How scary is South Scottsdale?? (Phoenix, Mesa: condos, houses, landscaping)

[Artliquide]

Originally Posted by Kevin Beasley

I understand you standing up for your parents "hood" sorry i made a mistake seperating the borders of the scottsdale area scum from the tempe area scum..but calling me ignorant was a little much....So you were right about the area your parents live in..a few nice places. But I do agree with you when you said "just dont cross the street though" ..It is very likely you will run into a tempe or scottsdale tweeker selling drugs at the topless bar or the porn shop and he may steal your wallet, or worse. You know the places Im talking about right? Thomas/ Scottsdale (and Hayden) Around the corner and across the street from your parents house?..And thanks for verifing my origonal post about south scottsdale.

Apparently I forgot to include the <sarcarsm> tags.

If you're talking about Zorba's. That's been there for a long time. The strip clubs right at the border of Tempe/Scottsdale have too. Yet, Scottsdale is still a very nice place to live, even the "ghetto" areas. Relative low crime compared to most other cities in the Phoenix metro area.

I seriously doubt you grew up in Scottsdale since you didn't know that the Salt River is not in Scottsdale. My family has lived in south scottsdale since the 60s and I refute any claim that south scottsdale is as bad as you say it is. I just stand for accurate judgments rather than exaggerations. I'm sure there are tweakers somewhere in Scottsdale, just like there are everywhere. That doesn't make it a place to avoid.

Out of curiosity, what area is your focus when trying to sell houses? I'm guessing it's not South Scottsdale, but somewhere that rivals the house values there.

[Panks]

Thanks everyone for the great answers. I am marking up my AAA map for my visit out there in less than a week. I'm hoping to drive from SF to Phx in one lllllong drive!!!

One of the first posts I read recommended to stay east of 17 and north of 10. Since there isn't much to the east or north of 101 either, that also seems like a natural boundary. So I thought I'd be good if I stayed in that 10 mile radius but someone wrote that Peoria is nice and thats to the west of 17 so I am confused...should I try to find a house in the 10 mile box or not??

I am trying to stay in the scottsdale area because I may need to have my parents living with me in a few years and N.Scottsdale seems to have a lot of things they would like, otherwise if I was thinking of just me, I'd move farther out and get a bigger house with mucho land!!

Also, how much is an average monthly water bill if you have a yard with plants that need water? When I look at the yards of houses on Google earth about 3/4 are dirt with zero plants!! Is that because water is expensive or people don't like gardening in the heat?

[Artliquide]

Originally Posted by Panks

I am trying to stay in the scottsdale area because I may need to have my parents living with me in a few years and N.Scottsdale seems to have a lot of things they would like, otherwise if I was thinking of just me, I'd move farther out and get a bigger house with mucho land!!

Also, how much is an average monthly water bill if you have a yard with plants that need water? When I look at the yards of houses on Google earth about 3/4 are dirt with zero plants!! Is that because water is expensive or people don't like gardening in the heat?

Paradise Valley and N. Phoenix have horse ranches, as well as a number neighborhoods in my area (Gilbert), if you ever decide to go the more land route but want to stay in the city.

Water bills are not much, but I don't have an exact figure. Many people have desert landscaping either because they want to conserve water, or just don't want to spend the time needed to keep up a yard with non-native plants. Also, no matter how much water you put in your lawn, during the summer, it's going to get at least a little dry and yellow.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by Panks

Hi
I read a post that said S. scottsdale has gangs etc, but now I can't find it

Can anyone tell me where it starts getting better (which major street) ?

I'd like to live in N.Scottsdale but I can't spend over $325k so either I have to move further south or further north. Which is better in your opinion?

Also what do you think of the 85018 zip code?

thank you Arizonians

When it comes to the East Valley, the general rule of thumb is North of Shea and East of Tatum. With that said, there are very few actual spots where south scottsdale is 'dangerous.' I'd even venture to say that south scottsdale near tempe (which is, obviously, not very updated) not so much dangerous as it is low income. I'm a girly girl and I wouldn't be afraid to walk around there at night.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by sablebaby

You're not going to get anything going more north in scottsdale. I'd recommend getting close to the Scottsdale border (Tatum Blvd) north of Thunderbird. You may have to go up north of bell though for your price range. But it puts you in a great area across the street from Scottsdale. But, that also depends on how big of a home you want (they will be small for $325k). This would be NE Phx.

Also, there are other great areas of the valley that you could afford. Parts of N. Phx, N. Glendale, N. Peoria.

The zip of 85018 is Arcadia. The median home price there is $560,000. I think you need to look in areas that you can afford.

Clap, clap, clap. Very good advice!

[ArizonaBear]

For the record: I live in S Scottsdale-------near Scottsdale Rd/McDowell to be precise.

The only areas in Scottsdale (not Tempe) that are sketchy IMHO are in the Thomas/68th St/Osborn/64th St quadrangle along with a street just S of McDowell.

Otherwise; I know of no bad areas in the City of Scottsdale

[BurtsBees]

Originally Posted by Kevin Beasley

I agree the scottsdale residents wont stand for any gang activity in any part. The residents and Scottsdale police work together pretty good to keep the gangs on the south side of the river..

As someone who was just recently hired by Scottsdale PD, what you speak of is definitely true. There is a ZERO tolerance on that kinda stuff.

[TurcoLoco]

Where exactly is this 'tweakerville, AZ'?
I tried looking it up on Google Maps and the only place it showed was San Jose, CA!!

[Ira500]

Kevin,
I don't suppose if you get a listing there you'd advertise it as a gang infested area ful of meth labs?

[joninaz]

Originally Posted by Kevin Beasley

I understand you standing up for your parents "hood" sorry i made a mistake seperating the borders of the scottsdale area scum from the tempe area scum..but calling me ignorant was a little much....So you were right about the area your parents live in..a few nice places. But I do agree with you when you said "just dont cross the street though" ..It is very likely you will run into a tempe or scottsdale tweeker selling drugs at the topless bar or the porn shop and he may steal your wallet, or worse. You know the places Im talking about right? Thomas/ Scottsdale (and Hayden) Around the corner and across the street from your parents house?..And thanks for verifing my origonal post about south scottsdale.

Generally speaking, is it ethical for a realtor who represents one part of town to broadly paint other parts of the metro area as "Scum?" I ask because I live South of Thomas and there are several areas with homes being listed for a $half-million and more. Would a real estate "professional" turn down the opportunity to represent such a listing or refuse showing interested parties because it was in their personally defined swath of scummy areas?