Walkable cities/towns/areas in Arizona (Phoenix, Tucson: lease, neighborhood, buy)

[Jozeph]

Hello, lately I have been thinking about moving to Arizona. I would like to move to an area that is walkable to stores (such as supermarkets) and has easy access to public transport (not as important as the first criterion).

I found a similar thread on here, but it dates back to a few years ago, and maybe certain things have changed (infrastructure ... etc), thus I am posting a new thread on here, hoping to get some more up-to-date information with regard to the topic.

The following are the walkable cities/towns/areas that I have found based on the previous posting -

1. Parts of Tucson (around University of Arizona)
2. Midtown (the poster didn't specify the location)
3. Parts of Temp (more specifically?)
4. Bisbee (the whole city is walkable)
5. Old Town (not downtown?) Scottsdale
6. Flagstaff (more specifically?)
7. Prescott by the square (what is the official name of that square?) & near Camelback (where is that?)
8. City of Glendale (more specifically?)
9. Tombstone (the whole city?)
10. Nogales (the whole city?)
11. Douglas
12. Winslow
13. Page

Are those cities/towns/areas really walkable?

I have never been to Arizona before and I really need you guys help. Please help me!?

I apologize if by posting this thread somehow has offended someone on here, as it is not my intention to cause any negative emotions.

[agorski]

Originally Posted by Jozeph

7. Prescott by the square (what is the official name of that square?) & near Camelback (where is that?)

It's the Courthouse Square. There's no Camelback anywhere in the area.

I live 1 mile from the Square and often hike to the library and downtown businesses. There's currently no grocery store in the downtown area, though, since Haggen's closed.

[infocyde]

Prescott Arizona town square area was very walkable. With the closest main grocery store going out (another Haggen) you'd have to walk a few miles to get to a full service grocery store though. Hopefully that will be rectified in the next year. But there is a Walgreens and some other convenience stores near by for some stuff. Other than that you have post office, restaurants, churches, stuff going in the town square, shops, all within a few blocks...pretty decent/walkable area for a smaller town. Another plus is the weather. It does get hot in the Summer but not blazing hot like down in the Valley. You get some nice decorative snow fall in the Winter with maybe only a week or two of real cold.

One bad thing though is public transport is limited. I think there is one "bus" that goes around twice a day in Prescott, but it's route is pretty limited. So if you need to go out of that town square you will need access to a car or taxi.

Another possible negative is that during the weekends during the summer the town square usually has something tourist related going on and it does get kinda mobbed. If you don't mind people that shouldn't be an issue. The rest of the year the square is vibrant but not crazy.

Whatever you decide, I highly recommend visiting a few areas first. If you can't swing that and still decide to move out try to find a place to rent with a short lease so if you don't like the area you picked you aren't stuck there forever.

Good luck

[Valley Native]

There are a fair share of small towns that have very walkable central cores. To name a few: Jerome, Bisbee, Williams, Globe, Wickenburg, Winslow, Nogales, Douglas. Some of the less walkable smaller towns are Payson, Parker, Chino Valley, Heber, Pinetop/Lakeside, Camp Verde, Cottonwood, Gila Bend.

[observer53]

Camelback is a reference to part of Phoenix, but I'm not quite sure exactly where they are referring to. Walkablity and transit, to me, are not great along Camelback Road.


Tempe (not "Temp") in terms of combination of walkability and public transit is probably your best option in metro Phoenix. There are parts of Phoenix (such as Ahwatukee) and Glendale (downtown area mostly) which are served by free neighborhood circulator buses, which help with the walk-or-at least-don't-use-a-car-for-all-travel. Tempe has those as well, in the northern half of the city, as well as light rail and good bus service. www.valleymetro.org is the site for public transit info in metro Phoenix.


Outside of metro Phoenix, Tucson, and Flagstaff, there really is no public transportation.


Remember that walkability in the Phoenix area in the summer is a whole different concept. Tucson, too, though it's a bit cooler there.

[Deelighted]

Tombstone: Is a very walkable town but it will be quite crowded on the weekends. I visited there yesterday and there were a lot of people in town probably due to the gorgeous weather. There seems to be only a small grocery store called Apache Market, so it would appear that going to Sierra Vista for groceries would be necessary. Unfortunately, there is not public transit in Tombstone.

Sierra Vista: You didn't ask about SV, but it does have a public transit system. Some areas of SV would be walkable but it would depend on where you resided. There are many walking trails in the city, and there are 3 grocery stores in the city (Fry's, Safeway and Whole Foods) in addition to a lot of other shopping. SV only has a walk score of 23.

In case you are perhaps retiring to AZ, I'll mention Huachuca City

Huachuca City: A small town just outside of Sierra Vista. Huachuca City provides free public transportation into Sierra Vista for seniors and the disabled. HC is small with only a Dollar General for shopping, and it does have a friendly, welcoming senior center.

[jamies]

Bisbee is walkable - for a goat, a goat in good cardio condition.

Flagstaff is definitely walkable. Maybe best in the state. IMHO

Prescott downtown, yes is walkable. Watch the traffic.

Tombstone is walkable - about as walkable as a tourist trap. You can walk right out of town in about three blocks.

Williams is walkable and quaint.

Sedona is walkable, or hikable, carry a walking stick.

Kingman is walkable, carry a gun.

Bullhead is walkable, when it isn't 130 degrees or the wind isn't blowing, carry a couple of guns.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by jamies

Bisbee is walkable - for a goat, a goat in good cardio condition.

Flagstaff is definitely walkable. Maybe best in the state. IMHO

Prescott downtown, yes is walkable. Watch the traffic.

Tombstone is walkable - about as walkable as a tourist trap. You can walk right out of town in about three blocks.

Williams is walkable and quaint.

Sedona is walkable, or hikable, carry a walking stick.

Kingman is walkable, carry a gun.

Bullhead is walkable, when it isn't 130 degrees or the wind isn't blowing, carry a couple of guns.

To the OP--
Ignore this poster's comments about guns. He thinks it's amusing to put "Welcome to Arizona, buy a gun" or words to that effect in every thread by a potential newcomer.


Flagstaff downtown is very walkable. Grocery stores are not downtown, though, and are not necessarily convenient to walk to, depending on where you live. Flagstaff is not like metro Phoenix, where there are one or more grocery stores at many, in some areas most, major intersections. To get from one end of Flagstaff to the other, use the bus.

[elkotronics]

Willcox, AZ, is walkable. Sorta breezy from time ta time, too, as I recall.

[Jozeph]

Hello, thank you all very much for sharing your knowledge on the topic!

After reading your responses, I have come up with a few questions -

1. Is Courthouse Square as the same as Town Square, Prescott?

2. Where is "The Valley"? (thank you for the suggestion, infocyde )

3. Is it correct to say that Tempe has the best public transport when compared with Metro Phoenix, Tucson & Flagstaff? (Thank you for the link, observer53 )

4. Which cities (or suburbs) in Phoenix Metropolitan Area are "more" polluted? How about Tempe?

5. Are Fry's, Safeway and Whole Foods within walking distance in Sierra Vista? (thank you for mentioning SV, Deelighted )

6. Is it true that even though it does get real hot in summer, the humidity is pretty low and thus it's just "dry heat" in Arizona? Does it sometimes get humid?

Thank you all once again!