Moving to Phoenix

September 3, 2005 12:09 PM

We are relocating to Phoenix from El Paso. We would like suggestions about where to hunt for a home.

We are trying to downsize in the process. I will be working in Tolleson (South and West part of the area). Kids are grown & out on their own. We have dogs. Our lifestyle is informal. The "living room" has been my office for the last sixteen years. The "family room" is where we hang out and entertain. We eat and entertain in a large kitchen. We don't care much for the brand new houses in and around Tolleson and Avondale. We'd like to find around 1600-1700 sq. ft, 2 - 3 bedrooms, built in the 1970's to 1980's, not perfect, but something we can move into and gradually make better. We like neighborhoods with harmonious diversity. I am resigned to something of a commute. Where should we focus our search?

posted by bobduckles to home & garden (6 comments total)

Real estate in the valley is pretty crazy, so I'm not sure about availability around the area or what you're looking to pay in terms of price. I live in a nice neighborhood in N. Tempe/S. Scottsdale, which sounds kinda what you're looking for... but the commute out to the far west side would be bad.

(For the record, Tempe is the best city in the Valley...)

That said, you might want to check out some of the nice little neighborhoods in downtown phoenix itself. The whole area down there is changing pretty rapidly, but I really dig the Willow/Art Gallery area. Lots of nice, older places... You'd be commuting against the main flow of traffic, so getting out of the city isn't too bad.

I haven't spent a lot of time over on the west side, but I've heard nice things about parts of Glendale as well. Most of Peoria, Buckeye, and all that stuff out there is new and either sterile or falling apart.
posted by ph00dz at 2:34 PM on September 3, 2005

(For the record, Tempe is the best city in the Valley...)

Can't disagree there. I've lived in Phoenix my entire life, and it's a pretty miserable city.

That said, I'd agree that anywhere within a close proximity of downtown Phoenix is probably your best bet.
posted by jimmy at 4:12 PM on September 3, 2005

I'm thinking that there's a paucity of answers here, largely because this is a fairly difficult question to answer. Think of Phoenix as a series of concentric circles, centered on the corner of Center and Jefferson. If you don't care too much for brand-new housing, then you want to avoid the outer limits of this circle. Apart from that, I don't know what to tell you, partially because finaces matter so much, but mostly because it's been my experience that there as much variation within neighborhoods as there is between neighborhoods. You probably need to talk to a real estate professional.

Oh, and my impression is that Tempe is great... for college-age kids. For where you'll be working, maybe Tempe's not really ideal.
posted by .kobayashi. at 4:45 PM on September 3, 2005

I have family in Glendale, Peoria, Goodyear, and Gilbert. For "1600-1700 sq. ft, 2 - 3 bedrooms, built in the 1970's to 1980's, not perfect, but something we can move into and gradually make better", the only one that fills the bill is Glendale, AFAIK.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:58 PM on September 3, 2005

It would be good to know your budget. You can get a lot of nice places in Glendale that suit your needs. A 3-bedroom, 2-bath, 1800 sq ft house with a decent yard in a decent area will set you back around $170 - 220K. The 101 freeway is a giant loop that surrounds most of the valley from Glendale (westside) to Scottsdale (eastside) and parallels the US10 freeway to the south. Tolleson and Avondale are west of the 101, as is Goodyear, which is south of the US10. But if you're working in Tolleson, you'll want to keep to that area (traffic!!), or perhaps head northwest, towards Surprise. But most of that area consists of new builds. You're looking at $250K for an 1800 sq ft house. Those same houses were going for $180K in January of this year. That gives you some idea of the market.

Best bet would be to contact a local real estate agent and put them to work. You can try Realtor.com for some basic searching. Another option is with all of these new homes is to look at renting a house for a bit if that suits you and you find someone who accepts dogs. Although there was an effort to keep investors out of the market, they got in anyway and there are a ton of rentals that are available.
posted by cyniczny at 6:34 PM on September 3, 2005

The downtown Phoenix and Tempe suggestions in this thread are the best. But, if those don't work, maybe you could look in north central Phoenix. My parents live in the Moon Valley (7th st & Cactus) area and it is a nice mature neighborhood (pricey, but some of the older, smaller places are more affordable). You can get to the 101 loop pretty quickly from there and I think that it would be pretty smooth sailing to Tolleson. But the pure distances involved would make it a long commute. Similar, there are some decent neighborhoods in Glendale and Peoria that have been around for quite a while now - think 43rd ave & Olive to 67th ave & Bell). A lot of that area is crappy/boring, but there are some okay neighborhoods tucked in throughout. Especially in the areas along Bell that have horse properties.
posted by mullacc at 11:17 PM on September 3, 2005