Newer houses in South Mountain - yay or nay? (Phoenix: how much, townhouses)

[jmac84]

Originally Posted by Bungle

OP, I've lived in the area you mention for the past 10 years. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

Same here. And I love it. Resided in South Chandler for 7 years prior to moving to South Mountain. We have more access to amenities than Chandler because of local. Chandler is so far off of the beaten path. You can get to Ahwatukee, West Chandler and Tempe in 5-10 mins; Downtown in 12 mins; the airport in 10 mins, and Scottsdale in 15 mins. You have the 60, 17, 51, 202, and 10 freeways right there. It is ridiculous how convenient the location is, plus you have beautiful South Mountain to hike at your leisure. There is a LA Fitness on 24th and Baseline and a bike path that travels just below the mountain over looking the city.

North of Baseline isn't the nicest, below Baseline and east of 16th street is very nice, mostly. You have a few pockets around Dobbins and 7th av, 7th st, and Central but those areas a centralized and pretty much contained within that socioeconomic population.

I love it. Best move I every made. And it is extremely quiet next to the mountain......except you hear the coyotes every once in a while

oh, and the view of the city!!!!

[jmac84]

Oh and as far as schools, South of South Mountain Ave and between 24th Street and 32nd street is the Kyrene and Tempe Union school districts.

[PHX Newbie]

TempeAZNative said - " just remember from Baseline to the river bottom and 48th st to 19th Ave is the hood filled with gangs and drugs."

I'm sorry, but you just lost all credibility. That is a huge swath of area (about sixteen square miles), and you have characterized it as one homogenous mess of drugs and gangs. In fact, there is a checkerboard of bad sections mixed with some very nice (and some very upscale) areas. Within that area, there are several huge HOAs, some gated communities, a couple golf courses and even a couple resorts.

Statistics don't lie. I advise the OP to go back to the post with the crime stat links and to look at the South Mountain area and compare it with the broad valley statistics. I also encourage TempeAZNative to compare with his/her neck of the woods.....

[TempeAZnative]

Originally Posted by PHX Newbie

TempeAZNative said - " just remember from Baseline to the river bottom and 48th st to 19th Ave is the hood filled with gangs and drugs."

I'm sorry, but you just lost all credibility. That is a huge swath of area (about sixteen square miles), and you have characterized it as one homogenous mess of drugs and gangs. In fact, there is a checkerboard of bad sections mixed with some very nice (and some very upscale) areas. Within that area, there are several huge HOAs, some gated communities, a couple golf courses and even a couple resorts.

Statistics don't lie. I advise the OP to go back to the post with the crime stat links and to look at the South Mountain area and compare it with the broad valley statistics. I also encourage TempeAZNative to compare with his/her neck of the woods.....

I grew up there so don't tell me how awesome and great it is. Sure there are new gated communities from Baseline to Dobbins but that doesn't mean 48th St to 19th Ave Baseline to the River bottom is some paradise. It is gangland whether you agree with it or not that's reality.

[Bungle]

Originally Posted by TempeAZnative

I grew up there so don't tell me how awesome and great it is. Sure there are new gated communities from Baseline to Dobbins but that doesn't mean 48th St to 19th Ave Baseline to the River bottom is some paradise. It is gangland whether you agree with it or not that's reality.

Welcome back Loco. I missed your South Phoenix gang rants.

[TempeAZnative]

Originally Posted by Bungle

Welcome back Loco. I missed your South Phoenix gang rants.

Why are you calling me crazy? You think it's responsible to guild transplants to an area they know nothing about. South Phoenix isn't some hidden gem in the valley. Sure the area above Baseline is nice and new, be realistic and state the truth about the area I posted about. What are the nice intersections in that area that is great for a new family starting out here. Would you send your kids to schools there? Are you saying there is no gang activity in South Phoenix? Again what is false about what I posted?

[ji603]

Originally Posted by TempeAZnative

Why are you calling me crazy? You think it's responsible to guild transplants to an area they know nothing about. South Phoenix isn't some hidden gem in the valley. Sure the area above Baseline is nice and new, be realistic and state the truth about the area I posted about. What are the nice intersections in that area that is great for a new family starting out here. Would you send your kids to schools there? Are you saying there is no gang activity in South Phoenix? Again what is false about what I posted?

Right on... This is an honest post. If you are new to the area ( or were new back in 2007 when all of the builders were falling over themselves to build new communities on every corner) then you might be forgiven for thinking that the rock block and park south are names of HOAs...). They aren't.

If two older people want to buy a house and are fine shopping at food city then OK, but don't fool yourself and send your kids to a school like nevitt or so mtn high....

[jmac1]

Originally Posted by ji603

Right on... This is an honest post. If you are new to the area ( or were new back in 2007 when all of the builders were falling over themselves to build new communities on every corner) then you might be forgiven for thinking that the rock block and park south are names of HOAs...). They aren't.

If two older people want to buy a house and are fine shopping at food city then OK, but don't fool yourself and send your kids to a school like nevitt or so mtn high....

