Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire OK, Tell Me About Phoenix

As has been said, find out where you're working and then look for a place to live based on the commute. The northeast valley is Scottsdale which tends to be some of the pricier real estate in the valley. I'd suggest looking in north Phoenix, possibly Cave Creek. Desert Ridge is definately an area I would look at, it bsaically stradles both sides of Tatum Blvd. going north of the Loop 101. Depending where you are in the northeast valley, I'd suggest avoiding Mesa, the commute coming north on the 101 can be brutal. Also 202 and US60 west bound in the mornings is one of the worst commutes in Phoenix.

There are bargains to be had right now in real estate, but you do need to be careful. My wife just had a co-worker relocate here and they said finding a house on the market with clean title, no back payment or pending foreclosure issues was a challenge. They did end up buying a foreclosure well below market value after several attempts on other houses. One was a short sale in which the potential sellers did not notify the bank, this came out in the conference room during closing and the deal fell through. Another was a foeclosure they got into a bidding war on and wisely backed out before the price went above current market value. If looking at foreclosures and short sales, make sure that you have a real estate agent who understands the complexities of them.

Avoid areas on the fringes of town. They sprang up quick during the real estate boom and have taken the hardest hit. Prices have dropped dramatically, but so has the quality of the neighborhoods they are in.

Phoenix does have a lot to offer, primarily location. A 5 hour drive or a 1 hour flight with cheap fares gets you to Los Angeles, San Diego or Las Vegas. Southern Utah and its National Parks is a half days drive away. There's also a lot within the state, the Mogollon Rim, White Mountains; it's not all cactus. rocks and desert. Ben Avery is a large range with multiple rifle, pistol and clay target ranges operated by Fish & Game on the north side of town. Cost of living isn't bad; taxes are low, real estate is a bargain right now, the only excption being car insurance rates down here do suck.

Good luck in making a decision. If you have more specific questions, feel free to ask.

The crime danger in large cities can always be debated, with valid points on either side of the coin. It really comes down to specific neighborhoods. There's a helluva big difference between South Central or East LA and my current neighborhood, which is just over the county line in Ventura County, up out of the concrete jungle in a fairly affluent area. Very little crime here, and I have quail, deer, mountain lions and an occasional black bear just out the back door. I'm sure Phoenix has its share of bad neighborhoods, but I seriously doubt they could hold a figurative candle to LA's worst -- and it's not like I'm going to go out of my way to find a BAD neighborhood to live in. Quite the opposite, just as I did here in SoCal.

"As for CCW I don't believe you can carry concealed in PHX"

Wow,.....

that's an interesting opinion.

GTC

Mosby, thanks! Will do once I know whether the company will make a decent offer.

You can carry concealed in Phoenix- it is not Las Vegas... It is not that uncommon to see folks carrying on their hip as well. Having been in law enforcement here for over 20 years, it was pretty funny watching new officers who had relocated from places like NY or MI or MA freak out when they saw someone toting a gun.

There are lots of drug related shootings in Phx but 90% of them are illegals shooting illegals.

If your job is on the NE side, you will be foolish to live anywhere else. Traffic is MUCH improved over the past 2 years but the evening commute can still be a grind. I commuted to downtown PHX for 5 years from Mesa. I waited until 830 to leave the house and waited until after 6pm to drive home. I usually got to work right about 9:05 or so. I didn't enjoy the drive but it is NOT LA.

The summer heat is the worst part of living here. I spent two years in Prescott and do miss it. Late July and early August are the most brutal times as our humidity hovers around 50% and the temps in the 100-112 range. It's 103 as I type this and 55% at my house in Mesa. I have already had to take a shower today after spending the morning working in the back yard.

I intend to spend the rest of the summer scouting in the higher country and avoid the worst of it.

It is a little over an hour to Payson from Mesa and another 25 minutes to get up on "The Rim". From Phx, you have CITY for about 25 miles until just south of New River. It is two hours to my house in Prescott and three to Flagstaff. From PHX it is 30 minutes closer.

A couple MAJOR differences between the People's Republic of Kalifornia and AZ...

AZ is the definition of a 2nd ammendment friendly state. Open carry, one of the first with the Shall Issue carry, and now only the 3rd state I believe with "Alaska Carry". I always say about California that it's doubtful you could take your guns, get in your car, and drive to where you want to be shooting, without being in violation of some stupid gun law along the way. Run across a young, dumb, over eager tree cop, and your day (and potentially your life) could be ruinned by arrest, confiscation, etc.

