Questions about Phoeniz, AZ

[jpnovak]

After nearly 5 years in Austin it might be time for a change. I was hoping to move back to the East Coast but I might have an opportunity in Phoenix that I can't pass on.

So I find myself at another cross-road in life and a potential new job in Phoenix...

First I will say that I have only been there twice. Once was a touch and go on my way to LA and the other was a 3 hour interview about 2 weeks ago. I am headed back tomorrow morning before the sun comes up.

A few quesitons about the area.

I know it gets hot there. I survived Austin this year with 50 days above 100. I assume summer is similar.

How is the economy in Phoenix right now? Housing market? I should have cash to put into a new home. Are there bargains to be found? Is the market soft?

How is traffic? The job would be located between the airport and ASU. I assume I would live in Tempe or some other Southern area. Any recommendations. I do not want a long commute. Would prefer to be within a 20 mile radius so I could commute on my bicycle - at least a few days a week.

I am used to living in older homes. Newest on ever owned was built in '57. Are there any good areas that are similar in style and structure?

I have a 3YO son. Are there fun things to do there for kids? How are the schools? Will I be forced to use private schools for a good education?

How are the roads? I am blessed with fantastic roads 30 minutes outside of Austin. No traffic and lots of curves? Are there similar roads in the mountains?

How is the PCA? Active? Good track season?

How easy is it to get track/DE time? Of course, this job will take a lot of time but I need to play.

I am sure I will think of more on the plane tomorrow morning.

[Rick Lee]

C'mon out here. I saw how you lived in Alexandria years ago and you can certainly live a lot better here for a lot less money. I've only been here since March, but find it paradise. But I hear this past summer was kind of mild and short by Phoenix standards. Traffic in the area you mentioned is no picnic at peak hours, but still nothing compared to DC. And unlike DC, traffic here is only bad at peak hours, not all the time and certainly not on weekends.

FWIW, I have a 2500 sq/ft single family house with three car garage and pay $1450 a month in rent in a pretty nice neighborhood. My condo in Fairfax was 1000 sq/ft, had a one car garage and my killer mortgage deal still ran me around $1600 a month. I work from home, so I don't deal with traffic. I know most of the Pelican folks around here, but have not gotten involved with the PCA yet. Though I need to, as I have a 993 engine drop in my future. Roads are pretty good, no tolls, no real potholes, but a lot of construction and cameras everywhere. Property taxes are nothing like what you're used to in TX, sales tax is around 8.2%, but I find food and booze to be a lot cheaper than on the east coast. Sure is nice weather this time of year. Let me know when you're out here again.

[mcuozzo]

Hey Jamie,

I lived in phoenix for two years so I'll answer what i can. I lived\now live in Northern NJ\NYC so that's what I'm comparing it to.

Its hot, but a very very dry hot. Kinda like an oven. Seriously, I would take the heat in phoenix over the humdity back here in NJ any day. It's only really hot in the summer months. Even then its not bad in the shade and at night. From Oct through May the weather is perfect. When I lived there we went for about 150 days without rain. Great weather for car guys. You litterally never had to plan when you could wash your car!!!

There aren't that many old neighborhoods. The best would be old town/south scottsdale. Tempe has some older neighborhoods, but they aren't as nice as scottsdale. Plus with ASU there everything is kind of college oriented. I think Paradise Valley might fit the bill as well. All the other areas are newer, with a majority being very new developments. You might want to consider a newer house. They are much more energy efficient. I'd say you should concentrate on looking in areas north to north east of the airport/tempe not to the south or south east. The Glendale area (to the northwest) is a nice area as well but a little far for your commuting\biking prefereneces.

If you work between the airport and ASU it would be no problem to bike to scottsdale. Traffic might be backed up during the normal rush hour, but other than that time, there is no traffic. A 20 mile radius from ASU/the airport gives you a pretty big area to choose from. And if by anychance you work a time other than 9 to 5, you can live anywhere in the valley. There is no traffic off hours. I lived in Avondale (a western suburb) and worked in Mesa (an eastern suburb). On days when I worked late or early the commute was 30 minutes tops. In NYC it could take you 30 minutes to go a block. Literally.

