By their nature master-planned communities tend to be large. In Arizona it doesn’t matter if they are in Scottsdale, Mesa, Buckeye or Glendale they tend to stir up scrutiny and debate.
That’s a good thing. Dialogue, debate and discussion tend to yield the best possible result.
A look around the Valley shows just that when it comes to master-planned communities that have been built. What’s one, anywhere, that is cause for consternation? Which brings us back to Glendale. There the top-ranked homebuilder in Arizona, Pulte, is proposing to build a $450 million, 395-acre master-planned community called StoneHaven. It would be located in and around 91st Avenue and Camelback.
Some neighbors like it and some don’t. Others like the Glendale Chamber of Commerce and Glendale Firefighter’s Association like it a lot. So does the hometown newspaper, The Glendale Star, which has enthusiastically endorsed the plan. Businesses in Westgate purportedly like it a lot too, fearing the departure of certain Coyotes they understandably want and need more nearby customers.
The backdrop to all of this is the story of Glendale’s comeback. Once derided alongside Detroit it’s now more like a certain President two decades ago: The Comeback Kid. Businesses are flocking to the community, city finances are recovering and where ridicule existed revenues now do.
So can there be a better sign of the private sector’s renewed confidence in the direction of Glendale than a company like Pulte wanting to invest nearly half a billion dollars on its southern edge? Is there a better way for Glendale to recapture the substantial public dollars used to make possible its sports and entertainment district than a commitment like this?
Nope.
And with the Glendale City Council led by Mayor Jerry Weiers and including Councilmembers Lauren Tolmachoff, Bart Turner, Jamie Aldama, Ray Malnar and Ian Hugh, many times siding against the ways of the past led by Councilwoman Joyce Clark, Glendale can again show via a master-planned community, that it truly has mastered the comeback.