Alta Park West Apartments, Peoria/Glendale - thoughts? (Phoenix, Scottsdale: apartment complex, renters)

[phillies]

Alta Park West

I'm moving to Phoenix in January (roadtripping from Philadelphia over New Years ). My job is located in Goodyear AZ, and unfortunately I won't have time to check out the area beforehand. I made a post a little while ago asking which area of Phoenix would be ideal for me to live (24 year old working professional male, wants to meet other young people, doesn't want too long of a commute, etc.). My friend who is moving out with me and I have been looking at apartments, and Alta Park West apartments seems like a good fit. The price isn't bad, it is a 15 minute drive from work, and it looks like a nice place to live. It's located right off the 101 at Northern Ave in Peoria/Glendale (9680 West Northern Avenue, Peoria AZ 85345).

What I want to know from the forum is how that area is. I've heard good things about Peoria, but mixed reviews about Glendale. My friend and I will probably only be in Phoenix for 6 months, unless we love it so much we decide to stay ... we want to make the most of those 6 months. The weekends will probably be spent in Scottsdale, Tempe, or exploring the Grand Canyon, Mexico, Las Vegas, etc. On weeknights, we'll probably want to spend time outside of our apartment in the Peoria/Glendale area. Is this location close to spots we can go on weeknights?

Also, if anyone lives at these apartments, a review would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Finger Laker]

Yes - it will be a good location for you

I don't know much about the building themselves, but would guess that the land was an open field not that long ago

At the 101 & Northern there is the parkwest development - this includes a Harkins movie theater, a good irish bar (auld dubliner), the Sandbar, BJs Brewhouse, Flemings, as well as a burger place, pizza places, etc

If you go down an exit on the 101 you are at westgate - on the north side of glendale you have cabelas and Native New Yorker - south of glendale you have Westgate - both sports arenas, plus other events that get setup there (like the AVP) - also a bunch of bars and restaurants (margaritaville, yard house, saddle ranch and a bunch of others)

You're also about 10-15 minutes up to the 83rd ave and bell / arrowhead mall / peoria sports complex area ..... there is a ton to do there as well, restaurant and bars galore

if you like spring training you are also within easy striking distance to 5 ballparks and 9 teams

will take you a little bit longer to get to scottsdale/tempe on the weekend, but definitely doable - just be careful with driving after a night out

Also a good starting point to get to MX, LV and up north - will take you a bit longer for heading to points east

also, very importantly, your commute to goodyear shouldn't be more than 20 minutes

[HX_Guy]

I've seen those off the freeway and they look nice, a little different than your typical apartment complex out here...more "urban hip" if you can call something out in the suburbs that.

It's right next to a new "lifestyle centers" or whatever they call those where it's made to look like a Main St. type place with stores/restaurants lined up on each side and you can drive and park right in front like in a downtown setting. It has a nice theatre and a few bars/restaurants.

[Howard Roark]

Why don't you check them out from Apartment Ratings :: The leading source of apartment reviews by renters for renters. - however you need to scrutinize the posts and see for yourself if they seem unique and not from the same person.

[cmist]

If I was in your shoes, and had to live on the west side, I would definitely pick something either near Arrowhead Mall or Westgate like you are. Thats where the highest concentration of things to do are at on this side of town.

Arrowhead is a little older and more established with a pretty big mall and restaurants galore, whereas Westgate area near the stadium is newer and developing but still has enough to do.

[Radical_Car]

Originally Posted by Howard Roark

Why don't you check them out from Apartment Ratings :: The leading source of apartment reviews by renters for renters. - however you need to scrutinize the posts and see for yourself if they seem unique and not from the same person.

YES

Is apartmentratings.com accurate? | Ask Metafilter
Honestly, I look at tons of apartments on there all over the country, both cheap and extremely expensive ones in like Los Angeles or San Francisco, and the majority from what I have seen gets bad reviews. The one my cousin used to live in, don't remember the name it was in a suburb of Minneapolis, had like 10% on there and a ton of bad bad reviews, like 40-50 reviews with only a few good reviews, and there was nothing wrong with the apartment, the management was nice and the place wasn't a dump. The few good reviews only said like this apartment rocked! I helped my cousin find his apartment, and didn't look there until after he lived there for a bit, and we were shocked.

My apartment on there, the few reviews there are, are 1 star reviews, saying theres little closet place, very rude management, and bad parking. The manager is very nice, the parking isn't bad, its right in front of the building by the entrance(don't understand how that is bad, what do they want? to park their car in their kitchen and a road leading from the outside right into it?), and theres plenty of closet space, unless you have like 500 pairs of shoes or something.

I take rating sites like that with a grain of salt, and I read the reviews and see if they list valid reasons why it sucks, if they post like a 1-2 sentence review saying it sucks and not giving a reason other then it sucks, then I am going to ignore it, or if they were violating their lease and are writing a bad review to complain, I will also ignore the review. Dont just look at the ratings, read them, and most importantly, take them with a grain of salt.