If there are more than 2 people here I'd like to know how many people are for or against this addition to our area. Do you think it will help your house value or hurt it or do you not care at all and plan to live in WP forever. Let's hear your concerns and hopefully widen the scope a bit.



By Marc Piovanetti

Good and Bad!

I think the addition of not only the ball parks, but the entire Surprise Center in general will be a good thing for our community.

The ball parks will be located as far as possible from West Point. They will be on the Southwest corner of the property, near Greenway Road and the Bullard Ave. alignment. The only impact I see the ball parks having on West Point is traffic. I see West Point Parkway and Statler Avenues becoming potential thoroughfares for traffic to and from events at the ball parks. If this does materialize and becomes a problem, then we as a community could petition the city to control traffic before and after events with either officers, traffic lights, detours, etc. to help minimize any excess traffic that might develop through the community. Then again, most traffic might stick to Greenway, Litchfield and Bell, thus not impacting us at all.

As for the project overall, I can't see it being a factor to home values. I would like to compare what's going to be developed in the Surprise Center with that of the Peoria Sports Complex and the entire Arrowhead area. Homes within a 1 mile radius of the mall and ball parks have values upwards of $500,000. I know first hand that propery values near there have skyrocketed in the past 10 years. For example, a $40,000 piece of land on 75th Ave and Greenway now fetches some $120,000.

If the city can pull off what they've done in the Arrowhead area by getting specialty shops, restaraunts and ''night-spots'' to locate here, then I see the project as a wonderful addition to the area.

On a side note, I've heard that a mall is planned for the Bell Road and 303 area. Not sure how accurate it is. Has anyone else heard this?

- David Sobelman

baseball

My brother was unfortunate & ended up with a house bordering Litchfield. I say unfortunate because when he moved in almost a year ago there wasn't much traffic but now when I visit his house and help him out in his backyard it has really gotten bad. I can only see it get worse on that road. They should put some lights on litchfield. As for the placement of the stadium it is far away from WP as you stated. I don't know the name of the other community off greenway but they are closer. My only real reasons for wanting to move is I have been trying to get away from the city life and it seems it is being born right before our eyes here. Now i know it won't ever be a huge city but we lack east/west bound roads and commuting to work down bell to the 101 is a huge hassle. maybe when the 303 is completed it will ease things but knowing how AZ handles it's traffic problems that is doubtful. I wish there were more high paying jobs right in our town with all this developing going on there really aren't any great jobs being created. Arizona in general has really poor jobs and salary levels. That is why it is so great to retire here though.

By Marc Piovanetti

surprise baseball

i hink baseball is a good thing for property values, kids and grownups alike. i particularly don't like the idea of a supreme corthous in the same area. but we will take the good with the bad. we need to make the center of surprise accessible by walks, bike paths and golf cart lanes to induce people not to drive their cars downtown. we have the opportunity to do this before it gets too overdeveloped.the major problem with downtwn phoenix is finding a parking space and the traffic.