Phoenix AZ. Where to live/Not live.

[MDFA]

So potentially changing jobs to Phoenix AZ. Have to be within a 100 mile radius. What's the hive mind advice from those who live there on where to live. Schools are not an issue for my wife and I, we're retirement age, but not retired yet... Been checking on line, but was looking for info rather than what some real estate type would be putting out there. Thanks.

[donlapalma]

What kind of lifestyle do you want? What types of places or activities will be most important to you?

[Yung]

If you do end up coming over, welcome to the best of the Southwest. Please seriously consider joining the AzCDL and voting Republican, as we must be doing something right if everyone else keeps moving in.

You have a lot of options within one hundred miles if you don't mind commuting a bit. Anywhere from Queen Creek or Casa Grande all the way up to just outside of Prescott if I remember my day trips correctly.
Stay away from the Maryvale area. While a lot of the more affordable neighborhoods in Phoenix Metro have gentrified a bit, that area will remain unsafe even through your grandchildren's lives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryvale%2C_Arizona

Here are some previous links to local RFI threads:

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?32890-RFI-Phoenix-Area

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?29231-RFI-Arizona

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?20677-Phoenix-Arizona

[LtDave]

I live in Payson which should make your 100 mile limit depending on where they measure from. One hour drive to Fountain Hills, about 1.5 hours to downtown Phoenix, traffic dependent.

Payson is much better weather wise than Phoenix, not nearly as hot as the valley. Nice smaller town (15k or so population) so long as you are self employed or retired. Not many jobs available outside of service industry. Lots of retired folks live here. Excellent shooting range just outside of town. Housing ranges from single wides to multi million dollar homes. Decent local shopping for necessities, but if you want fancy shops or more choice in restaurants, you'll have to drive to the valley. Highly rated local hospital, but if you need trauma care you will almost certainly ride in a helicopter to the valley. Limited number of medical specialists in town, depending on your needs, you may have to drive to the valley or Flagstaff.

If I had to live in the metro Phoenix area I'd pick Scottsdale with Chandler as second choice.

[Doc_Glock]

Not an expert on Phoenix, but Cave Creek, North Scottsdale is quite nice.

[David S.]

Great public ranges in East Mesa, Casa Grande, North Phoenix just off I17. There’s a lot of Indian Reservation land around Phoenix, so you have to be careful where you shoot on “open land.” Less so north of the city.

[Paul D]

1) I would avoid living in the metro phoenix area enclosed by a box consisting of the Hwy 101 (north end), Hwy 51 on the east end, I 17 on the west end and I-10 the south end. Areas west of the I-17 and south of I-10 are rough.

2) If you anticipate needing regular medical care (especially specialist care), i would not live too far from metro Phoenix. Medical care in the outer cities like Payson, Prescott and far west Phoenix kinda sucks (especially for cardiac care).

3) Nice areas to live (suburban) include northern Peoria & Glendale; Anthem and areas along the Hwy 74 (Carefree Hwy); NE Phoenix and N Scottsdale; and the East Valley (Glibert, Mesa, Chandler, etc).

4) There are nice outdoor shooting facilities in N metro Phoenix (Ben Avery & Cowtown); several nice indoor ranges in Phoenix/Scottsdale area: and a bunch of places to shoot in the East Valley (Rio Salado club, etc).

5) If you predominantly tele-commute for your job; the outskirts of metro Phoenix should be nice to live and shoot.

[TCB]

If I was going to live in that area Prescott would be my #1 choice. Great little downtown with lots of good eats and close enough to Phoenix if you need to do city stuff. Great small towns like Cottonwood nearby and Sedona (one of the most beautiful places in the country) is just a short drive. Also significantly cooler than Phoenix and it’s surrounding cities (they had to shit the airport down a couple summers ago! It was to hot for plains to get airborne...).

[Sigfan26]

I’d look at Surprise, AZ. Just outside Phoenix, nice little city. I lived in Prescott and Prescott Valley for 3 years. If your job is in Phoenix, I definitely wouldn’t recommend it. Accidents past the Sunset Point rest area are not uncommon (and will make traveling 8 miles take over an hour). The other consideration living in Prescott and working in Phoenix is fires. They occurred on the 17/69 interchange all three years I was there (and can shut down travel completely between Prescott and Phoenix for days).


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[Cecil Burch]

Avoid Maryvale at all costs. As someone posted above, it has been a war zone for about 30 years. South Phoenix is a bit better, but nothing to write home about.