Track time shouldn't be a worry. There is PIR and Firebird. The PCA is pretty active and when I was there a group of 993 owners was pretty active for monthly rides up to Payson and the like. There are plenty of great roads. All the major highways are smooth as silk. Paved with new rubberized compounds. Eerily quiet. For the twisties you have the rides out to Payson in the Northeast, Prescott and Jerome in the Northwest, Sedona and Flagstaff to the North and Globe to the southeast. Plus you can ride to the Grand Canyon, the Hoover damn\Lake Mead, the beach in Mexico, heck LA, Vegas and San Diego are only 6 hours away!!! I almost forgot, there is south mountain park in, oddly enough, south phoenix. Nice quick fun ride you can do on any day to unwind.

If you want a trip that has everything, take a ride to wickenburg, prescott, jerome than sedona and finish up with the highway back into Phoenix. Awesome ride. Pretty long for one day, but it can (and has) been done.

Plenty of car shows out there as well. Best thing is they never have a rain date.

Can't say much about the economy. It was OK when I was there (05-06) but even then housing was CHEAP (I live in NJ\NYC so that's all relative). I rented a 2200 sq ft house with 3 car garage for $900 bucks a month.

If you go there again or move there - you must eat at The Salty Senorita (in scottsdale, not mesa), The Capital Grill (in scottsdale), The Bamboo club (In the Biltmore section) and Pappdeux's Seafood Kitchen (on 17 norht in Pheonix). You might have Pappadeux's in TX so you can forget that one.

You mentioned you have kids so I'll keep my recommendations to those places although they are not that kid friendly. My other recommendations would not be kid nor wife friendly ;-).

That being said when my nephews came out we had a blast, went to both zoos, a water\amusment park (on rt 17) and saw an air show. I'm sure there is more for kids to do but they were only out for a long weekend. Oh yeah, if you haven't already, try ballooning. A friend came out and we had a blast.

I really liked Phoenix, but had to move home for healt\family issues. I'd love to move there again.

Two other things - First, the lack of diversity, peolpe wise seemed weird to me coming from NY. When I stand in line in a Deli in NYC, if there are 10 people in line, no one can understand each other. So it turns out everyone tries to work together. In Phoenix, the same line would have 6 people speaking english, 4 people speaking spanish and the two groups working against each other. Second, the crime rate in Phoenix is higher. Many more guns there than in NYC\NJ. The murder rates is 5 times as high in Phoenix. Never really saw a gun up close till I moved to Phoenix. There they carry them in their glove compartments. Plus gangs seem to be a bigger problem their. In 38 years in NJ\NYC I had my tires slashed\car vandalized once. There it happened twice in two years. Avondale might have more of that crime than the areas I mentioned. I lived in Avondale because it was a convenient commute for me when I first moved there.

Hope that helps in some way. Ask more questions if you got 'em.

Matt

[Pazuzu]

I dunno if you happen to like college girls...especially blonde one...


but ASU has to be the top place for said blonde college girls...in short shorts...and cut off tops...


Just saying

[rattlsnak]

I believe the definition of PHX is this:
It's 3 months of hell for 9 months of paradise.

I go there often for work and my family lives there and I am seriously thining about moving there myself. They live in the Scottsdale area.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by mcuozzo

Many more guns there than in NYC\NJ. The murder rates is 5 times as high in Phoenix. Never really saw a gun up close till I moved to Phoenix. There they carry them in their glove compartments. Plus gangs seem to be a bigger problem their. In 38 years in NJ\NYC I had my tires slashed\car vandalized once. There it happened twice in two years. Avondale might have more of that crime than the areas I mentioned. I lived in Avondale because it was a convenient commute for me when I first moved there.

The one time I ever really needed a gun was when I had a knife pulled on me in Flemington, NJ. Cops didn't care at all and I had to bang on the station door and wait in the rain for one of them to get up and come talk to me. In AZ I am never more than arm's length from a gun and have never felt the need. I do ride my bike out in the bush though, where there is no help at all if you have problems. So the remoteness of the area makes guns a little different than on the east coast.

[LeeH]

There are plenty of nice areas within a 20 mile radius from the airport. Housing is seriously down from the peak right now and there are great deals to be had. The house next door to me sold at the peak of the market for $460K. The house across the street from me is currently on the market for $269K. There are some differences, but not almost $200K worth.

Lots here tend to be small. If you like older homes you'll probably end up with a larger lot. We went to a party at a very cool older home in Chandler a few years ago. The bedrooms were much bigger than ours and so was the lot.

