Moving to Central Phoenix - very nervous (Scottsdale, Chandler: apartments, condos)

[brightnbeautiful]

Hi All, I'm new to this forum and I must say its such a wealth of information.
We live in Chandler and are planning to move to central phoenix in June. I'm very concerned about the safety of the area. I've searched this forum about this and read some threads, just looking for some additional information.
My husband's work is at N central & Osborne. My elder son will be going to an elem. school on N central & Indianola. Based on what I read about the safe areas, first we are looking for apartments/condos in these boundaries: Camelback, Osborne, 7th Ave, 20th St. Are there any unsafe pockets within these boundaries that we should avoid? I've shortlisted few complexes that we are visiting soon, but just wanted to make sure we are not going to a wrong place.
Also my other concern is the safety where the school is (N central & Indianola). We are going to be driving around there tomorrow, but just wanted to make sure from people who already know the area.
Thanks for reading. Its just that I'm so nervous about this move. We love chandler and we are used to everything here: safe neighborhood, library, desert breeze park, various classes for my son, whole foods, sprouts, restaurants, chandler mall. But safety is my foremost concern, all the other said things are lesser priority, we can drive a bit to these if we have to. Our first step is to find a safe place to live.
Appreciate your valuable inputs.
Thanks.

[AZgarden]

Just wonderin: If you like Chandler so much, why move ???

[pbenjamin]

Consulting a map, I can't locate a school at that location. It's in the Osborn (no "e") elementary district but there doesn't seem to be a school there. What is the school? Where did you come up with the boundaries that you listed? Seems like a very small area. What is your price range for housing?

[brightnbeautiful]

PhxBarb, we are moving for my husband's work location, N central & Osborn. He tried commuting from here but its tiring for him.

pbenjamin, its a new school here starting this fall. Sorry about the spelling mistake in 'Osborn'. About the boundaries, i did a search in this forum for threads about central phx and gathered few points like major areas to avoid. Also read that east of 7th ave will be safe and also lot of condos and apts especially along camelback. Also read that anything south of Thomas is not desirable, and west of 7th ave ( in the 'Avenues' especially 19th ave is not very safe.
These are just some points i tried to remember from various posts, and I just figured the boundaries based on these. This could be totally wrong, as I have zero knowledge about central phoenix. I've never gone beyond Tempe. I'm open for suggestions for safe neighborhoods at a reasonable distance from central/osborne.

Also none of my husband's colleagues live in that area. So we are just trying to read and get as much information. We are going to drive around tomorrow, but i believe the inputs from here will be very valuable for our decision making.

[phx1205]

I understand the desire to be closer to work, I couldn't imagine commuting there from Chandler either. But do you really need to be THAT close to work? How long is the commute now? What is the max commute he wants to have? I think you can expand your area a little bit further North and East and still have a reasonable 20-30 minute commute.

[brightnbeautiful]

Phx1205, we are okay expanding the boundaries towards north or east. I just dont want to hit sunnyslope (which I've read about, though i dont know where it exactly starts). Also we dont want to go into Scottsdale for non-affordability since our limit is around $1200 for a 2br. Per the posts I read, camelback seems to be decent and I found many complexes around that area, so I thought we can find something within. But if we dont, we are okay expanding a bit north or east. Please do suggest any good/safe neighborhoods and also any specific apartments/complexes around that area. We are looking for a one way commute of 20 mins.
Thanks.

[Ztonyg]

I'd look in the Moon Valley area (around 7th St. and Thunderbird) or the Biltmore / Arcadia area.

[phx1205]

Originally Posted by Ztonyg

I'd look in the Moon Valley area (around 7th St. and Thunderbird) or the Biltmore / Arcadia area.

This is good advise. The commute using 7th st will take 20 minutes to get to Central and Osborn and Moon Valley area will have the suburban feel you like about Chandler.

[LagunaMom]

The Encanto area is lovely.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by brightnbeautiful

My husband's work is at N central & Osborne. My elder son will be going to an elem. school on N central & Indianola.

Are you sure it's Central Avenue? I don't know of any school there.

Originally Posted by brightnbeautiful

Based on what I read about the safe areas, first we are looking for apartments/condos in these boundaries: Camelback, Osborne, 7th Ave, 20th St. Are there any unsafe pockets within these boundaries that we should avoid? I've shortlisted few complexes that we are visiting soon, but just wanted to make sure we are not going to a wrong place.

I'd suggest avoiding pretty much anywhere along Indian School Road east of 7th Street, particularly the Devonshire neighborhood. I used to work around there years ago, and it was questionable then, but even worse now from what I understand. But not too far from there is a pretty nice area right around 12th Street & Osborne ... I believe there are some decent apartments and a condo tower (not certain of the name).