Are there condo apts (not houses) in Coronado District? (Phoenix: real estate, 2014)

[TrueNorthernDiver]

We're moving from Washington, D.C. to Phoenix and my husband will be working in the Coronado District (about which I know nothing other than it's historic --- which probably doesn't invoke the right associations for someone who's moving from Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown).

We'd like to find a RENTAL CONDO APARTMENT in that area (so that he can walk to work) --- but I haven't had any success finding references to such on Craigslist or any of the real estate websites. Is the Coronado District, perhaps, all single-family, stand-alone houses?

If so, we would ask for your recommendations for another area in which we'd find affordable-to-us Rental Condo Apartments. It would need to be within a 30-minute commute on public transportation (we have only one car, and I use it most of the time) and would need to be priced at less that $1600 for a 2-bed/2bath, 1200 sq.ft. place that takes cats. Is there such in the Phoenix area?

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And a few more questions, that are more culture-shock focused. I should preface these questions by saying that we are happy and excited to be moving to the Phoenix area because we love the geography and anticipate great happiness in hiking in Tonto National Forest, sailing on the local lakes, and driving to Sedona, Flagstaff, and points farther east and west. But I also have a feeling that we'll be leaving some stuff behind. Hence these questions:

- where do people,of all ages, go to have a drink when they also want to be able to have a conversation without shouting (i.e., no TV, no band, no loud music)?
- which butchers would you recommend that that sell meat/poultry/eggs that is Certitifed Humane? (Whole Foods is sometimes ok with this, but not consistently)
- are there bakeries where we can buy dark, heavy, northern-European-style bread

Thank you very much for attending to and perhaps answering my questions!

[AlohaFriday]

I can't fully answer your questions, but will offer what information I can since nobody has chimed in yet.

First, I'm not very familiar with the Coronado district, but light rail is not extensive at all. Visit valleymetro.org to see a map of the line compared to your husband's work. Your best bet might be to rent a house in walking distance. I believe that's more of a house area, with fewer apartments.

If your husband's work is in walking distance to the light rail, you could live downtown and he could take the line up.

Pretty much everyone has a car here, even if people live downtown.

Food: For organic and hormone free, I recommend visiting a farmer's market. Some farmers do CSA (community-supported agriculture) shares where you pay upfront for a season and get weekly meat and/or vegetables. However, you can also buy by the pound I think. I'm a vegetarian so don't fully know how it works, but I know it's available. It's not certified but you're buying from the actual farmer, so it's pretty cool.

Bread: Bread sucks here. It's one of the things I miss most from the East Coast. There are decent bagels at a couple Jewish delis in Scottsdale, but Whole Foods or a local baker is your best option. I've heard people say it's because the water is different, and that seems to make sense because the water is really hard out here.

Conversation: Arizona is sports bar central. Every place has tvs - even cute restaurants that probably shouldn't. Probably just find a wine bar in your neighborhood and hang out there. Phoenix isn't intellectual like DC, and conversations are different out here. Maybe that's just the people I know, but that's my experience.

Hope that helps! Feel free to ask anything else.

[pbenjamin]

Coronado is relatively small, less than a square mile. It would be useful to know where in Coronado the job is and how far your husband will be comfortable walking in the heat. There are places along Central that would fit your description. Tapestry on Central, Phoenix, AZ is an example. It is a block more than 1/2 mile from the west edge of Coronado. The light rail doesn't come close enough to be useful. He'd be getting off of it roughly where Tapestry is anyway.

[Jukesgrrl]

I found this website to be helpful in learning about the Phoenix Light Rail:
Rail Life - Phoenix Light Rail News and Information

Coronado really is a small neighborhood of early 20th century homes. But there are apartments nearby. Look all around the Phoenix Country Club which is near Coronado or midtown on Central, which gives you light rail access.
If there's anything for rent in Brick Commons, a condo complex at 7th Street and Osborn, that's a nice complex in the area: Brick Commons
I've never been inside Mozaic at Steele Park on Indian School Rd. at N. 7th Street, but it looks nice. Has a lot of amenities and they take pets with a small deposit:
Mozaic At Steele Park Apartments - Phoenix, AZ 85012 | Apartments for Rent
Pavilions on Central (it's actually on Campbell just west of Central) is a bit more expensive but also takes pets and is very close to the Central light rail stations so Coronado would be a quick hop.
Pavilions On Central Apartments - Phoenix, AZ 85013 | Apartments for Rent
The Heritage on East Osborn just east of N. 7th is another apartment complex in a good location for you. You could probably do a 2-bedroom in your price range and small pets are OK:
Heritage, The Apartments - Phoenix, AZ 85014 | Apartments for Rent

Some restaurants to try in the Coronado neighborhood:
The Tuck Shop
tuck shop - home
The Barrio Cafe
Barrio Cafe - Restaurant Review of Barrio Cafe in Phoenix Arizona
Green
Green New American Vegetarian
America's Taco Shop
America's Taco Shop (N. 7th Ave) - Midtown - Phoenix | Urbanspoon
Humble Pie
Humble Pie - Phoenix, AZ | Yelp

There's a lot to be learned about neighborhood bars, food shops, and bakeries by keeping an eye on the Chow Bella, the food blog in the restaurant section of the Phoenix New Times:
Phoenix Restaurants | Best Restaurants in Phoenix | Phoenix New Times

You'll tend to find more quiet bars and wine bars in the Camelback Corridor. The neighborhoods near the Biltmore (or even IN the Biltmore for that matter!).

