Ah, Scottsdale....

My girlfriend arrived in Scottsdale today for a big family gathering this weekend (I'll be in and out, staying only for one day ... I can't stand the place any longer than that).

She's at a hotel in north Scottsdale and her relatives who live there are up in Troon. She called to tell me she cannot believe how ugly the entire place looks after having been gone for almost a year now. She's baffled and mystified as to why anyone would ever choose to live there, and seeing how ugly and useless the entire area is (and how grumpy and rude all the people are), she's more convinced than ever that no one with any real wealth, substance, dignity, or intelligence would ever choose to live in Scottsdale. She and I both find it laughable that anyone would associate living in Scottsdale with status. To us, living in Scottsdale is something to be ashamed of. If you must live in Arizona, at least have some dignity and live in a part of the Valley where the people aren't a complete freakshow.

Just to set the record straight, she has mentioned on numerous occasions that if she hadn't met me, she would have moved out of Scottsdale and back to NY almost immediately (we met only a couple of weeks after she moved to AZ). She was excited to be single in a new city, but immediately saw that Scottsdale has no real men and instead is a collection of super-lame dorks and phonies, and a pathetic wannabe nightlife, and knew instantly that she'd never find the quality of men she'd been used to in the Northeast. She only moved there because her relatives in Troon offered her a good job and she wanted to experience a different part of the country. I'm glad we met when we did, because after only about a month, she knew she didn't want to stay, and we'd have never met had I not caught her sooner!

And believe me, in the two years we spent together while living in Arizona, she was miserable and couldn't wait until the day we packed up and moved on. If you think I hate Scottsdale, you need to meet her!!

Interestingly, we wound up moving sooner than planned, after I had a particularly bad day of dealing with horribly rude and nasty Scottsdale a-holes. We immediately went to OC to look for a place to live. The following week I had a speaking engagement in Long Island, NY, and wound up handling all the paperwork via fax and finding a local bank to wire the money to secure the house. That's what happens when you finally get fed up with Scottsdale and realize you're not going to waste another minute of your life in that hellhole. The author W. Clement Stone called it "inspirational dissatisfaction."

By the way, now that 'The Real Housewives of Orange County' is back on the air, we watch it now and then to make fun of it, but even as bad as that show is, we agree that we'd live in Coto de Caza before we'd ever move back to Scottsdale!!

Comments

[Wolf]

Could you imagine if he killed his dogs?? There would be a outcry in this community. Typical Arizona garbage and they are all over the place!!!

Police: Dad Kills 2 Children, Self
Children's Parents Had Separated, Officers Say

CHANDLER, Ariz. -- A man shot his two children to death before turning the gun on himself in Chandler, police said.

The bodies of Robert Roberts, 43, and his two children, Carleigh Roberts, 4, and Michael Roberts, 6, were found at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday, officers said.

The children's' mother, who was separated from Roberts, had gone to the house to check on the three because the kids hadn't been taken to day care or school and Roberts didn't go to work.

Officers said the children had stayed with their father Wednesday night.

The home where the bodies were found is near Alma School Road and West Queen Creek Road, described as a normally quiet, family-friendly neighborhood.

Neighbors said the family had rented the home a couple of months ago.

CBS 5 News investigated Roberts' background.

In 2001, he was arrested on child abuse and assault charges. Court papers showed he punched another of his children, 6, in the face.

In 2003, Roberts fired a rifle inside his home with his family present. The incident ended up in barricade situation in which he eventually was arrested without anyone getting hurt.

[Johnny Boy]

Dear fans of the great troll that is scottsdale-sucks.com: I suggest you check out scottsdaleazrealestate.org. It's not much of a site, but it will have real facts on it one day.

[Frank Rumbauskas]

Anyone who believes the crap on that site needs to read

http://housingpanic.com

Johnny Boy, your site was instantly discredited the moment I saw phony numbers from the corrupt and sleazy NAR posted on the site.

http://housingpanic.com

[Frank Rumbauskas]

If this dirtbag would've been thrown in prison the first time he fired a rifle on his family and held them hostage, they'd still be alive today.

