Crime rate and no go zones in AZ ? (Phoenix, Tucson: low crime, house prices)

[veritased]

Any generally known areas in Phoenix metro that one wants to avoid during the day or night ?
I'll be a complete noob to the area and looking for insights.

I was looking into the crime stats for AZ towns, and I was surprised to find that overall Scottsdale (my imminent residence) wasn't as low on stats as I would have expected. Though my friends in a gated community in the area leave their doors unlocked when they go out, something we could never, ever, contemplate in SF Bay area. In our supposedly tony San Jose neighborhood we were getting increasing mail thefts, break-ins (home and auto) and even brazen home invasions with residents at home. Thanks to a bunch of new decriminalization laws eagerly voted in that reduced a whole series of felonies to misdemeanors.

How does it feel to be in AZ... generally you aren't being set on alert by constant news of break-ins in your area, or yes, certain areas are getting worse ?

Thanks for any insights.

[grmi66]

Crime stats are just the beginning of looking for a house. Phoenix is not like many cities where the worst crime is in the bullseye and as you move out it gets progressively better. You can have million dollar houses a few blocks away from a crime ridden ghetto.

My experience from living near downtown in one of the older neighborhoods is that crime can often vary dramatically block to block. One block in from all of the major streets seemed to have petty crime problems (burglary, stealing stuff out of cars) whereas our house was two blocks in and we had one minor incident in the four years we lived there.

While I'm no expert on Phoenix crime stats, my brother is in law enforcement in the Tucson area. Tucson tends to under report or game the stats (turning felonies into misdemeanors) while some of the local suburbs have nothing better to do than report every incident that happens making it look worse.

Best thing to do is chat with neighbors to get a feel for what is really going on.

[Burning Madolf]

Originally Posted by grmi66

Crime stats are just the beginning of looking for a house. Phoenix is not like many cities where the worst crime is in the bullseye and as you move out it gets progressively better. You can have million dollar houses a few blocks away from a crime ridden ghetto.

My experience from living near downtown in one of the older neighborhoods is that crime can often vary dramatically block to block. One block in from all of the major streets seemed to have petty crime problems (burglary, stealing stuff out of cars) whereas our house was two blocks in and we had one minor incident in the four years we lived there.

While I'm no expert on Phoenix crime stats, my brother is in law enforcement in the Tucson area. Tucson tends to under report or game the stats (turning felonies into misdemeanors) while some of the local suburbs have nothing better to do than report every incident that happens making it look worse.

Best thing to do is chat with neighbors to get a feel for what is really going on.

Even then you can't expect complete honesty (I'm not very forthcoming with strangers asking questions about my hood). Not many people would be like "Oh, crime, man it's gotten really bad around here. My home value has probably dropped 20% in the last 6 months because of all the break-ins."

[Ponderosa]

Property crime here is rampant. There is no neighborhood or part of town that is exempt. Violent crime is confined to the usual places - the poverty pockets which are found throughout the metro.

[grmi66]

Originally Posted by Burning Madolf

Even then you can't expect complete honesty (I'm not very forthcoming with strangers asking questions about my hood). Not many people would be like "Oh, crime, man it's gotten really bad around here. My home value has probably dropped 20% in the last 6 months because of all the break-ins."

True, my neighbors that were trying to sell their house in my old neighborhood would kill me if I chatted up a prospective buyer and tell them that the local homeless guys have all recently discovered meth & heroin and things were getting fairly interesting. Not your father's homeless tipsy on Night Train. Especially since house prices were going through the roof and people were cashing out while the getting was good.

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by veritased

Any generally known areas in Phoenix metro that one wants to avoid during the day or night ?
I'll be a complete noob to the area and looking for insights.

I was looking into the crime stats for AZ towns, and I was surprised to find that overall Scottsdale (my imminent residence) wasn't as low on stats as I would have expected. Though my friends in a gated community in the area leave their doors unlocked when they go out, something we could never, ever, contemplate in SF Bay area. In our supposedly tony San Jose neighborhood we were getting increasing mail thefts, break-ins (home and auto) and even brazen home invasions with residents at home. Thanks to a bunch of new decriminalization laws eagerly voted in that reduced a whole series of felonies to misdemeanors.

How does it feel to be in AZ... generally you aren't being set on alert by constant news of break-ins in your area, or yes, certain areas are getting worse ?

Thanks for any insights.

The Phoenix area has a relatively low crime rate given its size. Overall there are areas I wouldn’t live in or spend time in but there isn’t really anywhere I’d say “stay out” like you do in some
Cities

[More Rock]

I avoid Maryvale because of the crime, and Scottsdale because of the posh twits.

[veritased]

"posh twits" lol. I'll keep on the lookout for that species. Sounds odious.

[KurtAZ]

Just remember that property crimes tend to be crimes of opportunity (unless the criminal has inside information about a certain location). grmi66's situation seems to be appropriate...if they can hit something only a block off the main road, why continue on to the second block? Criminals tend to be lazy. We have had a couple of incidents in our neighborhood but not on our cul de sac...no one even realizes there are 5 houses just kind of on this spur in the neighborhood. I was talking with a neighbor (this has happened more than once) and mentioned where I lived and the response is usually "Where? There is a cul de sac up there? I never even noticed".

[TempeAZnative]

All of the valley is a no go zone, you'll be safer staying in the bay area!