Where to Move: Ahwatukee or Scottsdale? (renting, home, buy)

[Robert A]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

I have driven that route. Are you saying it only took you an additional 10 minutes to your destination in downtown once you reached 51 at Cactus. Also, it's well know that traffic is worse between 7:00 and 8:00 as most people are trying to get to work by 8 AM especially between 7:30 and 8:00 as people are racing at the last minute to make their 8:00 AM time. Like I said, hard to believe

You may have driven that route, but you don't drive that route. And yes, that's what I'm saying. I don't see what's so hard to believe about it - the distance from the 51/I-10 interchange and nearly any location Downtown is maybe 4 miles at maximum (say, 7th Ave/Van Buren).

I also commute part time to Ahwatukee near Elliot/48th St. Took 31 minutes today door to door. To be fair, it will take longer to get home by about 5-10 minutes. The 51 ways seems worse in the afternoon to me.

Commute times from anywhere can vary on a daily basis, but this is my general experience over the past eight or nine months.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Robert A

You may have driven that route, but you don't drive that route. And yes, that's what I'm saying. I don't see what's so hard to believe about it - the distance from the 51/I-10 interchange and nearly any location Downtown is maybe 4 miles at maximum (say, 7th Ave/Van Buren).

I also commute part time to Ahwatukee near Elliot/48th St. Took 31 minutes today door to door. To be fair, it will take longer to get home by about 5-10 minutes. The 51 ways seems worse in the afternoon to me.

Commute times from anywhere can vary on a daily basis, but this is my general experience over the past eight or nine months.

No I have driven that route as I round in the morning at both John C. Lincoln North and Banner Good Samaritan part of the week. It takes me a lot longer than 10 minutes from Northern at 51 let alone Shea and the 51 to Good Sam which is at 7th and McDowell. The traffic on the 51 is southbound in the morning not northbound. And there are multiple speed cameras set at 55 on southbound 51 so you couldn't speed if you wanted to. Commute times don't vary in the morning especially in downtown; it's called rush hour for a reason.

Good Sam is north of I-10 and closer to North Scottsdale than 7th ave and Van Buren. I live at Warner and I-10 and it takes me 20 minutes from the I-10/Warner to Good Sam in the morning so there is no way it takes you "10 minutes max" from 51 and Shea to some place further south of Good Sam (7th st and McDowell) such as 7th ave and Van Buren.

Your story makes no sense.

[azriverfan.]

Out of curiosity, I just typed in your route on Google maps.

From the 51/Shea to 7th ave/Van Buren

12.3 miles - 25 minutes in traffic and 15 minutes normally, hardly the "10 minute max" you described

W Van Buren St & N 7th Ave, Phoenix, AZ - Google Maps

And that's from the freeway, when we account for the additional 15 minutes from your house, you are talking 40 minutes. People on citydata exaggerate all the time regarding commute times and this is another example

[Robert A]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

No I have driven that route as I round in the morning at both John C. Lincoln North and Banner Good Samaritan part of the week. It takes me a lot longer than 10 minutes from Northern at 51 let alone Shea and the 51 to Good Sam which is at 7th and McDowell. The traffic on the 51 is southbound in the morning not northbound. And there are multiple speed cameras set at 55 on southbound 51 so you couldn't speed if you wanted to. Commute times don't vary in the morning especially in downtown; it's called rush hour for a reason.

Good Sam is north of I-10 and closer to North Scottsdale than 7th ave and Van Buren. I live at Warner and I-10 and it takes me 20 minutes from the I-10/Warner to Good Sam in the morning so there is no way it takes you "10 minutes max" from 51 and Shea to some place further south of Good Sam (7th st and McDowell) such as 7th ave and Van Buren.

Your story makes no sense.

I never said it took ten minutes max from Shea/51. I said it took 15 minutes from my house to the 51/I-10 stack and another 10 max to 7th Ave/Van Buren. If you don't believe that well, you don't believe it. This is my daily commute.

[Robert A]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Out of curiosity, I just typed in your route on Google maps.

From the 51/Shea to 7th ave/Van Buren

12.3 miles - 25 minutes in traffic and 15 minutes normally, hardly the "10 minute max" you described

W Van Buren St & N 7th Ave, Phoenix, AZ - Google Maps

And that's from the freeway, when we account for the additional 15 minutes from your house, you are talking 40 minutes. People on citydata exaggerate all the time regarding commute times and this is another example

15 minutes from my house? It takes maybe three or four minutes to get to the freeway. Do you know how close 40th St is from the 51? Less than a mile. And again, I said 15 to the stack, 10 to 7th Ave/Van Buren. Accounting for daily variations, that's 25-30 minutes! Exactly what Google spit out for you!

