More on Walls

Our neighbors in Power Ranch got the spotlight in this East Valley Tribune article about some apartments:

Some homeowners in Gilbert’s Power Ranch want a wall built around an affordable apartment complex that recently opened in their master-planned community.

They say unless the 336-unit complex is walled off or their homes are protected by gates and security guards, their neighborhood of $300,000-plus houses will lose its appeal.

Some units at the San Clemente Apartments at Power Ranch opened in early June, and some are still under construction near the intersection of Power and Germann roads. According to Trinity Management, the company managing the apartments, average market rent for the one-, two- and three-bedroom units is about $850 a month. Ninety percent of the units are to be priced at $100 below market rent and reserved for tenants on restricted incomes.

I posted some feelings on fences here, and this article reminded me of a few more thoughts on the subject. I suppose it all depends on whose research one believes, but in our contact with builders, the consensus is that gated communities don't really do that much to prevent crime. The gates are not much of a deterrent to a criminal. I'm not a criminal, and I myself have waited for another car to come along and give me access to a gated community when I've forgotten the code or can't make it work as I'm on my way to an event inside. And years ago, on a ride-along, I watched my sister, who was a patrol cop at the time, jump walls following a suspect as he attempted to flee arrest. So walls aren't much of a deterrent to a criminal, either. But they make us feel safe.

Here's my other question on the topic of these apartments (read the whole article to get the feeling of the residents): How can we bemoan the fact that Gilbert has no affordable housing one minute, and the next minute decry the affordable housing apartments as hotbeds of crime that will reduce our property values? Where are our young newlywed kids supposed to start out? Why don't I ever hear anyone say that their upscale community will enhance the surrounding neighborhoods, attracting good neighbors? I'm just asking.