Phoenix Thread • Page 7

I did too, thought that was interesting. Hoping it's not indicative of financial troubles for them, they've made a great little venue out of that place!

 

Same. It seemed like they were doing well for a while. I still haven't been there but I used to see the name everywhere.

 

Crescent put up a neat little guide to all of the props in upcoming election! Definitely worth checking out

Arizona 2018 Ballot Measures Guide Sheet | Crescent Ballroom

 

I know there aren’t many of us, but I hope my fellow valley dwellers are safe in the madness right now! Shit time to stay inside with the gorgeous spring we’re having, that’s for sure.

 

Never considered posting this in here until now actually, but in the event someone wanders in here looking for things to do on a visit to Phoenix, I typed this up for some people on The Format’s thread a couple months back. It’s most centered around DT Phoenix and Tempe, so if someone’s coming to visit and is staying more East (Chandler/Gilbert) or more North (Scottsdale), I can add some more for ya!

Random leisurely walk around things:
- The Desert Botanical Garden (walk around through some pretty desert scenery, great for photos if you have a nice camera)
- The Musical Instrument Museum (pretty far from anything on this list, but worth it if museums are your thing. you could easily spend a full day here)
- Phoenix Art Museum
- Tempe Town Lake (rent peddleboats or pontoons by the hour. also right next to Mill Ave, the main bar area for college students)
- The Science Center (buncha children gonna be around but you can definitely spend a few hours here if you on some Bill Nye shit)
- The Phoenix Zoo
- Saguaro Lake (definitely out in the boonies, past Mesa — but a good option if you want to rent a boat by the hour and have some drinks or something)
- On the first Friday of every month there is a free art walk/festival type thing in DT Phoenix from 6pm-10pm. Nothing too boujee, usually a pretty good way to spend a couple of hours.

Record stores:
- Zia
- Stinkweeds
- The In Groove
- Double Nickels Collective

Food
- Welcome Diner
- Crescent Ballroom (Mexican cuisine, free trivia on Sunday night)
- Four Peaks (brewery, solid bar food. salmon blt owns)
- Cornish Pasty (all sorts of pasties, always a solid beer selection as well)
- The Churchill (multiple food vendors, good if you want options. not the best if it’s too hot out)
- Venezia’s (probably my favorite pizza in the valley)
- H Mart
- Postino (wine bar, bruschetta)
- Matt's Big Breakfast
- Shady Park (ramen & pizza)
- O.H.S.O. (brewery)
- The Dressing Room
- Culinary Dropout
- The Vig
- Restaurant Progress
- Hopdoddy (burgers)
- True Food (good for vegan)
- Verdura (vegan)
- The Coronado (vegan)
- Nami (vegan ice cream)
- Urban Beans (vegan)
- Casey Moore’s (recommended avoid in the evening if you don’t smoke)

Drinks
- Valley Bar
- Four Peaks (brewery)
- The Shop Beer Co (microbrewery)
- Postino (great wine selection, and $5 beer pitchers til 5:00 every day)
- Gracie’s Tax Bar
- Melinda's Alley (speakeasy)
- The Henry
- Undertow
- Culinary Dropout
- Hanny's
- The Churchill
- Stardust Pinbar (pinball bar)
- Angel’s Trumpet Ale House
- Cobra Arcade Bar
- Taste of Tops (very mellow, taproom type vibe)

Other Stuff
- Cartel (coffee)
- Jobot (coffee)
- Topgolf (group activity. driving range, pricey but fun and competitive)
- Lumberjack Axe Throwing (group activity. never have actually done this but uhhhh throw some axes)
- If you’re looking for a pool day, The Clarendon hotel is a good spot that’s usually pretty mellow
- O.H.S.O. offers a beer brewing course in the morning, it’s fun with friends. They’ll serve you breakfast and supervise the beer making, then you get to name your beer and it goes on the menu like a month later. Gotta call to book ahead of time


Lots of real good hiking (here’s a list) if you're into that, but from like May-September it’ll probably be too hot if you’re not up early enough. If you happen to be staying for a few days and feel like beating the heat or seeing some really pretty parts of AZ, drive a couple hours up north to Sedona or Flagstaff and spend a day there. Sedona if you wanna stay a little more low key, Flagstaff if you want the option of still having a bit of night life — beautiful towns though, both of them.

 

Okay give me the lowdown. Me and wife are 4 weeks away from moving to Austin and lately it dawned on us that Phoenix might be a last second switch. The proximity to San Diego, Vegas, skiing, nature is very sexy to us. We love taking weekend car trips and the possibilities are endless in Phoenix.

But I've always considered the phoenix area to be a little bland for my liking. I've only been there once but thought the area lacked character. Fun. Charm. But I've never been to say, Scottsdale or chandler, or mesa, or tuscon so I can't judge the entire metro.

Am I wrong? Is there a fun night life in phoenix.

In my head austin > phoenix.... but the surrounding area of phoenix > the surrounding area of austin

 

It’s hard to say what you’d get out of it these days with so many people avoiding going out and so many places operating differently than normal or closed down. Overall I’d say Phoenix isn’t like overwhelmingly ~cool~ and it doesn’t really have a huge attraction like 6th Street in Austin. I do think it has character, but I’ve also lived here most of my life so I can’t really remove the bias that comes with that haha.

