moving to arizona,to work in downtown phoenix (Glendale, Scottsdale: rent, crime)

[amoeba]

Me and my wife plan to move to arizona. Our jobs are in downtown phoenix.Could anyone suggest good areas to live where we could buy a house .Our price range is $200K-$300k.we looked into the areas of buckeye, surprise ,laveen. Could anyone give us some pointers.

thanks

[sheena]

Originally Posted by amoeba

Me and my wife plan to move to arizona. Our jobs are in downtown phoenix.Could anyone suggest good areas to live where we could buy a house .Our price range is $200K-$300k.we looked into the areas of buckeye, surprise ,laveen. Could anyone give us some pointers.

thanks

Cross off Laveen it's dangerous around there. Cross off Surprise it's too far from downtown Phoenix. Look at some areas in South Tempe and maybe something in the Awhatukee area of Phoenix. I don't know what you can get these days for 300,000 but the market is taking a dive you may be able to get a smaller house in these areas for close to that. Their is no crime free area so just be careful. It's certainly better than Laveen. If you don't believe me go to some shopping centers in the Laveen area

[HX_Guy]

You'll hate life if you are both working downtown and living in any of the three cities you mentioned. I'd look into something a little more centralized.

[amoeba]

Originally Posted by sheena

Cross off Laveen it's dangerous around there. Cross off Surprise it's too far from downtown Phoenix. Look at some areas in South Tempe and maybe something in the Awhatukee area of Phoenix. I don't know what you can get these days for 300,000 but the market is taking a dive you may be able to get a smaller house in these areas for close to that. Their is no crime free area so just be careful. It's certainly better than Laveen. If you don't believe me go to some shopping centers in the Laveen area

Some other people also told me the same things about Laveen.However, for our price range,i was not sure whether we could get a reasonably sized house in the areas of Tempe and Awhatukee. Are there any other areas around metro phoenix that we should consider. Since, we both are going to work in downtown phoenix, we would surely carpool, which might alleviate some of the commute issues.

[AksarbeN]

If I worked in downtown Phoenix, I would look for housing in the north central corridor or in the east corridor, not Tempe or Scottsdale but Phoenix. The housing price you noted should allow you to find something in either area. You could also find something in Glendale that would be an easy commute to downtown. From these locations you could use public transportation if gas becomes more limited or too costly for driving around. You’ll also be within 30 minutes from home to work. Traffic is terrible on the freeways but you’d be ok in Phoenix (east) or (north central) corridors and Glendale is ok as well.

If possible rent for a while and you’ll get a better feel for the right neighborhood. There are many good safe neighborhoods in the areas mentioned however you’ll also find some bad areas as well.

[amoeba]

Originally Posted by AksarbeN

If I worked in downtown Phoenix, I would look for housing in the north central corridor or in the east corridor, not Tempe or Scottsdale but Phoenix. The housing price you noted should allow you to find something in either area. You could also find something in Glendale that would be an easy commute to downtown. From these locations you could use public transportation if gas becomes more limited or too costly for driving around. You’ll also be within 30 minutes from home to work. Traffic is terrible on the freeways but you’d be ok in Phoenix (east) or (north central) corridors and Glendale is ok as well.

If possible rent for a while and you’ll get a better feel for the right neighborhood. There are many good safe neighborhoods in the areas mentioned however you’ll also find some bad areas as well.

thanx,
keeping in mind what you suggested ,i found that there are areas around desert ridge,cave creek,happy valley road that seem to be closer to downtown phoenix than some of the other places that i mentioned earlier. What do you think about these places

[AzDreamer]

Since you don't know the area very well maybe you would be better off renting for a few months. There are nice area all over, some in Phoenix. You don't want to buy out in the boonies and spend hours each week in traffic, even if it's a carpool you're still not being very productive.

[AksarbeN]

Originally Posted by amoeba

thanx,
keeping in mind what you suggested ,i found that there are areas around desert ridge,cave creek,happy valley road that seem to be closer to downtown phoenix than some of the other places that i mentioned earlier. What do you think about these places

Desert Ridge could get a little pricey, Cave Creek is also pricey and it’s a long way out of the downtown area for driving into the city everyday. You will want to at neighborhood inside the loop 101, and best if you can stay closer in. You could find homes in the price range along SR51 freeway, there are good neighborhoods and bad ones so it’s not easy to say just exactly where. You can view neighborhoods, prices, and homes on www.willow.com .

[sheena]

Originally Posted by AksarbeN

If I worked in downtown Phoenix, I would look for housing in the north central corridor or in the east corridor, not Tempe or Scottsdale but Phoenix. The housing price you noted should allow you to find something in either area. You could also find something in Glendale that would be an easy commute to downtown. From these locations you could use public transportation if gas becomes more limited or too costly for driving around. You’ll also be within 30 minutes from home to work. Traffic is terrible on the freeways but you’d be ok in Phoenix (east) or (north central) corridors and Glendale is ok as well.

If possible rent for a while and you’ll get a better feel for the right neighborhood. There are many good safe neighborhoods in the areas mentioned however you’ll also find some bad areas as well.

I would stay off of the Phoenix public transportation Scarey folks at the bus stops and on the bus.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by amoeba

thanx,
keeping in mind what you suggested ,i found that there are areas around desert ridge,cave creek,happy valley road that seem to be closer to downtown phoenix than some of the other places that i mentioned earlier. What do you think about these places

If you are thinking about commuting from there Cave Creek?, I would move to Gilbert. You can gets some nice deals in Gilbert now.