Phoenix, AZ

[mch16]

Looking for advice on where grad students live, go out, socialize, etc in Phoenix and the best way to find roommates. Also any general tips about Phoenix for a Midwesterner would be appreciated (besides that it's hot)!

[leijerry888]

I applied to Arizona State. Also looking for such information. Sunny, I love it!

[m-ttl]

Since I'm assuming you're attending ASU, are your programs in the Phoenix or Tempe campuses? Do you have cars? Do you have bikes? (I have neither, so I walk everywhere. More than I have to, there are plenty of buses around campus that circle the campus and Tempe area for free.)

 

Tempe: 

• about 30-40 minutes from Downtown PHX ASU campus
• Not in Phoenix proper, just in the metro area. There's slews of apartments/campus housing in the area. Most construction around the Tempe campus is apartment complexes. They have multiple fairs on Hayden lawn to advertise these apartments. I pay about $500/mo for a furnished apartment with three other girls (I share my room with a friend, the other two have their own bedrooms). Wifi + utilities except electricity is included. You can find cheaper places further from campus. 
• Tempe's nightlife is mostly centered around mill avenue, and feels like a typical college town with a campus population of something like 50,000. 
• Buses: Tempe Orbit is free, and gets you around the city of Tempe. Phoenix Metro/Metro Lightrail are not free but you can buy semester or academic year long unlimited student passes. ASU Flash is free and circles Tempe campus. ASU Maroon & Gold shuttles are inter-campus shuttles which are free and have wifi. In this, cars are not necessary but really damned convenient. 

Phoenix: 

• I really need to stress that Phoenix campus is in the heart of downtown and Phoenix the metropolitan area as a whole is massive. We are the 6th largest city in the US, neck and neck with philly but we take up way more space in terms of area. 
  
  
• To get an idea of "Phoenix" the metropolitan area, here's a map. The space between the Phoenix and Tempe campuses is about a 35-40 min drive depending on traffic. Your best bet is to live either in Phoenix proper outside downtown or Tempe, there's really no reason you wouldn't be able to find housing there. Scottsdale and Paradise Valley are generally seen as where the wealthy are - they have a nightlife culture too. Scottsdale is upscale, shopping, dining, and loads of art galleries/art events and whatnot. (There's a lot of museums locally, Phoenix art and The Heard downtown, SMoCA downtown. there's a new music museum, museums on campus etc) If you don't have a car, getting from Phoenix or Tempe to Scottsdale or anywhere else is much more difficult. Keep in mind the further out you go, the more sleepy suburbs you run into (Mesa, Gilbert, etc) 
• PLEASE: Yes, it is hot. Not midwestern hot. I lived in the midwest for a year and it is not the same. Do not go hiking without water. Do not go hiking in the middle of the day unless it's winter. Do not absolutely do not, go off trail. People die this way. Wear sunscreen -- it's going to soar over 100 in the summer and well through august, september, even october. You will not need your down jackets, snow gear, etc. Bring a coat, a set of gloves you don't need an extensive winter wardrobe, just layers. Yes, your electric bill in the summer will be high. Desert temps in winter drop sharply at night and this can be dangerous if you are hiking/unprepared. Carry water. It is a dry heat and you will not realize you are dehydrated, ill, getting heat exhaustion or stroke necessarily right away. Just get in the habit of drinking water all the time. A lot of people complain it's dry when they get here, but when they leave they realize just how sticky it is everywhere else. Water tends to be mineral heavy. We don't have tornados often, but we do have haboobs (large and destructive dust storms), flash floods and microbursts. It is absolutely sunny, year round, which is nice. But do treat the heat with as much planning and concern as you would extreme cold and snow. 
• Take time to see the Grand Canyon because yes, it's a hole in the ground but it is a really massive hole and it's cool in person. 
• Speaking as one of those people, please don't come to Arizona and demand people speak english; Mexican-Americans and Native Americans who live here (and AZ has more reservation land than any other state) were here before English was. 
• That said, common languages on Tempe campus I would say are: English, Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic, and Persian/farsi. Probably in roughly that order too, as most people who speak spanish at ASU choose to speak english the majority of the time. I hear Mandarin more from fellow students. We have massive int'l student populations from China and Saudi Arabia. 
• I don't know how I would do it personally if I wasn't from the area, but many apartments are used to students and can/will match you that way. If you don't want to do this, you can easily wander campus for fliers looking for roommates, the place is covered in them. I feel housing is not too expensive. 
• Personally I don't club -- sometimes I go to The Vine (watering hole bar just off campus) or out for drinks on mill. But there's a million clubs + facilities and ASU has a massive gym complex and great class deals for yoga, kung fu, cycling, etc. I have lived in Phx most of my life and got used to the culture/people but watching folks from out of state gawk at the sheer amount of fit, athletic, and attractive people never gets old. Esp on Tempe campus itself, plenty of guys go shirtless, ladies tend to parse down layers as well. 
• Despite not being an undergrad, it is your duty to mildly care about the great rivalry between ASU and U of A insofar as you want us to beat them. (ASU does not care nearly as much as U of A does about this rivalry but it WILL be mentioned during interviews, brought up over coffee/drinks, etc.) 

