Scottsdale · Relocating Here
Relocation in Scottsdale
Moving to the Valley from out of state, with someone who explains how it actually works here before you commit to anywhere.
From two thousand miles away, Scottsdale is one word
That is the problem, and it is the most expensive one in relocating here.
The city runs thirty-one miles north to south across 184.5 square miles, holds about 243,000 people, and rises from roughly 1,150 feet at the south end to nearly 4,900 feet in the McDowells. That is not a neighborhood with variations. It is four separate places that happen to share a council.
People relocating here almost always arrive with one picture in their head, usually assembled from a resort stay, a magazine or a golf trip. The picture is real. It is just one version out of four, and it may not be the one that suits how you actually live.
Talk to me about relocating
The four versions, and what a Tuesday looks like in each
South Scottsdale. You are in an older, established grid with post-war homes on lots bigger than anything built now. Old Town, Tempe, Arizona State and Sky Harbor are all close. You are unlikely to have an association telling you anything. This is the least expensive way to hold a Scottsdale address.
Old Town. You walk to dinner, a gallery and groceries without moving the car, which is genuinely rare in this valley. You are in a condominium, and which of the nine districts you are in decides whether Saturday night is audible from your bedroom.
Central. Master-planned living from the 1970s and 1980s with fifty years of grown landscaping, and the eleven-mile Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt running through it. You drive to most things but not far.
North. Desert, gates, golf, big views and the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. You drive fifteen minutes for a grocery store and you get a night sky in exchange.
The things people get wrong from a distance
The first is assuming north is simply the better version. It is the newer and more expensive version. Whether it is better depends entirely on how often you want to be somewhere else, and people who work from home reach a different answer from people who fly weekly.
The second is underestimating how far north is. From the far north end, Sky Harbor is a real journey rather than a hop, and that lands on you every single trip.
The third is judging the city in February. Anyone can love Scottsdale in February. Come in July if you possibly can, and stand outside at two in the afternoon before you decide which part of the city you want to spend summers in.
Two administrative things worth knowing now
If an address you like is in the 85254 zip code around Kierland, find out which city it is actually in. Those homes carry a Scottsdale mailing address and a great many sit inside the City of Phoenix, which decides water and trash billing, which police and fire respond, the property tax rate and remodel permits. Phoenix rates are generally lower. Paradise Valley Unified serves the area either way.
And do not infer the school district from the city name. Scottsdale Unified covers much of Scottsdale but not all of it, Paradise Valley Unified serves parts of the west and north, and Cave Creek Unified reaches some of the far north. Lines do not follow neighborhood names, so I confirm the assignment per address.
What I would have you do before you commit
Drive the commute you would genuinely be doing, at the hour you would be doing it. Not once on a Sunday afternoon on the way to see a house you already like.
Spend an evening in the part of Old Town you are considering, on a Friday or Saturday, if a condominium is on your list. The difference two blocks makes is not visible in daylight.
Walk a stretch of the greenbelt if central Scottsdale is in the running, because people who live near it use it daily and people who have never seen it do not weight it at all.
And if you are buying on this trip, say so on the first call. A thirty-one-mile city is a lot to sort through in three days, so I narrow it before you land and spend your days on the two or three parts that actually fit how you described living.
Doing this from another state
Most of the relocation buyers I work with are not in Arizona when they are deciding, and the process works when it is built for that.
I walk properties with a camera and give you my own read, including what the listing will never say. I confirm the city, the school district, the association and what sits behind the property before you spend attention on an address.
And I will tell you when a house you are excited about is in the wrong part of this city for the life you have described to me. That is the single most useful thing anyone can do for a relocating buyer here.
Call me on (480) 203-6605 and tell me what is bringing you out.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which part of Scottsdale should I move to?
It depends on how often you want to be somewhere else. South Scottsdale puts you near Old Town, Tempe, Arizona State and Sky Harbor on a bigger lot for less money. Old Town means walking to dinner from a condominium. Central means master-planned living with grown landscaping. North means desert, gates and a fifteen-minute drive for groceries.
Is north Scottsdale better than south Scottsdale?
It is newer and more expensive, which is not the same thing. People who work from home and people who fly weekly reach opposite answers on this, because the cost of north is measured in drive time and the benefit is measured in space and quiet. Neither is the correct choice in the abstract.
When should I visit before deciding?
July if you possibly can, and stand outside at two in the afternoon. Anyone can love Scottsdale in February. Also drive the commute at the hour you would really drive it, and if an Old Town condominium is on your list, spend a Friday or Saturday evening in that specific district, because the difference two blocks makes is not visible in daylight.
Should I rent before buying here?
If you are genuinely undecided between parts of the city, yes, and I will say so even though it delays my own paycheck. Buying into the wrong end of a thirty-one-mile city is a far more expensive mistake than a few months of rent.
Scottsdale
What relocating here looks like in Scottsdale
From established central neighborhoods to north Scottsdale luxury, with prices and character that shift block to block.
Scottsdale runs thirty-one miles north to south across 184.5 square miles, with about 243,000 people in it, and the ground climbs from roughly 1,150 feet at the south end to nearly 4,900 feet in the McDowells. A city that long, rising that far, does not stay one thing along its length.
So when somebody tells me they want Scottsdale, that is the beginning of the conversation rather than the end of it. The south end is a walkable grid of post-war homes on generous lots. The north end is Sonoran Desert with houses in it. In between sits fifty years of master planning, one decade at a time.
- The homes
- Close to every era the valley has built. Mid-century ranch homes in the south, many original and many taken back to the studs. Master-planned communities through the center from the 1970s and 1980s, McCormick Ranch, Gainey Ranch and Scottsdale Ranch among them. Then the 1990s and 2000s communities north of Shea, and custom homes in the foothills above them. Old Town carries the condominium stock. As a rough rule the building gets newer and the lots get more expensive as you move north, and neither of those is the same as better.
- Why people choose it
- The real decision here is not whether Scottsdale but which part of it. People choosing the south end are usually buying position and an older house on a bigger lot. People choosing the north end are usually buying newness, a gate, and the desert at the end of the street. Both are Scottsdale and they are almost nothing alike day to day.
- Schools people ask about
- Scottsdale Unified covers much of the city, but not all of it. Paradise Valley Unified serves parts of the west and north, and Cave Creek Unified reaches some of the far north. District lines do not follow neighborhood names or even city limits here, so confirm the assignment for a specific address rather than relying on a listing.
- Getting around
- Scottsdale Road runs the length of the city and the Loop 101 wraps the north and west sides. From the south end, Sky Harbor, Tempe and Arizona State are all close. From the far north end they are a genuine drive. The Indian Bend Wash Greenbelt runs eleven miles through the middle of the city with more than twenty-four underpasses and bridge crossings, so much of it can be walked or ridden without stopping at a major road.
- Nearby
- The McDowell Sonoran Preserve, more than 30,500 acres with over 230 miles of trails, which is why roughly a third of the city's land is permanently protected. Old Town, which the city counts as nine separate districts inside just over a square mile. Scottsdale Fashion Square, the largest mall in Arizona with more than two hundred retailers. And the Arizona Canal path at the Waterfront, which continues for close to seventy miles across the valley.
- The trade-off
- The whole trade runs north to south. Go south and you get an older house, a larger lot, a lower price and a short run to Old Town, Tempe and the airport, with no gate and no golf course. Go north and you get newer construction, preserve access and dark skies, and you drive further for everything. Two million dollars near Kierland and two million in Troon buy completely different days, and a search result will line them up as though the floor plan were the difference.
Relocating Here: keep exploring
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