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We're a professional couple in our mid-40s, no children. After a bitter northeast winter, we started talking about starting a new life somewhere completely different, and after a second brutal winter as well as some local issues, the talk got serious. I happened across an article about Scottsdale and Sedona as travel destinations, we started learning more about Arizona, and we ended up quickly homing in on the Phoenix area as our top candidate for a new home. We have a lot of scouting to do to make sure it will work for us, but we aren't interested in winter or humidity, and we want both city amenities and outdoor activities within easy reach.
We did take a close look at Gilbert and Fountain Hills, as well, and we liked what we saw, you can get so much newer house and/or very nice land for your money, but we are already doubting if we'd really fit in with either community. (Gilbert seems very family-oriented, Fountain Hills seems very retirement-oriented, and neither seems to have much immediately nearby nightlife for people like us, so I think we'd be doing a lot of additional driving.)
In short, ideally, we'd like a small home with a nice backyard in a safe, clean, friendly neighborhood where we can have barbecues, maybe plant a few fruit trees, play in a pool, etc. We'd like to be close enough to Scottsdale shopping and nightlife as well as some desert/hills to be able to spontaneously decide to go enjoy.
My questions are these:
- The Shea/Cactus Corridor area, east of Pima, seems to be both desirable and relatively affordable. Is this as solid a neighborhood as it appears to be? I spent some time tooling around in Google Street View and it looks like a nice place. There seem to be quite a few properties in that area, around 96th, that seem like they'd be a good home for us.
- What about the area on the other side of Scottsdale Road, which I believe is in Phoenix, Kierland and the Phoenix side of "Paradise Valley"? Are these also generally safe, clean, desirable? (Nearby Deer Valley's online crime statistics gave me pause, but I haven't been there to form an opinion.) Are there significant differences between Scottsdale and Phoenix city services that we should be aware of?
- How important is a gated community in this area? Crime seems low in general, but with our budget, is it possible that we are a better fit for a condo/townhouse? *I* want a backyard, but she's less committed to it and so we could conceivably settle for a patio, balcony, or courtyard.
Thanks so much to anybody who takes the time to read this, and thanks for any insight. We're looking forward to our first scouting visit.
Keep in mind that a gated community likely will be in an HOA and you'll have additional monthly dues. Older neighborhoods that are not gated are more than likely to not be in an association. Not many realize this coming from colder climates where there are fewer HOAs.
Yes, I picked up on that (and you're right, we don't have many HOAs). I did budget for HOA fees in our purchase, wherever we purchase, though. Are there any particular pitfalls to purchasing older homes in the area that are not in a HOA (and a gated community, for that matter)?
Are there any particular pitfalls to purchasing older homes in the area that are not in a HOA (and a gated community, for that matter)?
I don't think you'll have much of an issue in the area you're looking at but one pitfall in any area that is not in an HOA is the one guy on the block who doesn't care. I didn't take me long to find this in the area you're looking at though.
Take this house for example.
While the rest of the neighborhood looks like this
That being said...a lot of downsides to being in an HOA though too...like not having the freedom to decorate with driftwood and such.
We're a professional couple in our mid-40s, no children. After a bitter northeast winter, we started talking about starting a new life somewhere completely different, and after a second brutal winter as well as some local issues, the talk got serious. I happened across an article about Scottsdale and Sedona as travel destinations, we started learning more about Arizona, and we ended up quickly homing in on the Phoenix area as our top candidate for a new home. We have a lot of scouting to do to make sure it will work for us, but we aren't interested in winter or humidity, and we want both city amenities and outdoor activities within easy reach.
We did take a close look at Gilbert and Fountain Hills, as well, and we liked what we saw, you can get so much newer house and/or very nice land for your money, but we are already doubting if we'd really fit in with either community. (Gilbert seems very family-oriented, Fountain Hills seems very retirement-oriented, and neither seems to have much immediately nearby nightlife for people like us, so I think we'd be doing a lot of additional driving.)
