I think that until recently, there were no comparable 'Scottsdale-esque' developments on the west side. Now that's changed, since Scottsdale, Chandler, etc are out of land. Look at north Peoria - lots of custom builds (12k sq ft +), open desert, etc. Same in parts of Avondale, Goodyear, Buckeye, etc. I personally advise friends to build over here (particularly in north Peoria) versus building in the SE valley...
I love the west side personally, that's why I live here. Lot of good stuff going on, the center of which being the Westgate area. There's a ton of good paying jobs coming as well to the Deer Valley airpark area. More will fill in around Westgate over time. This side of town will develop its urban cores as well - with Glendale and Peoria already with big projects to revitalize their downtowns. And don't forget the 19 story zoning for I-17 and Carefree Hwy.
