Best Neighborhood in Phoenix

[urbanprince]

I'm from Canada.

I have heard that it is a good time to buy real estate. I’ll probably move down there when I am about to retire.

I am looking for the best neighborhood to invest in.


-Low crime
-Excellent school system
-Great pedestrian environment, local stores within walking (no not Wal-Mart types)
-Near outdoor recreational activities
-100,000 to 200,000 price range
-SFH or a large condo

Your thoughts and opinions are appreciated.

[HooverDam]

Does it have to be in Phoenix proper? If not, downtown Tempe is the Valley's most urban area. I think the schools are OK (though to be honest I don't pay a ton of attention to that, as all Arizona schools are just some shade of horrible), its very walkable, there are plenty of condos/brownstones, its near Tempe Town Lake, Tempe Beach Park, Hayden Butte and all the sporting events that ASU has to offer, etc.

It pains me to say but Phoenix is still very much a work in progress and if you're looking for something thats an urban environment now, and you don't want to be an 'urban pioneer', then Tempe is your best option.

EDIT: VV True, but Tempe does meet the rest of his needs. I figured 5 out of 6 wasn't bad

[vertex]

^^^Tempe condo's are still way overpriced/overvalued. Not likely to find anything close to his range here, unless it's a college student flophouse-style townhome near campus.

[PHX31]

I don't think there is anything that matches your descriptions.

$100,000 to $200,000 will get you a crappy spec home (or condo) in a seriously far flung suburb. Or a pretty old/lame small condo in a uninteresting/possibly higher-crime area of phoenix.

The far flung, $100,000-$200,000 (really, you'll be lucky to find much of anything below $150,000), house/condo will have absolutely NO semblance of a pedestrian/urban environment, with nothing but the typical chain strip malls several blocks or miles (driving) away. But they would probably have good schools, lower crime, and outdoor recreational activities (master planned neighborhood park or desert hiking/biking/riding).

Near downtown Tempe or Phoenix you'll find the better pedestrian/urban neighborhoods (though, like it was mentioned, pedestrian activity/urbanity it is more of a work in progress) , but you may be surrounded by higher crime areas and the schools would suck (except maybe private or montessori schools). But the prices would be 3x what you are looking for.


Bottom line, you can't really find something that fits all of your descriptions (that I'm aware of). You may want to rank them in order of importance and we could direct you. If price is the limiting factor, get ready to drive out to BFE and forget a pedestrian/urban environ.

[DowntownDweller]

Originally Posted by urbanprince

I'm from Canada.

I have heard that it is a good time to buy real estate. I’ll probably move down there when I am about to retire.

I am looking for the best neighborhood to invest in.


-Low crime
-Excellent school system
-Great pedestrian environment, local stores within walking (no not Wal-Mart types)
-Near outdoor recreational activities
-100,000 to 200,000 price range
-SFH or a large condo

Your thoughts and opinions are appreciated.

Doesn't exist.

[andrewkfromaz]

UNLESS you're talking Canadian dollars. THEN we can talk.

[Vicelord John]

what you are looking for is pretty much utopia at the price of section 8.

[JI5]

There's no way... your price is way too low.

[Don B.]

This is meant to be in complete jest, but this is how I read his post:

I'm from Canada (also known as Fantasyland).

I have heard that it is a good time to buy real estate, because I'm easily influenced and believe everything I hear or read. I’ll probably move down there when I am about to retire, because I can't afford to do anything substantive beforehand.

I am looking for the best neighborhood to invest in, which really means I'm a cheap Canadian bastard and want a bargain at someone else's expense. How am I cheap? Because I won't go call up an Arizona realtor to get quick answers - I'd rather post on some weird internet forum and let the schmucks there do my work for free.

-Low crime (which doesn't really exist in Arizona - the entire state suffers from comparably high crime rates)
-Excellent school system (an oxymoron given our insanely low property taxes - you know it's cheap when your Republican superintendent of schools complains that schools here are woefully underfunded)
-Great pedestrian environment, local stores within walking (no not Wal-Mart types) (har, he must think this is Seattle or something)
-Near outdoor recreational activities (can't have this if you want the prior point - they are generally mutually exclusive)
-100,000 to 200,000 price range (realtors, tell your 300k sellers that they can sell to me if they want to sell now, but they need to give me "a deal.")
-SFH or a large condo (heh, for that price range, you'll be looking at trailers or shacks in south Phoenix)

Your thoughts and opinions are appreciated. (Snarky responses are not, however).



--don

P.S. My partner (who is a realtor) has a listing at Scottsdale House that might come closest to your requirements. Scottdsdale House is at 68th and Camelback, near downtown Scottsdale. For $150k, you get walkability, a pricepoint, a condo, and a decent neighborhood (for Arizona crime-rate standards).

[sundevilgrad]

Originally Posted by DowntownDweller

Doesn't exist.

My thoughts exactly! If you find it, please let me know cause I'll take 3!

[Major AWACS]

In the mid-80s when I lived in Litchfield Park it was like that minus a lot of retail, but since then I am told the area has sprawled, prices have gone up and the schools turned worse-and wal-mart moved in.

Ciao,
AWACS

[DowntownDweller]

My first house in NW phoenix I bought 6 years back or so, I only paid 130k for. It now goes for $250k+ even in this down market. Good luck finding anything close to what you said for under $3-4 hundred thousand. Heck, you can't even buy "historic" shacks in the ghetto smaller than most apartments for under $250-300k.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Pricing aside (you're not going to find anything like what you want for the price you listed) look into Midtown Phoenix. Decent-enough schools (for Arizona, at least) and most of the ameneties you're looking for (but not all).