What's wrong with shopping at Food City?

Turning your nose in the air at South Phoenix is no different than a New Yorker turning his nose in the air to all of Phoenix and the state of Arizona; they don't know any better and it appears you don't either, but you should if you read these city vs city threads enough.

The poster said it is a mighty big swatch to be painting most of S. Phoenix with. For example, why did you not mention that you could shop at Fry's on Baseline and 24th street or Smash Burger, Chipotle, Ono B-B Q, Wing Stop, Rubios, Star Buck's, IHOP, Sun Asian, GNC, Zoyo, or whatever?

Sure there are some less than desirable areas in South Phoenix. Sure it is not like Scottsdale or Gilbert where you are miles away from any "sketchy" areas; it is more like your big diverse cities such as New York, LA, Chicago, Boston, etc, where you could be in a good block one minute and a bad block the next. S. Phoenix is somewhere were you see all types of races of people and many different social economic statuses from very well off to incredibly poor, but you get affordable housing, great freeway access, and a beautiful view that you don't have to pay double for just because you prefer shopping at Basha's.

If you need 99 percent affluency around you 99 percent of the time, then South Phoenix is definitely not for you. I get the undesirable areas are undesirable, I don't tread there looking to make friends, but I do drive by/thru neighborhoods and or frequent some good mom and pop restaurants at times and I haven't seen any gang bangers yet. Maybe I am de-sensitized to a certain train of thought or what I perceive as dangerous.

One of the best restaurants in Phoenix (the Farm) and two of the best public golf courses in the state are located between Baseline and Roser on 32nd st.

People who don't live in Phoenix kill me in the way that talk so negatively about South Phoenix...incredible. You'd think it was South Chicago, or Detroit, or S Los Angeles.

[sargeant79]

Originally Posted by jmac1

What's wrong with shopping at Food City?

Turning your nose in the air at South Phoenix is no different than a New Yorker turning his nose in the air to all of Phoenix and the state of Arizona; they don't know any better and it appears you don't either, but you should if you read these city vs city threads enough.

The poster said it is a mighty big swatch to be painting most of S. Phoenix with. For example, why did you not mention that you could shop at Fry's on Baseline and 24th street or Smash Burger, Chipotle, Ono B-B Q, Wing Stop, Rubios, Star Buck's, IHOP, Sun Asian, GNC, Zoyo, or whatever?

Sure there are some less than desirable areas in South Phoenix. Sure it is not like Scottsdale or Gilbert where you are miles away from any "sketchy" areas; it is more like your big diverse cities such as New York, LA, Chicago, Boston, etc, where you could be in a good block one minute and a bad block the next. S. Phoenix is somewhere were you see all types of races of people and many different social economic statuses from very well off to incredibly poor, but you get affordable housing, great freeway access, and a beautiful view that you don't have to pay double for just because you prefer shopping at Basha's.

If you need 99 percent affluency around you 99 percent of the time, then South Phoenix is definitely not for you. I get the undesirable areas are undesirable, I don't tread there looking to make friends, but I do drive by/thru neighborhoods and or frequent some good mom and pop restaurants at times and I haven't seen any gang bangers yet. Maybe I am de-sensitized to a certain train of thought or what I perceive as dangerous.

One of the best restaurants in Phoenix (the Farm) and two of the best public golf courses in the state are located between Baseline and Roser on 32nd st.

People who don't live in Phoenix kill me in the way that talk so negatively about South Phoenix...incredible. You'd think it was South Chicago, or Detroit, or S Los Angeles.

This is such a spot on post. Diversity seems to scare the hell out of a lot of people on this board. South Phoenix isn't for everyone, but to say that all of it is ghetto is completely false. There are definitely plenty of bad parts but plenty of nice ones too. I'd elaborate more but I don't think I could say it better than Jmac1 did.

I will say that the schools in that part of town aren't very good at all, although a good chunk of the public schools in the city of Phoenix aren't very good so that isn't an issue unique to South Mountain. If I had kids and was hunting for a place to live, that would probably steer me away, but if I remember correctly the OP doesn't have kids so that isn't a consideration for them.

[TempeAZnative]

Originally Posted by sargeant79

This is such a spot on post. Diversity seems to scare the hell out of a lot of people on this board. South Phoenix isn't for everyone, but to say that all of it is ghetto is completely false. There are definitely plenty of bad parts but plenty of nice ones too. I'd elaborate more but I don't think I could say it better than Jmac1 did.

I will say that the schools in that part of town aren't very good at all, although a good chunk of the public schools in the city of Phoenix aren't very good so that isn't an issue unique to South Mountain. If I had kids and was hunting for a place to live, that would probably steer me away, but if I remember correctly the OP doesn't have kids so that isn't a consideration for them.

Diversity is a word created by white guilt and has nothing to do with South Phoenix. I'm sure you have no problem living in The Vistas(, How about the Townhouses (Cotton Center), Or Park South. You would have no problem sending your kids to school in these areas so you can expose them to diversity?