Arrowhead area chosen as "Best Neighborhood"...

[HX_Guy]

2008 Reader's Choice Awards
azcentral.com | entertainment | azcentral.com's best 2nd annual readers' choice


Arrowhead - North Glendale/Peoria

When it comes to Valley neighborhoods, the Arrowhead area has all the sought-after amenities: family-friendly communities, views of mountains and city lights, lakes, affordable and high-end housing, locally owned and chain restaurants, a mall and boutique shopping. Built on former citrus orchards, Arrowhead, which includes Arrowhead Ranch, Arrowhead Lakes, Arrowhead Towne Center and other parts of north Glendale and Peoria, has been considered one of the Valley's most affluent neighborhoods. A 2001 survey by Nielsen's Claritas, a San Diego market-research company, found that the area's 85308 ZIP code had more millionaires, 1,011, than any other in the Valley.


Runners-up

Arcadia, Phoenix

Biltmore, Phoenix

Central Phoenix

DC Ranch, Scottsdale

Encanto, Phoenix

McCormick Ranch, Scottsdale

Roosevelt, Phoenix

Sunnyslope, Phoenix

Willo, Phoenix


Phoenix is representing pretty well...7 of 9 runner ups are all in Phoenix.

[PHX31]

Interesting... as far as a suburb goes, I don't mind that area of town.

Has anyone else noticed the B.S. in the reader's choice dining categories? Oregano's won like half of the categories, and most of the categories they didn't win were categories they obviously couldn't (best Thai restaurant, best Salsa, etc.).

They even won:

"Best Restaurant "Worth the Wait""
and
"Best Quick (non-fast) Food"

Two completely contradicting categories. Although azcentral sucks, and these reader's choices typically suck too, they've sunk to an all-time low actually publishing the results in the dining categories. It's blatantly obvious Oregano's was in on a fix to win everything by just voting a million times and not letting the readers actually say what they prefer.

[HooverDam]

"Readers Choice" sounds very similar to "Retard Choice" and when it comes to this sort of thing, that may as well be what its called.

[vertex]

New Times 'Best Of' is much better than The Republic's version.

[DowntownDweller]

I moved FROM 85308 to 85016. I've never looked back. Hated it up there.

[Vicelord John]

my boogers taste like boogers.

[HX_Guy]

Originally Posted by DowntownDweller

I moved FROM 85308 to 85016. I've never looked back. Hated it up there.

What did you hate about it? I don't think the area is that bad...sure it doesn't have the charm and character of places like Willo but it does have the mature vegetation and I would guess that the retail and restaurant options, both chain and local, rival most parts of Central Phoenix.

[SunDevil]

I though that Paradise Valley would have been the wealthiest area or zip code or whatever.

[Vicelord John]

sundevil, the study is the total number of millionaires in the zip code. Paradise Valley has 15K people, and I think arrowhead has over 50K... not all are millionaires, but you get the point.

[DowntownDweller]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

What did you hate about it? I don't think the area is that bad...sure it doesn't have the charm and character of places like Willo but it does have the mature vegetation and I would guess that the retail and restaurant options, both chain and local, rival most parts of Central Phoenix.

I've always worked in the central valley in my time in AZ (23rd ave and Northern and 16th st and Northern respectively). The commute was attrocious for me from the NW valley. The homes were meh, and termites were rediculous in the area due to being former orange groves. Homes were contructed typical crappy 70-80s levels of quality. Typical cookie cutter crap. The traffic on Bell and UH was ALWAYS bad. Even on Sunday mornings. The stores/restaurants/etc out there sucked for the most part, although the quality and variety has slightly improved since I moved 3 years back. I'm closer to what I want to get to now (2 miles from the BFP and 3 miles from DT). In fact, I rarely have need to travel out of a 5 mile radius of my house. Traffic is only bad during rush hour here, and it is DEAD, DEAD, DEAD on weekends, which is great. People seem nicer here too. Everybody knows eachother and is cordial. Up there, you probably don't even know your neighbors. 85308 = meh. 85016 = the chiznitz.

