Good/Bad Areas of Phoenix?

Off Topic
1

Hey, I know a lot of you are from Arizona, and figured you know a hell of a lot more than me about where the good and bad areas are.

I’ve been reading this forum:

and I’m on page 9 already, with people going back and forth about how bad the crime is, to how skewed the data is because it’s not all violent crimes, and there’s a lot of vehicle theft that makes it sound worst…

It goes back and forth more than people arguing about bulking on this site!

Anyone agree or disagree with anyone from that site?

2

[quote]SWR-1240 wrote:
Hey, I know a lot of you are from Arizona, and figured you know a hell of a lot more than me about where the good and bad areas are.

I’ve been reading this forum:

and I’m on page 9 already, with people going back and forth about how bad the crime is, to how skewed the data is because it’s not all violent crimes, and there’s a lot of vehicle theft that makes it sound worst…

It goes back and forth more than people arguing about bulking on this site!

Anyone agree or disagree with anyone from that site?[/quote]

SWR-1240:

I would have to agree and disagree with some of the responses. In a big city of course there are going to be good and bad areas; so stick to North Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert.

Its true that there isnt much to Downtown Phoenix because there is no where to live down there, but thats changing with the addition of LightRail, new hotels, condos, shopping etc.

With all the illegal immigrants pouring into Phoenix this adds a lot of crime ie coyotes (human smugglers) drugs, car theft (one of the highest rates in the country) Other than the big illegal immigrant issue Phoenix has the same problems like every other metro area in the country. In light of this I have always felt safe here in the Phoenix Metro area. Oh yeah it seems like everyone here carries a concealed weapon,its legal and only takes a Saturday class to get.

Yes the traffic also sucks, im sure just like it sucks everywhere else and yes it will get up to 115 and higher and you will have swamp ass just by sitting in your car, but you get used to it. It is now high season so every person from Iowa and Chicago is out here right now driving 30 mph on the freeway.

The golf is great, the girls are hot, there is good hiking, biking within a short drive, Spring Training is here and you are only 4-5 hours from Cali, Vegas and Mexico.

Are you moving out here? I moved here for school in '99 and have lived here ever since, I couldnt imagine living in a better place.

3

Yea, I’ll be moving out there most likely.

I just realized though, that when I was planning on moving to Albany, NY, I was looking around the outside of the city, and didn’t plan on living IN the actual city.

I don’t know why I didn’t think of that when looking at Phoenix.

It’s just difficult to know where “good” areas are.

I like not having neighbors right next door, or even something more rural than sub-urban. I don’t mind having to drive 40 minutes to get to work either.

I’ll check out where you said.

4

[quote]sops wrote:
SWR-1240 wrote:
Hey, I know a lot of you are from Arizona, and figured you know a hell of a lot more than me about where the good and bad areas are.

I’ve been reading this forum:

and I’m on page 9 already, with people going back and forth about how bad the crime is, to how skewed the data is because it’s not all violent crimes, and there’s a lot of vehicle theft that makes it sound worst…

It goes back and forth more than people arguing about bulking on this site!

Anyone agree or disagree with anyone from that site?

SWR-1240:

I would have to agree and disagree with some of the responses. In a big city of course there are going to be good and bad areas; so stick to North Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, Gilbert.

Its true that there isnt much to Downtown Phoenix because there is no where to live down there, but thats changing with the addition of LightRail, new hotels, condos, shopping etc.

With all the illegal immigrants pouring into Phoenix this adds a lot of crime ie coyotes (human smugglers) drugs, car theft (one of the highest rates in the country) Other than the big illegal immigrant issue Phoenix has the same problems like every other metro area in the country. In light of this I have always felt safe here in the Phoenix Metro area. Oh yeah it seems like everyone here carries a concealed weapon,its legal and only takes a Saturday class to get.

Yes the traffic also sucks, im sure just like it sucks everywhere else and yes it will get up to 115 and higher and you will have swamp ass just by sitting in your car, but you get used to it. It is now high season so every person from Iowa and Chicago is out here right now driving 30 mph on the freeway.

The golf is great, the girls are hot, there is good hiking, biking within a short drive, Spring Training is here and you are only 4-5 hours from Cali, Vegas and Mexico.

Are you moving out here? I moved here for school in '99 and have lived here ever since, I couldnt imagine living in a better place.

[/quote]

Every thing he said is on the money. It is a great place and I really miss it. If you are looking into a home, any of the suburbs are pretty safe except for a few parts of S. Phoenix/Buckeye, North Mesa and a few parts of W. Phoenix around Indian School and 32ish Aves. But you will be able to tell this by driving through them.

The car theft/break-in rate is absolutely insane. My little factory Toyota got broken into 9 times in just over 2 years. One of them was in the underground structure at the Ritz-Carlton and I was parked between an Escalade and a S-500!! I couldn’t believe it. My insurance dropped $120 a month by leaving Az. Tons of stuff to do though. Flagstaff and Sedona are awesome, Vegas, LA and San Diego are all a 5 hour drive and Puerto Penasco rocks!

5

[quote]SWR-1240 wrote:

I don’t mind having to drive 40 minutes to get to work either.