If you have more questions (specific ones) I can maybe answer. 

[mch16]

Wow thank you! Your information is extremely helpful! My program is located at the Downtown Phoenix campus. And yes, I will have a car.  Is it unreasonable (economically, logistically, etc.) for grad students to live in Downtown Phoenix? I know it may be more expensive than Tempe, but would I save money by not having to pay for gas/parking for classes if I lived in Phoenix? However, if most grad students travel to Tempe for nightlife, maybe living in Tempe makes more sense? Thank you!

[m-ttl]

Wow thank you! Your information is extremely helpful! My program is located at the Downtown Phoenix campus. And yes, I will have a car.  Is it unreasonable (economically, logistically, etc.) for grad students to live in Downtown Phoenix? I know it may be more expensive than Tempe, but would I save money by not having to pay for gas/parking for classes if I lived in Phoenix? However, if most grad students travel to Tempe for nightlife, maybe living in Tempe makes more sense? Thank you!

 

This depends on where in Downtown Phoenix you plan to live. Obviously some of the sky rises in the heart of downtown are going to be far out of your budget. Like I said, I don't live in Phoenix, I live in Tempe, and commute in when I need to. I'll stress: The inter-campus shuttle is free and will take you directly to and from Tempe and Phoenix campuses. (So there's no reason why you couldn't live in Tempe and take the free shuttle) The light rail isn't free, but will take you directly into Downtown phoenix, and you can buy a yearlong pass. There are plenty of apartments nearby lightrail stops. I think you can find something decent by the rail (within walking distance) between $400-$800 /mo. I don't think ASU Tempe has the only nightlife (or even that it's limited to grad students), it's just a more structured college town experience. Phoenix is more typical urban nightlife. 

 

One is the more urban option, the other is living in a college town. Keep in mind when you look for apartments what your parking fees will be. Then judge what your price range is, and how far you'd half to walk to the buildings in Phoenix you need to get to. Basically most people do some commuting no matter where they are, but I don't have a car so everything is about walkability for me. Since you have a car, just look into how much parking will run you at ASU/apartments/etc. 

[Geologizer]

Okay, so here's the rundown you need for living in Phoenix/Tempe (ASU). I've been a Phoenix-area resident for the last ~20 years or so. I'll try to keep it mostly geared toward toward the Downtown/Tempe area though.

 

Some pretty solid advice listed above. There are a few specifics that I would add to the mix though.

- Basic layout. Downtown is in a "revitalization" phase where there is a lot of hip, modern, upstart stuff happening. Lots of rebuilding and general tidying up of the place. It got pretty beat down and shabby, and is now trying to re-image. There is still lingering bad/shabby areas around mixed in with the new areas. Also, there is the "old money" mixed in there too, where the nice old houses and historical district is all tossed in. It can be very disorienting for people not used to the area to see all of these things mixed so haphazardly together. To the south east about 15-20 minutes from Downtown campus is the Tempe campus. This is a college town, but as the college is 50,000 strong, it's probably more accurate to call it a college city. 