Also, before you move here, learn how to drive here. That means a) going at least 10mph above the speed limit in the far left lanes on the freeway; b) don't wait for someone to get into your blind spot before you decide to merge and c) for chrissake, don't ever honk at any motorists or flip the bird when they piss you off

@ Don,

[DowntownDweller]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

Also, before you move here, learn how to drive here. That means a) going at least 10mph above the speed limit in the far left lanes on the freeway; b) don't wait for someone to get into your blind spot before you decide to merge and c) for chrissake, don't ever honk at any motorists or flip the bird when they piss you off

@ Don,

The only places in the country I have witnessed worse driving than Phx are LA, Detroit, and Boston. Biggest difference here is that everybody is armed.

[andrewkfromaz]

Wow the poor guy asks a simple question (there's no such thing as a stupid question, right? ) and gets a load of "advice." Hope we were helpful!!!

Come on, everyone knows Miami has way worse drivers than Phoenix.

Don, why would now not be a good time to buy real estate? If you can actually afford it, that is.

Also, when he says "low crime" I read "decent neighborhood." Sure, cars get jacked from the front of houses no matter where you live, but I think there's a definite difference in living on a sketchy street vs. a quieter neighborhood.

My (admittedly limited) experience with other cities is that an urban environment can be in close proximity to limited outdoor recreation space, but you have to be flexible. Phoenix, because of its lack of extensive truly urban areas, does not have a lot of places where the two conditions meet, but other cities do.
In Phoenix, if you're willing to travel a moderate distance, you can live in N. Tempe and hike A Mountain, for example. Other options include the North Central Ave. neighborhood (actually fairly urban in places) and the relatively nearby mountain preserve or canal banks. Obviously the best options for outdoor recreation are surrounded by more suburban environments. South Mountain tends to be a recreation favorite, with a huge variety of housing options around it, from Laveen to SE Phoenix to Ahwatukee.

[Vicelord John]

if he is about to retire, why does he need an excellent school system? And why not do like every other canadian and buy a trailer at leisure world in east mesa?

[SethAZ]

Ok, I gotta chime in.
I bought a house in an old tempe neighborhood in October. It was 260k for 1500 sq ft, completely redone, huge back yard, 3 bed/2 bath. It was built in 1959. It doesn’t have all the fancy things that newer houses out in BFE have or quite the amenities that the new expensive condos have.
However, what it lacks in that regard is more than made up for in the fact that I never drive anywhere. I walk to the coffee shop, I walk to restaurants that I like, I walk to the park. I bike to work. My favorite breakfast place, Harlows, is right down the street. My doctors office is around the corner, my dentist is around the corner. The free bus comes past my house and I can get to downtown tempe in about 5-10 minutes. I ride my bike to tempe town lake frequently and I hike A mountain once a week. Papago Park, the zoo and the Botanical Gardens are just a short drive north.

There are at least three elementary schools around my house that I can think of; Tempe High is up the road. I can’t comment on the quality since I don’t have kids, but I see lots of kids walking to and from them everyday.

“low crime” seems to be an undefined term. Do I see people getting murdered in my neighborhood? No. Do I see cars getting stolen out of my neighborhood? No? Am I pretty sure that my next door neighbors smoke a lot of pot? Yes.

When I do drive I have easy access to the I-10, 202, 143, and the 60.

It makes me kinda crazy when people claim that this kind of life doesn’t exist in the Valley. It does, I live it.

So to answer the question, look for a house in downtown tempe.

[kevininlb]

A friend recently bought a lovely, beautiful two-bedroom townhouse in Peoria (about 15 minutes south of Lake Pleasant) in a 50-plus community for $218,000. The one thing in your description missing is a pedestrian environment, but, that said, there are pretty nice shopping areas that aren't anchored by Wal-Mart etc. And, sorry, don't know nutthin 'bout school districts.

I'd check it out.

Edit: I should note that it's about a million miles from downtown Phx, Tempe, Scottsdale. But very nice.

[PHX31]

It's just Don's time of the month.

[vertex]

Originally Posted by SethAZ

Ok, I gotta chime in.
I bought a house in an old tempe neighborhood in October. It was 260k for 1500 sq ft, completely redone, huge back yard, 3 bed/2 bath. It was built in 1959. It doesn’t have all the fancy things that newer houses out in BFE have or quite the amenities that the new expensive condos have.
However, what it lacks in that regard is more than made up for in the fact that I never drive anywhere. I walk to the coffee shop, I walk to restaurants that I like, I walk to the park. I bike to work. My favorite breakfast place, Harlows, is right down the street. My doctors office is around the corner, my dentist is around the corner. The free bus comes past my house and I can get to downtown tempe in about 5-10 minutes. I ride my bike to tempe town lake frequently and I hike A mountain once a week. Papago Park, the zoo and the Botanical Gardens are just a short drive north.

There are at least three elementary schools around my house that I can think of; Tempe High is up the road. I can’t comment on the quality since I don’t have kids, but I see lots of kids walking to and from them everyday.

“low crime” seems to be an undefined term. Do I see people getting murdered in my neighborhood? No. Do I see cars getting stolen out of my neighborhood? No? Am I pretty sure that my next door neighbors smoke a lot of pot? Yes.

When I do drive I have easy access to the I-10, 202, 143, and the 60.

It makes me kinda crazy when people claim that this kind of life doesn’t exist in the Valley. It does, I live it.

So to answer the question, look for a house in downtown tempe.

Sounds like your place is somewhere between Hardy and Priest, south of University. If so, you were lucky to find it at that price, unless the home prices there have suddenly tanked.

That said, while it's a bargain, it's nowhere near the 100K-200K he was looking for. He won't find anything within 3 miles of downtown in that price range.