As Sigfan26 noted, Surprise is an up and coming area. Not so much towards the south part, but north (say Bell RD and the 303) is really coming along economically. As is north Peoria ( north of Union Hills towards Lake Pleseant). The city has done much to facilitate investment in the north part and houses are affordable but nice, and the schools are really good. North central Phoenix is another area moving up and getting nice. Based around Shea and the 51, there is a big boom there, both housing wise and retail. One of the trendiest hipster coffee cafes is building a flagship location right there. Houses are inexpensive and plentiful.

One thing to keep in mind. The traffic sucks. It’s not L.A., but it’s not that far behind. Plan on living within a 30 minute in rush hour drive of your job. More than that, and it won’t be long before you lose your mind. A lot of the push for the upscale gentrification of downtown was you g people working down there sick of an hour commute. Find a nice area with reasonable distance from your place of employment and look then.

[Balisong]

What kind of lifestyle do you want? What types of places or activities will be most important to you?

Lot of sound advice in this thread, but to best answer the OP's question we need to know his answers to these questions.

But I can easily say DON'T live in Maryvale, Sunnyslope, or Tolleson. Most the other cities/suburbs have good areas and bad areas.

[ChrisLapre]

If you like your property and don’t want to deal with small towns with lots of crime, avoid the Casa Grande area.



So potentially changing jobs to Phoenix AZ. Have to be within a 100 mile radius. What's the hive mind advice from those who live there on where to live. Schools are not an issue for my wife and I, we're retirement age, but not retired yet... Been checking on line, but was looking for info rather than what some real estate type would be putting out there. Thanks.

[Coyotesfan97]

I’d stay out of South Phoenix too. Some areas in South Phoenix are worse than Maryvale. Gilbert is a good choice. There aren’t much bad areas there. Northeast Mesa around Las Sendas is pretty nice. I’d avoid West Mesa. Chandler is good too but stay away from Arizona Avenue especially the downtown area. There’s some crappy areas there. South Chandler catches a lot of crime from the reservations to the south. Ahwatukee is a pretty nice area but getting in and out during rush hour is dicey.

[1911Nut]

I am an Arizona native, and 20 years ago, this would have been an easier question to answer. If I was just coming to AZ today, I would go with Prescott as a first choice.

If I wanted to be closer to the greater Phoenix area, Cave Creek, Carefree, north Scottsdale, northeast Mesa, or Gilbert would be my choices.

I live in northeast Mesa, and have a second home in Pine Canyon, 50 miles north of Payson

[MDFA]

Thanks for all of the great information. From what you've all said and my previous research, it looks like Prescott/Sedona areas are the way to go. My wife works from home some weeks but travels frequently so airport access is important. I'll be working from home, and then meeting with clients within the 100 mile radius for interviews.

[LtDave]

I’d look at Surprise, AZ. Just outside Phoenix, nice little city. I lived in Prescott and Prescott Valley for 3 years. If your job is in Phoenix, I definitely wouldn’t recommend it. Accidents past the Sunset Point rest area are not uncommon (and will make traveling 8 miles take over an hour). The other consideration living in Prescott and working in Phoenix is fires. They occurred on the 17/69 interchange all three years I was there (and can shut down travel completely between Prescott and Phoenix for days).


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What Sigfan says about Prescott and traffic on I-17 is true. Traffic gets really bad and I-17 gets shut down completely on a fairly regular basis for traffic accidents and brush fires. Also, I think Prescott would be right at the edge of your 100 mile radius. It might make it, but it will be close. I don't think Sedona will make the 100 mile radius. Prescott has also exploded with growth and development over the years. Lots busier than Payson which is both good and bad. More variety in local shopping and restaurants, but more traffic goes along with it.

[Tackleberry40sw]

Ahwatukee is a pretty nice area but getting in and out during rush hour is dicey.

Yeah, plus going through Guadalupe aka Dusty Ankle Town to get in and out of Ahwatukee is night and day different from one another.

My Ex's family lives or lived on West Darrel between 7th Ave and 19th Ave. between Southern and Baseline. When I left Phoenix, the apartment complex i lived in was changing to Section 8 (15th Ave. and Highland south of Camelback).

[1911Nut]

What Sigfan says about Prescott and traffic on I-17 is true. Traffic gets really bad and I-17 gets shut down completely on a fairly regular basis for traffic accidents and brush fires. Also, I think Prescott would be right at the edge of your 100 mile radius. It might make it, but it will be close. I don't think Sedona will make the 100 mile radius. Prescott has also exploded with growth and development over the years. Lots busier than Payson which is both good and bad. More variety in local shopping and restaurants, but more traffic goes along with it.

I absolutely agree with this statement. And these facts are exactly why I pointed out that the OP's question is more difficult to answer today than it might have been 20 years ago. I love my native AZ, but it suffers from an abundance of what most things in life suffer from . . . . people. They are the ones that create the traffic, accidents, growth, development, and 98% of the brush fires.

