Need info on NW Phoenix suburbs (Scottsdale, Tempe: houses, rental, job)

[nicholeraynae]

Hey everyone, I am moving to the Phoenix area and I was hoping I could get some input on good places to live in the NW area. I will be working in Wickenburg, but as a young and single person I would rather live a little closer to Phoenix, and I don't mind a 30-45 minute commute to work. I was wondering what areas would be good (i.e. safe, decent rentals, etc.). I am flying out there next week to look at the neighborhoods, I thought maybe Surprise, as it seems closest to Wickenburg, but I don't know much about how safe it is or how expensive the rentals there tend to run. I know Sun City West is fairly close but I have heard that a lot of older retired people live there and that's not really the crowd I'm looking for. Any suggestions anyone would have would be greatly appreciated.

[sablebaby]

Definitely look at Surprise. It will put you the closest to Wickenburg, out of all the suburbs. It's a pretty nice place to live. The rentals (houses) are still pretty inexpensive as there are a lot of them. They tend to go for $900+ a month. I don't know though how long it takes to drive to Wickenburg. On mapquest, it shows it about 34 miles away (depending on where in surprise and where in wickenburg you are). The closer you live to Grand ave the easier and faster your commute will be. Sun City West is for the retirement age.

[Magnum Mike]

Hmmm.. are you sure you want to drive 30-45 minutes to get to work in Wickenburg everyday? We don't have that many freeways on the NW side of town, so if you pick Peoria, El-Mirage or Surprise, you won't like driving on the US 60 5 days a week. You might consider moving to the north side of town along the I-17 corridor, you can take I-17 north, then SR-74 west to Wickenburg, and that keeps your commute route away from traffic and lights on US 60/Grand Ave, especially when you drive through Surprise and Sun City.

Another option is to move as far NW along Grand Ave/US 60 as possible, away from crowded sections of Grand Ave. This way you can just get on Grand/US 60 and head directly to Wickenburg some 20 miles northwest. Plus, you'll be going against the flow of morning and evening rush hour traffic.

[sablebaby]

Originally Posted by Magnum Mike

Hmmm.. are you sure you want to drive 30-45 minutes to get to work in Wickenburg everyday? We don't have that many freeways on the NW side of town, so if you pick Peoria, El-Mirage or Surprise, you won't like driving on the US 60 5 days a week. You might consider moving to the north side of town along the I-17 corridor, you can take I-17 north, then SR-74 west to Wickenburg, and that keeps your commute route away from traffic and lights on US 60/Grand Ave, especially when you drive through Surprise and Sun City.

Another option is to move as far NW along Grand Ave/US 60 as possible, away from crowded sections of Grand Ave. This way you can just get on Grand/US 60 and head directly to Wickenburg some 20 miles northwest. Plus, you'll be going against the flow of morning and evening rush hour traffic.

I wouldn't suggest moving closer to the 17 to use that going north. It's a mess up here! All the Anthem people and who knows who else go in and out at all hours of the day and night.

[Magnum Mike]

Originally Posted by sablebaby

I wouldn't suggest moving closer to the 17 to use that going north. It's a mess up here! All the Anthem people and who knows who else go in and out at all hours of the day and night.

If you're referring to the traffic on I-17, well, if he's going to be working normal 9 to 5 hours, then he'll be okay, since he'll be going in the opposite direction of rush hour traffic.

Good point though, I've seen the "parking lot" on I-17 north of Deer Valley Rd. during the morning and evening rush hours. ADOT says they're going to start on a project to add more lanes to the freeway north of Deer Valley, well that's nice, but by the time that project is done, the freeway will need more lanes.

Another option is to live along 99th Ave, in the northwestern section of Peoria, that road takes you directly to SR-74, then you can go west to Wickenburg without too many traffic hassles.

[sablebaby]

Originally Posted by Magnum Mike

If you're referring to the traffic on I-17, well, if he's going to be working normal 9 to 5 hours, then he'll be okay, since he'll be going in the opposite direction of rush hour traffic.

