Moving to Phoenix! Tips and suggestions please

[Bignate603]

If the cross road is Elliot and the I-10 then Ahwatukee would be very close to your work.

 

[Adul]

traffic out of downtown toward tempe will be pretty good, going in from tempe to downtown can be iffy, but not to bad. Downtown has change a lot over the years so there is more to do there now then there has been ever before with more coming. But it still has a ways to go.

I do go out all that much, but there is some good night life spots out there in tempe and scottsdale. So it depends on what you like to do.

Are you ready for the heat?

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: Adul
Are you ready for the heat?

Quite honestly, no...but it's not like I can prepare myself for it, so I'll just have to deal. It's a big move for me, having lived in Michigan my entire life. I always had Chicago and New York in mind, but the job, company and co-workers are all pretty ideal and Phoenix is still a big city with what a big a city offers, so I'll give it a shot.

I'm looking at this listing right now:

House rental

It seems a little underpriced...the location is perfect for me and if I need to I can try to find a roommate later. I've been considering having an extra room to write off as a home office, but with 3BR, that's a bit excessive. But anyway, is that area decent? Are there preferred areas and areas of higher crime that I should know about? For instance, anything like an Oakland County of Detroit

 

[EvilYoda]

LOL, I just google mapped Ahwatukee...I could either walk (and sweat off a few pounds) to work or bike to work in like 5 minutes! I need to find a place there!!!

 

[zoiks]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
LOL, I just google mapped Ahwatukee...I could either walk (and sweat off a few pounds) to work or bike to work in like 5 minutes! I need to find a place there!!!

Slow bake eh?

 

[cheezy321]

Originally posted by: erub
Me too I'm starting work there July 7,so I'm probably moving out July 1 and I'll be working at 101 and Elliot. I had two summer internships out there before, so I kinda know the area. I'm looking to live around Tempe Town Lake to be near the lake and Mill Avenue

I live right next to Tempe town Lake. Its a complex called Hayden Square and its the best place ive ever lived. Only condos here tho, so it will be hard to find a place to rent here. I walk everywhere and the light rail stop is going to be 60 feet from my front door.

 

[cheezy321]

If you want to be in a cool part of tempe, right next to all the nightlife and the 202 freeway, I would recommend looking for rentals at these places:

Regatta Point
Orchid house
Brownstone
The Vale
Abbey Lane
Millstone
Trillium

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: cheezy321
If you want to be in a cool part of tempe, right next to all the nightlife and the 202 freeway, I would recommend looking for rentals at these places:

Regatta Point
Orchid house
Brownstone
The Vale
Abbey Lane
Millstone
Trillium

Sweet, I'll try to track those down tomorrow...right now I'm looking at:

Serafina

And once again, it's within walking distance for me.

I have a lot of things to consider too...I might lease a new car instead of dragging the current beater down there (they're going to flatbed one vehicle for me) - if I don't have to drive to work every day, the lease wouldn't really be a big deal and I can leave the car for my sister.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: cheezy321
If you want to be in a cool part of tempe, right next to all the nightlife and the 202 freeway, I would recommend looking for rentals at these places:

Regatta Point
Orchid house
Brownstone
The Vale
Abbey Lane
Millstone
Trillium

Yeah, I just went through those...don't think I'll be renting any of them. Out of my price range and I don't exactly need $300K 3BR/3BA condos for just myself. Not yet at least.

Ahwatukee really seems to be ideal, so I'm going to center on that. Biking to work would be interesting.

 

[Bignate603]

Are you sure you want to move here? I just got a massive bug in my apartment somehow. It took about 5 minutes of chasing/being chased by a 3 inch long flying cockroach before it was good and dead.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: Bignate603
Are you sure you want to move here? I just got a massive in my apartment somehow. It took about 5 minutes of chasing/being chased by a 3 inch long flying cockroach before it was good and dead.

*blech*

Ummm...yes? I'll just have to work on my flail-arms-and-run-around-screaming-like-a-little-schoolgirl reflex.

 

[Bignate603]

One tip, make sure to get renter's insurance and good car insurance. I've had one car stolen and destroyed down here (from right in front of my house) and a friend came home to find a burglar in her bed room. He knocked her over and made off with her laptop. Crime is high, but renter's insurance is cheap. I think I pay about $100 for a year.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: Bignate603
One tip, make sure to get renter's insurance and good car insurance. I've had one car stolen and destroyed down here (from right in front of my house) and a friend came home to find a burglar in her bed room. He knocked her over and made off with her laptop. Crime is high, but renter's insurance is cheap. I think I pay about $100 for a year.

That's...not good...but thanks.

 

[Bignate603]

If you live down where you're looking crime is much lower. I live next door to campus and it's pretty bad. My friend wasn't thinking and left her kitchen window opened. That's how the guy got in.

 

[tboo]

Dont forget to check out Frys in Tempe-youll be in electronics heaven.