[DowntownDweller]

Originally Posted by John_Vandercook

sundevil, the study is the total number of millionaires in the zip code. Paradise Valley has 15K people, and I think arrowhead has over 50K... not all are millionaires, but you get the point.

Every homeowner in PV is by definition a millionaire. Not so for 85308, or even close. I sure wasn't

[HX_Guy]

Originally Posted by DowntownDweller

Up there, you probably don't even know your neighbors. 85308 = meh. 85016 = the chiznitz.

It's true, I don't really know my neighbors. I wouldn't say that's because people aren't friendly, it's more to do with me and not really interacting with them. Everyone around me is completely out of my age group and aside from the "Hello" every now and then, that's about as much as I communicate with them.

In the end though, I don't even live in 85308 (used to, and the house sure as hell wasn't anything near the high end...$78k back in 1992 ) but now I live about 3 miles north of the Arrowhead core in the Phoenix 85083 zip code.

[Vicelord John]

Originally Posted by DowntownDweller

85308 = meh. 85016 = the chiznitz.

I moved from 85016... it was kinda sketchy.

85016 = meh. 85004 = the chiznitz.

[DowntownDweller]

Originally Posted by John_Vandercook

I moved from 85016... it was kinda sketchy.

85016 = meh. 85004 = the chiznitz.

Um, 85004 is way more sketchy than 85016. 85016 = biltmore.

[Vicelord John]

um 85016 has higher crime rate than 85004.... pissha!!!

[andrewkfromaz]

PEOPLE ON AZCENTRAL VOTED FOR SUNNYSLOPE!!!!!

THE END IS NIGH!!!!!!!!

Hang on, let me wipe the foam from my mouth...
That's better. Hey, Vandercook, will you see whether anything's frozen over where you live?
I jest. Seriously though, that's totally confusing. How do people not still have huge impressions of the 'Slope as totally ghetto? What changed people's perceptions of that area?

[Vicelord John]

yes andrew, hell is frozen...

for reference, AZ central provides crime maps...

107 crimes this month in 85016
http://www.azcentral.com/CrimeMaps/?...s=30&category=

47 crimes this month in 85004
http://www.azcentral.com/CrimeMaps/?...s=30&category=

of course, this only covers this past month, but search away at previous months too, and you will see. I work in the biltmore, and I lived in the neighborhood and I will tell you downtown is safer.

[Sonoran_Dweller]

These numbers are all crimes (homicide, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft, auto theft, arson and drug crime) from January 1, 1996 to February 29, 2008.

Go here to see information for the areas listed below and any other part of Phoenix for their crime stats. You will have to click many things to get to the exact data listed below (it is an embedded system and there is no permanant web address for each year or location).

This is done not by zip codes, but by square miles.
Downtown = Roosevelt Street to Buchanan Street and 7th Street to 7th Avenue


Biltmore Area = Missouri Avenue to Campbell Avenue and 20th Street to 28th Street


Downtown Crime: Total of 16,797
1996- 2,093
1997- 1,797
1998- 1,917
1999- 1,578
2000- 1,460
2001- 1,506
2002- 1,181
2003- 1,064
2004- 1,096
2005- 1,038
2006- 967
2007- 943
2008- 157** only to the 29th of February

Biltmore Crime: Total of 6,602
1996- 668
1997- 693
1998- 648
1999- 563
2000- 531
2001- 690
2002- 441
2003- 457
2004- 529
2005- 451
2006- 435
2007- 428
2008- 68** only to the 29th of February

Even though, according to this, Downtown has more crime, I think it is still a better place than The Biltmore Area. Just because it has more crime does not automatically make it a negative location. It can still prosper and become an important part of the city. And if it is going to be a major hub of the Metro Area, we should expect crime, it can't be a crimeless area. In a Metro of 4 Million plus, zero crime would be asking for miracles.

[Vicelord John]

you're missing the point, we had been discussing zip codes.

[Phxbyrd211]

Why no mention of Moon Valley? 85023=da bomb