Casa Grande Turning Into A Ghost Town

CASA GRANDE — Is Casa Grande turning into a ghost town? Zombies aren’t running around the streets of Casa Grande (YET), but several unfinished subdivisions closed businesses & abandoned shops at the mall make it seem so.

Walking around the outside of the boarded up shops of the Fiesta Mall in Casa Grande almost makes one expect to see Rick Grimes run around the corner with walkers in tow. The depressing yet true state of the city of Casa Grande with businesses closing on the regular and crime increasing, also on the regular. They may not be REAL zombies, but the abundance of ‘Meth-Heads’ creeping about definitely gives Casa Grande that ‘Walking Dead’ appeal.

Often touted as the “Golden Corridor” (what idiot coined that nickname? Oh yeah THIS guy), this area has seen an increase in only depressing numbers of the scenes mentioned above.

Polls show many leaving the area, citing over-priced housing, an abundance of drug use & an increasing homelessness problem, likely due to the increased drug use:

Housing is very expensive. Lots of drugs and homeless hanging around everywhere. Traffic is pretty heavy especially in the winter during snowbird season. I’m relocating to get out of this place!!
niche.com

However, the city of Casa Grande claims it is trying to combat that ghost-town feeling.

Planning and Zoning commissioners have voted last year to send a code amendment to the City Council for future consideration. At the crux of the matter is the amount of time developers and builders have to complete basic infrastructure after subdivisions are given approval by the city.

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inside fiesta mall — Right out of ‘Dawn of the Dead’

Current city code allows up to three years for a developer to complete streets, sidewalks, streetlights, water and sewer mains and outside fencing and landscaping. Planning and Development Director Paul Tice told commissioners that amending the code to allow developers five years to make those improvements was in the city’s best interest.

Once roads and sidewalks are completed, they become the city’s responsibility to maintain and repair. Tice said those often become a burden, especially streets that aren’t being driven on.

When a subdivision is planned, the city receives a financial guarantee that the basic infrastructure will be completed before homes can be built. The change will allow for a lessening of those financial assurances but will tighten the requirement to have improvements complete before homes can be sold. Tice said the city will release some of the current guarantees that it holds on unfinished subdivisions in hopes that it will spur the developers and builders to begin working the land again.

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“It’s a win-win for the city because we don’t have to worry about maintaining the roads and sidewalks until they are being used; it releases the money back to the developer and in the end should bring home prices down once they do begin to be sold,” Tice told PinalCentral.

In other words, the city will release the bond or letter of bank credit back to the developer, who will in turn not have to make an interest payment on the money. The end result? Lower home prices.

Tice noted, however, that once a developer is actively trying to sell lots and build on them the city will require a new certificate of guarantee on the infrastructure prior to issuing building permits. But until such time when building commences, the developer or real estate investor will be saving interest payments.

The city currently holds $32 million in securities in just three subdivisions in Casa Grande.

There are nearly 6,000 unfinished lots in Casa Grande that have been platted and planned. Some have infrastructure running to them and some don’t. Tice said on average the city is issuing 150 to 200 home building permits each year.

“Even if we were building 500 homes a year, that’s a 12-year inventory of lots,” Tice said.

One of the ghost-town properties recently has been taken down. Three single-family homes that were built in the proposed Mission Ranch subdivision off North Peart Road have been demolished at the city’s request. Tice said city officials asked that the properties be razed because they’d become unsightly with broken windows and deteriorating outsides. There currently are no plans to build anything in their stead.

Still, a simple drive thru Casa Grande shows a ‘city’ devoid of much real development. Sure there’s factories and commercial sites coming up on the outskirts of town, a couple or 3 anyway. But, the interior of the city is depressing. The Methamphetamine & Fentanyl industries (as such) are both booming. This is evidenced by the ‘zombies’ seen roaming the streets & the increased crime & homelessness in Casa Grande.

Not sure what can be done. We can only hope that future development will attract the masses back to the ghost town Casa Grande is becoming. Nearby towns like Maricopa are BOOMING with development, a business boom and a steady influx of new citizens. Most of whom are business owners or professionals working nearby in Maricopa County. Maybe the people running Casa Grande can take some pointers from Maricopa? Only time will tell…