One of the best things about Phoenix is year-around open-air markets to buy foodstuffs, much of straight from farmers or artisan cooks. The Downtown Phoenix Public Market, North Central at McKinley, has a lot of bakers.
Farmers markets in Phoenix metro area

Good luck with your move!

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

I found this website to be helpful in learning about the Phoenix Light Rail:
Rail Life - Phoenix Light Rail News and Information

Coronado really is a small neighborhood of early 20th century homes. But there are apartments nearby. Look all around the Phoenix Country Club which is near Coronado or midtown on Central, which gives you light rail access.
If there's anything for rent in Brick Commons, a condo complex at 7th Street and Osborn, that's a nice complex in the area: Brick Commons
I've never been inside Mozaic at Steele Park on Indian School Rd. at N. 7th Street, but it looks nice. Has a lot of amenities and they take pets with a small deposit:
Mozaic At Steele Park Apartments - Phoenix, AZ 85012 | Apartments for Rent
Pavilions on Central (it's actually on Campbell just west of Central) is a bit more expensive but also takes pets and is very close to the Central light rail stations so Coronado would be a quick hop.
Pavilions On Central Apartments - Phoenix, AZ 85013 | Apartments for Rent
The Heritage on East Osborn just east of N. 7th is another apartment complex in a good location for you. You could probably do a 2-bedroom in your price range and small pets are OK:
Heritage, The Apartments - Phoenix, AZ 85014 | Apartments for Rent

These are very good points. Coronado is a rather small district which consists mostly of smaller houses that were built prior to the mid 20th Century. Most of the condos & apartments are outside of Coronado, but still close enough to avoid a long commute. I would personal not recommend Coronado as a place to live anyway. Even though it's considered a historic area, many of the dwellings are not what I would call very desirable. Many of them look their age and rather run down. There are other centralized historic districts that are much better ... such as Encanto, Palmcroft, and Willo.

[Kimballette]

I can't help you with your Coronado questions, aside from agreeing with Jukesgrrl's usual excellent advice. I'd add that Green is an OUTSTANDING vegan restaurant, and their other business next door is Nami, with amazing soft serve, and baked goods - all vegan. But vegan for everyone.

I'm vegetarian, so can't recommend any butchers. I buy eggs from Cami's Farm, a small family-owned operation. They sell at most local farmer's markets between Phoenix and Tucson. The hens are humanely raised. They have about 350 hens that forage in an orchard, open desert, and in a large fenced yard. The girls are well treated, and their roosts are large and clean. Their beaks are intact.

Wonderful bread can be found at local farmer's markets. One of my favorites is Great Harvest. Their breads have no preservatives and are made with non-GMO wheat. The breads are dense and weigh two pounds for a normal-sized loaf. They have a huge selection. Their actual store is in Tempe, a Phoenix suburb in the east valley.

Good luck on your move!

[bigfez]

The best locally sourced meat shop I've found in greater Phoenix is called (appropriately) The Meat Shop. It is a short distance south of downtown Phoenix at 202 E. Buckeye Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85004. Here's a link to their website:

http://site.themeatshopaz.com/Location.php

They also have a Facebook page where they post specials. I am not in any way affiliated with The Meat Shop, I just love their bacon.

I agree with the poster above who said they would not recommend Coronado as a great place to live. There are some cute houses there, but they are spotty. I think Coronado is a historic district that really struggles to live up to it's potential. Since you are from DC, you will likely be extremely underwhelmed by how "historic" is defined here anyway. The restaurant/retail options in Coronado are far better than the living options. But, as noted above, there are some nice apartment/condo rentals nearby.

With regard to public transportation, I live within a 1/2 mile of the light rail, but don't use it very often because there is only one line that doesn't take me to work. Bus service here is... undesireable, unless it's early early in the morning. I live 4 miles from my work. I took the bus to work ONCE and it took over an hour to get there. It was after 9 a.m when I started, and both buses I needed to take were late. And it was 95 degrees out. I was drenched by the time I got to work.

As for the entertainment options, Phoenix is a very big place with plenty of bars of all kinds. IMHO, there are numerous bars in central/north central Phoenix that suit your description.

One more thing - you don't need to go up north to experience great hiking or trail running. Living in central/north central Phoenix means you can hike at the Phoenix Mountain Preserve every day before work, if you don't mind getting up at dawn (I don't, and I do!).

Phoenix Mountain Preserve - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It's my favorite thing about living in Phoenix.

[exit2lef]

Coronado proper is made up of historic single family homes rather than multi-unit housing. You can find apartment and condo options along nearby arterials. Here's some news about a new one going on Central Avenue a half mile west of Coronado: http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/n...ng-vacant.html

Coronado is over half a mile from light rail. Closer public transit options for that neighborhood are the bus routes along 7th St (7), 12th St (12), 16th St (16), Thomas Rd (29), & McDowell Rd (17). Coronado is also quite bikeable due to its relatively calm streets. That would be an option for covering the last mile between there and light rail at the Encanto Station. I know several bike commuters who live in Coronado.

For quiet conversation and drinks, try Central Wine, located right by the Indian School light rail station.

For your dark bread needs, try Old Heidelberg German Bakery. It's relatively close to Coronado near 24th St & Indian School Rd.

[TrueNorthernDiver]

That was really helpful. I'm looking up Valley Metro (I should have thought of that!).

The reason we don't want a house is that I will disintegrate if we don't have access to a swimming pool, and we can't afford a house that would have one (plus the horrendous insurance costs). So it's an apartment/condo for us.

Again, thanks for your response.

[TrueNorthernDiver]

Your information was really helpful.

My husband could easily walk 20 to 30 minutes even in the heat --- but if it were to be truly horrible, I would drive him to work.