Staalberg: It’s time for city council to stand up for south Scottsdale

I’ve lived in this same south Scottsdale area for over 55 years. I live 50 feet south of the south Scottsdale border, but all my business (ie, grocery stores, drugstores, doctors offices) goes right back to Scottsdale.

I consider myself a Scottsdale resident, even though I have a Tempe address. I’m literally a stone’s throw from the Scottsdale boundary.

I’m saddened and angry that our city is turning into “Apartment-Dale.” Forget Scottsdale, as we knew it. It’s far past repair. I shudder to think about what our city will look like when you’re done allowing so much development.

I’m reaching out to you today to request that you stop selling our city to these profit-driven-building-developers. We don’t need 100,000 apartments.

I’m wondering how our Scottsdale city government could have let this happen? These developers are profiting off of our culture of beautiful views, great climate, while ruining it, and taking the profits, and they don’t even live here.

How could you let this happen?

• High rent prices, no affordable housing for real, everyday people!
• More traffic and congestion. 
• More heat island effect and higher daily heat temperatures, that won’t cool off at night.
• Drought conditions; how will these new residents fill their promised swimming pools, or worse, their water glasses, or flush their toilets?
• Less grocery stores, especially in the south Scottsdale area. We were promised a grocery store in the new Papago Marketplace…a boutique grocer, which still remains undetermined.

We actually need three Costco’s to fill the need with all these people moving into these new apartments. A boutique grocer won’t serve this community that the city has unleashed “Apartment-Dale“ on us?

I’m wondering how many city board members actually live in south Scottsdale, south of Thomas Road? I wonder how many actually drive down this way to preview the change we see every day? I suggest the city council members take a field trip drive together, one day soon.

I have seen more and more homeless people along McDowell Road, basically more intensity between Miller Road and Pima.

Driving down our streets, I’m totally perplexed at how our city has such an extensive paradigm playing out?

High rent, luxury apartments, by the dozens, very close proximity to people living at bus stops, on the street. Two new apartment complex monstrosities, just north of Palm Lane at Scottsdale Road, are being built feet from a strip club!

When is Scottsdale going to create a plan to handle the homeless? How can high rent residents be expected to pay upwards of $2,000 a month with homeless people sleeping near their apartments? Such an extensively wide paradigm, don’t you think? Homeless living on the same corner as the ultra rich?

There aren’t even any local organizations to offer resources. Phoenix Rescue Mission has a partnership with Scottsdale, but they are on the opposite side of the Valley. This just isn’t practical.

The homeless problem isn’t decreasing, it’s getting worse. Most people are choosing to be homeless and not be responsible members of society. Then the rest of us have to be concerned with how those people survive, which may involve theft, violence, loss of property values, shoplifting, etc. if they choose to be homeless, that’s a problem.

One other thing that I must mention before I close, is the huge monstrosity at the corner of 64th and McDowell.

Are those full-top-to-bottom, -reflective windows on that monstrosity? When we people are heading east on McDowell Road, on their way home from work, at dusk, will residents be able to see the road due to the sunset glare bouncing off of the building? Wow! That’s a dangerous risk our residents are taking on, when we drive down McDowell, if that is what I’m guessing.

I invite you to step up to the plate for south Scottsdale. Please stop all this high density luxury-priced development. Honestly, who can even afford those apartments? We need real values, real homes, real safety and policing. No more concrete jungle.

The only good thing about these high rises — and I mean the only good thing — is they provide a few minutes of roving shade in the afternoon. 

Nothing you can park your car in, to offset having no Mountain View’s of Papago Buttes, or Camelback Mountain.

Oh, all the short term rentals left us lacking in the census for population resources. That’s not very smart. They are considered hotels. Again, other people are profiting while the neighborhood home families can’t enjoy their homes like before we sold out Scottsdale to the profiteers. Noise, drunken parties, trash, illegal parking.

When will this corruption end?

I’d like it to stop. Enough is enough. We voted you in so you’d represent us residents and people who buy goods and pay for services and taxes in Scottsdale.

Please take a drive in south Scottsdale this weekend, south of Thomas Road. Be sure to drive down McDowell, between Miller and Pima. When you do, please ask yourself if you’d be willing to move in here?

Editor’s Note: Laurie Staalberg is a resident of Tempe.