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Is there really a "South Phoenix" car?

 I decided to take on this research topic on my own, mainly because it is something I have heard a lot.  The typical stereotype you hear about the kind of cars that are driven around in South Phoenix.  Any time I talk to someone who works in the stores in the southern end of Phoenix about the cars they see, they only talk about low riders and primer colored “third” hand cars.  Is this stereotype valid?  Are there really a higher percentage of lower priced vehicles in South Phoenix then there is where I work up in North Glendale.

I determined the best way to determine the validity of this stereotype would be to take a sample of traffic from multiple areas in both South Phoenix and North Glendale.  Originally I had planned on counting the number of each make and model of car that stopped at a given stoplight.  I would sit nearby for a period of about 15 minutes in each area.  This proved to be nearly impossible.  I just couldn’t count fast enough, much less figure out exactly what kind of vehicles were present.  I instead settled on counting the number of cars in each price range, and then keeping another count for low riders or specially modified vehicles.

The first place I stopped was near the corner of Central and Southern.  The next was 7^th Ave and Baseline.  In North Glendale I first stopped at 67^th Ave and Deer Valley.  The next was 59^th Ave and Union Hills.

In South Phoenix I discovered that 52% of vehicles were lower middle price range ($15,000-$30,000) and in generally good condition (new to moderately used).  35% of vehicles were upper middle price range ($30,000-$55,000) and in generally good condition.  8% were in the upper price range (above $56,000) and in generally good condition.  Only about 3% of vehicles were either in the low price range or were in bad condition.  The entire time I was performing this study, I only saw 1 low rider and didn’t see any “primer cars”.

In North Phoenix:  39% of vehicles were lower middle price range and in generally good condition.  47% of vehicles were in the upper middle price range and in generally good condition.  11% of vehicles were in the upper price range.  Once again only about 3% of the vehicles I counted were either low priced or in bad condition.  I didn’t see any low riders but I did count 10 tuners or import cars that have been modified for street racing.

My results?  There is a very small margin between the average car driven in South Phoenix and the ones driven in North Glendale.  I would really like to have been able to find out how much money was owed on each of the vehicles I counted, along with how many of them were previously owned.

Brenda Bright in her article about low rider culture in new Mexico talks a lot about cars being a cultural thing.  I think she hits the nail right on the head.  Each of these sections of town has a different culture and a different thought pattern about their cars.  The stereotype of the third hand cars and low riders all around isn’t really valid, rather it is just one culture looking at another and not understanding.

--Christopher Way