[/quote]

In areas you can live 10 miles away and it takes longer than that

6

Oh, and BTW, I’ve been seeing some houses for rent, with possibility of rent-to-own.

I don’t know where they are located, but for anywhere from $900 to $1200 a month in rent, I’m finding 2000+ square foot houses!

The area doesn’t look crowded at all either, but I’d guess they’re not in good areas based on the prices.

Here are some links if anyone’s bored enough to look at them:

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/apa/292120425.html

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/apa/292283295.html

Or for a whole list:

7

[quote]SWR-1240 wrote:
Oh, and BTW, I’ve been seeing some houses for rent, with possibility of rent-to-own.

[/quote]

I don’t think any of those are bad areas. But, where are you going to be working? Phoenix is notorious for low paying jobs in most fields. I would highly recommend finding a job first then finding housing within a reasonable distance. There is plenty of short term housing available until you find where you want to be. Phoenix is VERY spread out, from far west Avondale, Buckeye and Sun City to Gold Canyon is close to 100 miles so figure out where you want to be first. The commute that most people make is BS. Just look in the autotrader and there is no lack of 2-3 year old cars with 150k miles on it.

8

[quote]duece wrote:
SWR-1240 wrote:
Oh, and BTW, I’ve been seeing some houses for rent, with possibility of rent-to-own.

I don’t think any of those are bad areas. But, where are you going to be working? Phoenix is notorious for low paying jobs in most fields. I would highly recommend finding a job first then finding housing within a reasonable distance. There is plenty of short term housing available until you find where you want to be. Phoenix is VERY spread out, from far west Avondale, Buckeye and Sun City to Gold Canyon is close to 100 miles so figure out where you want to be first. The commute that most people make is BS. Just look in the autotrader and there is no lack of 2-3 year old cars with 150k miles on it. [/quote]

I agree with trying to land a j-o-b first and then finding a place to live. Im pretty sure that there will be a ton of houses to rent, it seems like half of them are investment properties.

I live only 10 miles from work and it takes 25-30 minutes or so, Phoenix is very “car-dependent”, they are building a train system but the Valley is growing to fast for it to catch up, just hope you have good air conditioning. If you have any questions dont hesitate to shoot me a PM.

9

[quote]duece wrote:
SWR-1240 wrote:
Oh, and BTW, I’ve been seeing some houses for rent, with possibility of rent-to-own.

I don’t think any of those are bad areas. But, where are you going to be working? Phoenix is notorious for low paying jobs in most fields. I would highly recommend finding a job first then finding housing within a reasonable distance. There is plenty of short term housing available until you find where you want to be. Phoenix is VERY spread out, from far west Avondale, Buckeye and Sun City to Gold Canyon is close to 100 miles so figure out where you want to be first. The commute that most people make is BS. Just look in the autotrader and there is no lack of 2-3 year old cars with 150k miles on it. [/quote]

Hmm, never thought Phoenix was so big. 475 square miles! and the 10th largest area for a city in the US.

I’ve been applying to many jobs in Phoenix on Monster.com, but I don’t know where in Phoenix.

One that I’m hoping for is a job with the Union Pacific railroad. I also don’t know where they are in the city.

Thanks!

10

[quote]SWR-1240 wrote:

Hmm, never thought Phoenix was so big. 475 square miles! and the 10th largest area for a city in the US.

Thanks![/quote]

That is Phoenix proper alone which makes up only a small part of the valley. According to http://www.rent.com/rentals/arizona/phoenix-scottsdale-and-vicinity/phoenix/
the vicinity covers 2000 square miles and includes large cities such as Gilbert, Mesa, Tempe, Apache Junction(Methville that is getting better), Queen Creek, Buckeye, Glendale, Sun City, Avon Dale, Carefree, Fountain Hills, Moon Valley, Paradise Valley etc… I’m sure that doesn’t cover many of the out lying areas such as Casa Grande and North towards Anthem. Not to mention areas like Florence that essentially connect and are 90 miles from downtown Phoenix. So make sure you know where you want to be.

11

Stay outta Tim. Way too weird.

12

[quote]SWR-1240 wrote:
duece wrote:
SWR-1240 wrote:
Oh, and BTW, I’ve been seeing some houses for rent, with possibility of rent-to-own.

I don’t think any of those are bad areas. But, where are you going to be working? Phoenix is notorious for low paying jobs in most fields. I would highly recommend finding a job first then finding housing within a reasonable distance. There is plenty of short term housing available until you find where you want to be. Phoenix is VERY spread out, from far west Avondale, Buckeye and Sun City to Gold Canyon is close to 100 miles so figure out where you want to be first. The commute that most people make is BS. Just look in the autotrader and there is no lack of 2-3 year old cars with 150k miles on it.

Hmm, never thought Phoenix was so big. 475 square miles! and the 10th largest area for a city in the US.

I’ve been applying to many jobs in Phoenix on Monster.com, but I don’t know where in Phoenix.

One that I’m hoping for is a job with the Union Pacific railroad. I also don’t know where they are in the city.

Thanks![/quote]

UP is in Central Phoenix just west of the airport