And, when you do want to go out and enjoy your guns, hunting, hiking, etc., in AZ, there is not a "Private Property, Keep Out" sign at every turn. Plenty of public land available to do whatever your heart desires very close to the major metro area of the valley, and out your back door if you so chose in most of the rest of the state. I've found NOTHING even remotely like that within 3 hours of Los Angeles. All the while worrying about violating some gun law. I gave up. Made more sense to drive the 6 hours or so to where I grew up West of Flag and do my outdoors activities there where you don't have those problems.

Big cities are big cities, and you'll have problems in them no matter where they are. It's what's availabe right outside of those cities (and the rights you have while in them) that make all the difference in the world IMO. In that regard, Phoenix just smokes Los Angeles.

I think he is maybe referring to the airport by the three letter code?

All I'll say about that subject is I've never seen a posting .....

I think he must have meant Sky Harbor "PHX", not the city of Phoenix.

DaveR - I wouldn't totally give up on hunting in Calif... PM me if you want some tips, but the key thing to remember in transporting guns in your vehicle is to keep the firearms (unloaded) and ammo in separate, locked containers. It's that simple. A pain in the butt, yes... a stupid imposition, yes... but there's some good hunting here if you know where to go -- some of it within a 3 hour drive.

Of course, like everyone else here, I would infinitely prefer Arizona's gun-friendly approach.

Where at Kentucky? I'm in Camarillo. Yes, worlds different from LA! As much as I can't "love" living anyplace in SoCal, Camarillo is quite nice. Lived in Agoura for years, but now feel the extra 15 minutes of commute is well worth it to get over the hill where it is 15 degrees cooler in the summer, and view farm fields and PCH on the way to work instead of bumper to bumper traffic, graphiti, etc on the 101 and 405!

Hells bells... we're practically neighbors! I'm in Westlake Village. We'll have to compare notes. I always avoided 101 & 405, and commuted south via Malibu Canyon and PCH. Worked reasonably well unless there was an accident... construction... wildfire... mudslide... etc. Previously drove to El Segundo daily -- usually an hour and 15 in the a.m., an hour and 30 in the p.m., so I could easily handle a 45-minute or so commute in Phoenix!

Nope that doesn't make sense either. Never seen a posting there. It is legal to carry within the non-secured areas of an airport in Arizona provided that one does not approach the metal detectors.

There are a few restaurants and stuff around that don't allow carry and I don't patronize them, in fact, I make it a point to go in and tell them that I came to eat dinner and saw their sign and will not support them. I also let them know that I will mention it to everyone I talk to. Did just that in Clint Wells of all places a while back. Commie bastids...

Clint's wells at the gas station/restaurant, haven't been there in a few years but always ate there when I was.

Too bad.

Kent

Dead wrong there cowpoke...
Its a state law. Even previous to "constitutional carry" passage you could carry concealed in Phoenix with a shall issue CCW permit.

if you grew up west of flag, then that indicates williams, ashfork, seligman, or kingman.
telling my future son in law saturday while leaving williams i had been going up there since the 50's with my father.
love that little town.

Dennis you kidding about the joint in Clint's Well?

I haven't been up there in about a year and a half now, but that really bums me out to here. We have been stopping in there for years. My buddy owns a spread over near the Turkey Moutain Dam.

as to the ccw.
when that bill was first passed, while i objected to the need of the darn thing anyway, i decided to take the class.
It happened i took it from one of the guys that helped write the bill. It was done in such a way you would have to be pretty much a moron not to pass it, yet there are those who can't. That is interesting about clints wells, i would have never thought it a problem. Last year while elk hunting around williams went to breakfast one morning at a popular restaurant in williams. The whole restaurant was full of camo, and guns hanging all over the place.
Nobody thought it out of place.
Locally there are periodic dinners in the phoenix metro area where everybody shows up with open carry.
It might be more noticeable in phoenix to see people open carry, but you do and it is legal in most places. Outside of the metro area i would make the assumption that everybody is armed and would mostly be correct.
I have gone to periodic machine gun shoots around prescott where there was a half million dollars of firearms on the firing line. There is a small hill there that is slowly being turned into rock chunks by that mil surp ammo.
you would need to check but i do think we reciprocate with utah on the ccw.
i might add at a barbeque in chino saturday, a guy whips out a new ruger 9mm as he works for ruger, and passes it around.
I think most of the adult males there were armed or certainly had them in the vehicles.

Great to live in a free state isn't it.


So much for it being anything like L.A. in any way other than being "big"

I don't think much of that either, stopped at that place many times as my sister had a house just up the road.
one of the biggest bull elk i have seen in my life was on the side of the road blowing snot at me between there and the blue ridge ranger station.