Scottsdale

[unbibium]

I ride up Rural Road into Scottsdale every day. I already noticed that as soon as I leave Tempe, I start seeing dealerships for Corvettes and Humvees and Lexus and... well, and one for Kia.

Tonight I rode further north, to see what was there. When I crossed Thomas, I started seeing businesses with the word "collision" in the name.

I backtracked a bit, and followed Thomas to the west a little, and I noticed a row of businesses that totally used to be residential homes. Some of them still had driveways. Others had lawns converted into tiny parking lots. There was one that was really convincing in its attempt to stop being a house, with giant solid windows and dramatic office-park-style lighting.

I turned south to loop around, and I found houses that were clearly the same floorplan and design as the house I grew up in. Being three bedrooms and not attached to each other, they're out of my price range. But if I ever get the funds, I can recreate my childhood home, and pretend it was magically transported to the Tempe-Scottsdale border. I saw the "Welcome to Tempe" sign between streets; I wonder if there's a rivalry among the neighborhood kids, or if said kids are forced to attend different schools.

Comments

[nandan.livejournal.com]

That's a vivid description of neighborhoods in flux. When I was there (so briefly) I found Scottsdale a bit oppressively trendy, although, the food was good.

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

As you move further north into Scottsdale, you get into trendier, more high-priced territory.

That southern tip that I explored is maybe 30% more expensive, on average, than the bare-bones college town of Tempe. For that price, businesses seem to be about 30% less ramshackle. Also, if you pass an apartment complex on the street, closer inspection is more likely to reveal it as a retirement community.