, with a record 48% of property tax bills going unpaid this year, and more to come.
- Scottsdale has publicly discussed the sales tax crisis, thanks to a complete standstill in auto sales now that the Scottsdale phonies are ruined and can no longer get credit to buy/lease cars.
- Scottsdale tourism is way down, per the AZ Republic this week, and hotel/sales tax revenues are crashing.
- And now to top it all, they're strongly discouraging visitors with their Soviet speed cameras and abusive DUI procedures.

Nice going. The "leadership" of the City of Scottsdale is a perfect example of why you should NEVER raise children in Scottsdale or let them go to Scottsdale schools. The brain damage is lifelong and irreversible.

PV mayor caught getting fraudulent certification

Paradise Valley mayor Vernon Parker got caught red-handed submitting false information and documents to get his consulting firm certified.

People, this is just another in an endless list of examples of the kind of shysters, con men, and scumbags who inhabit Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and increasingly Fountain Hills.

Might as well just chop off the entire NE Valley and send 'em all to prison.

Hey, what else do you expect from the mayor of a town that not only has a ton of photo radar vans, but hides them extra-stealthily, and refuses to have them calibrated or tested, resulting in thousands of false tickets?

Why is Scottsdale in such total denial?

What really blows my mind is the sheer number of people who either post comments here or email me insisting that I'm wrong and tell me things like the following:

- Scottsdale has great schools
- Scottsdale is full of rich people
- Scottsdale is upscale
- Scottsdale is classy
- I "can't afford" to live in Scottsdale

I laugh because, of course, they are so damn ignorant to believe these things. For example, Scottsdale schools are good relative to the rest of Arizona, which ranks #50 in the nation - dead last - for quality of schools. So Scottsdale's schools suck too. They call Scottsdale expensive, which, again, is relative. It's pricier than much of Arizona, but is still dirt-cheap banal living compared to any desirable area in the US.

And on that subject, when I did a home search on the MLS in the Phoenix metro area, how come the first several pages of very expensive homes were in Phoenix (north-central, Biltmore, Arcadia), with Paradise Valley following those, and Scottsdale not even beginning to show up until several pages into the search results? I guess it's not expensive after all, even by Arizona standards.

What's it like to be a Scottsdale phony?

I'd imagine it has to be an extremely stressful lifestyle. Just look at how pissed off the regular trolls to this site always are. And look at how angry and rude most of them are, seemingly 24x7. None of them ever put up a valid argument, but instead spew forth profanity and insults like the insecure little babies they are. I figure their "lifestyle" is something like this:

- Endless humiliation from collection calls at home and at work
- Absolute terror at the sight of a tow truck anywhere near your car
- Obsessed with the next guy's car, watch, house, etc.
- Always worried that someone else will have better "status symbols" than you
- The fear of homelessness: Can't get approved to rent after a foreclosure
- The inner shame of knowing you're not who you claim to be
- Fear of embarrassment from credit cards getting declined out at dinner, bars
- Fear of the IRS coming to take all your stuff and slap the cuffs on you
- Fear of arrest and indictment thanks to your mortgage fraud and con games
- Knowing that you have no real friends, just similar status-obsessed phonies like you
- Knowing that your kids will grow up to be idiots thanks to the nation's worst schools

But most of all:

- Terrified that you will be found out. Your entire life, self-worth, and self-esteem is based on perpetuating the lie that you're a big shot with big money and a business, when in reality you're a reject who was run out of everywhere else and is now forced to live in bumpkin local-yokel Scottsdale with all the other shysters and con artists.

I've also noticed that the further north you go in Scottsdale, the more pissed off everyone is all the time.

Taking all that into consideration, it's perfectly explicable why everyone in Scottsdale is always so damn furious. At least the cardiologists will make a fortune from all the heart attacks and other stress-related problems.

Scottsdale Loser Of The Day!