But, see the weird thing is that there is just as much traffic going north on 17 at all hours of the day. We are always surprised by the amount of traffic going BOTH ways. We live a mile from the freeway and see this all the time.

[datahead30]

I have some info that might help. First is if you are young as you say,get your job moved to east side of town.West side of town is more of a hispanic area.If you can't move your job stay in Surprise area or Peoria.Good luck in your move. I am selling my house in Goodyear and moving back to Toledo as fast as I can.Prices are not so cheap here as you might think.Just remember Phoenix is now 5th largest city in U.S.. It is now 105 degrees and 110 tomorrow.

[Magnum Mike]

Originally Posted by sablebaby

But, see the weird thing is that there is just as much traffic going north on 17 at all hours of the day. We are always surprised by the amount of traffic going BOTH ways. We live a mile from the freeway and see this all the time.

Hmmm, I know it used to be that way during certain times on the weekends, when everyone goes up north on Saturday, then comes back into town on Sunday afternoon, but I didn't know it's gotten that bad.

In that case, then I'd say living close to 99th Ave north of Union Hills is probably nicholeraynae's best bet.

[sablebaby]

Originally Posted by Magnum Mike

Hmmm, I know it used to be that way during certain times on the weekends, when everyone goes up north on Saturday, then comes back into town on Sunday afternoon, but I didn't know it's gotten that bad.

In that case, then I'd say living close to 99th Ave north of Union Hills is probably nicholeraynae's best bet.

I know, it wasn't as bad in the past (and it was always worse on weekends), but now it's just so strange. I keep asking myself in the car "where are these people going?? and why?".

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by nicholeraynae

Hey everyone, I am moving to the Phoenix area and I was hoping I could get some input on good places to live in the NW area. I will be working in Wickenburg, but as a young and single person I would rather live a little closer to Phoenix, and I don't mind a 30-45 minute commute to work. I was wondering what areas would be good (i.e. safe, decent rentals, etc.). I am flying out there next week to look at the neighborhoods, I thought maybe Surprise, as it seems closest to Wickenburg, but I don't know much about how safe it is or how expensive the rentals there tend to run. I know Sun City West is fairly close but I have heard that a lot of older retired people live there and that's not really the crowd I'm looking for. Any suggestions anyone would have would be greatly appreciated.

First of all, SCW is an age restricted community-- which is severely enforced. I'm pretty sure that they recently lowered the minimum age to 50. But the problem with Surprise is that while it looks good as a spot on the map (you'll be equidistant between downtown Phoenix and Wickenburg), it's really in the middle of nothing, when it comes to urban amenities, fun things to do, and places to meet young people. Tempe and Scottsdale will still be a good 45min-1.5 hr drive, depending on the traffic. Downtown Phoenix is still at least 30 minutes on your best day. You'll be relatively closer to the Westgate area (UP stadium, Jobing.com), but still a ways off.

Plus, everytime I've been to Surprise, visiting my grandma who lives right next door in SCW, I can't help noticing how trashy the people in Surprise are! There are a lot of young people, but they are low life rednecks and gang members! I've been flipped off walking in the Target parking lot (doing absolutely noticing) by a car that looked like it was full of Hispanic gang members. I was just there on Sunday night, filling up at a QT station on Bell Rd, and overhearing the most trashy conversation I've ever heard from some girl in her early 20s and her guy friends (or were they "clients")? Every other word from her mouth was the f-word, screaming loud. Even in Tempe, where I live, people don't act like that! These are just two of the most recent anecdotal examples-- and I have many more.

Don't live under any illusions, even though a commute may look tempting when you look at a map. Wickenburg is Wickenburg, Surprise is Surprise, Phoenix is Phoenix. If you really want to take that job in Wickenburg, I would just live right there. Wickenburg has a lot of history and charm-- it's actually older than Phoenix itself! There's many people in the Phoenix area who would love to live there, but can't because they couldn't have a job there. If you have the opportunity, why not take it up?