 

- Building off of that, finding a place to live. You'll notice that between Tempe and Downtown campus is the airport (Phoenix Sky Harbor - huge airport). The surrounding area, especially to the north, west, and south around the airport are heavily industrial. That part of town is very beaten down, and is not a very good place to live for many reasons. You'll notice though that rent for apartments in between Tempe and Downtown campus are really cheap. That's why they're cheap. The area between the two campuses seems like a prime spot, but is definitely not a good place to live. There are some exceptions to this where the "old money" meets the broken down trashy areas, but you'll be able to see the transition easily with the price tag for rent. You're generally going to be safer the further north you push from the airport. The closer you get to the Tempe campus, immediately to the east of the airport, you'll quickly move into the heart of college town. Take home message, there are nice places to live in Tempe and in Downtown, but be especially weary of places in between. 

 

- Social scene. Downtown Phoenix is the artsy, chic, upscale/more sophisticated scene. There are a lot of galleries to go to and great eateries. Also where two of the major sports arenas are (Beware of traffic on game nights and during rush hours. It's no joke). Tempe is the college social scene. Mill ave. is the hub, but full, and I mean front row at a rock concert full, of undergrads. There's a ton of variety and cool stuff, but go there once and you'll know what to expect thereafter. Around Tempe there are a lot of places off of mill that are really cool as well, just have to hunt them out. Scottsdale is the other hub. You'll hear people call it "old town." Think of it as an older Mill, with a mix of the "new money" scene that is Scottsdale. Again, some cool spots at times. Find yourself a local to help you navigate these places. There are so many good and bad, but whatever you're looking for, it's around. 

 

-Transit. Public transit is on the rise. The lightrail train system is the best way to get back and forth between downtown and Tempe. It doesn't run to the west side or very far north yet though. I find a mix of bicycle, orbit (a free bus shuttle that runs in and around the tempe and downtown campuses), and the lightrail are great for school related stuff. A car is probably going to be nice to have for domestic stuff like groceries, and getting out of the city when you need a break from the heat. Sorry, you didn't want me to say it's hot, but it's hot. Feel free to start laughing at the "it's a dry heat" people. Also, there's so much of the city that the public transport just doesnt give you access to, that it'll be nice to be mobile. Stay away from the highways during rush hours. (~6a to 8:30a, and ~3-4ish to 6:30ish). 

Edited February 11, 2014 by Geologizer

[m-ttl]

Okay, so here's the rundown you need for living in Phoenix/Tempe (ASU). I've been a Phoenix-area resident for the last ~20 years or so. I'll try to keep it mostly geared toward toward the Downtown/Tempe area though.

 

Some pretty solid advice listed above. There are a few specifics that I would add to the mix though.

- Basic layout. Downtown is in a "revitalization" phase where there is a lot of hip, modern, upstart stuff happening. Lots of rebuilding and general tidying up of the place. It got pretty beat down and shabby, and is now trying to re-image. There is still lingering bad/shabby areas around mixed in with the new areas. Also, there is the "old money" mixed in there too, where the nice old houses and historical district is all tossed in. It can be very disorienting for people not used to the area to see all of these things mixed so haphazardly together. To the south east about 15-20 minutes from Downtown campus is the Tempe campus. This is a college town, but as the college is 50,000 strong, it's probably more accurate to call it a college city. 

