Glendale, Arizona is, in countless ways, one of the most comfortable and beautiful places to live in the United States, but for many that live here, it’s a city with many flaws that can make residents uncomfortable. Its consistent growth has made it home to nearly 252,645 people as of 2022
. With so many individuals and families deciding to reside here in this city, what are some things they should have fully considered before settling there?
Many different factors take place in deciding which cities to move to. Here are 17 reasons why you should not move to Glendale, Arizona.
17. Nightlife is Poor
Residents that have lived here for years note that this city has a very poor reputation when it comes to nightlife. It only adds to complaints that say that there is nothing to do in Glendale. Locals have mentioned that there aren’t many forms of entertainment or restaurants open in the later hours of the night when some might prefer to hit the town after a long day.
Also, for those that are old enough and those that care, it’s been stated that there is thing super special about the bars and nightclubs that are available, so what is there doesn’t help the overall problem either for those looking to party the night away.
16. Roads and Drivers are Difficult to Put up With
Glendale has very unnerving road issues that have become more and more dangerous, especially with how fast the city has been growing. With the influx of people, the traffic has gotten increasingly congested, parking is harder to find, and with the construction that is continuously going on, the roads have gotten worse. This has, unfortunately, led to a lot of accidents resulting in injuries and even death.
Not only are the roads hard to deal with, but the drivers are up there as well. You may likely find yourself stressed constantly whenever you get behind the wheel and start driving, as people in this city are regularly merging without signaling, brake checking, passing illegally, speeding, and just overall taking way too many risks while driving through hectic traffic. There’s also the road rage you will encounter in which people will honk at you and flip you off if you annoy them in any way because of how you are driving, even if you have done nothing wrong.
15. Variety is Non-Existant With Restaurants and Stores
With very few things to do for fun around this city, the lack of restaurants is glaringly obvious. Though there have been efforts to bring in new places to eat and enjoy, there are hardly any businesses around to excite the residents and newcomers with vast amounts of variety anymore. It would seem as though the only options that stay around long enough are chain restaurants or run-down restaurants, which means you won’t be able to go to a fancy restaurant to celebrate various occasions like you may want to.
14. Frustrating Traffic
If you have the desire to live in Glendale, you will have to get used to the constantly congested traffic. Traffic is a daily frustration because there is a large influx of people living here and coming to visit. Traffic is especially bad during rush hour. It’s hard to get to and from destinations promptly or plan any activities because you know that it’s going to take a frustrating about of time to get where you need to go, especially because you never really know how bad traffic is until you are sitting in it.
13. Offensive Neighbors
Though many of the people that live here keep to themselves, there is never a shortage of less-than-accepting people living here too. Stories of harassment, close-mindedness, and even straight-up disrespect came from anyone to anyone, stating that most of the other neighbors were friendly and welcoming at first, but as time went on, they became rude and judgemental. Also, the fact that many of the neighbors have a hard time keeping the volume of their voices or speakers down at any given hour of the day makes having any kind of conversation difficult when such annoyances seem to never stop.
It can be extremely hard to make lasting friendships and relationships with people because you’ll never know for sure what their intentions are.
12. The Cost of Living Is Getting More Expensive
In comparison to most cities throughout the United States, Glendale, Arizona may not seem that bad when it comes to the cost of living. However, to those that have been living here for a while, the price increases are getting more and more obvious and harder to put up with. From groceries to rent, without a good-paying job and a decent budget, this may be a hard area to live in for those coming in who are expecting to pay low and manageable prices.
11. There are Too Many People
There is a frequent correlation between high population density and higher quality of life in most instances regarding cities with this high population. When these situations come up, it’s important to recognize the issues that accompany them. This many people in one place is hard on the environment, as there is lots of litter, pollution, building over land to accommodate the businesses and homes as well as other amenities, and a lack of care put into the surrounding natural areas.
This also causes stress on the individuals. Glendale has over 200,000 people, and there is only so much space for everyone. When humans feel so crowded and overrun with other people flooding into their space, their anxiety can grow, more accidents can occur on the busy roads, and the taxes and prices get driven up, making it harder for the residents to afford living here long-term. People lose patience with one another and feel the negative outcomes when there are so many people in one city.
10. Animals are Everywhere
You will always be able to find some kind of bug or animal that could kill you if you aren’t knowledgeable and careful about what’s out there. Glendale is deep in the Arizona desert, so creepy crawlies are very much at home in the area and are willing to defend their territory if you give them a reason to think you will threaten it or them.
