Renting in Central Phoenix? (Glendale, Scottsdale: rentals, condo, houses)

[synapse]

We are trying to rent a home in Central Phoenix - near the Biltmore or the Central light rail - but are finding that a lot of the homes in that area are older or in somewhat iffy areas, or in buildings that look surprisingly poorly built. *Are* there homes in the Central Phoenix area that make for good rentals? I'd prefer that more city-like experience than suburbia, which even the outer parts of Phoenix feel like.

[jd433]

Originally Posted by synapse

We are trying to rent a home in Central Phoenix - near the Biltmore or the Central light rail - but are finding that a lot of the homes in that area are older or in somewhat iffy areas, or in buildings that look surprisingly poorly built. *Are* there homes in the Central Phoenix area that make for good rentals? I'd prefer that more city-like experience than suburbia, which even the outer parts of Phoenix feel like.

Do you really mean to say that all those homes look ghetto, or run down??? I think that would be the correct word. Well thats Phoenix for you. If you want a city like experience and must satay in the valley I would try Scottsdale, central Phoenix is sketchy at best. Especially the areas along Washington on the rail route. Downtown Phoenix gets kind of erie like a ghost town at night and you deffinately dont want to be around any of those streets named after a president. You will see what I mean.

[synapse]

Originally Posted by jd433

Do you really mean to say that all those homes look ghetto, or run down??? I think that would be the correct word. Well thats Phoenix for you. If you want a city like experience and must satay in the valley I would try Scottsdale, central Phoenix is sketchy at best. Especially the areas along Washington on the rail route. Downtown Phoenix gets kind of erie like a ghost town at night and you deffinately dont want to be around any of those streets named after a president. You will see what I mean.

Um...yeah...that is kind of what I meant to say. But come on, the *entire* area around Central Phoenix can't be like that. I don't mean downtown, downtown. I mean upward Central, like towards Central and Camelback, maybe no further south than Indian School, say. I mean, seriously, you bring in light rail, you bring in new restaurants, you bring in investments, even in a down economy, surely *something* gets built or remodled.

[Robert A]

Originally Posted by jd433

Do you really mean to say that all those homes look ghetto, or run down??? I think that would be the correct word. Well thats Phoenix for you. If you want a city like experience and must satay in the valley I would try Scottsdale, central Phoenix is sketchy at best. Especially the areas along Washington on the rail route. Downtown Phoenix gets kind of erie like a ghost town at night and you deffinately dont want to be around any of those streets named after a president. You will see what I mean.

Wow. It's like you've never actually been to Central Phoenix.

To answer the original question - I'd maybe look around the Melrose area (7th Ave between Indian School and Camelback) for a rental. Cute area and close enough to the light rail. Willo, too. I don't know if we're allowed to link to craigslist listings (I guess they'll get deleted if we're not), but I found these:

Great Willo Tudor for Rent, Central Phoenix
Willo Historic Home w/ Guest House + Pool (Walk to Light Rail)

[synapse]

Originally Posted by Robert A

Wow. It's like you've never actually been to Central Phoenix.

To answer the original question - I'd maybe look around the Melrose area (7th Ave between Indian School and Camelback) for a rental. Cute area and close enough to the light rail. Willo, too. I don't know if we're allowed to link to craigslist listings (I guess they'll get deleted if we're not), but I found these:

Great Willo Tudor for Rent, Central Phoenix
Willo Historic Home w/ Guest House + Pool (Walk to Light Rail)

Thanks, that is helpful. I don't get it. In Chicago, the central areas were the most desirable, getting worse and worse the further out from the Loop you get until you were in nice suburbs. Here for the most part it's the opposite.

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by synapse

Thanks, that is helpful. I don't get it. In Chicago, the central areas were the most desirable, getting worse and worse the further out from the Loop you get until you were in nice suburbs. Here for the most part it's the opposite.

I live in Willo, the walk to light rail is 5-15 minutes depending upon location. Downtown is 8 minutes away on the train. The homes are brick or block, not styrofoam and chickenwire stucco like the suburbs. Plaster walls, coved ceilings, antique fixtures. There are a fair number of rentals at the moment. There is much more of a sense of community than I experienced in the 23 years that I lived in the outlying parts of Phoenix.

The Willo Home Tour is coming up in a week and a half, if you want to see what the place is like.

[lyzzard]

Phoenix is a checkerboard when it comes to poverty and well-to-do places, they lay right next to each other. There are a few semi-decent residential area's, but you really have to look for them. What most of the places downtown people will rent now are going to be condo's (not sure if they're even done being built), not houses. Phoenix wants to keep those ghetto homes in the hopes that people will restore them. They actually give grants just for that, but you have to actually qualify, and there's no guarantee that people are going to spend the money on that alone (the ones who would generally don't qualify). Many of those people have also been there for a very long time.

You're more likely to find better homes if you expand your search just a little more such as: anywhere on Central north of Camelback $$$; the Madison district; some areas around Maryland between 16th St. and 15th Ave; some around Campbell even, but even then the homes are going to be older. A lot were built in the 1950's. The newer homes are going to be built farther away, such as Surprise, northern Glendale, North (north/deervalleyish think Happy Valley Road) Phoenix, even N.E. Phoenix/Scottsdale border area, etc...

If you want to be in the mix, you'll also find that being in the mix doesn't necessarily mean being near "downtown", or having to live downtown. Phoenix, imo, doesn't have that same "city-like" feel that other large cities have, it doesn't need it.