 

- Building off of that, finding a place to live. You'll notice that between Tempe and Downtown campus is the airport (Phoenix Sky Harbor - huge airport). The surrounding area, especially to the north, west, and south around the airport are heavily industrial. That part of town is very beaten down, and is not a very good place to live for many reasons. You'll notice though that rent for apartments in between Tempe and Downtown campus are really cheap. That's why they're cheap. The area between the two campuses seems like a prime spot, but is definitely not a good place to live. There are some exceptions to this where the "old money" meets the broken down trashy areas, but you'll be able to see the transition easily with the price tag for rent. You're generally going to be safer the further north you push from the airport. The closer you get to the Tempe campus, immediately to the east of the airport, you'll quickly move into the heart of college town. Take home message, there are nice places to live in Tempe and in Downtown, but be especially weary of places in between. 

 

- Social scene. Downtown Phoenix is the artsy, chic, upscale/more sophisticated scene. There are a lot of galleries to go to and great eateries. Also where two of the major sports arenas are (Beware of traffic on game nights and during rush hours. It's no joke). Tempe is the college social scene. Mill ave. is the hub, but full, and I mean front row at a rock concert full, of undergrads. There's a ton of variety and cool stuff, but go there once and you'll know what to expect thereafter. Around Tempe there are a lot of places off of mill that are really cool as well, just have to hunt them out. Scottsdale is the other hub. You'll hear people call it "old town." Think of it as an older Mill, with a mix of the "new money" scene that is Scottsdale. Again, some cool spots at times. Find yourself a local to help you navigate these places. There are so many good and bad, but whatever you're looking for, it's around. 

 

-Transit. Public transit is on the rise. The lightrail train system is the best way to get back and forth between downtown and Tempe. It doesn't run to the west side or very far north yet though. I find a mix of bicycle, orbit (a free bus shuttle that runs in and around the tempe and downtown campuses), and the lightrail are great for school related stuff. A car is probably going to be nice to have for domestic stuff like groceries, and getting out of the city when you need a break from the heat. Sorry, you didn't want me to say it's hot, but it's hot. Feel free to start laughing at the "it's a dry heat" people. Also, there's so much of the city that the public transport just doesnt give you access to, that it'll be nice to be mobile. Stay away from the highways during rush hours. (~6a to 8:30a, and ~3-4ish to 6:30ish). 

 

You're confusing the Orbit with the M&G shuttles. Orbit is strictly Tempe transportation and services the city of tempe for free, with routes running down mill, apache, etc -- but to the Tempe Library, Tempe Marketplace (a mall), down mill, etc. The Orbits all go to the transportation hub on veteran's way and college ave (which is a light rail stop) but they don't go into Phoenix. 

 

The Maroon and Gold buses are run by ASU, and are free. https://cfo.asu.edu/pts  The Maroon Bus goes between Downtown PHX and Tempe and West campuses. The Gold goes to Tempe and Polytechnic. The FLASH circles Tempe Campus in clockwise and counterclockwise routes, as well as down McAllister. All three -- FLASH, Orbit, and M&G shuttle -- are free, but they don't do the same things. 

 

I don't necessarily think every area between Tempe and Downtown Phoenix is a bad place to live, but you can easily live in a nice enough place without shelling out too much that isn't in those places. Mill will have undergrads -- who are old enough to drink or have fake IDs. Honestly, though this is going to depend on how old you are and what your better peer group is. I know people who are Grad Students and bar tend, and their friends go where they are. This is really relative. If you want a party scene (i.e. bars, clubs, sports bars, etc), you're just going to run into UG college students no matter where you go. Let's not pretend like Downtown Phoenix doesn't also have a massive undergraduate population -- and loads of people commute in from Scottsdale. You're going to hit a lot of young twenty-somethings regardless of where you are in those types of places unless you go somewhere really upscale. 

 

Now that I think of it though, buy some non-leather cloth steering wheel covers. You'll thank me in the summer, when you don't burn your hands trying to drive. 

[Geologizer]

Forgive me, I'm quite lax about calling the buses by their actual names. The point I was trying to get at is that there are, in fact, buses that one could get on to get around. Whether or not it's a flash, orbit, or M&G (I actually had no idea this existed/ was a different type of bus) wasn't really what I meant to focus on. Those are specifics that someone will have to figure out, and like me, probably disregard all of the other specifics that aren't along their route. 

