I was just informed i'll be part of the construction team for the new Wild Horse Pass Hotel, Resort & Casino for the Gila River Indian Community.

I'll be relocating in Dec-Jan, for apprx. 2 years. I've been looking online for places to live. I've found alot of houses or apartments in the Chandler area. Is Chandler a decent place or should I look elsewhere. I would prefer to stay on the south side of Phoenix.

Next, are there emission laws in AZ that i'll need to worry about? It will be nice to drive the RX7 year arround instead of leaving it parked in MN.

 

Chandler isn't bad..it's actually a very nice, rich community that lives between freeways and has high end malls and such. Tempe is really expensive because it's a campus town. If i were you and I had money, I would live in either Scottsdale or Chandler. Scottsdale is nice and has great nite life. It depends on what you are looking for. As far as prices go....regardless of price...don't move to Mesa or Gilbert. Nice cars get roughed up in that area. I'm not too sure about emissions because I came down here as a student with all my crap taken care of in WA. And also, if your car doesn't have excellent AC....find a way to get excellent AC. I have a vert and in the summer I was dying with the top down and the AC blasting. Have fun.

 

Emissions here is quite strict, but if the build date is over 15 years you can register it as a collector car with collector car insurance and not have to worry about emissions. Just end up with the insurance milage limit.

Chandler is nice, but I wouldnt go so far as to say "rich". Scottsdale and north Phoenix (Paradise Valley) and Ahwatukee is where most of the big money is. Chandler is more like what Tempe would be if the school wasnt here. I would agree to focus a housing search in Scottsdale, Tempe, and Chandler. Ahwatukee is actually part of Phoenix but would be a good place to live as well.

 

Thanks for the help. I'll leave my car registered in MN to make it eazier, sense I'll only be down in AZ for 20-24 months. I didn't think about Scottsdale. I spent a few moths there in the summer of 2003 working on the Kohls store. It is a nice area, and good bars from what I remember.

 

I like Ahwatukee. It feels very suburban to me compared to the rest of the Valley region. I honestly wouldn't mind having a place there.

 

I'd agree with the previous recommendations, just depends on what you're looking for. I live in a nice and new 2 bed/2 bath in Chandler with an attached garage for $1100/mo.

See if you can find a place near a highway (202, 101, I-10) as side streets can get crazy during rush hour.

Scottsdale is very nice but a bit too stuffy for me and very expensive. You might consider south Scottsdale as an alternative.

Tempe is fun and you'll be near ASU = hot college women.

Tempe and Chandler can be a mix of new and some old, just depends on the block sometimes.

 

BTW the 15 year thing to exempt emissions mentioned above is for CHANDLER ONLY. There is also a small area of Scottsdale, but Maricopa county is not exempt. there are only a few zip codes that are exempt.

Just FYI.