Phoenix Travel Forum

Any sights in Phoenix that a walker without a car can see? Other than museums & such, of course. How reliable is the public transport?

Where are you staying?
Staying in Downtown Scottsdale or Downtown Tempe puts you at the best position to walk to things, but Phoenix is pretty spread out. The Red Line is one of the more useful buses as it hits Downtown Phoenix, Sky Harbor Airport, Downtown Tempe and Downtown Mesa. But Valley Metro is not overly punctual and doesn't have the most logical routes.
Some non-museum sites that can be accessed by bus: Botanical Gardens, Zoo, Saguaro Ranch (in Glendale, somewhat hard to reach) and shopping in the Biltmore area and Downtown Scottsdale. There's also the state capitol and the art strip along Roosevelt near Downtown.
hth

Prior poster had good advice, but the key point is that Phoenix is very spread-out. Having hiked a bit of Phoenix's streets, I can attest that a city block there is almost like a half-dozen or more in a major, tightly packed European city, or in many East Coast U.S. cities. Hope you're a serious walker!

Still trying to figure out where to sleep. Is it really better to stay in Scottsdale & Tempe? And, yes, I am a serious walker. In newport, oregon, I had to walk along the 101 for 5 miles to see a lighthouse (amazing, by the way) and then walk 5 miles back. But if it makes more sense to stay elsewhere, I'm game.

It is better to stay in either. It depends on your budget, but Downtown Tempe is usually considerably cheaper. There are a string of lower-end motels along Apache Blvd east of Mill that are walking distance to the ASU campus and Downtown Tempe. Conversely, there's a Marriott Courtyard a block off of Mill, although it runs $150 - 200 and a Spring Hill and Amerisuites on Rio Salado which are both walking distance. I stayed in the Courtyard on someone else's dime and it was really nice being able to step out onto Mill but also be away from its noise.
A lot of the Downtown Scottsdale hotels are $200+, but there are exceptions.