Apartment for rent near ASU, Tempe (Phoenix, Mesa: for sale, real estate, affordable apartment)

[Alex131]

Hi,

I am a new faculty that will be joining ASU in August. I am looking to rent a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment walking distance from ASU (I will not have a car at least first couple of month). Ideally I want to have a grocery store not far away from my place. My questions are:

1. What area near ASU to avoid (because of safety)?
2. Is there are any places close to ASU where professors live?
3. I do not want to live in complex where majority of people undergraduate students (loud noise, drunkedness, etc.). Which places would you recommend?
4. Can I find something by internet before I arrive there, i.e.
Is there are agency or agents that can search and find couple of places for me and then I just come and select so I do not need to make an additional trip before relocating?

My budget for the rent would be up to $800-$850 a month.
Thank you

[BuckeyeBoyDJ]

Well if you want to be within reasonable walking distance then you're gonna have to put up with undergrads but quite a few of the complexes by campus really aren't as rowdy as you would think. Now if you don't mind taking public transportation there are a couple of decent places on the light rail line that are a quick trip to campus. I have a couple of friends that live in Pala Mesa which is right on the Tempe/Mesa border but in Mesa and they're affordable and not a whole lot of undergrads live there. There are also a lot of complexes on Mill Ave and Kyrene a couple miles away from campus and with your budget you won't have a problem finding anything. All of Tempe is fairly safe for the most part. There are a couple of complexes in western areas of Tempe near Priest&Broadway/Southern that are a lil ghetto but all in all though you'll be safe any where. And yes you can find places online like managers advertise on Craigslist .

[observer53]

There's no particular area where faculty lives. They are in homes or apartments all over the city. In addition to the suggestions above, there are some older apartments down College and on Mill Ave below Broadway that would be accessible by the Orbit circulator buses or the regular bus routes. Using an apartment locator service might be another option for you.

[Jukesgrrl]

There's a guy named Nick Bastian who runs an online blog, as well as a Facebook page and Twitter account, called RailLife. It's not officially associated with the Phoenix Metro Light Rail ... to my mind, it's more informative than their stuff. It seems to me that if you will be car-less in Tempe for any amount of time at all, it would behoove you to rent near a light rail stop.

This blog features many detailed maps of the light rail stops (noting the ones with park 'n ride, for example) and makes recommendations of neighborhoods (and even restaurants) that are within walking distance of stops. (His point is to link you to real estate for sale ... but you can still take advantage of the excellent info on his maps.) Of course the rail stops in Tempe are most prevalent near Mill Ave. and University (the epicenter of ASU), but they also run all along Apache Boulevard (which becomes Main Street in Mesa after it crosses I-51). If you could find a suitable apartment near Dobson Road and Main Street in Mesa, that would be as far east as you could get from campus and still take the light rail straight there.

The maps on RailLife are regular Google maps, so you can click and manipulate/enlarge them. I'm sure by doing that you could match up some of your potential apartment addresses to the light rail map and figure where you could get a place that would be farther away from campus (i.e. quieter) but still afford you easy access via public transportation. Conceivable, you could live quite a distance east of Tempe (even downtown Phoenix or West Camelback Road) and still take the light rail to work, depending on how long you were willing to have your commute time be and if you could find an affordable apartment there.

Good luck with your new job and new home!
Phoenix light rail map

[Golden_Monkey]

There's also South Scottsdale along the Orbit bus line. It isn't as nice to ride as the light rail, but it's better than nothing.

https://www.tempe.gov/index.aspx?page=428

I would have recommended my neighborhood (west near Tempe Center for the Arts,) but it has actually gotten pretty noisy lately, and there is no grocery shopping here. I had to buy ear plugs a couple of months ago, but I guess that's the price I pay for convenience.

[azdr0710]

that Raillife blog is very good....thanks, Jukes....make use of it, Alex....

if you can manage, stay in a nearby extended-stay-style motel for a few days (low summer rates now!) so you can see choices in person before committing to a place sight unseen....

http://www.valleymetro.org/