But that's what happens when your entire state's legal system is all about making money and generating revenue from traffic and petty offenses instead of putting real criminals behind bars.

I am heading to AZ later today and will have my .40 Glock on my belt with a spare magazine in my pocket. Living in Arizona got me so paranoid about crime that even though my office is in Irvine, CA, named the #1 safest city in America, I'm still constantly looking over my shoulders and on high alert when I leave the building at night.

[Your Jewish Master]

Frank,

I really enjoy this website, and your common sense on Housing Panic. Keep up the good work!

[eric]

Notice how the updates stop at July? Maybe they'll update again in 2015 when home prices and sales get better.

[fastcart11]

Yeah Scottsdale sux.

It's all about the 'big money' OC right?

I don't live in either but i read that the average
household income in OC is $70K.

Not really ballers there either if that's true?
Ideas?

[Joe Jacari]

I'll be quite honest with you. For the most part, I like the desert of Arizona: the big sky, the austere sparse beauty, the mountains, the various species of cacti, etc.

What I don't like is the avalance of cookie-cutter Olive Gardens, McDonalds, Pier One Imports and Wal Marts being slapped up in new strip malls, sprouting like weeds, on every other corner around the valley.

This whole valley is becoming one, big, stucco McCity.

It's bad enough that hostile, lib socialists have taken over the bureaucracy of the once-inviting Scottsdale.
What's worse is that the quick buck artists, shysters, tweekers, botox beauties, materialistic dolt wannabes, house flippers, illegal aliens and $30K a year millionaires now outnumber the true heirs and original inhabitants of the city.

I think people will continue to move out, or just sequester themselves away from the riff raff, in an attempt to maintain sanity. There are still some enclaves of Scottsdale that have resisted the takeover; however, at the end of the day, you have to be taking home some serious bread to maintain an authentic lifestyle.

And that's theme of my post: authenticity.

Scottsdale used to be authentic. It had some real cowboys left, a legitmate and pleasant upper class, an influx of Los Angeles entertainment personalities in the winter, some snowbirds who knew when the weather was good and when it was time to leave, and a solid middle class.

Sure, you still had the perpetual underclass and your share of losers and those with serious personal issues, but they had a certain charm to them, and held a semblance of nobility as many struggled to make a better life--armed with a genuine work ethic--rather than a sense of entitlement and today's quick-buck-at-any-cost mindset.

What Scottsdale's morphed into is anyone's guess--and it's not good--but is easily intuited by even a casual observer with a cursory knowledge of the City and what it used to be.

Sure, it still tries to maintain the the pretense, the mirage of class, exclusivity and prestige. But you don't have to dig deep and mereley have to scratch the surface to see that behind the glittering facade lies some shoddy workmanship.

Scottsdale has become the perfect metaphor for the negative direction America is headed.

For the most part, I'd rather be up in Prescott or Payson and cool out with real people, in an authentic community.

Wouldn't you?

[Mike E]

Hi,
Appreciate the insights this site offers. If one accepted a job in Arizona and HAD to move there, what are the top 3 places to live. All this scottsdale talk has made me second guess the city as being the premier spot to live in AZ.
Mike

[Frank Rumbauskas]

fastcart11 -

I'd guess OC's median income is so low due to the disproportionate numbers of business owners and independently wealthy here. On my street, business owners outnumber employees by a big margin, and many are like me drawing around $30,000 in personal income for tax reasons. Therefore the median income comes in low while net worth comes in high.

Mike -

If I had to move back to Arizona for whatever reason I'd live in Arcadia. That's my favorite part of the Valley (centered around approximately Camelback and 44th St.). Second to that would be the north-central corridor of Phoenix. In fact living in those two parts of town was quite enjoyable, especially Arcadia.

[fastcart11]

"On my street, business owners outnumber employees by a big margin, and many are like me drawing around $30,000 in personal income for tax reasons."

$30,000 millionaires!

:)

[Hill]

WSJ, 12/7: "How Hot Land Sales Offset A Housing Glut in Phoenix," is interesting.