And to address the "true 15 minutes from Downtown" hypothesis, Google quotes 30 minutes in traffic from Warner/51st St to 7th St/McDowell.

In the end, it's a silly debate about two relatively similar commutes and I'm not sure you fully understood what I was saying, anyway. Cheers!

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Robert A

15 minutes from my house? It takes maybe three or four minutes to get to the freeway. Do you know how close 40th St is from the 51? Less than a mile. And again, I said 15 to the stack, 10 to 7th Ave/Van Buren. Accounting for daily variations, that's 25-30 minutes! Exactly what Google spit out for you!

That calculaion is based on a starting point on 51 freeway itself. You live at 40th and Cactus which is northeast of Shea and another 2 miles and 5 minutes worth of driving. According to Google maps, it's 11.5 miles from your home to the stack and 13 minutes during non-rush hour. I doubt you are making it to the stack in 15 minutes with south bound rush hour traffic especially at 7:30 AM and speed cameras set at 55 mph. Like I said, a lot of people underestimate their morning commute times on this forum.

W Van Buren St & N 7th Ave, Phoenix, AZ - Google Maps

[Robert A]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

That calculaion is based on a starting point on 51 freeway itself. You live at 40th and Cactus which is northeast of Shea and another 2 miles and 5 minutes worth of driving. According to Google maps, it's 11.5 miles from your home to the stack and 13 minutes during non-rush hour. I doubt you are making it to the stack in 15 minutes with south bound rush hour traffic especially at 7:30 AM and speed cameras set at 55 mph.

W Van Buren St & N 7th Ave, Phoenix, AZ - Google Maps

I mapped my house to the freeway just now - three minutes. And then from 36th St/Shea to I-10/SR-51 (it actually ended it at the 10 and Van Buren...weird). Trusty Google says up to 15 minutes in traffic. That's up to 18 minutes and, I can tell you from daily experience, that the traffic on the 51 looks a lot worse than it drives when I leave between 7:20 and 7:40 everyday. Believe it or not!

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by Robert A

I mapped my house to the freeway just now - three minutes. And then from 36th St/Shea to I-10/SR-51 (it actually ended it at the 10 and Van Buren...weird). Trusty Google says up to 15 minutes in traffic. That's up to 18 minutes and, I can tell you from daily experience, that the traffic on the 51 is pretty light when I leave between 7:20 and 7:40 everyday. Believe it or not!

Provide the link that says it's up to 15 minutes in traffic from Shea/51 to the stack. I did the same calculation from 40th and Cactus to the stack and it said 13 minutes but didn't specify traffic conditions. The southbound traffic on the 51 is well known to be packed at the times you specify so I don't know where you came up with the idea that it's pretty light.

[SpeedyAZ]

I'm a foodie -- I like all types of different ethnic foods and prefer great food holes in the wall to fine dining. Thus, proximity to good food (including good grocery stores) is important. We don't care about golf, shopping, or living near museums. From your list, I surmise that in general wine and cheese soirees are more prevalent in Scottsdale whereas beer and burger bashes are more common in Ahwatukee. Is this fairly accurate? If so, then we are leaning even more heavily toward Ahwatukee. But, I haven't seen a whole lot of non-chain restaurants in Ahwatukee, which concerns me. BTW, my husband is ready to kill me and wants us to just make a decision already!

Yes, Scottsdale would be a foodie's paradise. There are quite a few ethnic restaurants and you can pretty much get any type of food you could possibly want. There are also a couple high-end grocery stores that specialize in exotic food, can't think of them off the top of my head but I know there are a few. As far as parties, yes there will be people who have the wine and cheese affairs but there's also quite a few that have burger bashes. Just because someone has $$ doesn't mean they don't enjoy a cold beer and a good burger! I love to grill out and regularly will have some friends over to have a couple brews and a good steak, you can't beat that in my opinion!

[azriverfan.]

According to this it says 9.5 miles and 9 minutes from Shea/51 to the stack. And I marked them precisely. It doesn't specify traffic conditions. To travel 9.5 miles in 9 minutes means you are averaging 60 mph which we know is next to impossible considering (A) the speed limit is 55 and there are two speed cameras on that south bound route. (B) Morning rush hour traffic which will cause you to make complete stops at times



http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&rlz=1T4GFRD_enUS309&q=W+Va n+Buren+St+%26+N+7th+Ave,+Phoenix,+AZ&um=1&ie=UTF-8&split=0&gl=us&ei=9qYmSvrXL4yONYiT9YEF&sa=X&oi=ge ocode_result&ct=image&resnum=1

From 40th and cactus (which is where you claim to live), according to Google maps, it says the drive is 30 min in traffic and 14.2 miles.

W Van Buren St & N 7th Ave, Phoenix, AZ - Google Maps