 

[queenrobot]

Great thing about Phoenix that I take for granted: In a short drive you can be up in the mountains with an awesome view and much cleaner air.

 

[EvilYoda]

Originally posted by: tboo
Dont forget to check out Frys in Tempe-youll be in electronics heaven.

I know! I can't wait to go and buy my first mobo/CPU combo and make all my Michigan friends jealous. I plan on building a quad core computer this year anyway, should be fun.

This is my first time ever really moving out...where does one find nerds and geeks to hang out with? It probably won't be too difficult making friends at bars and clubs and stuff, but I can only stand those types for so long. I need people to play Guitar Hero with, board/card games, watch movies, D&D, etc...ah well, all part of the process.

 

[cheezy321]

If you are looking for a place to rent, I know a couple websites that provide some good listings:

www.azrentalhomes.com
www.werenthomesaz.com
www.livebycampus.com
phoenix.backpage.com (I think)

Also check out the ASU web devil, there are postings in it for houses for rent as well as sublets....

www.asuwebdevil.com

 

[BurnItDwn]

It is in Arizona so my guess is that it will be very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very hot there.

Tint all your windows on your car. Make sure your home has Central AC as well as window ACs in every room.
Also, do not ever go outside as you might die from exposure.

 

[Syrch]

Mesa and Tempe are probably the best spots for you. I am currently moving from the east to the west valley. Though i live in an apartment building just north of the 202 on scottsdale rd. ANYTHING near here is nothing but a dorm for ASU. Becareful if you want to stay out of the college rut.

 

[Syrch]

Originally posted by: erub
Me too I'm starting work there July 7,so I'm probably moving out July 1 and I'll be working at 101 and Elliot. I had two summer internships out there before, so I kinda know the area. I'm looking to live around Tempe Town Lake to be near the lake and Mill Avenue

I Hope you're not looking at one of those new condos they are putting up. Well unless you have some serious cash stashed. They start at 300k for a 900sq ft condo.

 

[cheezy321]

Originally posted by: Syrch

Originally posted by: erub
Me too I'm starting work there July 7,so I'm probably moving out July 1 and I'll be working at 101 and Elliot. I had two summer internships out there before, so I kinda know the area. I'm looking to live around Tempe Town Lake to be near the lake and Mill Avenue

I Hope you're not looking at one of those new condos they are putting up. Well unless you have some serious cash stashed. They start at 300k for a 900sq ft condo.

Try again, 350K for a 700 Sq Ft Loft.

Guess what the HOA fees at centerpoint are? $500.

Good thing I live right next door!

 

[daveshel]

Tempe is an older community, with a lot of college housing that isn't very handy to where you'll be working. South of that is pretty expensive. Then south of the 60 you get into Chandler, which should have more to offer. Ahwatukee would tend to be a bit more expensive and have less to choose from.

If you're looking at an older house, beware of swamp cooling, a.k.a. evaporative cooling. It's an a/c alternative that works pretty well when the humidity is low but becomes useless during the monsoon season (late June through late August), requites a lot of maintenance, and makes you feel clammy even when it works well. Kind of primitive: it consists of a box that sits on the roof and draws hot air from outside through its walls, which are lined with spongy material kept wet. They can be smelly and can inject all kinds of nasty molds and stuff into your interior air.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: vailr
Might want to consider proximity to the new Phoenix area light rail line.
Save money by not owning a car.

too bad he will be working at an area that is south of the light rail line. i drive that area a couple times a day, and i can tell you going from phx to tempe in the morning is pretty painless. going the other way is pretty tough most days tho. downtown phx is hardly a great area to live IMO, but i hear they are trying to change that. my cuz just bought a condo across from the civic center, i thought he was crazy but he likes it. if you are going to work in tempe by the 60 and I10, id suggest going either south or east a bit to live, plenty of decent neighborhoods around there. if you wanted to have fun, you could always go just south and west of ASU and live in college area. much fun to be had around there, as well as close to both work and downtown tempe. weekends there are apparently pretty fun stuff. i live in mesa, kids go to school in tempe and work in phoenix. i get to travel all over in my usual day.

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: foghorn67
Phoenix Metro area is split down the middle with Center St. It runs N/S. Every N/S street on the west of Center is an Ave., and it will be numbered oddly. Like 83rd Ave. Also that's the block number. 83rd ave is 83 blocks west of Center. Streets on the East of Center is named a St. and will be even numbered. Again 38th St., is 38 blocks east of Center. The few exceptions are like 7th St. and 7th Ave.
The capitol building is the very center south of downtown Phx. Any E/W streets are named after the presidents in order beginning with Washington. Anything N of the capitol for E/W is named after random crap I think.
Major E/W streets are Bell, Camelback, Thunderbird, etc.

In Tempe, Mill Ave. is where you want to start. There are tons and tons of clubs, bars, pubs, and anything to do in A/C like mother nature intended.

central. center is the middle of mesa. central ave is the middle of phoenix.