 

Yes, I agree there are places between the downtown and tempe campuses that are not bad places to live. But, in general, that just isn't a nice area. If you've lived in the area a while you'll be able to pick out the good and the bad quite easily. But from the perspective of someone who has never been to the area before and may be hunting for apartments simply looking at a map, a general rule of thumb can be very helpful. It would really suck for someone to say to themselves "gee this spot at 32th St and Roosevelt is super cheap, between downtown and tempe campus, and right next to the freeway, Jackpot!" and not know that they're actually looking at a super shady area (I don't know if there's an apartment complex there, just made it up for this example). Sure, just across the freeway once you get into the nice Camelback area, things change literally across the street from one another, but it's hard to pick that up unless you know the area. Which is why I said error to the north with respect to the airport. 

 

Also, I don't want to bicker with small points, but comparing Mill to Downtown in terms of UG presence just isn't fair. Obviously they're around because DT campus is right there, but DT is tiny in terms of student population relative to Tempe campus. I agree, with so many you're going to find them everywhere. I didn't mean to suggest that if you go to Downtown for your nightlife you'll be off Scott free, but it's significantly different than what you'll see on Mill. It's definitely a different crowd by and large. 

 

The non-leather steering wheel cover is a good idea. And I'll add to that (for the ladies) a towel for your seat if you have leather or dark upholstery. Burning thighs from short shorts/skirts on your car seat in the summer - bad news. 

[mch16]

Thank you both for all of this advice and help! It's exactly what I was looking for. I appreciate all of the time and detail that went into your responses!

[katieliz456]

Have you visited the Downtown Phx campus yet? Be aware that it is TINY and comprised of just a few buildings (UCENT, Cronkite, Nursing, and dorms).  There are lots of fun coffee shops, bars, and restaurants nearby, and there's a lot of great stuff along the lightrail, but it doesn't have the traditional college campus feel with a big library, student union, quads, etc. like the Tempe campus.  Also, downtown Phoenix is known for being "quieter" than other major cities.  It is partly due to the heat, but you don't see as many people out & about or sitting outside as you would in other cities.

 

However, the lightrail is a great resource! It will take you to Mill Avenue (Tempe nightlife) all the way to the trendy parts of Downtown Phoenix (check out First Fridays!).  Having a car is really nice for going to the grocery store, mall, and other misc. errands.

 

Also, like other posters said, AZ has a West Coast feel and people tend to be into fitness and healthy/organic foods.  People in AZ are also known for being obsessed with sunglasses- obviously we have a good reason to wear them, though  

[catsnbikes]

Hello! I noticed that the posts in this thread are a little older... so I'm hoping to get some more up to date information! The world changes so fast these days

I was recently accepted to a PhD program in the School of Social Work, and I have never been to Phoenix. I'm originally from Colorado, so I have a good idea of the southwest vibe and I've been to other parts of the state. However, I've mostly lived in or very close to larger cities with very good public transportation. I would love to bike/bus/walk as much as possible. 

My program is in the downtown campus, and I'm unsure if that will make being car-free easier or more difficult..?

 

Thank you in advance!

[psychsquirrel]

On 2/24/2017 at 8:58 AM, catsnbikes said:

Hello! I noticed that the posts in this thread are a little older... so I'm hoping to get some more up to date information! The world changes so fast these days

I was recently accepted to a PhD program in the School of Social Work, and I have never been to Phoenix. I'm originally from Colorado, so I have a good idea of the southwest vibe and I've been to other parts of the state. However, I've mostly lived in or very close to larger cities with very good public transportation. I would love to bike/bus/walk as much as possible. 

My program is in the downtown campus, and I'm unsure if that will make being car-free easier or more difficult..?

 

Thank you in advance!

Congratulations! I am in a PhD program at ASU Tempe (also from Colorado!) and I DEFINITELY rely on my car a lot living in Phoenix. A lot of other grad students use the light rail or bike to campus (I have heard the bus can be a little sketchy).