Found this gem on craigslist while browsing DC Ranch rentals and laughing at how incredibly cheap they have become:

4 Bedroom in DC Ranch

I am looking for 3 beautiful ladies to live in my place for free. I am a busy, wealthy and attractive 24 year old that travels alot. I am home about a week a month, but when I am home I love to have fun ;)

I wonder what his definition of "wealthy" is. And if he is so attractive and wealthy, why can't he go out and meet women in the real world instead of bribing them with free rent???

Oh and I guess no one ever told him all the attractive women (meaning natural beauty) left Scottsdale by 2004. The women who are considered "hot" by Scottsdale guys nowadays would be lucky to be waiting tables in a Denny's in a real city. The fruit hangs real low in Scottsdale.

Ugly Scottsdale foreclosure numbers out today

New year-to-date foreclosure numbers show:

- A 378% increase in Scottsdale
- A 531% increase in Fountain Hills

All four areas with the highest concentration of foreclosures are in Scottsdale, including the Kierland area, the airpark area, DC Ranch, and McDowell Mountain Ranch. Yep, you got that right - all the places that are supposedly so "rich."

Nice going to all of you Scottsdale "wealthy."

EDIT - Raven sent this to me at the exact same time I was posting it, and added these comments:

Article from today's AZ Republic online follows...the foreclosure tsumani is steadily picking up force in Scottsdale's pseudo-upscale neighborhoods. Zip 85255 in particular along with 85262 are cracking rapidly. DC Ranch has turned into a renter's paradise and their Marketplace concept in keeping with its architectural theme, is a true Western ghost town.

Best reader comment ... ever

Thanks to raven for finding this gem on an AZCentral.com discussion. This really sums up what Scottsdale is all about and why it's one of the worst places to live in America, full of some of the worst people:

The majority of my childhood was in Europe, mostly Belgium with a little bit of England thrown in. I have lived in New York City, St. Louis, Montreal, Flagstaff and Phoenix (specifically, Mesa). In my nearly ten years here, I have worked for a long period of time in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe on separate jobs.

Scottsdale is the lamest place I have ever been in my travels so far. Why?

First off, there are indeed TOO MANY people there who are unbelievably shallow and disconnected from reality. I can't tell you how many business lunches and dinners I've had to endure in all parts of Scottsdale wherein I had to endure the most hollow B.S. from the tables next to me. When I go to malls in Scottsdale, the people are more into their surface than anywhere else I've been. When I drive on the streets there, the local drivers are more rude and more dangerous than anywhere else I've driven. They drive like pretentious, greedy children. And yes, this is from someone who first learned how to drive in New York City.

I have also had the (dis)pleasure of doing business with a great deal of wealthy businessmen and women in Scottsdale, some of them quite prominent either regionally or nationally. I am sorry to report that the most degenerate business dealings I've been forced to experience were with Scottsdale business persons. Most significantly, they lied with incredible ease and expended almost embarrassing effort in trying not to pay their invoices. I routinely watched one of them, the CEO of a nationally recognized company, scream and berate their employees and myself in meetings, reducing some to tears on a regular basis. I also had another CEO of a company with a nationally-recognized brand go to such great lengths to avoid paying me that I had to threaten to call the police while at the company's offices on a collection call.

Scottsdale has a lot of fine human beings in it. It also has a truly disproportionate share of broken and meaningless existences, people who are so confused and unhappy with their lives that they see fit to express their self-hatred in shallow and malicious ways. I've spent many years explaining to fellow businessmen from out of town (after they ask me "what the hell is up with that guy from Scottsdale?!") that Scottsdale is heavily populated with what I call "New Yorkers who couldn't make it in NYC or any other real center of business and got drummed out of town." They come here with what little they have left (which looks like a lot to AZ bumpkins) and park it in Scottsdale to continue their pathetic horse-trading ways of business.

Such a horrible reputation has been EARNED by the hard toil of these losers. Scottsdale has a LONG way to go to transform itself into a decent community. I only thank to good Lord that my children are not going to school with theirs."

