Best Phoenix Biltmore area's to rent? (Scottsdale, Tempe: apartment, condo, townhomes)

[kmiller1003]

Which is the better area to live in? I'm looking at rent.com for either a condo or apartment in the downtown Phoenix and/or Biltmore Area. Here are some of the places I've viewed online:

Artisan, Orpheum, and Embassy Condo's located downtown.

Monterra, Palazzo townhomes, Citi on Camelback, Pinnacle Town Center, Townhomes at Biltmore, the Barrington Regent just to name a few.

I'm looking for a safe area which is also close to the downtown, Tempe, and Scottsdale nightlife. My daughter will be working in Goodyear. Budget is $1,000 - $1,300 per month rent.

[IceZombie]

I've lived here over 15 years and I would choose Biltmore district over downtown. EZ access to all those areas you mentioned.

I used to work nights downtown and after events were over creepy crawlers came out. Biltmore feels much safer and is livelier and more inviting.

[johnfthorley]

Biltmore district is great, tons to do, it's clean, relatively safe, and the Biltmore/Arcadia area of Phoenix has the best quality & quantity of restaurants of any U.S. city.

Did you know Zagat named Phoenix the #2 restaurant city in the U.S. after New York?

The difference is in NY you have to go through lots of garbage to find the good restaurants and they're spread out all over the place, but for some reason in Phoenix, 90% of the best restaurants are in the Biltmore/Arcadia area. Downtown on the other hand has little if anything to offer.

One bit of advice though, don't tell any Scottsdale people you're renting or they'll treat you like a 2nd-class citizen or common criminal. (I bring it up because you'll only be a few minutes from downtown Scottsdale.)