Schools vary greatly - both in education and atmosphere. AZ has a charter system (publicly funded private schools), plus you're not tied to schools in your area. Schools actually advertise. http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/go/AZ

PCA is active with plenty of track and autocross events. Most DEs are at Firebird (just over 10 minutes from my house) and for reference autocross is near the Phoenix Zoo. NASA is also active if you need more track time.

[356racing]

Older homes, good schools, and bicycle to work...Look at the Arcadia area in Phoenix. North of Indian School, South of Camelback, East of 40th Street and West of Scottsdale Rd. Homes are probably 275 and up in the current market. Summer here will be refreshing compared to the humidity in Austin.

[Eric Coffey]

Originally Posted by jpnovak

Don't know how I missed this thread!

A few questions about the area.

I know it gets hot there. I survived Austin this year with 50 days above 100. I assume summer is similar.

Yep, porbably not that far off, but less humidity. We have kinda wacky weather from June through September (our "monsoon" season), but the summer heat is manageable (good A/C in the car and home is a must). This time of year is great though. Haven't had the A/C or heat on for the last month and a half.

How is the economy in Phoenix right now? Housing market? I should have cash to put into a new home. Are there bargains to be found? Is the market soft?

There are smoking deals on homes right now. Most are in the form of bank-owned/REO. We just had a client in N. Scottsdale with a 5,600 sf. 5BR/5.5BA custom home including guest house on 1.5 acres that they "needed to sell." It was originally listed at $1.8M, then they came down to $1.3M, THEN the owner tried a short sale at $900K, and NOW it's a REO at $695K!
As I am sure you know, this was one of the epicenters of the whole housing bubble, so there are a lot of people here who couldn't get out of their current homes to buy once prices started to fall, so they just walked away.

How is traffic? The job would be located between the airport and ASU. I assume I would live in Tempe or some other Southern area. Any recommendations. I do not want a long commute. Would prefer to be within a 20 mile radius so I could commute on my bicycle - at least a few days a week.

Traffic really depends on what part of the valley you are in, but it is still much better here anywhere, compared to what I came from (Seattle). As 356 mentioned, Arcadia is a good area, and is mostly older, established neighborhoods.

I am used to living in older homes. Newest on ever owned was built in '57. Are there any good areas that are similar in style and structure?

Arcadia, Biltmore, Paradise Valley, South Scottsdale, etc. all have older homes in decent neighborhoods. A lot of them here are block construction, so they are very efficient and quiet. It all depends on what your budget is.

I have a 3YO son. Are there fun things to do there for kids? How are the schools? Will I be forced to use private schools for a good education?

Tons of fun stuff for the kiddies.
Schools here are hit and miss. Personally, I would try to keep them in the Unified Districts, if not going private. Of which, the Paradise Valley, Scottsdale, Deer Valley, and Peoria Unifieds usually shine above the others. Of those, the Paradise Valley District is the one closest to the area you have in mind, and is one of (if not THE) best overall. To qualify, I think you would have to reside North of McDowell Rd, between 44th St and Pima Rd.

How are the roads? I am blessed with fantastic roads 30 minutes outside of Austin. No traffic and lots of curves? Are there similar roads in the mountains?

In the valley, the roads are pretty boring an flat. Getting around/Navigation is a breeze though. The whole valley is laid out like a grid, and it takes very little time to get your bearings.
However, once you get out of the valley there are some fantastic roads/routes which lead to some great destinations. East on Route 88 for Tortilla Flat, Canyon Lake, Apache Lake, Roosevelt Dam, Tonto Nat'l. Monument, etc. Head South to check out Tucson, Coronado Nat'l. Forrest, Tombstone, Kartchner Caverns, etc. Head North for Flagstaff, Prescott, Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Page/Lake Powell, Antelope Canyon, Lake Havasu, Monument Valley, etc.

Also, as mentioned earlier SoCal and Vegas are only 5-6 hours away. So is the Sea of Cortez (Rocky Point) if you are feeling adventurous.

How is the PCA? Active? Good track season?

Never been active in the PCA, but I did notice that there aren't as many older Porsches here compared to the NW area. Of course, that is one of the biggest Porsche communities I've ever seen (just visit the regional NW board here to see what I mean). Still, there are plenty of Pelicans here, including a bunch I haven't even met yet.

How easy is it to get track/DE time? Of course, this job will take a lot of time but I need to play.

With PIR, and the 3 tracks at Firebird you should be fine.