And a followup comment made in reply to Scottsdale boosters, by the same:

"To all... I'm hearing a lot of comments that those who are dissing Scottsdale are those who don't live there and are jealous because they can't afford it. In speaking for myself, this is NOT correct whatsoever. Many years ago, I was much more financially wealthy which afforded me to live among what one could describe as "old money" versus the "$30k mils," "nouveau riche," and horse-trader business people I speak of in Scottsdale.

I also wish to reiterate that it is NOT my opinion that everyone in Scottsdale is like I describe. I'm just saying that of all the places I've been, it has the highest proportion of such losers and con men. An excessively high proportion. It really brings the greater Phoenix business community down. I have half-baked guesses as to why, but will leave such conjecture to someone who has lived in Scottsdale for enough decades to attest more accurately to its transformation. Further, as for the club scene to which the article was really referring, that's just icing on the cake; a roiling morass of idiocy wherein club owners are the ones walking to the bank laughing every night.

Oh, and to ROCKSRULE... you say you can go out and not have to worry about being surrounded by illegal Mexicans and tweakers (in Scottsdale) much as you do in most parts of the valley. You are WRONG, my friend. You just can't "see" them because they illegals are in the backyards trimming trees and the tweakers are wearing elite-branded clothing and driving nice cars."

Interesting observation...

Out of curiosity I pulled up a real estate search of the most expensive homes in Arizona, to see if the sellers are still smoking crack with their asking prices or if they've come to accept reality yet. (Most are still on crack.)

What's most interesting though is the first couple of pages of multi-million dollar homes all have Phoenix addresses - Biltmore, Arcadia, Camelback, North-Central, etc. Then you start seeing all the Paradise Valley listings next.

Scottsdale doesn't even begin to show up until several pages into the search results.

So much for the "most expensive" and "you can't afford it" bullshit the Scottsdale phonies love to wave around.

Record number of crybaby Arizonans turning in their neighbors

Read The Full Article Here

Only in Phoenix/Scottsdale do you have neighbors calling city hall to whine that someone didn't mow their lawn this week, and other assorted crap.

What ever happened to knowing and being friends with your neighbors, thereby avoiding this kind of nonsensical conflict?

Oh wait, I forgot, almost no one in Arizona has any desire to meet their neighbors. It's the only place I've lived where people pull into the garage and immediately close the door behind them, avoiding any chance of having to interact with another human being.

Talk about a severe epidemic of social anxiety disorder.

Desperate Arizona: Slot machines in airport and 100 more speed cameras!

Wow, do they have no shame at all? Dipsh*t Phoenix mayor Phil Gordon wants to go Vegas-style and put slot machines in Sky Harbor Airport in a desperate attempt to raise money now that the state's fake real estate-based economy has spectacularly collapsed.

And, if that's not enough money-grubbing shysterism for you, DPS has 100 more speed cameras coming your way!

No wonder this article ran today about how Scottsdale has become the laughing stock of the nation.

EDIT: Today's news story: 100 cameras are only the immediately plans ... a total of 200 are in the works!!

Comment of the Day

Thanks for another great one war_shu_duck!

As for why life here is so unstable for many I believe it is because Arizona attracts malcontents. It used to be cheap to live here. The sun and 80 degree weather is one hell of a lure when its 23 degrees back home. On the surface many parts of the Phoenix metro area appear affluent. You drive by nice manicured lawns and newly built houses and think that looks like somewhere I would like to live. That is until you do live here and learn most jobs don't pay well. The neighbors in what you thought was a nice area are real annoying Aholes. Most of the people you thought were doing well are barely treading water and up to their necks in debt. So now you're here and what you thought was a move for the better turns out not to be bliss. Then you try to make the best of it and attempt to make friends . There too you find people here don't make real friendships. What you have is competitors. Your co-workers, neighbors, and anyone you attempted to befriend are in direct competition with you. Who has the hottest or richest spouse, most expensive or newest house/car ect ect. This is exactly how I believe a lot of people live in this state. Its also how I think they end up going broke, marrying several times, and moving several times.

