Drove west on Bell Road today to buy low cost eggs at Winco and what a surprise, lower case-no pun intended. Not that we compete with them for new blood, oops, new residents but has anyone seen the new branding for the former Sun City Grand? They not only dropped the Del Webb Sun City logo but have changed their name to "The Grand". Does anyone think we should become "The City" which to me sounds even more impressive and since we were the first it may start a trend? IMHO The City sounds grand while The Grand seems like a rebrand of the old folks home on West Glendale Avenue in Phoenix.
Talks & survey to rebrand Sun City Grand back story. Sun City Grand officials discuss name change December 10, 2021 …Officials say a rebranding effort and a new name would help make the community fresh and attract new homebuyers. Tap Exclusive: Sun City Independent
Having gone through several attempts at organizational rebranding, this one is a head scratcher for me. Grand what? Grand where?
I get it, i truly do. With the passage of every year, both the Del Webb name and Sun City designation becomes less meaningful. There's only one exception and that's for the original, Del Webb's Sun City Arizona. As the first and the most unique, making it our marque trademark why would we run from it? Everyone after us was just next in line. Finding one's own identity makes sense. We rebranded the Museum and it worked out great, but then we had so much to lean on and into. My biggest fear is those who fail to get it try and remake us into something wholly different from what we were/are. It was bad enough when the former GM tried to invoke her vision on the community. The sense of loss i felt invoked a sadness and disappointment, not because it happened, but because it wasn't a community decision. It should always be the community's choice, not a single gm or a handful of board members.
I like being a part of a city with some history--a proud history at that and one I hope we can continue to celebrate and do proud. Why such a concern with competitive marketing to bring in new residents? Houses are snapped up quickly and bidding wars are going on as I'm writing this. Realtors are begging for more listings so people are obviously not scared away by our name or reputation. We should focus on all that we already have, those here who chose to be here and what we can do to continue to make them happy they made the right choice. I see no reason to think we're going to stop getting new residents and need to reinvent ourselves for the sake of those who aren't even here.
It won't happen any time soon for us, our history is too important to our successes and why we should never run from it, but celebrate it. One quick correction though, real estate sales are dwindling, rapidly. In Dec of 2021 the RCSC PIF was 800K plus and in Dec of 2022 it was 400K plus. That's roughly a 100 home drop. Here's the other interesting tidbit; Both Award Realty and Long Realty shut down their Sun City offices and moved to their Sun City West location. On the bright side, Tim and Amy Nixon added A J Kovaks to their team. He's cut from their same cloth with a strong connection to community. Slowing sales and revenue will be a cause for pause as we look to the future. Paying attention to trends is critical when one actually does strategic planning.
I’m not going to argue with anyone about history but I will say spending too much time looking back and not enough time looking forward will cause potential buyers look elsewhere.
I get this comment a lot and am always amazed. History has always been our best teacher, there's very little new in the way of problems/issues. Just for shits and giggles here's a short list of things that happened in the past and are valuable lessons as we move forward: 1). When the golf courses opened, the Del E Webb Corporation (DEVCO) used them for marketing and selling homes. The residents got angry because outsiders took their tee times. The problem was the owner was the company and while they were built for members/owners to play on, the company used them for their purposes. That all changed in 1977 when the RCSC purchased them for $10 and a cup of coffee. Included in the 1975 18 month trial period was an obligation for DEVCO to reduce outside play to less than 5%. They did and from that day forward, RCSC golfers always had priority. Now the general manager looks at those tee times as a commodity rather than s benefit to be used and enjoyed by the members. The precedent has been long established who and why those courses were purchased...for the membership. 2). In 1973/1974 the infighting over the school district was hot and heavy. Lawsuits were flying and residents were angry. Those living here banded together and worked with and through the County commissioners to find a workable solution for both us and the Peoria school district that couldn't pass much needed bond referendums. The outcome solved both problems as we were carved out of the Peoria district and they quickly solved their growth issues. Win/win. 3). It began in 1961 and lasted through 1995, DEVCO and an assorted number of leaders of the large organizations in Sun City wanted badly to incorporate; to become another community similar to those around us with a mayor, city council, all of the other trappings that came with it, including higher property taxes to pay for it. The majority of those living here wanted nothing to do with and fought them every step of the way. They wanted their way of life that included ownership, responsibility, accountability and volunteerism. It was worth fighting for back then, is it still worth it today? 