Regarding night life, I guess it just depends what you want out of it. Tempe is clubs for rowdy college kids, Scottsdale is also clubs but much snobbier. You’ll find breweries and stuff like that pretty much anywhere though. Chandler and Gilbert are suburbia — not night life centric, but they have their little spots. I’d avoid Mesa entirely tbh. Also not a fan of Tucson at all personally... it can be a fun day but idk what people that don’t go to UofA even do down there ever. DT Phoenix is pretty spread out but I’d say that’s where most of the “hip” stuff is these days. Again, none of it is gonna compare to the vivacious nature of something like 6th street in Austin, but if you buy in you’ll probably enjoy yourself. But again, YMMV because of the pandemic

As far as the surrounding areas... yeah I mean, I can get in my car right now and be snowboarding in 2 hours. Surfing in 6. Hiking in as little as like 30 minutes, camping anywhere from 2-4 hours. It’s easy to escape for a weekend which is good bc, y’know, the heat lol.

 

I would agree with @trevorshmevor. The Phoenix metro area is pretty suburban and bland (unless you're partying with ASU students, I don't know your age). But the surrounding area, and neighboring states, have some incredible destinations. The red rock landscapes in southern Utah are unreal.

Austin is sort of the reverse - the city itself has WAY more personality than Phoenix, but the surrounding area isn't as exciting.

So I'd ask yourself if you care more about an exciting experience right where you live, or if you're more interested in exploring outside your immediate surroundings.

 

Yeah. There is definitely a... genre? lol? of hangout spots designated for the post college crowd — the majority of places I named a few posts up are some examples. But also so much of that stuff is what you make of it with friends and stuff, haha. Outside of gimmicky barcades and stuff like that, a bar is just a bar and a restaurant is just a restaurant. Whereas Austin for sure has more of a “live music!! community!! the city is alive!!” feel that most Phoenix places do not possess hahah

 

Right everything you guys are saying is pretty spot on to what I assumed. Were having the big debate now of better city vs better overall area.

What about costs and what not and possibility of phoenix area boomkng even more? We are also looking at this move as a long term investment for a house and starting a pet boarding business. Can you guys see phoenix exploding even more or nah

 

I’m awful with trends so I may not be the person to ask haha. If the past is any indication, things are currently looking pretty good for the more suburban and developing areas like Gilbert/Queen Creek/San Tan Valley. We bought a house in Gilbert in 2019 and its value has gone up by like 70k or something already. Tempe homes seem to hold their value very well, but I am curious what that looks like in the next 10 years as ASU continues to expand. Chandler and Scottsdale are kinda in that same boat I think, they’ve held value over time and I have no reason to think that wouldn’t continue, but... anything can happen. Phoenix, I’m clueless — I know DT Phx and Arcadia have been going through a gentrification of sorts in the last few years, idk what that means for them long term.

As far as costs... our budget in 2019 was about 300k (based on only one of us — I had some credit issues to work out), and we had no issue seeing multiple places we loved. The bigger problem was how competitive the market was at the time. Flippers apparently love it here.

 

Moved to Arcadia a year ago from Denver, CO. I agree with everything you said. This is above summary of Phoenix.

 

Word! That’s a good spot to be these days. I spent most of my childhood in that area-ish (we moved from 40th/Indian School to the south end of Tempe in ‘99 — I was 10), and it was pretty sketchy way back then. It’s really come a long way and I think it’s only gonna get better. Have a realtor buddy that lives and primarily does business in that area and the homes he shows are really cool. The Vig is a spot I’ve missed a lot during the pandemic!

If things ever get better one day maybe I’ll catch ya at a show at Rebel!

 

I love the area so far. Still a little sketchy. Looking at maybe buying a property here or Tempe. Aside from the college kids it’s a really nice area. Really clean.

I’ll have to try the Vig. I’m open to any recommendations. I’ve only been to the Cobra Arcade a few years back.

That would be awesome. I keep hearing the music scene is great but the pandemic has made that difficult.

I moved with the intention of seeing The Format. I still have my tickets.

 

For sure! If it weren’t so far from my work, we definitely would’ve been looking at that area for buying. Tempe rules too.

Yeah the scene here isn’t bad — Crescent Ballroom, The Marquee, The Van Buren, and The Rebel Lounge are the four main clubs that artists go through these days and they’re all great imo. Crowds are typically pretty chill, and our local bands seem to be having an uptick in quality lately, after a relatively bleak span of years following our 2000’s boom haha. 100% will be attending The Format’s reunion as well, still holding those tickets! Can’t believe we’re coming up on a year removed from when that would’ve been. Shit is cruel.

But if you’re looking for recs at all, check out that big ol list a little bit up on this page! I primarily focused on Phoenix and Tempe, but there’s should be some Arcadia stuff in there too

 

That is a substantial list. My s/o is going to be excited. She has been dying to try Phoenix out.We’ve only seen Scottsdale & some of Tempe. I couldn’t find a thing to do in chandler. Not that there isn’t anything but I’m no local.

 

@seanxwilliams tagging you here from the other thread you in case you need some recs for when you’re there next week - here’s a big list of spots depending on where you’re staying

 

This is amazing and super helpful, big thanks!

 

I moved here last August and I don't know how anyone deals with this heat. I'm getting out before next summer. Possibly to like Flagstaff, Sedona, or Prescott Valley. That or back to California. In hindsight, moving from San Francisco where it's 65 year round to Phoenix may have been a bit much.

 

In fairness, this year is absolutely the worst it’s been there in probably decades. But yeah, I’ve been feeling for y’all. Typically by this time monsoon season has started and it just rains a metric fuckton every night for like a month which helps cool down the days a little. It’s very odd that hasn’t kicked in yet

 

Yo Crescent Ballroom kinda rules eh? Just saw Pinkshift and LS Dunes there and it's one of the chillest venues I've seen anywhere. Love it.

 

Heeeeell yeah, Crescent’s the best - great sound system, ideal capacity, and not a spot in the place with a bad view. Their food rules too, it’s solid dinner spot or if you feel like just grabbing a burrito during a show they usually have some kept hot at the bar by the stage