And Scott...and now that that little self-deprecating joke is out of the way
...I wish I could be of some help here, but I've never lived down Phoenix way. I know a little about the area but not all that much, as Judie and I moved from SoCal to Prescott which is about 90 miles northwest of Phoenix, and as you probably know, we've now just moved to Sedona which is about 120 north of Phoenix.
Right off the top of head I remember that "mailman" lives in that area, but he seldom visits BA.com much anymore.
Hopefully someone with some experience in living in "The Valley of the Sun" will pipe up and tell ya what you're after. I DO know that like most large cities, there are "good areas" and there are "bad areas" down there.
And yeah, like Ron said, it DOES get pretty warm, okay, pretty darn HOT during the summer months, but the other three months out of the year are VERY comfortable and temperate.
(...and anyway, during the summer is when you'd be headed my way and up in elevation to escape that heat)
