Hi renters,

Welcome to Rent Check PHX. In today’s issue, we’re talking about a group called Downtown Core Community that’s connecting neighbors and building power.

I sat down with the group’s vice president a couple of weeks ago at Songbird Coffee & Tea House to talk about making friends as an adult, getting to know your neighbors, and advocating for changes in your neighborhood, big and small.

I love that groups like this exist because they provide healthy connective tissue when the world can sometimes make us feel lonely and powerless.

I’ll be back in your inbox on March 18. Hope you learn something useful, and don’t forget to forward this to a fellow renter!

Jessica Swarner

Newsletter Editor, Rent Check PHX

Making friends, making change: How one group brings downtown Phoenix residents together

eight people seated around a patio table smiling for camera

A Downtown Core Community meetup at Songbird Coffee & Tea in downtown Phoenix for National Black Cat Day. (Courtesy of Lynette Guzman)

Lynette Guzman moved from California to downtown Phoenix a few years ago after her husband took a job with Arizona State University. She wanted to live in a vibrant, dense area—a place where it always felt like there was something happening.

Downtown delivered the energy she wanted. But working from home and living far from family made it harder to find the kind of close-knit community she was craving. When she heard about the Downtown Core Community (DCC), a neighborhood group bringing residents (both homeowners and renters) together, she was intrigued.

“I really wanted to basically make friends,” Guzman told me over coffee at Songbird Coffee & Tea House, one of her go-to downtown spots. “And having a neighborhood group is just a very quick and scaffolded way to make friends, similar to when you go to college and you have your dorms, or you have these built-in spaces where people can more easily connect than just walking up to someone at a coffee shop and being like, ‘Hey, want to be friends?’”

Learn more about DCC and its events

🏠 If you easily fall in love with historic homes: You know a house has to have some cool history when it has its own name. The Welch House, listed for $5,000 a month, is a 1928 Craftsman bungalow that mixes original features with modern upgrades—and it even has a root cellar. The five-bed, three-bath is located near McDowell Road and Central Avenue, and it comes in at 1,968 square feet. It has a 1950s O’Keefe and Merritt gas stove, detached two-car garage, living room fireplace, wrap-around front porch, and electric vehicle charger. The home is available April 1, and dogs are allowed.

🐴 If you need somewhere to put your horses: This home listed for $3,495 a month in North Mountain Village feels almost like a cabin with its wooden and stone interior features. The two-bed, two-bath sits on 1.4 acres and includes four shaded horse stalls and turf yard space. The house is 1,342 square feet, and cats and dogs are allowed.

🚪 If you want storage in nearly every room: This home built in 2000 near Cave Creek and Cactus roads has a wildly ample amount of storage—an office with a built-in desk and cabinets, a closet with a custom organizing system, a walk-in pantry full of shelves, and built-in garage cabinets. The three-bed, 2.5-bath is 2,212 square feet and listed for $2,500 a month.

If you come across any interesting, weird, or surprisingly affordable listings that you think should be featured here, please send them my way!

Email here

Listings available as of March 3. I’m not paid to share these listings, but that doesn’t mean I can personally vouch for them. Please do your research before applying and signing a lease!

This is The Tenant’s Voice, a place where we can share our renting frustrations, helpful tips, and pressing questions.

We recently posted on Instagram about a metro Phoenix ZIP code that is one of the country’s hottest places to move to.

The report from MoverPlace looked at migration data from December 2025 to see where Americans are heading.

The ZIP code 85387, located in Surprise, was ranked sixth-most popular.

Here’s what our followers had to say about this:

💬 “It’s a good value in Surprise.” — @cammyjarv

💬 “Just wait until there’s no water.” — @canibefrankwithyou81

💬 “New residents will be Surprised when they try to drive into town in rush hour.” — @janetvascoaz

💬 “Arizona needs to stop building highways that open up access to cheap, raw desert land. These places are horrible dystopias 30 miles away from jobs.” — @nicoledsanderson

💬 “Surprise is cheap. It also has horrible infrastructure issues because of a lack of streets needed to move around the City. Traffic backups are terrible.” — @thebeagle_and_thebutterflies

Want to add your thoughts? Email me here!

*Paywalled content noted with 🔒

📈 It may not feel like it, but metro Phoenix ranked No. 2 in the country for affordable housing growth. (Daily Independent, 🔒)

🏠 A bill that would have limited corporations in buying single-family homes died in the Arizona House after Republican Rep. Jeff Weninger declined to give it a hearing. (KJZZ)

💸 This metro Phoenix city has the highest rent of any Arizona city—and I can’t say I’m surprised. (Phoenix New Times)

🖥️ After seeing reports of landlords refusing to return security deposits, a man created a website that allows San Diego students to see landlord reviews before signing a lease. (CBS 8)

🏡 A new Buckeye neighborhood is open for sales—and home prices start in the mid-$300,000s. (The Copper Courier)

💰 Arizona’s attorney general sued nine landlords for engaging in a price-fixing operation. Now one of the companies will donate $1 million to rental aid as part of a settlement. (The Copper Courier)

🖼️ Art doesn’t just have to live on walls—have you tried having pieces in this unexpected place? (Apartment Therapy)