well I have been here for just over a month and after 30 days of stressing out like a madman I got a job that I am very happy with.

now that I can bring home some bread, my girlfriend is going to be moving from NJ too. i live in mesa now and want to try to get closer to the job. i really dont know much about phoenix in terms of neighborhoods but we definitely want to live somewhere relatively nice and spend probably 500-700/month for a 1 BR. can anyone suggest anything to me?

i mapped out a bunch of possibly places i found on realtor.com here:



#1 is my job and #2 is the whole foods store... (don't ask) the rest are apartments that i have NOT checked out yet physically, just profiled on realtor.com.

BTW, my girlfriend wants to get a new car, wants to spend about $20K... any suggestions? i was thinking maybe a diesel jetta or golf.

 

From where your work is (#1 on the map), I would start to look North and West from that point. Your work is in an area of generally nice low rise office buildings and light industrial buildings. To the east of your work by a mile or two is the Sunnyslope neighborhood. It is not the nicest area (but not particularly nasty either.)

Depending on how far you want to drive, I would start looking in Peoria, around the Arrowhead mall. That is at Bell and 99th Ave, to the northwest of your work. Another nice area would be along Bethany Home Rd., between 12th Street and the 51 Freeway.

Phoenix is laid out on a grid system, with Central Avenue marking the center of the city from East to West. All the streets that run North-South are numbered. The way to determine if they are East or West of Central Ave. is by the road name. All road names from A-M (Avenue, Circle, Lane, Etc.) are to the West of Central. Any road name that is from N-Z (Street, Place, Etc.) is East of Central. Therefore, 12th Ave is on the westside where as 12th St. is on the East side of Central.

I would avoid going to far to the southwest of your work (an area known as Maryvale). The area is not "unsafe" but isn't exactly a high rent district either.

In general, the further north you go, the better the neighborhoods. As far as the whole foods market, there are lots of health food stores around. Check out Sprouts, Wild Oats and Hi-Health (all nutrition or organic grocery stores.) I would be happy to give you more specific information if you'd like. Phoenix is a HUGE city from a land standpoint, and neighborhoods can vary from block to block. Best bet is to come out and drive around.

 

NJoverkill, PM and I'll give you my number. I've lived here 30+ years and could give you ideas. I've lived in a couple different parts of this HUGE city...
Tom