Commute times....... (Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler: to rent, buying a house, buying)

[Chris2510]

One of my best friends from Chandler just graduated from UNLV and just got a job back in the Phoenix area. He is wanting me to move out there once I graduate in May. He has been talking about buying a house possibly in the Queen Creek area and me being a roommate but I've noticed it seems to be a little ways out from everything. I'm assuming if I were to get a job in the Phoenix metro area that would be a hell of a commute back and forth right? I have been out there to visit him numerous times and I did notice traffic was bad but not anything really different from the St.Louis area where I grew up. I'm just curious what the normal commute for people in the area is. Also how is the IT field there? Will it be difficult for me to get a job with a Bachelors in Computer Science?

[sablebaby]

You can do a search on the forum for commute times from QC, it's quite a topic! But, from what I remember it's anywhere from 1-2 hours, depending on traffic. YES it is FAR out!!! I would HIGHLY suggest you find your job and then live within 30 minutes. The freeways only get worse, especially when more and more people move here and live 50 miles from work. Let's all do our part to clean up the nasty downtown air!

[joninaz]

We're really not downtone focused and it's tough to define job clusters here apart from very specific fields. Most of my IT friends live/work in Chandler/Tempe/Scottsdale so job proximity to QC might be preferable than if you were a govt. affairs specialist needing to work in downtown PHX. That's not to say there aren't good IT jobs in other areas... we're simply talking numbers based on employer locations.

My suggestion would be to look up the job ads that match your skills and take note of their zip codes... then plot these on a map. Look at the clusters and see how they relate to QC. I used the same method when moving here and it worked like a charm. You need not get too deep - just enough to see some patterns.

And please tell us your findings.. it would help add to the shared knowledge.

[silverbear]

Regardless of commute time, I think it would be cruel and unusual punishment for a young, single college graduate (I assume all those characteristics apply to you.) to live in Queen Creek. You would face not only a long commute to work, but also a long drive almost every time you wanted to go to an interesting restaurant, bar, club, or cultural event.

I know some people who are reasonably content living in Queen Creek, but they're married couples, often with children, who want a big house at a price they can afford. There are far more attractive places in the Phoenix Metro Area for the typical recent college graduate. The most obvious options would be Tempe, Scottsdale, Central Phoenix, and maybe even parts of Chandler. Queen Creek is just too far out unless you are a homebody. For someone in your position who wants to enjoy what the Phoenix Metro Area has to offer, it would be better to rent for a while, see if you really like the area, save money toward a down payment, and then have the ability to buy something closer in when the time is right.

[Chris2510]

Originally Posted by silverbear

Regardless of commute time, I think it would be cruel and unusual punishment for a young, single college graduate (I assume all those characteristics apply to you.) to live in Queen Creek. You would face not only a long commute to work, but also a long drive almost every time you wanted to go to an interesting restaurant, bar, club, or cultural event.

I know some people who are reasonably content living in Queen Creek, but they're married couples, often with children, who want a big house at a price they can afford. There are far more attractive places in the Phoenix Metro Area for the typical recent college graduate. The most obvious options would be Tempe, Scottsdale, Central Phoenix, and maybe even parts of Chandler. Queen Creek is just too far out unless you are a homebody. For someone in your position who wants to enjoy what the Phoenix Metro Area has to offer, it would be better to rent for a while, see if you really like the area, save money toward a down payment, and then have the ability to buy something closer in when the time is right.

Yea thats kind of what i was thinking. I might have to talk him into looking a little farther north for a house because I'm sure there's something just as nice as far as housing goes in the metro area of Phoenix like there is in Queen Creek.

[Lee151]

I agree with Silverbear. Queen Creek just isn't going to be fun for young singles.....

[ranman469]

i go from power and san tan [gilbert] to asu downtoon everyday. apx. 40min

where ever you chose make shure it is easy to get to and from the X way.