what are the pros and cons of living in ahwatukee, AZ? (Phoenix: cul-de-sac, buying a home)

[chunter]

any insight would be helpful? people? commute to downtown? things to do? etc...

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by lucyhunter

any insight would be helpful? people? commute to downtown? things to do? etc...

Pro:

Near South Mountain -- the world's largest municipal park with miles and miles of hiking trails

Near Tempe and Chandler -- two attractive suburbs with shopping and restaurants of all types (hole-in-the-wall Thai, Vietnamese, Indian, etc. or major chains)

Not too far from Downtown Phoenix

Within Phoenix City limits but also within Tempe school districts

Generally good quality houses

Con:

Bad commute to Downtown Phoenix. I-10 is chronically jammed at the Broadway Curve

South Mountain isolates Ahwatukee from rest of Phoenix (although I'm sure some residents prefer it that way).


With all that in mind, a few recommendations:

Ahwatukee is a good bet if your employment is in Tempe, Chandler, or near the Airport. It's not as good for Downtown Phoenix and not good at all if you work in North Scottsdale or the West Valley

The older, more northern portion of Ahwatukee around Elliot and Warner is a little easier to get in and out of than the newer portions near Ray and Chandler Boulevard. That's especially true as you go west along Chandler Boulevard into what is sometimes referred to as the "world's longest cul-de-sac."

[Boatdrinks]

I was going to mention the "longest cul-de-sac" comparison too. It really is like that. To me, the pro is that you're living close to the mountains (if you can actually afford to live close enough to appreciate them). BUT the con is that, if you're living that close to the mountain, you're really far away from the I10. I think it's around 7 miles if you're in the foothills, and that's 7 miles of road that everyone else is sitting on too.

To me, it's pretty expensive for what you're getting, it's kind of isolated in that there's only one or two ways out, and if you factor in the miles it takes you to get to the I10, it's not really all that much closer then living in other places. Of course, if you live closer to the highway and further away from the mountains, that wouldn't apply.

As for things to do, it's like any other 'burb, though the hiking accessability is a big plus.

[AksarbeN]

Pecos Road is extended now at the south side of Ahwatukee west to the Ahwatukee Foothills making it easier for getting into and out of the west area of the neighborhoods.

However it continues to be a difficult area to commute in rush hour traffic into Phoenix. I-10 backs up with all the other traffic coming into the area from Chandler and elsewhere. Some of the traffic is coming from people have live as far away as Casa Grand and now City of Maricopa trying to enter Phoenix metro area. This is crazy to live so far away and have to drive into the city. It will slow down in time with the future of gas becoming limited and priced high enough that most people can’t afford the long driving trips to work.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by AksarbeN

Pecos Road is extended now at the south side of Ahwatukee west to the Ahwatukee Foothills making it easier for getting into and out of the west area of the neighborhoods.

Speaking of Pecos Road, at this point that road is still the proposed alignment for the South Mountain Freeway. Although it is possible that a more southern route on Native American land will be negotiated at the last-minute, anyone buying a home at the southern end of the neighborhood should consider carefully the prospect that Pecos Road could become a major freeway in a few years. If that occurs, several hundred homes will be demolished, and many residents will find themselves located near a freeway that didn't exist when they moved in. chunter -- keep that in mind if considering a home south of Chandler Boulevard.

[uconn99]

Too bad there is no rail access into downtown huh?

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by uconn99

Too bad there is no rail access into downtown huh?

True. Chandler has just joined the light rail project, so there's talk of building a line from Tempe down into Chandler, but that would be several miles east of Ahwatukee. I don't think that either light rail or commuter rail will ever go to Ahwatukee.

[AksarbeN]

Speaking of light rail. It isn’t connecting the areas like Ahwatukee or other cities. It seems that it is planned to run into Tempe and to Metro Center Shopping area. It fails to pickup the bedroom communities that need to commute into downtown Phoenix. We lost lanes of surface roadway that was important and we fail to get the train where the people area.

There is a railway from the Tempe and from the northwest that runs through Surprise, Sun City, Peoria, Glendale, and into Phoenix. I know that this is the main Burlington Santa Fe rail line, but during rush hour traffic periods couldn’t one or two light rail trains be placed on this line for a couple of hours to move people into and out of Phx main?

Call me nuts but a light rail train could have been running today on those tracks with some coordination of the Burlington/ Santa Fe and the city. However at this point in time we have lost many miles of traffic lanes on surface streets and no hope in the near future of seeing an train on those tracks. There are so many people who live in Metro Shopping Center that are just waiting to take a ride and we don’t want to forget the Chris-town Shopping Center where I’ve seen people already waiting in line for the first train to come.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by AksarbeN

Speaking of light rail. It isn’t connecting the areas like Ahwatukee or other cities. It seems that it is planned to run into Tempe and to Metro Center Shopping area. It fails to pickup the bedroom communities that need to commute into downtown Phoenix. We lost lanes of surface roadway that was important and we fail to get the train where the people area.

There is a railway from the Tempe and from the northwest that runs through Surprise, Sun City, Peoria, Glendale, and into Phoenix. I know that this is the main Burlington Santa Fe rail line, but during rush hour traffic periods couldn’t one or two light rail trains be placed on this line for a couple of hours to move people into and out of Phx main?

Call me nuts but a light rail train could have been running today on those tracks with some coordination of the Burlington/ Santa Fe and the city. However at this point in time we have lost many miles of traffic lanes on surface streets and no hope in the near future of seeing an train on those tracks. There are so many people who live in Metro Shopping Center that are just waiting to take a ride and we don’t want to forget the Chris-town Shopping Center where I’ve seen people already waiting in line for the first train to come.

Light rail with small trains and stops every half mile or mile is appropriate only in the denser parts of the urban core. Using existing freight tracks to provide rail service to suburban areas is a good idea, but that would be better accomplished via commuter rail. Commuter rail features bigger trains and longer distances between stations. Ultimately, the best bet for the metro area is a mixture of light rail and commuter rail. I think the light rail starter line is where it needs to be, and the additional light rail lines planned are also well situated (with the glaring exception of Scottsdale's self-imposed omission), but when we talk about going to the outer suburbs, commuter rail has to become part of the picture.

[uconn99]

I agree, comuter rail is esential in order to make the light rail work well.



Light rail is not only made for more dense urban cores but in the case of Phoenix, it runs on a smaller guage track. That is the reason they had to build a brand new bridge over Tempe Town lake.