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Old 11-21-2011, 09:32 AM
 
Location: Phoenix, AZ
20,318 posts, read 14,538,167 times
Reputation: 39248

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Hey guys. Not asking anyone to go out of their way and drive over to these places, but I seem to recall that some of the regulars might actually live in the vicinity, hoping for a touch of the ol' local expertise here...

Looking at 2 rentals:

2201 Paseo Rd, 80907 (It's a corner lot at Paseo & E. Madison, just to the northwest of the golf course) managed Byrne PM

3930 Mariposa St, 80907 (closer to UCCS, says it's in "Cragmoor" neighborhood.) managed by Keller Williams

If anyone has any particular words of warning with regards to neighborhood safety, reputations of the mgt (good or bad) or anything else of interest, I am all ears. I'm having a very hard time deciding which of these to pursue. I'm in love with the pretty, pretty of the Paseo house but it is more expensive...and as I'm the only female in my home I'm the only one who appreciates the whole granite and stainless steel kitchen thing. I think my 3 boys (incl. husband) could be happy in a cave in the woods if it only had wifi...

I know I've been popping up a few times asking about areas and stuff but we're getting down to it. I don't know that I'll have the luxury of actually looking at houses in person before I really commit, but we're definitely talking rentals at this point. So at least if it's a bad call we only have to get through a lease term. I can't wait to have this PCS over with...just a few more weeks to go...
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Old 11-21-2011, 09:50 AM
 
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Sonic - I don't live far from either house. I'll swing by later today and scope them out.
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Old 11-21-2011, 10:07 AM
 
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Oh, I drive by the Paseo and Madison area on a semi daily basis... did for sure for weeks cause it was about three minutes from my old house

Love that neighborhood. Always is quiet (can't say for sure that one exactly cause I didn't live there but three min away as I said)... my only concern is that Paseo (and the road parallel to the west, Templeton Gap) is a somewhat busy street- great elementary down the road there (Stratton, which my daughter attends). There is a gas station further down the road on Madison and Templeton Gap, and about three or four blocks to the west you'd find a great grocery store area with a barber, an ENT federal credit union, florist, lots of stuff... and an Ace Hardware (can't forget that, my husband went there on a weekly basis :P)

If you like to take walks, it's a really wonderful area to be, in my opinion! And right next to Patty Jewett too

There also is a fantastic park right in that area that is used often for city organized sports. Couple baseball fields, tennis courts, soccer field, and a little play area for the littler ones.

I do not know about Mariposa, though, I vaguely remember looking around in that area for houses, and it was a fine area as well, I think.
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Old 11-21-2011, 10:52 AM
 
Location: Canada
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I generally like Paseo!
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Old 11-21-2011, 11:06 AM
 
Location: Phoenix, AZ
20,318 posts, read 14,538,167 times
Reputation: 39248
Thanks, both of you! I'm seriously thinking to put a deposit down to hold one of these two soon...need to call the utilities, too. The one on Mariposa may be $130/month less but it's an older house. If the heat is less efficient, that savings might shrink quite a bit...

(Secretly hoping I can justify the higher rent and get the prettier house on Paseo LOL)

Carrera32 you rock, I appreciate it...no matter how good the pics might look, committing to a house sight unseen is a scary business. I didn't want anyone to inconvenience themselves for my sake, but let's face it, any and all input really helps!

hollyt00, I noticed those schools and businesses and such. I have sons ages 10 & 12, so they are elementary and middle. It looks like both schools are right close to each other and the boys might be able to walk. They are used to fairly busy streets as long as there are signals/crosswalks around that they can use, they're old enough to have some sense about that...glad to hear Stratton's a good school...any thoughts about Mann middle school?

Thanks again!
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Old 11-21-2011, 11:57 AM
 
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My knowledge of Mann isn't super great, honestly, meaning I don't know much of it My daughter will be going to North Middle School so Mann isn't on my radar!