4). In 1979 DEVCO left Sun City residents to make it on their own. Within a scant three years the RCSC battles for direction and control were epic and made what happened on the RCSC board in 2020 look like child's play. At one point, members couldn't attend board meetings without a written request to be let in. That went over like a fart in church and both sides had to find middle ground and keep the piece within the community. 5). In 1983/1984 the community at large saw the Fair Housing Standards Act allowing for senior housing to be protected under federal and state statutes. Two communities in the East Valley petitioned for the age over lay to be added to both their deed restrictions and their CC&R's. The members living here asked the HOA (now called SCHOA) to help the petition drive but they thought it was too much work. Members started the petition drive without them and SCHOA quickly saw the error of their ways and got involved. They rapidly gathered almost 80% signatures of those living here and shortly thereafter added the protections to both the deed restrictions and CC&R's. Youngtown never did that which explains why they lost their age overlay. 6). The Bell Rec Center opened in 1976. the original plans included a performing arts theater on the corner of 99th and Bell Road. John Meeker's love of everything bigger than life caused the company to re-evaluate their plan. The 2 million dollar cost over-runs were huge and the theater was quickly scrapped simply because it was too costly. He always argued Sun City should get a performing arts theater, but the question still lingers, at what cost? There's so much more, but i'm sure you get the picture. I always summarize these struggles this way; the battles brought Sun City residents/home owners together, forced them to find solutions that worked. That sense of community that Meeker worked tirelessly to build over the course of his time in Sun City was the glue that held us together and made it work. The past 15 years we've run from the history and done/nothing to help new buyers understand it, teach it or promote the importance of the membership being the owners. They found out it's way easier to just do what they want, members were there to simply pay the bills. That's why our history matters!
Is it the passion, drive, determination, vision, inspiration, and/or the do or die personality of a John Meeker that is missing today? Or is it just the changing times?
I know many have argued it's the times/people are changing; i disagree, at least in part. I think the question is answered best this way: In both the Sun City Advocates survey and even in this thread about Grand's new name the suggestion was made; what's in a name or even the community slogan? Does calling one's self "Grand" make it so? Does telling the world you are the "city of volunteers," somehow make you that? I have always bought into my good friend Ben Roloff's argument it isn't what you say, but what you do. Words are fairly meaningless in comparison to setting and accomplishing goals. Setting a path and a vision was a huge part of Meeker's agenda, but his ability to motivate and create buy-in from those moving here was ultimately his greatest quality. He wasn't afraid to tap into the incredible talent pool living in Sun City and turn them loose. It's why the past 15 years have been so frustrating to me. What was/were our goals? Spending money is easy, building a sense of community much harder. Meeker' spent far more money than DEVCO wanted him to but in the end he knew we would have to stand on our own. I suspect that was one of the reasons he was convinced Sun City should incorporate and become a city rather than a free standing community surviving on their own resources. Hopefully the new board gets their shit together and identifies their goals. As i have written too many times, those answers should come from the community. When you create buy-in, almost anything is possible.
As I believe Janet Curry also wrote on another thread....an organization must have stated goals, and a plan to reach them. RCSC fails miserably in this part of their job. If there are goals, other than surviving to live another day, we aren't aware. RCSC is a major juggling act of projects and programs, large and small, with a self-governing structure that can be hard to wrap your head around. This ship's leadership and management team must come together and figure out that the captain and crew must work their way through both the stormy and smooth seas and keep this big ship sailing toward the next 50 years. It's not impossible, but it does take the same types of characteristics of a John Meeker - not in just one person - but shared by people that both choose to lead and work for RCSC.
Part of the problem with "leadership" and having hired help is they feel compelled to have all the answers. As smart as Meeker was, he understood the community belonged to those who live here, not those working here. Our documents were written to insure shared responsibilities and were dramatically changed so that responsibility shifted away from the membership with more control by the management. There was nothing subtle about it, simply a power grab based on the assumption they knew better. The real question everyone has to ask themselves is this: "Did they?"
But there are always going to be those spikes and drops in the real estate market as the market corrects. And in this case I think it may be for the better. I don't know the stats re: investor buying vs. owner occupied but just what I've seen around the neighborhood, there are far more rentals than before so the slowing sales may just be an indicator that SC is no longer in the buy and flip for profit stage and re-entering what it should be: a stable community of predominantly owner occupied housing comprised of those vested in and advocates of "A City of Volunteers." At least that is what I am hoping for.
