79th Avenue and McDowell Road (Phoenix, Avondale: rental, crime, townhouse)

[atl85]

My wife and I are relocating to metro Phoenix later this year from metro Atlanta. We are looking at renting before buying to get a sense for areas of town that we would like to permanently settle in.

We have been looking at various rental website that display new homes. We have noticed cheap rates mainly on the west side of the metro area. We found a home online near 79th Avenue and McDowell Road that looks very attractive. Is this area really dangerous? My wife and I have lived in lower income, largely minority areas before without issue. We just want to ensure that we aren't putting our life in our hands in that area.

Thoughts?

[miamiman]

Ghetto, ghetto, ghetto. Don't do it! That's right near the Desert Sky Mall which is one of the dying Valley malls.

[CodyW]

Stop throwing around the word ghetto. It's not "ghetto" by any sense of the word. It's run down. 79th and McDowell is NOT a good area, crime wise, but there are nice pockets in an otherwise less-than-desirable neighborhood. It's a good location as far as getting to other places, and everything you need will be close by.

Ideally, if you're looking for housing in that part of Phoenix, get a bit further west, closer to the 101 freeway. The area quickly improves the farther west you go.

[sunluv]

The demographics of this forum are generally such that you'll be told ghetto over and again (see post, above), which is no surprise and predictable. It's sort of a herd mentality about anything that's not what they're used to.

It sounds like you're open minded about it, which is wise. I lived a few blocks from there last year, for over a year. No probs. I still shop around there from time to time with no issues at all. Maybe it's a little run down in relation to nice areas, but it's not terrible or anything like Grand street in some areas. It's mainly families actually, not transients. Maryvale, like most places, has better and worse. Around Indian school is seedier, around McDowell is fine.

What's called ghetto here is usually but not always a rather mild rendition of what exists back east or in LA, etc.

As far as crime, I looked in to that...not that much difference there from other areas, actually. Once in a long while something happens, just as it can in many other areas. I've never seen anything in person.

It's true that if you go towards and beyond the 101 and north of the 1-10, it's nicer, so look at that as well but the area you're considering is just fine.

[atl85]

Originally Posted by CodyW

Stop throwing around the word ghetto. It's not "ghetto" by any sense of the word. It's run down. 79th and McDowell is NOT a good area, crime wise, but there are nice pockets in an otherwise less-than-desirable neighborhood. It's a good location as far as getting to other places, and everything you need will be close by.

Ideally, if you're looking for housing in that part of Phoenix, get a bit further west, closer to the 101 freeway. The area quickly improves the farther west you go.

Originally Posted by sunluv

The demographics of this forum are generally such that you'll be told ghetto over and again (see post, above), which is no surprise and predictable. It's sort of a herd mentality about anything that's not what they're used to.

It sounds like you're open minded about it, which is wise. I lived a few blocks from there last year, for over a year. No probs. I still shop around there from time to time with no issues at all. Maybe it's a little run down in relation to nice areas, but it's not terrible or anything like Grand street in some areas. It's mainly families actually, not transients. Maryvale, like most places, has better and worse. Around Indian school is seedier, around McDowell is fine.

What's called ghetto here is usually but not always a rather mild rendition of what exists back east or in LA, etc.

As far as crime, I looked in to that...not that much difference there from other areas, actually. Once in a long while something happens, just as it can in many other areas. I've never seen anything in person.

It's true that if you go towards and beyond the 101 and north of the 1-10, it's nicer, so look at that as well but the area you're considering is just fine.

Thanks, guys. MiamiMan worried me quite a bit. The house the I am referencing looks to be in a new complex just SE of the corner of 79th Avenue and Encanto Boulevard. Are either you familiar with that subdivision? I looked at the Google Streetview and the houses look new and the subdivision still under construction. They are pretty unique, almost townhouse style single-family homes.

We're not so much set on that part of town. We just want to find a nicer, new home to rent for a pretty cheap price. If we can keep the same price point at lives west of this 101 freeway, I will do so. I just thought this particular subdivision looked interesting.

Thanks for your help!

[miamiman]

Originally Posted by CodyW

Stop throwing around the word ghetto. It's not "ghetto" by any sense of the word. It's run down. 79th and McDowell is NOT a good area, crime wise, but there are nice pockets in an otherwise less-than-desirable neighborhood. It's a good location as far as getting to other places, and everything you need will be close by.

Ideally, if you're looking for housing in that part of Phoenix, get a bit further west, closer to the 101 freeway. The area quickly improves the farther west you go.

There's no difference between ghetto and run down. I was just warning the OP that this area is a crime-ridden slum. Everytime I am in this part of town I run as many red lights as possible to avoid getting carjacked.

OP: If you want a safe area, look east of the 51 freeway and north of Camelback Road. Anything else is risky.

[sunluv]

Originally Posted by atl85

Thanks, guys. MiamiMan worried me quite a bit. The house the I am referencing looks to be in a new complex just SE of the corner of 79th Avenue and Encanto Boulevard. Are either you familiar with that subdivision? I looked at the Google Streetview and the houses look new and the subdivision still under construction. They are pretty unique, almost townhouse style single-family homes.

We're not so much set on that part of town. We just want to find a nicer, new home to rent for a pretty cheap price. If we can keep the same price point at lives west of this 101 freeway, I will do so. I just thought this particular subdivision looked interesting.

Thanks for your help!

Since they're not even finished, it would be difficult to be familiar with them.

Basically what you've got around there are working class familiies, not transients. The grubbier areas of Maryvale are around Indian School, Osborn, etc. The houses you're considering are nicer than the ones I rented in, and I wasn't concerned.

There's no difference between ghetto and run down. I was just warning the OP that this area is a crime-ridden slum. Everytime I am in this part of town I run as many red lights as possible to avoid getting carjacked.

I lived in "ghetto" here and in NYC. There's a big difference, actually. True ghetto to me means transients, which is not the case here. I'm far more worried about you running red lights than anything there. How come my vehicle was never carjacked in the 1.25 years I was there lol

[LBTRS]

Not a good area at all for me and my family but for someone else it might be perfectly fine. For the people that live there it might be the best they can do or afford and they may feel like kings in a castle. Without knowing who you are or what you're looking for it is hard to say if it would be for you.

Its on the boundary of the area with the worst reputation in the west valley. We live in Goodyear and when we drive through the area that this boarders my wife comments on how close we live to this run down area and we're probably 15 miles further west.

[BuckeyeBoyDJ]

If you have to be on that side of town go west of 79th Ave about four miles until you hit Avondale. There a lot of cheap, reasonably priced homes in much better neighborhoods. I'm not hating on Maryvale at all. I lived on 51st Ave and Osborn for 6 years when I was a kid and although I never had a problem and made friends with the neighborhood kids, it would definitely not had been my 1st choice if I had a say so. It's not that I had any negative experiences in Maryvale but it's such a boring area imo. Really not a whole lot to do. You have to leave Maryvale to do anything fun. And my parents kept me very sheltered...they sent to school in the Washington School District which at that time had much better schools than Cartwright(The schools really aren't that great in Washington School District now). But the crime and reputation in Maryvale is really over hyped. I actually love the Hispanic culture of the community. The Phoenix Ranch Market and El Super are great grocery stores in the area.

[azdr0710]

Originally Posted by miamiman

OP: If you want a safe area, look east of the 51 freeway and north of Camelback Road. Anything else is risky.

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