Commuting from SOuth Scottsdale to North Scottsdale (Phoenix, Tempe: job, home)

[KapadC]

Moving from Philly to Phoenix area.

So we saw place we liked in the Southern part of Scottsdale. Specifically, it is near the intersection of:

Hayden and Indian School Road

And my wife would be commuting to near the intersection of: Hayden and Redfield (not far from airport from the looks of it on the map).

Google maps and Mapquest make it sound so easy, 10-12 miles, 15 minutes. It can't be that good. How backed up is the 101 going North (towards Airport) during morning rush hour? And coming back on 101 South during evening rush hour?

Also, it actually does look the 81 bus goes up in that direction. Is this a viable and safe option?

Look forward to your responses!! Can't wait to get out there !

[Magnum Mike]

If by "North Scottsdale" you mean around Hayden Rd and Frank Lloyd Wright, do yourself a big favor, buy a bike and live in that north Scottsdale area, unless you like getting stuck in traffic or wait for busses when it's 115 degrees in the afternoon in July. I worked in that area when it was still all desert, from 1987 until 1993, then from 2003 until 2004, and I've seen the mess that was created, thanks to the poor planning, or lack of thereof, by the City of Scottsdale. If you want to see what I'm talking about, visit north Scottsdale around 5:00 PM, and try to drive from Hayden to Frank Lloyd Wright, then get on the 101. Or from Raintree, which is about a mile south of Frank Lloyd Wright, to the 101.

For as many, shopping centers, businesses, office buildings and multi-tenant residential buildings they have in that area of North Scottsdale, the city definitely did a very poor job in their planning of roads.

[43north87west]

Originally Posted by KapadC

Moving from Philly to Phoenix area.

So we saw place we liked in the Southern part of Scottsdale. Specifically, it is near the intersection of:

Hayden and Indian School Road

And my wife would be commuting to near the intersection of: Hayden and Redfield (not far from airport from the looks of it on the map).

Google maps and Mapquest make it sound so easy, 10-12 miles, 15 minutes. It can't be that good. How backed up is the 101 going North (towards Airport) during morning rush hour? And coming back on 101 South during evening rush hour?

Also, it actually does look the 81 bus goes up in that direction. Is this a viable and safe option?

Look forward to your responses!! Can't wait to get out there !

Nice location.

I presently live a few blocks from the Scottsdale Airport. At one point I was commuting to here in the early AM from Tempe, around 7:30AM. The commute was not bad and that was within the last 1 year. I used the 101, which was heavy from the south but let up a lot after Indian Bend. By heavy I mean stop and go, or slow, but not gridlocked.

You could probably make use of Hayden or Scottsdale Rd as well. There is a lot of volume into the Scottsdale Airpark area, but it's not the end of the world. The 101 can get heavy going south in the afternoons, not made any better by the construction taking place right now. Hayden is a pretty decent alternative. Volume on Hayden seems to be heaviest during the times that would place people at work around each hour, but lets up significantly in between.

Can't imagine that the bus would be unsafe. The Scottsdale Airpark area is nice, a major business area, and surrounded by nice residential. Which brings me to my next point: there are some really nice residential areas within earshot of the Scottsdale Airpark. But you wouldn't have the Old Town Scottsdale area at your immediate disposal, plus you didn't mention if you were working in that area.

Good luck.

[silverbear]

81 bus -- a slow ride with lots of stops along the way, but it might not be much slower than driving at rush hour. It would certainly be cheaper, and I can't think of any reason to fear for your safety. In fact, just about anything seems safer than driving on the 101.

[ivanabacowboy]

From Hayden and Indian School to Hayden and Redfield I would DEFINITELY AVOID the 101 at peak rush hour (and most other times lol). Take Hayden all the way up is your best bet. Or cut over to Scottsdale Rd and take that up. You are right about say 10-12 miles. She will have a much easier commute going surface streets. One accident on the 101 backs up miles. (Actually sometimes no accidents and just the right number of air molecules in the atmosphere back up the 101 miles lol!). I am not kidding-in the amount of time it takes alone just to navigate ONTO the 101 with the mess of 9999999 lanes and poorly timed traffic lights at FLW say, your wife would be 3/4 of the way home already. ;-) Using surface streets, even if there is an accident, you are generally not more than 1 mile from somewhere you can cut over to the next parallel road.

I work at Scottsdale Rd and Camelback-just I think about a mile or so (if that) north of Indian School. I take Scottsdale Rd for my commute which is about 10 miles. I live close to Scottsdale Airpark. I've never tried the buses out here.

[Climacus]

Busses in Phoenix can be somewhat unpredictable (they may run anywhere from 5 minutes early to 15 minutes late), but with the 81 it is a straight shot without messing with transfers and that route is definitely safe, it's worth experimenting with it to save the money on gas.

[HX_Guy]

If you take Hayden all the way down, it will cut about 4 miles off your commute each way (40 miles a week...160 miles a month, it adds up) and during rush hour I can't image it taking longer then making your way to the 101 and dealing with the rush hour traffic on there. I don't think it will take 15 minutes during peak hours, but probably around 35 minutes on the safe side.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by KapadC

Moving from Philly to Phoenix area.

So we saw place we liked in the Southern part of Scottsdale. Specifically, it is near the intersection of:

Hayden and Indian School Road

And my wife would be commuting to near the intersection of: Hayden and Redfield (not far from airport from the looks of it on the map).

Google maps and Mapquest make it sound so easy, 10-12 miles, 15 minutes. It can't be that good. How backed up is the 101 going North (towards Airport) during morning rush hour? And coming back on 101 South during evening rush hour?

Also, it actually does look the 81 bus goes up in that direction. Is this a viable and safe option?

Look forward to your responses!! Can't wait to get out there !

That's the location I work in and I have to say that 101 stinks! I was taking N from Gilbert and S in the afternoon. It's so slow I had trouble keeping awake. I started taking an alternate route through Fountain Hills but that won't help you.


BTW welcome to Phoenix, I was just in Philly a few months ago have family there.