Crime in Peoria/North Glendale (Phoenix, Surprise: violent crime, how much, houses)

[davidafan]

We are looking at Peoria and the 85308 area of Glendale as potential areas to relocate, since my husband is being transferred by his company to west Glendale out by Camelback and the 101. I was just reading the thread about the poor person who got their door kicked in in Ahwatukee, and now I am really getting concerned about relocating to the Phoenix area in general. I just researched the crimes in Peoria on this site, and it said that there were 1329 burglaries in Peoria in 2007! HUH??? I guess I kind of thought that Peoria was a "safe" suburb, as compared to south Glendale or Phoenix itself. The suburbs where we live now have only a fraction of that number of burglaries and are considered safe places to live.

Sooo...I guess what I am asking is, would you, as a resident of the Phoenix area, feel safe living in the Peoria area that is NW of the 101 or in the corridor of N. Glendale and N. Phoenix that is north of the 101 in the Deer Valley district? When I studied crime maps on other websites, those areas didn't seem to have much crime at all, but then it says here that there were 1329 burglaries in one year just in Peoria? The reason that I am so concerned is that my husband will be going to work at 5 AM everyday. I am an RN, so when I get a job, whether I work days or nights, my schedule will overlap with his at some point, and we have two kids, 15 and almost 18 who I DON'T want to be at home alone if and when some lowlife scumbag kicks our door in! Just the thought of it makes me completely sick. Even though our son is graduating from high school in a week or so, I still don't feel that he is "adult" enough to have to deal with a burglar. any thoughts???

Thanks!

[JDish2000]

I've lived in the PHX area my entire life:

From the barrio in Glendale to the suburb of Peoria growing up, then to Surprise for most of my adult life.

My experience has taught me to just be aware of your surroundings and take precautions just as you would when "defensive driving" to avoid car accidents.

I have not had any trouble personally but property crimes are one of the most common around. Unfortunately, a criminal-type will take advantage when he or she feels they have one to take...

[roundball]

Peoria is a long city. The southern and northern parts are very different.

We live in 85308. I've never herd of anything like that iin our community. A good portion of the people on our street leave their garage doors open all day. If they fell safe enough to do that I'm sure you'll be fine.

You could always get a dog.

[davidafan]

Thanks, that makes me feel much, much better. And actually, we do have two dogs, although they are small breeds, a Boston Terrier and a Westie, so I don't know how much protection they would actually be in a pinch...

What I don't understand, is how crime stats can vary so much between sites. Could be it's because on one site I only researched certain zip code areas and this site just gives stats for the entire city. Since Peoria is long and stretched out, maybe a lot of those burglaries happened in the southern end of town?

[observer53]

Originally Posted by davidafan

Thanks, that makes me feel much, much better. And actually, we do have two dogs, although they are small breeds, a Boston Terrier and a Westie, so I don't know how much protection they would actually be in a pinch...

What I don't understand, is how crime stats can vary so much between sites. Could be it's because on one site I only researched certain zip code areas and this site just gives stats for the entire city. Since Peoria is long and stretched out, maybe a lot of those burglaries happened in the southern end of town?

It could. And, if you look carefully, sites provide stats for different time periods, so you have to compare apples to apples, or look for trends over time.

Your dogs will be zero protection, but if we are just talking burglary when no one is home, a house with yapping dogs, all other things being equal, might well be passed over for one without them.

[Finger Laker]

one of my coworkers husbands worked in glendale and found patrolling 85308 to be pretty boring - said he spent most of his time dealing with shoplifting at the arrowhead mall

i lived in 85308 when I first moved down and didn't really have much concern for crime

[blisterpeanuts]

I'm in north Glendale around 59th ave and Union Hills, 85308. There seems to be basically zero crime around here, except for the occasional teen prank. The police crime reports can be seen on the Arizona Republic website:

Arizona Crime Search - Crime In Arizona - Phoenix Crime Search - azcentral.com

There is some property crime, including burglary and car theft, but you know, this is a big city with major car theft so just lock your car, maybe use a Club, and get a Lojack. Every city in the country has crime I'm afraid. Most of the violent crimes in this neighborhood are probably between people who know each other, such as domestic assault incidents.

I'd say it's not like living in a small town where people leave their doors unlocked, but we've not heard of anything in a year and a half living here, nor from our neighbors who've been here 5-10 years either.

Make sure you have a security door, maybe get an alarm, and you should be OK.

[andrzejn]

I lived in 85308 4 years ago and one time we left our garage door open when we went on a weeks vacation. The house was in perfect shape when we returned.

[roundball]

Originally Posted by andrzejn

I lived in 85308 4 years ago and one time we left our garage door open when we went on a weeks vacation. The house was in perfect shape when we returned.

ha ha. That sounds about right. We moved here from a small city in ND (3rd largest) and even though this zip code has a larger population we feel safer overall.

I would rather live downtown. I find that Arrowhead is a bit Midwest boring. We have 5 kids so for the next 20 years or so we will stick it out here.

[homlish560]

Ya know people, crime happens everywhere!!!!!!!!!

You can find things like property crimes, assaults, and crack houses in the most up-scale areas.

Sickos that prey on little kids are found in the nice Suburban around schools and playgrounds where children congregate.

Just because there are nice neighborhoods in sections like Arrowhead, Kierland, Anthem, or Tatum Ridge doesn't mean they're free of crime. The best thing anybody can do is start a Block watch program and keep an eye out for anybody suspicious.