In short, ideally, we'd like a small home with a nice backyard in a safe, clean, friendly neighborhood where we can have barbecues, maybe plant a few fruit trees, play in a pool, etc. We'd like to be close enough to Scottsdale shopping and nightlife as well as some desert/hills to be able to spontaneously decide to go enjoy.
My questions are these:
- The Shea/Cactus Corridor area, east of Pima, seems to be both desirable and relatively affordable. Is this as solid a neighborhood as it appears to be? I spent some time tooling around in Google Street View and it looks like a nice place. There seem to be quite a few properties in that area, around 96th, that seem like they'd be a good home for us.
- What about the area on the other side of Scottsdale Road, which I believe is in Phoenix, Kierland and the Phoenix side of "Paradise Valley"? Are these also generally safe, clean, desirable? (Nearby Deer Valley's online crime statistics gave me pause, but I haven't been there to form an opinion.) Are there significant differences between Scottsdale and Phoenix city services that we should be aware of?
- How important is a gated community in this area? Crime seems low in general, but with our budget, is it possible that we are a better fit for a condo/townhouse? *I* want a backyard, but she's less committed to it and so we could conceivably settle for a patio, balcony, or courtyard.
Thanks so much to anybody who takes the time to read this, and thanks for any insight. We're looking forward to our first scouting visit.
You really need to spend a few weeks here in mid-June or during monsoon season. Youre gonna substitute snow for blistering heat, and during the monsoon season you will get humidity. The rest of the year is quite pleasant. Dont think it will be warm year round. Winter days are mild to cold, and nights can dip below freezing at times. We had snow in Scottsdale on New Years Eve.
I tell you this because Phoenix has got to be the most transient place on earth. People move here to "escape winters", but many end up leaving because they dont truly understand how hot it gets here, and for how long. Really, really, really do yourself a favor and visit during mid-summer. Dont be one of those "I hate winters, Im moving to Phoenix! Oh wait, its hotter than hell itself for several straight months? And why is there humidity during summer? I thought it was a dry heat? Why cant we swim in winter? I thought it was warm year round?" people...
The places youre looking at are, in general, perfectly fine. Be aware that areas east of Pima can be more "wide open", meaning more wildlife (ie scorpions, rattlesnakes, etc). Just know your wildlife, and respect it. Dont kill them because you dont like them. Remember, its YOU who is moving into THEIR home. Adapt. Repsect.
The places youre looking at are, in general, perfectly fine. Be aware that areas east of Pima can be more "wide open", meaning more wildlife (ie scorpions, rattlesnakes, etc). Just know your wildlife, and respect it. Dont kill them because you dont like them. Remember, its YOU who is moving into THEIR home. Adapt. Repsect.
Thanks for this. I gathered that the neighborhood changes character in that area, and took a look at the horse ranches on the other side of 96th in Street View, but that's kind of a perk for us. (...I think...) If Fountain Hills were ten minutes closer to Scottsdale and the median age was 10 years younger, it might actually be our preference for just that reason. Of course, I hope a good block wall can generally deter rattlesnakes.
It's my understanding that there's a great variety of monsoon season weather in the Valley and humidity comes and goes, and we can live with a little snow on New Year's Eve for old times sake. (We also like to travel and figure we can structure trips away and weekends north around the hottest part of the year.)
To offer some contrast, where we live, we have four and a half months where the average low is below freezing, with 80"+ of snow which doesn't all melt until May. For a couple of months, it is too cold for road salt to work. On top of this, we get frequent rain the rest of the year, and summers can be uncomfortably hot and humid enough to interfere with outdoor activities.
What I'm trying to say is that while it's obviously not "milder" or one of those places that "doesn't have seasons", I think we have realistic expectations about being able to enjoy a larger percentage of our year. We're very aware we won't be hiking in the desert on summer days or swimming in an unheated pool all winter, but that's OK with us.
