Any urban areas to live in metro phoenix

[nickw252]

Originally Posted by w1ngzer0

That's the key point i was trying to get. It is a solution for people that move a lot. I wasn't sure if you were wanting to stay here, in Phoenix, for a longtime. If you are wanting to live in Phoenix for 20 to 30 years, and living a place renting, wouldn't make sense to me. I figured with that length of time you'd want to buy?

I suppose i should have made these kind of comments in my first post.

I'm not trying to argue with you or make a big deal about it, im only curious and am only asking questions as such.

I understand what you were getting at, didn't mean to sound argumentative either

Anyway, I'm a young professional with no kids and just don't want to be tied down to a certain lifestyle for a long period of time.

[smarty]

Originally Posted by slowbill

I thought prices of homes in Arizona have dropped tremendously? Who is paying $400,000 to live in Arizona anymore? Heck who makes $130,000 a year to buy a $400,000 house anywhere.

Plenty of people with good jobs... physicians, lawyers, sales, CEOs, ....

Here in Boston MA area... Median house price for Q4 2008 is $335K dropped 12% from 2007. In many good suburbs are Median house/Condo prices are still in the $500-600K range.

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area is $525K down 38%. [vs Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale $155K down 35%]

Just remember RENT always track with salary. A Yale professor find housing prices traditionally is 15X annual rent. If rent is $12K/yr, the property should only sell for $180K. To sell at $400K, monthly rent should be ~$2300.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by nickw252

What is the best area for young, well educated professionals to live in, in particular an area that is urban, served by public transportation, and has walkable neighborhoods.

From what I've seen, Tempe and Mesa look nice. Any other suggestions?

I can't think of any portion of Mesa that meets these criteria. Downtown Tempe comes pretty close, although the influx of "well educated professionals" (as opposed to students) has slowed somewhat due to the cancellation of several condominium projects. Still, I think proximity to light rail will keep the Mill Avenue district in play as a destination urban neighborhood.

Two other areas you should consider:

Downtown Phoenix -- Still patchy with lots of vacant lots, but it's becoming a place for your target population to live. It's well served by public transit with light rail and numerous bus routes passing through. Ever since rail service started, Downtown has seemed more lively. I think Downtown will continue to improve despite the setbacks from the real estate crash.

Old Town Scottsdale -- Sometimes charming, sometimes kitschy, sometimes classy, sometimes tacky, but generally quite walkable. The main drawback is that transit service in Scottsdale suffers in comparison to Tempe and Phoenix. Scottsdale sat out the first phase of the light rail project and generally has less frequent bus service than Phoenix and Tempe. There is a system of faux trolleys (buses made to look like old trolleys) in Old Town, but they're on loop routes serving only Scottsdale and don't really connect to the rest of the metro area.