Arizona's a beautiful state, and there are a lot of great areas to live.
Gilbert ain't one of 'em.
A sea of boring cheap tract homes. No nightlife, no arts, no culture, no shopping, no restaurants (except Taco Bell of course). Easily the blandest, most boring and soul-less area in the nation. If you want to see urban planning (or lack thereof) go awry, visit Gilbert
Some people must be figuring this out - they're not putting up assembly-line homes as fast as they used to... And when the crash is in full effect, location, location, location will hold true. Tract homes in Gilbert will see some pretty nasty declines.
Gilbert Town officials brushed aside concerns a 40-percent decline last year in building permit applications will negatively impact the town's economy.From Jan. 1 to Dec 31, town officials issued 3,057 residential building permits compared to 5,070 permits issued in 2004 during the same time period- a potential loss of approximately $27 million in system development impact fees for Gilbert
February 01, 2006
Crappy Arizona Town Alert: Gilbert home building down 40 percent
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12 comments:
Gilbert has the distinct advantage of not being in California. For the ultimate in wasteland try Lancaster/Palmdale.
The ultimate wasteland is Mojave and Barstow. Lancaster Palmdale folks have teeth
The ultimate Trailer Trash armpit is Lake Isabella Ca near Bakersfield.
Well, in an ideal world, the retail would follow the residential, once there is a demand to be filled. What some developers are finding is that the absence of "end users" (i.e., the places were snapped up by flippers) means there are no real people living there. No customers, no retailers beating a path to your mixed-use door.
However, in this Gilbert it's just as well that the only restaurant around is Taco Hell, because the $0.69 soft taco special is all those residents will have left to spend on dinner out after stretching to the max on an Neg-Am ARM to buy in the first place.
Hey! I once lived in Mojave designing secret aircraft.
I grew up in Gilbert, back before it was invaded by developers and it was sweet. Very tiny, (like 40 kids in my graduating class, all of us went to kindergarten -12th grade together!), no crime, one great downtown cafe, drugstore where the owner gave us kids gum for free, feed store, and locally owned grocery...no freakin' Taco Bells!....plenty of space to run around without fear of weirdos, everyone looked out for one another, you could ride your horse right down the middle of the road, community was tight, and I loved it.
I hate what it has become and there are very very few "natives" still there...I moved on after college, and about once a year I drive down from the mountains to see what's happening...I don't even know where I am..the landmarks are almost gone, and it's horrible.
For all my fond memories, I wouldn't live there if someone gave me a house.
So many wonderful communities across the West lost forever...I'm not naive and understand what migrating populations do to once ideal communities, but, hell...
The picture of that boring tract home without any trees around, surrounded by gravel in the yard, and a pickup truck (must be a construction worker) in the driveway looks like debtors prison to me.
Based on others' descriptions of the area, I'd say it's a "bedroom commmunity", not a suburb. A suburb is a vibrant city within a city but a bedroom community is nothing but boring tract homes in a community that offers no real employment opportunities.
I also agree with DJT. The only thing that is allowing any retail near some Florida bedroom communities is Publix supermarkets. They build stores in the middle of nowhere and wait for the development to come. It's worked okay for them, but then you have a grocery store, a couple small restaurants in the attached strip mall, and thousands of houses surrounding it.
Gilbert is the hottest community in America! It's where it's at! LOL
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-06-30-slow-cities.htm
Annon from Gilbert-
I really feel for you!!
This blasting apart of community is a horrible development in the lives of Americans.
Population can rise and communities grow in size w/o this happening.
We're just not doing it yet.
Maybe after the RE/economic crash people will learn a better way to live.
hopefully the bursting of the housing bubble will make my ex-ho's house there worthless :-)
Sheesh. Take it easy.
I'm a native Arizonan. I've lived in the 'east valley' of phoenix since I graduated from high school and in Gilbert for the last 5 years.
"...blandest, most boring and soul-less" are all in the eyes of the beholder. I don't know your definition of "nightlife", but some people don't need a bar/dance club for entertainment.
I moved to Gilbert because of the lower crime rate and some of the best schools in the state. It suits my family just fine, thank you very much.
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