What can you tell me about Avondale and surrounding areas? (Phoenix: apartments, rentals)

[Meenie]

There is a job opening in my husband's field in Avondale and the low cost of housing seems very surprising there. Is this a nice area to live?
I'm retiring in August, my husband wants to work for about 10 more years, we're both in our 50's but I'm 4 yrs older.
What does this area have to offer us?
We're nature lovers. My husband used to be a big whitewater canoeist, but now has back problems and can't do the big stuff anymore (he taught it for 3 years at William and Mary and 7 years at Wild River Outfitters)
We love to bird watch also and our backyard here in VA has a lot of feeders and birdbaths, etc.

What is there to look out for there? Are there areas we should shy away from?

I know it gets very hot there in the summer, what's the rest of the year like? And in the summer, does it cool off at night? ie: can you get outdoors without drying up and blowing away ?

Is there shopping in Avondale? I understand that Phoenix is about 35 mins or so away? But I'm hoping there's some kind of recreation/shopping/resteraunts, etc in Avondale itself??

Thanks for your help!
Meenie and Ytwater

[Finger Laker]

Avondale is an OK city in the SW valley - given what you enjoy you may want to look at places like the estrella community in goodyear (i'd definitely recommend goodyear over avondale as a blanket statement)

There are some opportunities for recreational boating - i know there are kayak clubs and assume that there are others for canoeing .... it's not really my thing, but outdoor activities are huge out here

birding is also not my thing, but I know it's huge in southern AZ - near avondale you have the Tres Rios area which is also supposed to be pretty good for a bird habitat

there are a decent amount of birds and if you like hummingbirds they're pretty easy to come by (they love the honeysuckle in my back yard)

there is shopping in avondale - a lot of it bleeds into goodyear

you'll find most of what you need on a daily basis in the SW valley - lots of options for groceries, some clothing stores like kohls, JC Pennys, TJ Max, etc ..... you'll be about 15 minutes from the Cabelas outdoor store in glendale

nearest mall that is worth going to is the Arrowhead Mall in Glendale - it's about 20-25 minutes

From my exit in goodyear to the 7th ave exit for downtown phoenix it's 18 miles - in non-rush hour conditions it usually takes 20-30 minutes to get downtown and 30-35 minutes to the airport - i'm pretty close to I-10 though, if you lived in a place like Estrella you'd add on a little time if you had to drive to the freeway ..... however, you'd also have easier access to the "backways" in taking surface streets

there is good access to both the Estrella Mountain regional park and the White Tanks Mountain regional park - i believe both are a part of the maricopa county parks system

as for the heat, that really is an individual thing - it's not uncommon for it to still be 100 degrees out at night in the summer - however, without the sun beating on you it doesn't feel that oppressive ..... probably not the most comfortable, but as long as the sidewalk isn't hot to the touch we get our dogs out for walks without much issue and have no problem doing things ..... we don't necessarily enjoy just sitting in the back yard, but you can live life .... the first summer is a big adjustment though

phoenix really isn't an urban environment - it's downtown isn't really the hub for everything ...... everything is spread out and it's set up into neighborhoods .... it's hard to distinguish much of the city from itself

[Meenie]

Thanks Finger Laker, great info. I thought Estrella was a park, you can live there?

[Finger Laker]

to the west of the regional park, tucked back into the mountain is a community - i think it just goes by Estrella now, although it used to go by estrella mountain ranch

I know a couple of the guys on here live there and it's a nice place that's tucked away a bit with a couple of lakes, etc

Welcome : Home Page | Estrella | Goodyear, AZ

[intmd8r]

I would also recommend Goodyear over Avondale, though there are some nice areas to Avondale as well (mostly north of I-10).

By the time we moved out of Goodyear (last summer), we barely needed to leave the SW valley at all. Pretty much everything we needed could be had in either Goodyear or Avondale.

[Java Jolt]

Northern side of Avondale I recommend, not the older south side. North of the I-10 is much newer, nicer, cleaner, less crime.

With the slump in the housing market you can probably find some nice deals now on mortgages, leases or rentals in northern Avondale.

[Ritchie_az]

In Avondale, I recommend staying north of the I-10. In Goodyear, stay north of the I-10 or south of the I-10 but west of the Goodyear airport. Estrella is a great community. There are other great communities in Goodyear. Also, Verrado in Buckeye is another option to consider.

[homlish560]

Some people think Avondale and so many sections of the West Valley are where the scum of the Earth hangs out, but these pics say otherwise!!!!!



http://www.desertwide.com/subdivisions/_CITIES/LitchfieldPark/OldLitchfieldRd%2BWigwamSE.jpg (broken link)

[Finger Laker]

i actually wouldn't want to live in the area around your 2nd and 3rd pick - although I will pass them by on my way to TJs for breakfast

[Meenie]

Wow, beautiful pics!
how far is Estrella and Goodyear from Avondale?