question about Guadalupe (Tucson, Tempe: apartments, violent crime, Home Depot)

[bona0718]

I will be moving to Tempe in July - Specifically Priest Drive almost right smack in the middle of Elliot and Guadalupe Roads - though I'm closer to the intersection of Elliot.

Can anyone tell me how this area is? The Priest Drive stretch through Guadalupe looked pretty rough. Are the surrounding areas particularly high in crime?

I've heard that there are gangs in Guadalupe, and that they sometimes cause problems in the surrounding areas. Just looking for some opinions.

[aj661]

Try plodding through the thread that was closed last month. You'll probably find your answers in it.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/phoen...guadalupe.html

[gabygirl]

My mother and sister lived in the area for many, many years. I don't think it's a bad area, mostly residential, but yes BEWARE at night because people break into cars! My mother had hers broken into and it seems that the area brekas out in crime overnight, just because the area borders a reservation area where many young ones with nothing better to do get bored. There are many illegals living there among the Native Am. population, and just recently Sheriff Arpaio was conducting a sweep thru there but then the city of G. got involved and now basically the sheriff told the town "you're on your own" once their contract is up. The controversy continues...
Basically, I'd feel pretty safe living there, just lock up good at night. Hope this helps!

[homesweetazhome]

That is a particularly unsafe area. There are so many nice areas to choose from in the valley but that is not one of them.

[Drozz]

I used to live in Signature Place Apartments off of West grove Parkway right around there and liked everything about the area except Guadalupe...that area is really close to everything, and is easy to get to a lot of places from there, but the post about the cars getting broken into is correct.....It is a bad area for not only getting broken into, but getting your car stolen ....i know a cop in Tempe who said that area is one of the worst for petty crime, mostly because of Guadalupe, and a lot of car get stolen there because of the access to I-10.....hop in the stolen car and 3 minutes later you are well on you way to Tucson and beyond.....I dont think theres very much as far as violent crime that goes on around there though

[twiggy]

Mostly theift but someone was shot in the K-mart off Guad between priest and the freeway. Also I know that Arizona Mills Mall had a lot of gang problems. It's a ok area, if you don't mind the grocery store with weapon detectors as you enter than .......... I was a little freaked about that when I went to their Safeway I think it was. Well, now that I think about it, it's not that great. Maybe between bad and ok. I use to have a friend in those apts and she hated it. Moved as quick as pos. So, not so good. Not as bad as we have though, not by any means.

[azriverfan]

I wouldn't live there. Like another person said, there are so many nicer parts of the valley. Guadalupe was a lot worse 10 years ago. Since the inception of Arizona Mills, its seems like Guadalupe is slowly disappearing as development has gone north of Elliot and those old buildings were torn down. It's a poor Hispanic area that is perfectly fine during the day but at night, you could run into problems.

[azriverfan]

Originally Posted by twiggy

Mostly theift but someone was shot in the K-mart off Guad between priest and the freeway. Also I know that Arizona Mills Mall had a lot of gang problems. It's a ok area, if you don't mind the grocery store with weapon detectors as you enter than .......... I was a little freaked about that when I went to their Safeway I think it was. Well, now that I think about it, it's not that great. Maybe between bad and ok. I use to have a friend in those apts and she hated it. Moved as quick as pos. So, not so good. Not as bad as we have though, not by any means.

Maybe there was a Kmart there in the past but there is no longer any Kmart or Safeway between Elliot and Baseline off Priest. Maybe I'm thinking of a different area?

[bona0718]

Thanks for the info. I will just have to be sure to put a lock on the steering wheel and make sure its equipped with an alarm.

You can never be too careful these days unfortunately.

Thanks again for all your help!

[twiggy]

Originally Posted by azriverfan

Maybe there was a Kmart there in the past but there is no longer any Kmart or Safeway between Elliot and Baseline off Priest. Maybe I'm thinking of a different area?

No, I use to live in the Lakes in Tempe and was over there quite a bit. They closed the K-Mart, I believe it's a Home Depot now but the shooting was right before it closed and I guess the Safeway closed too, is there another store in it's place? I'm just old and have been here a long time. ha ha
The AZ Mills mall is still there isn't it? I hope so, they have some good outlets in that mall.