Growing up in Phoenix there was a lot of desert just 5 miles north of where I lived. Now its suburbs all the way up to the Juvie. The development in Phoenix is fast and I wouldn't be surprised if it's been developed up to Anthem in 5-10 years

It kind of is though

Only 9 tiles on console is BS man

My friend always told me tribal police would shoot us with rock salt if they caught us riding bikes on the rez but I don't think it was true, definitely believed it at the time though.

Were the houses on the border more desirable or less desirable?

What happens if I ride a horse there? Are they going to take my horse?

Just had a bobcat in our yard a few days ago ..

Not gonna lie, because I'm so uncultured I thought you were talking about wild sports cars driving around freely without drivers.

I’m out there all the time, what are you talking about? Taking your vehicle? Only issues I’ve ever had is feral dogs

Is it desirable to have a house near, or even backing up to the reservation like this? Like if you have a house that backs up to a state forest or something, that would be desirable. Would that be the same case here?

Or would it be undesirable to have your house back up to the reservation like this?

There's really no incentive or point for there to be any development there. All these Indian reservations are on a government trust. So basically the dirt that the natives live on doesn't really belong to them. So there's no incentive to build. That's why you see old dilapidated buildings near Navajo Nation and a few other reservations. The natives aren't stupid. What's the point of building a nice house when you don't even own the land that you're building on? The only cushy job to have is to be on the tribal council. Cuz every month when the federal government sends that check, they're the ones that get to distribute it to everybody else. And of course it's totally riped with corruption. You got council members giving bigger checks to Mom, Dad, relatives, etc. Nepotism runs rampant. It's just all wrong and heartbreaking.

Much further south than where this picture is, yes, but even there, it’s a small pocket a mile or so onto the res, and then it looks just like this again.

While it's true that this is a section of the border between the pima indian community and Scottsdale, I feel like it could also be considered misleading. In most places it's not nearly this stark of a contrast. Many of the most popular tourist spots such as the aquarium, top golf, multiple casinos, etc and the 101 freeway run straight through tribal land. Also taking McKellips road to Mesa goes straight through as well so the edges of the indian community are practically integrated with the city of Scottsdale in many places. Most people won't even notice when they drive onto tribal land.

🎶And they all look just the same🎶

Ticky - tacky

"Little Boxes" is a song written and composed by Malvina Reynolds in 1962, which became a hit for her friend Pete Seeger. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cjk0zst3Cseeger in 1963, when he released his cover version." https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cjk0zst3Cs

weeds 👌

Phoenix is surrounded by mountains. 5 miles up from almost anywhere you can go hiking and run into rattlesnakes, not to mention they live in fields all over. Old yards and abandoned houses get full of them. They adapt well to human development.

We moved to a new development in Ahwatukee AZ in 1995. I soon became the designated rattlesnake remover. Never killed a single one, relocated them out into the desert away from the homes.

I took a Native American law class taught by a Native American professor in college. He said reservation land was poor farming land but not necessarily poor for mining.

You joke but it's actually one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the US.

It depends on if the natives want to work and go to school with the non-natives, and what businesses they allow to operate on the reservation.

I lived further south from this and worked at the Pavillions shopping center that had special rules because it was on land leased from the tribe. There were a handful of natives I worked with, and definitely a lot of shoppers because they got special tax rules.

I had a few native kids in my classes, but that was more because I was in one of the whiter schools. Even further south into the less affluent areas, there’s a decent number of natives in the public schools, but not really significant numbers. Those that go to the public schools tend to be in families that have moved off the reservation or are trying to, in my experience.

I was actually a teacher in South Scottsdale. It was a nice mix of kids. We'd definitely get kids come from the Rez. Just this past year, I remember waving the 8th graders off in a car parade made up of students and their families. A native girl was sitting in a convertible in her native American garb. She looked amazing.

Grew up near a rez in a different state. It was similar to any other small town in the Midwest.

Many natives worked off the rez, a handful of other ethnicities worked on the rez (especially at the hospital and the school). They were in my high school’s conference so we played them in sports - I always thought it was really cool that they played a tribal anthem before games in place of the national anthem that is traditionally played. Kids would hang out with kids from other towns. Prevalent poverty was really the only characteristic that made the rez stand out from every other town in a 100-mile radius. Wouldn’t know it if you only went to the school, though. They got constant funding, had PHENOMENAL athletic facilities.

The past two years I’ve lived on a reservation in South Dakota, there we’re definitely more native spots I wouldn’t dare go to but there were also non natives living and owning business on the reservation. casinos were in every business it seemed. There were native schools but they also went to the town schools. My only friends were from the tribe and i would hang out with them frequently. It was a good time and I do miss living there. It was very poor and desolate though.

I lived a quarter mile from that reservation (on the other side of the picture shown).They went to my jr high and high school. They come into town to the grocery stores/restaurants. I would drive across the reservation to save time. Didn’t really interact with them too much.

There’s a similar situation in Albuquerque where the most expensive zip code bumps up against sandia pueblo land on the north and a national forest on the east.

There’s a big casino by the interstate and a state road through tribal land that brings you from the low point at the interstate back up to the foothills, about 1,200 feet of elevation gain.

It’s an absurdly beautiful drive either way, looking up to the mountains or down into the valley. New Mexico has relatively more integration with native American culture in general though.

Reservation child here, we are often sent out to non-rez schools because there are none or they are bad. Otherwise we keep to our own, no one understands us and we get tired of all the incorrect assumptions and inconsiderate comments. Most of us feel like we have the better life even if we don’t have as many things. Most people in my tribe don’t interact unless you go to the museum or they are trying to sell you something.

It is exactly that!

What was it like? I’ve been in AZ since 2006, but I grew up in Florida, and was already an adult when I moved here. I live in Mesa now, and while I know quite a few natives, I don’t know what it was like for them growing up. Just as adults

It's not often you go on a helicopter and take a bird eyes view of the border between Scottsdale and the reservation. So you really didn't fail.

Look at a Timelapse of Phoenix in the last 30 years, it’s insane. Between the time I was in high school and now, it’s barely recognizable as the same town.

I know a family that used to live at the end of a 15 min drive on a dirt road when I was a kid, and now their house is basically in the middle of a subdivision like this.

I remember when the 101 was a north/south only freeway that stopped at Indian School Rd.