Need some honest reliable input-Phoenix area (Glendale, Scottsdale: rent, low crime, new home)

[moughie]

Phoenix, AZ is fine for now. Not my favorite place thoug.
For neighborhoods/communities, may I recommend Ahwatukee, in the Southeast valley. Great high schools, great sense of community and relatively safe. A short 15 - 20 minute commute to the airport!

[LadmoFan]

Good morning folks!

We are once again debating on whether to move to the Phoenix area. Hubby is from the north central states whereas I am a Phoenician by birth. Long ago I lived in the Glendale area but have lived in the high desert of California for the past 30+ years.

What areas would you recommend for a semi-retired couple to live in the Phoenix area?

I have fond memories of Encanto Park homes, visiting old Scottsdale, going to the Town and Country shopping center, etc.

Oh, yes, are Hallcraft homes still a good buy?

I also remember watching Wallace and Ladmo (before the Ladmo bags) when kids would choose their toys from the toy shelf. Such good memories.

Any way, please let me know your recommendations for this homesick Arizona native.

LadmoFan

[Ponderosa]

How semi is semi-retired? If major-semi then I would pick Gold Canyon over all the places here. It's pretty and comfortably remote. It is out in the Queen Creek (not the town, the real creek) area on the south side of the Superstitions. If you have to come to town a lot it's a drive and a half, but otherwise it has the look of Tucson with the big city attractions of Phoenix close by.

Other places that are like that include Verrado, Tartesso, Vistancia, Palm Valley, and Estrella - all in the west Valley. Tartesso is the most remote (because it is halfway to LA ). The west Valley master planned places are nice, but do not have the rich vegetation/mountains you get out near the Superstitions though Vistancia and especially Estrella come close. The east valley cities of Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler are now built-out, overcrowded bedrooms for the worker bees and no where I would want to be for retirement. Queen Creek, Florence, Maricopa, and Casa Grande are all in various stages of development, but they are more or less low-end at this time and the vegetation is pretty much creosote and dust storms. The desirable part of Scottsdale is so far north that Santa is looking at property there.

Gold Canyon!

[LadmoFan]

Hubby is an engineer so I can't see him retiring for a long time. He enjoys working but I would like to see him cut back to 40 hours a week. LOL!

We found a couple houses at realtor.com that were near the Motorola (GD) plant. He could almost walk to work. Is that area fairly decent? We don't mind owning an older home, in fact I love the older red brick homes in Phoenix, so that's not a problem.

We are looking for houses in the $200,00 to $300,000 range is this affordable in Phoenix or are we wishing for something that's not going to happen?

LadmoFan

[2monkeymom]

AZ is most DEFINATELY NOT in my top 2! I have lived here for 31 years, with the exceptional 1 yr move here and there. The only reason I'm still here, is I'm finding it hard to take my 2 young children away from my parents. They are very close. Oh, that and the fact that I know the city so well. Other than those 2 reasons, I would walk away and never look back. I hate the fact that you can't go outside from May to October.

If I had to pick any area of town as my favorite, I'd probably say old Litchfield Park. Not the new homes there, but the OLD Litchfield Park area.

[MotleyCrew]

Your price range would fit in our area of the west side. We are up in Vistancia and I know of a few resales that are under $300K. There are other communities in N. Peoria that would fit your budget as well. Surprise is another area you might want to check on. There is a very nice resale over at Trilogy that I saw today for under $300K. Trilogy is a 55+ community across from Vistancia Village. The ammenities are wonderful. Go to REALTOR.com - Real Estate Listings & Homes For Sale to zip code 85383 to see some of the homes on the market.

[FunkyPioneer]

I've lived in AZ my entire life and spent half in the Phoenix area.

My top 2 picks would be

#1 Sedona
#2 Flagstaff

The Valley would rank dead last on my list.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by 2monkeymom

AZ is most DEFINATELY NOT in my top 2! I have lived here for 31 years, with the exceptional 1 yr move here and there. The only reason I'm still here, is I'm finding it hard to take my 2 young children away from my parents. They are very close. Oh, that and the fact that I know the city so well. Other than those 2 reasons, I would walk away and never look back. I hate the fact that you can't go outside from May to October.

If I had to pick any area of town as my favorite, I'd probably say old Litchfield Park. Not the new homes there, but the OLD Litchfield Park area.

That's so wierd that you feel that way. Usually most people want to be near their families. Perhaps you guys should move for a couple of years and then come back. Sounds like you just need a change for a bit. I know I did when we used to live in NY, but now I'm itching to get back to the east coast.
I've found that most people prefer surroundings that are similar to what they had while growing up. Just my opinion.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by londonbarcelona

That's so wierd that you feel that way. Usually most people want to be near their families. Perhaps you guys should move for a couple of years and then come back. Sounds like you just need a change for a bit. I know I did when we used to live in NY, but now I'm itching to get back to the east coast.
I've found that most people prefer surroundings that are similar to what they had while growing up. Just my opinion.

Yes and no for me.

[pynkpanther]

i agree...we moved here to get away from our families and the cold weather. one thing i can say is that no matter where you go, people are going to be unhappy - if it's not for the weather, it's for the prices and/or the economy.

we moved here 1.5 years ago and not only was moving here the best thing we could have done, but RENTING was far better. here's why:

realtors lie. someone said it before, but i gotta stress it. when we moved here, prices were sky high and there were waiting lists for lots in queen creek and other open areas. we moved to laveen. it was BEAUTIFUL. it WAS beautiful. it is horrible now - in under 6 months it got BAAAAAAAAD. queen creek, maricopa, casa grande and all the other places that had people clamoring for space has gotten just a bad - queen creek, because of the water table...the others, especially LAVEEN, because of the crime and section 8 and out-of-state investors and lack of property manager screening tenants thoroughly. there was a shootout around 51st ave and southern and two kids got shot that were involved. this was halloween night. there were helicopters and everything.

i feel very bad for those that bought because they are having a hell of a time trying to sell. most simply lease their homes for less than their payments just to recoup something.

all of this is to say that the phoenix area can be loads of fun and exciting, especially for the outdoors person in you (if it exists)...you just want to consider renting first and settling in an area in which people are actually happy.