With that in mind, I grew up where the summers were routinely 100+ and jungle-like humidity kept it in the 90s at night, but she didn't and "real heat" might be more of a surprise to her. We do have some other options to explore, too, and we definitely plan several scouting trips, including a summer visit, before we commit to anything, but right now it's looking pretty good to us.
I lived in the area you are talking about. Near 96th and FLWright. Great neighborhoods there. Not gated. Felt safe always.
Near a phenomenal amount of shopping. Some might avoid it though because it can seem congested with traffic. But not a bother to me.
Long-time lurker here, I finally had to join because of the pic you posted of what I call the wood-fetish house. I used to live on an adjoining street to that house so I passed by it all the time. So, when I saw that picture posted here, I couldn't believe it! I'd recognize those stumps anywhere.
The thing that interests me about that house is the careful placement of all the different stumps and blocks of wood. Perhaps that is how they've escaped code enforcement all these years. It's got to be some kind of compulsion. Regardless, termite heaven!
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To address the original post, I live in the area about which you inquired and there are a number of nice homes in the area at various price points, from expansive custom builds on acre lots to more affordable 1980s and 1990s developments on the usual 1/4th or 1/5th of an acre type lots. So you could purchase a solid, well maintained single-family home in the area for 300K or up. I think the current price per square foot for the immediate area east of the freeway in the Shea/Cactus corridor is around 180-190/sq ft. There are also all manner of condos and patio homes in the area, and those will sell for 100K and up generally.
I lived in the area you are talking about. Near 96th and FLWright. Great neighborhoods there. Not gated. Felt safe always.
Near a phenomenal amount of shopping. Some might avoid it though because it can seem congested with traffic. But not a bother to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScottsdaleMark
Bungle,
To address the original post, I live in the area about which you inquired and there are a number of nice homes in the area at various price points, from expansive custom builds on acre lots to more affordable 1980s and 1990s developments on the usual 1/4th or 1/5th of an acre type lots. So you could purchase a solid, well maintained single-family home in the area for 300K or up. I think the current price per square foot for the immediate area east of the freeway in the Shea/Cactus corridor is around 180-190/sq ft. There are also all manner of condos and patio homes in the area, and those will sell for 100K and up generally.
This is great news. There is a lot to choose from in that area and we really like the look of it, especially how the neighborhood "thins out" to the desert near Frank Lloyd Wright. Seems like it's very convenient to shopping on the near side of the airport, and 15-20 minutes to everything else.
One question: does the airport (Scottsdale) present a noise issue for those particular Corridor neighborhoods, or is it pretty negligible from there? It seems like most of the fuss in the articles I was just looking at come from neighborhoods to the immediate north and south of the runway, not really east/southeast.
I do hear airplanes when I'm outside for a length of time, but Scottsdale airport is mostly propeller planes and private/corporate jets, so it's nothing like the noise you'd get from a commercial airliner. I rarely notice it indoors but when you're in the yard or the pool, you might hear airplane noise once or a few times an hour -- or you might not. Personally, I enjoy it. It has never woken me up or otherwise disturbed me, BUT it might be louder if you lived closer to it. Also, Scottsdale doesn't get as much plane traffic during the nighttime hours so it's mostly just day-time noise.
I like the neighborhood because you have a lot of shopping/dining on 90th St between Shea and Via Linda, and also up all along FL Wright, all the way over to where it meets Via Linda, where there is more shopping/dining. So you never run out of places to shop or eat nearby.
However, for nightlife, there's not much going on in the immediate vicinity. It's more of a family area. I think there's more nighttime happenings over in the Kierland area, which is close by, and it's 10-15 minutes to drive down to Old Town Scottsdale if that's your thing as well.
Edit: the runway sits on a NE/SW slant and the planes tend to come in for landing from the NE. I believe they usually take off towards the SW. So I think if you're right in that line you'd get a lot more noise. But once they're in the air I'm not sure how much restriction there is because I do sometimes see them flying over other areas.
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