Scorpions? Roaches?! Moving to Scottsdale/North Phoenix -- Could use some help! (Parks: sale)

[hlucero]

My family is moving to Scottsdale (or north Phoenix/Desert Ridge area -- someplace near the Scottsdale Airpark) in July. We would like to rent in an apartment complex for the first year so we can figure out which areas we like best.

We have started to hear stories about scorpions and cockroaches (coming from Colorado, we don't have scorpions, and the only way you'd get roaches is if you were a complete slob!) in many of the apartment complexes -- if anyone can help by letting us know their experiences these critters (or anything else -- crime, etc.) in the following apartment complexes, we would be very appreciative!

We are looking at:
Aliante Apartments
The Vintage at Scottsdale
Las Hadas Apartments
Crown Court Apartments
Dakota at McDowell Mountain
Paragon at Kierland
La Privada

[locoenlacabeza]

I don't have any personal experience with the communities that you asked about up there, but I have lived here nearly all my life.
Many complexes pay for pest control, usually monthly. But any time you share walls with someone there is always going to be a higher chance of roaches.
In my entire life living here, I have seen 1 scorpion in the city (seen plenty up north in the forest).
I have never had a roach problem, occasionally I have seen them dead outside my house 1 or 2. I don't have pest control service but when I noticed the one or two dead ones I lined the entire perimeter of my house with boric acid.

[AzDreamer]

Boric acid is a good roach killer that is also safe for humans. It doesn't need to be reapplied all the time like poison sprays seem to need.

We rented a house and found it had a roach problem. We drilled small holes in the wall from inside our kitchen cabinets and used a duster to spray the powder inside the walls. That seemed to solve the problem.

[phxnomore]

Try Phoenix Pest Control. I've lived here for 12 years virtually pest free thanks to them!

[ivanabacowboy]

Dakota at McDowell Mountain is pretty nice. I looked there when I was moving here in September. This is in North Scottsdale. Sure there is crime everywhere, but this is a more "upscale" area.

Crown Court if that is the one on Princess is fairly near me. Kierland is right down the street from me. (I live at Desert Club.) Kierland is a really nice live/work/play/dine area. Tons of restaurants, resorts, golf courses, retail like Restoration Hardware if you want to spend about $50 on a bath towel (tho I do think they are currently having a sale lol!).

I havent seen a single roach since I've been here. The bigger complexes will all spray for pests. I think I have seen 2 bees, 10 mosquitoes, and one just regular tiny black house spider-same kind we had in Ohio.

I'm not familiar with the rest of the complexes and dont have time to google them, but if they are generally in the same area, they will all be variations on the same theme and nice.

Not sure of your price range, but here are a few others I think are pretty nice. The first 3 were my top choices when I planned my move:
Desert Club
Shade at Desert Ridge
Desert Parks Vista
Pillar at Scottsdale
Alexan Frank Lloyd Wright

North Scottsdale/North Phoenix are nice areas. Come out for a visit. ;-)

[hollywollyd]

Actually, my cousin is the manager of Aliante apartments on Frank Llyod Wright and they are very nice apartment homes. She lives on the premises and I always can't believe how much they feel like a single family home. I have never seen a cockroach in their home and I'd be surprised if there were. We live in an area that has irrigation, which sort of attracts the little pests and we've only had one or two in our home during the 4 years we've lived here. I'd tend to agree that you'd have to be sort of dirty to attract those sort of bugs.
I don't believe that scorpions are a problem over there. Generally, the scorpions come in when there is new construction going on around the area. And the area that Aliante is in, is settled. Hope this helps.

[blueeyz911]

Originally Posted by hlucero

and the only way you'd get roaches is if you were a complete slob!

My apartment complex has TONS of scorpions and I am not exaggerating. We are surrounded by a mountain preserve and all the desert creatures live by us. We have had 8 scorpions in our apartment since August. I was only stung once but needless to say it has been unnerving. It really depends on where you live. Some people say they have never seen a scorpion and others see them a lot. I have lived in the Phoenix area for almost 29 years and I had only seen maybe 5 scorpions in all those years until I moved the complex I live at now.

As for roaches, I have seen a roach or two outside but never in my apartment. When I lived in downtown Phoenix in the historical district we had lots of sewer roaches and some of them would fly. We are generally neat and clean (so scratch that theory) those roaches just climbed up from the drain. It drove us crazy. We had an exterminator dump crystals down the drain and that helped a bit. A friend of mine had a gorgeous home in North Phoenix and she had roaches coming up from her drains and she is OCD clean so you just never know about the roaches. I had never seen a roach in any of the homes I have lived in Phoenix at all until 2001 (when I moved downtown) and I have lived here since 1979.

I personally would not worry about these pests as there is nothing you can do except exterminate and be aware of your surroundings. Extermination is important to keep scorpions away because if you kill their food source they will be less likely to want to hang out in your place.

[snowthedirtbub]

I have never seen a roach or scorpion in my houses. A friend of mine had scorpions, but I have never heard of a roach problem, so its not that big of a deal.