Scorpions, spiders, snakes, lizards, centipedes, kissing bugs, and more are often seen in Glendale, and you won’t be able to escape them, even while in your home. Not to mention the mountain lions and bears that are never too far away.
9. Not the Best Place for Kids and Teens
Alongside the schools being hard on the kids and teens that live here, there simply isn’t much else for them to enjoy either. There aren’t a whole lot of outside activities to keep them busy, which isn’t always good when it comes to children and teenagers. This can be dangerous as they look for other outlets to find fun, potentially leading them to use drugs or commit other forms of crime. If there were more things for them to do after school and on weekends, the amount of crime in the city might decrease.
8. Litter Is Constant
Litter and cluttered belongings are often one of the most annoying issues to come across when you’re out and about trying to enjoy your surroundings, especially in beautiful cities like Glendale. You will almost always be welcomed with a hefty variety of random objects while on a walk, and all kinds of garbage scattered throughout the streets on your drive to work.
With so many people in this city, this annoyance only continues to grow worse and worse. Cans, glass, papers, boxes, clothes, wrappers, food, bags, and debris from construction projects are frequent types of garbage littering the grounds, stuck in the weeds, and gently blowing in the breeze for everyone to see.
7. Businesses are Unprofessional
The businesses in Glendale are oftentimes unprofessional. From restaurants to hospitals, it feels as though the organizations only care about making profits rather than taking care of people utilizing the services they offer. Some of these workers lose patience easily and end up being rude, causing the customers and clients to not think good things about the service they received, causing them to not want to return to those places in fear of receiving the same treatment in the future.
6. Good Jobs are Hard to Obtain
Plenty of critiques of this area come from workplace situations. This is either because the workforce in particular areas isn’t very strong, or because jobs, in general, are growing more and more difficult to find and keep. Finding meaningful work and careers can entail commuting far distances to other cities.
The job scene in Glendale, Arizona can be frustrating to deal with, especially because the cost of living already proving to oftentimes be expensive enough without the added pressure of somehow finding a productive way to earn enough to sustain the life you desire to have. Entry-level jobs are nearly impossible for students to get as well, which makes it hard for them to move out of the city after they graduate high school.
5. Police Presence Isn’t Prioritized
Crime rates have only grown in this city in the last few years, which makes the lack of police presence not very surprising, as the police force in Glendale has recently struggled to catch criminals and notice crimes as they happen. Criminals get away with so much in this city due simply to the number of crimes that happen and the lack of police. Any lesser crime isn’t worth the time police officers spend investigating them when larger problems are popping up all over the city, which makes the victims of lesser crimes extremely frustrated.
Many locals have noted that they’d prefer more police patrols or some version of surveillance, especially around schools while they’re in session and within neighborhoods at night so individuals and families can feel safer and more comfortable.
4. Lack of Maintenance is Obvious
Several places in Glendale have natural beauty in the foliage, land, and buildings. However, these areas are sometimes overshadowed by the lack of effort put in to keep them well-maintained by the city. There’s litter up and down the streets, graffiti on properties, and too many people able to run rampant doing whatever they want without law enforcement intervention.
3. School Systems Aren’t Motivating
The schools in Glendale are far from being where they should be. Most of them aren’t being adequately funded, leaving them run down and not kept up in a way the faculty and students can fully benefit from. Many classes are overcrowded, so it’s hard for each student to get individual attention.
There’s rampant bullying that isn’t ever properly taken care of, leaving a lot of students feeling helpless and hesitant to go back. Teachers also often lack the necessary passion and patience to impact children and make a difference in their education. This frequently leads to many of the students receiving poor grades, an increase in absences and tardies, and little motivation for students to put effort into doing their schoolwork.
2. The Weather Is Extreme and Unbearable
It is extremely hot in Glendale, Arizona, especially during the summer. It rains during the spring and winter, but it is also quite windy, even during the summer. If you don’t like the heat or don’t plan on having an air conditioner in your home, you don’t want to move to Glendale.
1. The City is Dangerous
One of the most common complaints about this city from people that have lived here for any period of time is that they are disappointed in the lack of safety they’ve felt in recent years with crime rates going up. This pressing issue mainly consists of carjackings, robberies and burglaries, sexual crimes, assaults, drug deals, gang-related problems, graffiti and vandalism, and even murders.
Overall, there are many reasons why you shouldn’t move to Glendale, Arizona, but whether or not you do so is ultimately up to you and your family members.