Copper Square (Phoenix, Tempe: apartments, lofts, condos)

[e602043]

Has anyone been to or is lving in Copper Square? I see on the internet Phoenix is building up this area. Is it a nice area?
Thinking about relocating and would like to be in a place where all of life's amenities are in walking distance, such as a food market, restaurants. etc.

Thanks,

[silverbear]

"Copper Square" is an artificial marketing name created for what most Phoenicians know simply as "Downtown." There's even been some discussion of moving away from "Copper Square" because of its artificiality.

Regardless of what it's called, Downtown is very much a work in progress. It's better today than it was five years ago and will be even better five years from now. Nevertheless, there is no neighborhood in the Phoenix Metro Area in which all of life's amenities are currently within walking distance.

Right now, Downtown offers a limited, but growing, selection of bars and restaurants and a small farmer's market. The nearest grocery and drugstore are about a mile north of the heart of Downtown on McDowell Rd. That will change in the years to come. The CityScape development under construction will feature an AJ's market, for example. Nevertheless, it will require time.

[vegaspilgrim]

It doesn't sound very glamorous, but if you absolutely had to live in the Phoenix area with no car, I would suggest living in an "old suburban," close-in location that is serviced by numerous bus lines. Northern/central Tempe is a good example. In addition to the Valley Metro bus lines covering every major 1 mile street, there is a free Orbit circulator bus that goes right through the neighborhoods, meandering its way through destinations like the ASU campus (think libraries, Gammage auditorium, speakers, museums, cultural events), Mill Ave (nightlife, restaurants, people watching) and the new Tempe Marketplace (an outdoor shopping mall with all the retail stores you could ever want, a movie theater, and more restaurants). Again, it doesn't sound very glamorous, but there are numerous "hole in the wall" apartments off streets like Broadway Rd & Jentilly Ln where you'd be one block south of the Orbit route and literally a 60 second walk from Safeway (NEC of Broadway & Rural), as well as a few bars and restaurants within a half mile or less walk. There are many people in this area who live without cars, it's just that it's normally because they're poor and can't afford a car, not because it's some kind of "lifestyle" statement. Walking and bicycling on the sidewalks of major streets with cars whizzing past you at 40mph, crossing major intersections, and waiting in the heat for busses is no fun, but that's precisely what thousands of poor people around Phoenix do every single day.

[synapse]

Originally Posted by e602043

Has anyone been to or is lving in Copper Square? I see on the internet Phoenix is building up this area. Is it a nice area?
Thinking about relocating and would like to be in a place where all of life's amenities are in walking distance, such as a food market, restaurants. etc.

Thanks,

Copper Square is a marketing name for downtown Phoenix. Some people hate the moniker - I think it's nice. Regardless, yes, it's a rapidly building area. There's a bunch of new condos and restaurants going in - one of the most exciting, which will be finished a year or two from now, including a large city park and a grocery store, about the same time light rail goes on-line connecting a lot of other amenities to downtown.

The problem right now is that all of that is about two years away. Right now you run into the problem that while there's a farmer's market, there isn't a grocery store. While there will be plenty of drug stores along the light rail line, there isn't one downtown yet (surprisingly) and the light rail isn't running yet. There's restaurants, but a lot of them don't stay open late unless there's a game because there aren't enough residents - yet - to support that, though there will be soon because new condos are going in and are very popular.

So it's a good place to go into, but there may be some frustration at first because not everything is walking or light rail distance yet. Once light rail and the grocery store is there, I think that will start to make the place really boom. It's got a ways to go yet, but downtown and "Copper Square" is light years over where it was even ten years ago.

[Greatday]

Originally Posted by e602043

Has anyone been to or is lving in Copper Square? I see on the internet Phoenix is building up this area. Is it a nice area?
Thinking about relocating and would like to be in a place where all of life's amenities are in walking distance, such as a food market, restaurants. etc.

I have previously lived in the Copper Square area - a targeted area for redevelopment by the City of Phoenix. The area is definitly in transition.

In the Copper Square area, there are new or newer multifamily residential - including apartments, condos, lofts an townhomes. There are two sports areneas - Diamondbacks and Suns - in the area. Numerous resturants and clubs are open or opening (Personally, I go to Alice Cooperstown a lot!). Arizona Center, a multi use area with corporate tenants, and retail is there.

There is an on going project for a major commerical and residential development in the area formally known as Patriots park. The new Light Rail goes through the Copper Square area.

The downside currently is the lack of grocery shopping within easy walking distance. There is some within a couple of miles (7th Street and McDowell). This said, Bashas Markets has indicated they might put a retail grocery store in the area in the next year or two.

IMO, it's worth a look

Good luck