What is the major difference between living in prime Scottsdale neighborhoods vs. Phoenix neighborhoods? (Desert Hills: rentals, crime)

[The Global Citizen]

I would suspect schools will be the same in both city's "prime" neighborhoods. Crime will be minimal. Access to shopping, groceries, and entertainment should be equal. Is there a difference or is it more of personal choice and possibly perception than anything?

[Bondurant]

Price.

[gsm113]

Property tax is higher in Scottsdale.

[grmi66]

Plus in the Phoenix area, school districts are often independent of city and town boundaries. Throw in a robust selection of charter schools and private schools, school choice when picking a place to live in the Phoenix area is often a tiny factor in choosing a house.

Scottsdale sounds better when rolling off the tongue if trying to impress people where you live.

[KurtAZ]

More of an elitist thing when you can say you live in one of the Magic Zip Codes. It used to be, moving into North Scottsdale, McCormick Ranch or the like was a status thing. You can find just as exclusive if not more so between the 7s, Biltmore area, downtown gentrification zones, etc. Phoenix is going to be more densely populated with Million dollar neighborhoods with less desirable areas within a couple of blocks. Do your research on school districts but know that you can pretty much enroll your kids in any public schools in AZ as we have open school boundaries. You just have to provide the transportation outside of those boundaries.

[AZJoeD]

Originally Posted by gsm113

Property tax is higher in Scottsdale.

This is untrue. Property tax is based primarily on assessed valuation. Since both are in Maricopa County the rate is the same.

The determining factors are school district (Scottsdale and Phoenix school districts cross city boundaries), City tax (Phoenix city tax is higher than Scottsdale) and other taxing districts such as library, fire protection, etc.

For equally assessed homes the tax bill on a Phoenix home may actually be higher.

[Sno0909]

Another thing to consider is surrounding areas. For the most part, all of Scottsdale is pretty nice. Phoenix has pockets of nice areas (some very nice); however, they typically border some very sketchy parts of town. Take Moon Valley for example. Country club, million dollar + homes, huge lots, city mountains, beautiful. Drive 3 minutes outside of Moon Valley proper and you are surrounded by trailer parks, a horse racing track, homeless people everywhere, hookers at QT, motels you can rent by the hour, etc.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Sno0909

Another thing to consider is surrounding areas. For the most part, all of Scottsdale is pretty nice. Phoenix has pockets of nice areas (some very nice); however, they typically border some very sketchy parts of town. Take Moon Valley for example. Country club, million dollar + homes, huge lots, city mountains, beautiful. Drive 3 minutes outside of Moon Valley proper and you are surrounded by trailer parks, a horse racing track, homeless people everywhere, hookers at QT, motels you can rent by the hour, etc.

Sounds pretty third world, huh? But that is a close in example. The Phoenix outskirts can be pretty uniformly nice - Desert Hills, Ahwatukee, Anthem, etc.

[ringler24]

Originally Posted by Sno0909

Another thing to consider is surrounding areas. For the most part, all of Scottsdale is pretty nice. Phoenix has pockets of nice areas (some very nice); however, they typically border some very sketchy parts of town. Take Moon Valley for example. Country club, million dollar + homes, huge lots, city mountains, beautiful. Drive 3 minutes outside of Moon Valley proper and you are surrounded by trailer parks, a horse racing track, homeless people everywhere, hookers at QT, motels you can rent by the hour, etc.

This is accurate. I live in MV and love it. I don't mind living near lower income areas, but that is definitely the difference between upscale Phoenix neighborhoods and upscale Scottsdale.

[The Global Citizen]

I've looked at nearly 100 homes in the past month from North Central to Central Scottsdale. Both Phoenix and Scottsdale have some absolutely beautiful neighborhoods. The interesting thing about Scottsdale is the abundant vacation rentals in areas with no HOAs that add a challenging twist. The interesting thing about Phoenix is the proximity between high value neighborhoods and bordering zones that are still questionable. I believe you possibly overpay for gated communities and notable neighborhoods but you know what you're getting in the process.