And the walk would be nice, short, and there are crosswalks with people all over the place helping kids.

And the elementary often uses the track at the middle school, to get an idea how close they are together.
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Old 11-21-2011, 01:53 PM
 
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Sonic - Echo a lot of what Holly says. The Paseo property is on the corner of Paseo and Madison. Area looks to be well maintained (nicer homes along Paseo than Madison). Paseo might have a bit of traffic at times, but at mid-day it appears pretty quiet. Stratton Elementary is about 3-4 blocks away. There's a bike trail about two blocks or so from the house. Area looks to be mostly mid-century ranches. Looks like a nice older middle class neighborhood. The house itself looks quite nice. Brick construction with a full 6-foot wood privacy fence for the back yard. House partially backs onto a Greek Orthodox Church property. There's also a Church of Christ a block or so away on Paseo. In all, it looks like the owner has taken good care of the property. That area borders the north side of the Patty Jewett golf course, so I'm assuming the neighborhood is part of what is known as Patty Jewett. That area is a 5-10 minute drive to heart of downtown and the same distance to one of the best hospitals in the country (Penrose St. Francis).

The Mariposa property is in Cragmor, which is just south of UCCS. Most of Cragmor looks ok, again with mostly mid-century ranches. Houses looked a bit newer than the Paseo area, I'm guessing they were built mostly in the late 50's to mid-60's, whereas it looks like the Paseo area is mostly mid-50's. That area is very near a new shopping center, University Village, which is very nice. Not really a mall, but a Costco, Lowe's, Kohl's, some smaller retailers and a few decent restaurants and fast food. It's quite new and it hasn't filled out its smaller stores yet, but a welcome addition to that area (North Nevada Ave.). North Nevada, directly below Cragmor, is a bit dicey, with a lot of run down motels, a closed dog racing park, and some light industry. I don't think it's dangerous, but not the part of town the Visitor Bureau uses in their ads. The Mariposa property looks a bit raggedy, like it's been a rental for a long time without much attention being paid to it. Back yard is nothing but weeds and bare dirt (fenced with a chain link fence). The back deck looks like it's about to fall down. Busted screens on some windows. The exterior of the house looks like some stucco has been added to the foundation area, but otherwise the place just doesn't look that inviting.

If I had to choose one from just the drive-by, I'd choose the Paseo property.
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Old 11-21-2011, 02:43 PM
 
26,161 posts, read 48,867,893 times
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The assessor's database says this:

- 2201 Paseo, built 1960
- 3930 Mariposa, built 1954
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Old 11-21-2011, 03:14 PM
 
Location: Phoenix, AZ
20,318 posts, read 14,538,167 times
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Brilliant!

My gut has been telling me to go with the Paseo house. I just needed a nudge, and that sounds like a fine nudge to me. The only thing that had been bugging me is the "less space for more money" argument. But again, when I factor in the cost of utilities...it loses some weight. And of course if the PM for Mariposa can't even be bothered to get screens on the windows that are in one piece, to avoid having the place sit vacant, one wonders how they'd be about other maintenance when it's tenanted, huh?

Time to finish my application...

Guess I'll have to feel out the vibe of the neighborhood prior to next Halloween though. I'm usually quite the decorating enthusiast (not gory, just fun, wacky stuff)...but if our Orthodox neighbors don't want me to, I'll take a break from it. It's not worth upsetting people over...
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Old 11-22-2011, 07:55 AM
 
930 posts, read 1,649,484 times
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I don't think that's an issue at all, decorating for Halloween, unless you have uptight neighbors like you said. One of the reasons I like the more downtown area is that there is a big acceptance of lots of different people. Tejon Street is becoming the place to go for trick-or-treating and almost every other house is seriously decorated for Halloween. One house on Union and Yampa had the coolest decorations for Halloween I've ever seen- life-size ghoul decorations hanging from (I assume) clear wire, attached to trees, so it looked like they were hanging around the house in the sky! It was cool
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