Still here

Been busy with market-testing a new product, working with developers on another, and on top of all that I'm now involved with running a new Political Action Committee here in CA ... so based on priorities, I haven't had much time to post here :)

Feel free post your thoughts and comments in my absence. This gem from the AZ Republic online comments got a lot of attention the other day:

"What is it about Arizona that anyone you meet who has been here for a couple decades has at least one bankruptcy, been married 2-3 times, and has moved no less than 5 times?"

Where's Steve?

More holes in the Global Warming myth

Since Scottsdale is full of global warming nuts, enjoy. Thanks to the Orange County Register for this - by Mark Landsbaum:

Imagine if the U.S. government said we will put economic growth ahead of reducing CO2, and in the process contradicted the UN’s IPCC holy scripture that claims we’re supposed to be melting to hell in a handbasket because of SUVs.

Well, India’s pretty much done just that. The reason? Because India has studied the matter and concluded:

“No firm link between the documented changes described below and warming due to anthropogenic climate change has yet been established…”

Oops.

In fact, the report if full of stuff that must make Al Gore cringe.

The report says this about melting Himalayan glaciers: “The available monitoring data on Himalayan glaciers indicates while some recession of glaciers has occurred in some Himalayan regions in recent years, the trend is not consistent across the entire mountain chain. It is accordingly, too early to establish long-term trends or their causation, in respect of which there are several hypotheses.”

Oh course, the UN’s IPCC holy scripture says flatly: “The receding and thinning of Himalayan glaciers can be attributed primarily to the global warming due to increase in anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases.”

Oops.

The report also says India has zero plans to cut back energy use: “It is obvious that India needs to substantially increase its per capita energy consumption to provide a minimally acceptable level of wellbeing to its people.”

Well said, my friend, well said

A comment on a discussion about Obamessiah on the Orange County Register website, which, thankfully, is vehemently anti-Obama:

Can you or anyone articulate where Obama wants to guide this country? The "greed and selfishness" you refer to can also be called "capitalism." I get fresh corn from the grocery store, not because farmers are concerned for my well-being and because they want to "work together," but because the farmer and grocer have a desire to make money. I'm willing to part with money I've earned for products that they supply. This is a better way than Obama's plan for redistributing wealth from those who have it to those who don't, even though they have not earned it.

The Soviets tried redistributing wealth and it clearly did not work.

Comment of the Day

Thanks to Raven for this one - it's so true!!!

The following comment was posted on the AZ Republic's reader comment section on an article about Arizona's slowing economy, and which I believe captures the Arizona sociological landscape perfectly:

"What is it about Arizona that anyone you meet who has been here for a couple decades has at least one bankruptcy, been married 2-3 times, and has moved no less than 5 times?"

A message for whiny Scottsdale NIMBYs

I heard an interesting conversation on Sirius talk radio in the car today:

A caller brought up the issue of NIMBYs and how they directly conflict with private property rights, something we are supposed to be guaranteed in our great nation. He put it very simply: If you don't like what your neighbor is doing with his house or his property, then go ahead and buy it. Unless and until you own it, you have NO RIGHT to tell anyone else what they can or cannot do with their private property.

He then told a great story: He lives adjacent to 15 acres of woods that are going to be developed. The neighborhood formed a NIMBY group and came to his house asking if they could walk through his yard to access the property and hunt for code violations or any other excuse to protest the development. They explained that the woods are "theirs" and they don't want anything built there.

Well, he said "NO." You cannot come onto my property, because those woods are NOT "yours." Unless and until you BUY that property, you have absolutely NO RIGHT to tell the rightful owner what he can or cannot do.

Let that be a message to the ever-increasingly whiny NIMBYs who have taken over Scottsdale and oppose every last thing, for no apparent reason other than their own personal envy that someone else is actually doing what they want to do. And let's remember in the upcoming election that we can choose a president who will nominate judges who will allow NIMBY groups to get their way, allow eminent domain abuse, and other private property violations. Or we can elect a president who will nominate judges who will enforce the Constitution as originally written and intended.

