Some things from the Southeast Valley’s past — businesses, buildings, industries, feelings, etc. — are no longer with us. What is one thing you miss the most, and why?
There has been a lot of change in the Southeast Valley in the last decade. I miss Rittenhouse Road connecting at Williams Field Road and heading South to Queen Creek. It provided a bit of character and followed the train. Additionally, seeing the Boys and Girls Club in Gilbert get demolished was difficult even though the building was in rough shape.
I miss the cornfield on Chandler Blvd just west of I-10. Now there’s a Cracker Barrel there. Blech.
Boys and Girls club going was a sad thing. I was just driving down Rittenhouse today to pick up my daughter in the QC and was thinking same thing about the road! It made it a little easier to get down there too, you bypassed alot. Now you have to go around on the main streets and connect with it more south.
There was a small Victorian Tea place on Gilbert Rd between Warner and Elliot that closed down a few years ago. That was always a fun place to take my daughters.
- I miss the old church (Boys and Girls Club) too.
- Miss driving through acres of cotton or corn just south of downtown.
- One could take a zig-zag route from Queen Creek to Florence on the north side of the San Tan Mountains without seeing anything but sparse farm houses.
Interesting that I can’t think of anything I miss about downtown Gilbert in contrast with all the things I now enjoy there.
I was actually going to mention Rittenhouse as well. I used to live on the base, and I remember there being a lot of character to that road.
I miss the cornfields across the street from Chandler-Gilbert Community College. I actually enjoyed the rural feel that’s now been replaced by master-planned communities and stripo malls.
I miss “La Tolteca” being across the street from ASU, and (even more) the combination Teriyaki Stix / Hogi Yogi that was near it.
I also miss the old Phoenix Library (now part of the Phoenix Art Museum), although it can’t be denied that the new one is an awesome architectural addition to the city.
I miss saying “turn at the big haystack”, Norton’s Corner, and the BREWERS spring training games. I’m really really old.
I miss Norton’s Corner quite a bit, but now that I live in Queen Creek it moved with me.
It used to be 1 mile south when I lived at Ray/Gilbert and now its 1 mile south again. The BREWERS. How the hell did I forget Compadre stadium? How? Now I feel my response to the Republic was entirely inadequate. We must be close to the same age.
I miss some of the rural feel, but we moved to Queen Creek and still live next to 100+ acre farms, so I don’t “miss” it the same way as others. I miss La Tolteca, Coffee Plantation and Momma’s Pizzeria in downtown Tempe. If I did not find Floridino’s for calzone’s I would probably cry about Mama’s everytime I heard the word calzone. Hogi Yogi was a staple for me when I worked down there. Also, the Sahara middle eastern food (hummus baby). I could list off a lot of things from Mill Avenue was worth visiting. I should have just listed OLD MILL AVE (and cruising).
I miss the Old Farm House when it was actually in an old farm house. That tea place was great, but I don’t miss it. Wife and girls probably a bit more.