C.D.
I, personally, wouldn't do it. The few nice places are in very expensive high rises. Unfortunately, the central corridor is just too close to the west side, with it gangs and other undesirable inhabitants that come out at night. One thing about Phoenix is we don't really have a great downtown. Those that work downtown prefer to commute, but in truth, people work all over the valley. There are pockets of nice little communities around Phoenix, but the bad outweighs the good, especially with air quality issues, which is just part of being in the desert and our temperature inversions. More money has been put into the infrastructures of outlying areas for residential reasons. The money that has been put into downtown is to try to make it a business center - and it still lags there. We are getting in city trains, but most of us think they will be an expensive joke. They go to VERY limited places, and unfortunately, because of where they go, will attract the wrong kind of people or none at all after the novelty wears off.
I'd plan on a reliable car and commute time. Otherwise, for 5 months only, you'll survive, but what if it goes longer? There is a new children's museum, the Heard is good, as is the AZ Science Center. But that will only take up 3 days. Our urban life is not a dazzler, although there are some decent apartments cropping up. But they are awfully expensive (as in overpriced).