The choice is yours.

Reader Comment of the Day

Thanks once again MG!

"Is it because they are hopelessly status-obsessed and, having nothing else going for them, see their "ownership" as their only bragging rights?"

Yes...particularly for low to middle income females who need to have an established pecking-order in order to feel secure. The more untalented, uncreative, unattractive, uneducated, unproductive, and un-moneyed someone is, generally, the more they tend to put an emphasis on homeownership as *the* primary carrier of social status.

Most homeowner women look like those featured on Extreme Makeover or 10 Years Younger. In NB and upscale cities such as Manhattan, and upscale suburbs such as Westchester County, the Hanptons, etc, my observation does not apply, but generally, across the board, homeowner women look like crap and I can almost always detect whether a woman is a homeowner or not due to clues in her appearance.

Further, female homeowners imagine homeownership gives them unassailable status over female renters for no other reason than they own a mortgage. Odd, because without a husband's income, most of these homeowner women would be renters themselves.

Realtors are responsible for this attitude - telling the public over and over again how superior owning is compared to renting and putting renters in a sub-citizen category. Family pressures are another factor since renters are generally demonized in family conversations.

A certain number of Americans believe religiously that once a baby is on the way a couple *MUST* BUY A HOUSE, BECAUSE AFTER ALL, THAT IS WHAT NORMAL PEOPLE DO. There is a new term to describe the "normalcy" of this behavior and its called the "nesting" instinct.

The good thing is that financial institutions have wised-up and have tightened lending standards that were abandoned after 9/11, so there will be less homeowners who are occupying property. There is a real shake-down going on now and is the reason the dollar has sunk in value and gas is $4.60/gal.

Since Scottsdale has been transformed from an upper-middle class city to a low-income city, the low-income and mid-income residents there will be slow to accept a change in social status for renters. Those of us with money have never needed to engage in this pecking-order behavior - after all, Jennifer Aniston rented a $25k/month Malibu beachfront home and no one scorned her for being a renter. In NB, people rent all the time and in various cities around the world, so renting is no big deal.

The average Scottsdale resident in 2008

Just heard about an acquaintance back in Scottsdale ... here's the scoop:

- Lost her north Scottsdale house to foreclosure
- Couldn't get approved to rent a place due to credit
- Moved back in with dirtbag ex-boyfriend just to have a roof over her head

I didn't find out, though, what became of her BMW and Rolex. Yes, she has (had?) both.

She's not an isolated case. This is becoming a very common story in Scottsdale. The majority of loan resets are happening right now and the entire country is seeing a massive spike in foreclosures. Which means that fake, no-doc, no-money-down Scottsdale is seeing a REALLY massive spike in foreclosures right now. All those phonies who "bought" with no credit checks, no money down, and no income verification are royally screwed now. And that happens to be the majority of Scottsdale.

I love the irony that people who threw around the "ownership" title as some kind of status symbol suddenly can't even get approved to rent an apartment. Beautiful.

Understanding people like Steve ... ?

Our resident #1 troll, Steve, is your typical north Scottsdale resident, and even after 7 years of living there, I still don't understand his kind.

Here's a short list of characteristics of north Scottsdale types like Steve:

- Always pissed off
- Goes through the day being rude, cutting people off, not holding doors, etc
- Constantly calls everyone else an asshole
- Everyone else is a "loser"
- Always stressed and on the edge
- All conversations include "where do you live" and "what do you do"
- Always trying to outdo everyone else for no apparent reason

What is it with these people? Don't they want to be happy? I thought all people desire to be happy, rather than going around being rude & nasty and calling everyone an asshole.

From looking at Steve's profile on Epinions we can see he fits the typical north Scottsdale profile in that he left a real city (in his case NYC) where he could never get past the velvet rope, and chose Scottsdale where any idiot can get in anywhere, get a job anywhere, and so on.

Thoughts on why Steve and the rest of north Scottsdale are eternally pissed off?