[Coyotesfan97]

Yeah, plus going through Guadalupe aka Dusty Ankle Town to get in and out of Ahwatukee is night and day different from one another.

My Ex's family lives or lived on West Darrel between 7th Ave and 19th Ave. between Southern and Baseline. When I left Phoenix, the apartment complex i lived in was changing to Section 8 (15th Ave. and Highland south of Camelback).

When I was in the State Gang Task Force the first year it started we worked that area a little bit but we did a big detail in the 7th Ave to 15th Ave from Grant south to the freeway. Phoenix was getting sniped at by gangsters regularly until they poured around 150 cops there for several weeks. I spent a lot of time around 24th and Broadway (a good area to avoid) and 24th St and Van Buren.

I had a college roommate whose parents lived in that area. I think around Glenrosa and 15th Ave. Ever spend any time at the Original Hamburger Works? Great burgers!

[Tackleberry40sw]

When I was in the State Gang Task Force the first year it started we worked that area a little bit but we did a big detail in the 7th Ave to 15th Ave from Grant south to the freeway. Phoenix was getting sniped at by gangsters regularly until they poured around 150 cops there for several weeks. I spent a lot of time around 24th and Broadway (a good area to avoid) and 24th St and Van Buren.

I had a college roommate whose parents lived in that area. I think around Glenrosa and 15th Ave. Ever spend any time at the Original Hamburger Works? Great burgers!

I never went to the Original Burger Works. The normal haunts for us were Comedor Guadalajara at Central and I-17 for Mexican, Gourmet House of Hong Kong at 14th Street and McDowell, Pizziaria Bianco, NYPD (New York Pizza Dept., Greektown on 7th Street in North Phoenix, Fry Bread House on 7th Ave. North of Indian School, my ex loved Whataburger, the Chuckbox in Tempe, and my ex liked Macayo's on Central.

There are times i miss Phoenix and my friends but, not my ex.

[Coyotesfan97]

My daughter ordered NYPD Pizza for her Law School Convocation party. It’s really good!

[Sigfan26]

I absolutely agree with this statement. And these facts are exactly why I pointed out that the OP's question is more difficult to answer today than it might have been 20 years ago. I love my native AZ, but it suffers from an abundance of what most things in life suffer from . . . . people. They are the ones that create the traffic, accidents, growth, development, and 98% of the brush fires.

The number of rehab clinics and homeless in Prescott increases every year, also.


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[1911Nut]

And in Payson, and Flagstaff, and Cottonwood, and Safford, and Globe, and Nogales, and Gilbert, and Mesa, and Phoenix, and Chandler, and Apache Junction, and Queen Creek, and Peoria, and Surprise, and Tucson, well . . . . . . . you get the idea.

[BK14]

Avoid Mesa, unless it's in the southeast, like Eastmark (great community) or certain areas of North East Mesa (not too far or you run into Apache Junction). On the north end of Phoenix, Anthem is an awesome community that is growing and has a lot of community resources, I'd live there any day. Chandler, like Mesa, is difficult due to there being pockets of excellent areas, surrounded by crappy neighborhoods. Gilbert, like the San Tan, or downtown area are great communities with lots of growth. Tempe is hit or miss, but has the disadvantage of being a college town.

Good luck, welcome to the best state in the south west!

[TCB]

Don’t know if Phoenix is a set thing but I’ve been just S of Tucson for the past 3 years and really like it. I lived in big west coast cities most of my life and Tucson is about as big of a city as I want to deal with anymore. Good food, tons of matches, entertainment, some really nice areas to live and a couple hours from Phoenix if you really need to do something up there...I rarely do. I’m over big city’s and big city problems. It’s also about 10 degrees cooler down here...

[Cecil Burch]

If you like your property and don’t want to deal with small towns with lots of crime, avoid the Casa Grande area.

This guy knows firsthand. Listen to this sage advice.

[Yung]

A good many classes are hosted near the Elzy Pearson range in Casa Grande. By the next morning, all brass is gone and even lead has been taken out of the berms.

[eb07]

Depends on where you will be working.

I lived in Scottsdale for many many years and loved it, I would also recommend Ahwatukee Foothills, Paradise Valley, Desert View, Fountain Hills, and even out Wickenberg way if you like living rural.

I puled the chute and moved to Havasu to get away from Phoenix in 2004 though and just go back to visit family so what do I know ;) :D:D

[donlapalma]

Some data:

https://azbigmedia.com/lifestyle/consumer-news/arizonas-most-attractive-zip-codes-for-baby-boomers/