moving to arizona (Phoenix, Peoria, Sun City: smog, apartment complex, travel)

[sandylw]

My daughter wants to move to Arizona as soon as she is able to get it all together. My grandson suffers from a serious lung disorder and doctors feel that he will do better in a warm climate. Obviously she is looking for a good school district as well as nice community. She is a nurse and feels that finding a job will not be a problem. It's just where to look for a place to raise a family. We are considering moving out after she is settled. Any suggestions on where to move. Is Peoria a nice area? Would Maricopa be better? Money is an issue with my daughter. She is not wealthy.

[MotleyCrew]

Would she be renting? Not knowing what she wants to spend it is hard to give you directions. Maricopa is very affordable (IOHO) and they are building new shopping centers all over the place. I am not familiar with the apt buildings there. We live in Peoria and love the city. Lots of very nice apartment complexes in Peoria. There are some very good places that we consider affordable in Surprise to. The schools are decent in Peoria, I am not familiar with the schools in Maricopa.
If your daughter needs to comute to Phoenix for work some of the other posters could fill you in on better neighborhoods. She would probably want to live very close to work if your grandson is not well. It is always best to visit first. The other consideration is the dust here. We have lots of it and the air quality at times is not the best for people with respiratory problems. Best of luck to you.
P.S. We have no shortage of good hospitals for her to work in. Del Webb in Sun City is very nice and not too far from Surprise or Peoria.
To give you an idea of housing in Vistancia, Peoria. Trend is building some great single family and Town homes starting around $179,000. Surprise has some great deals right now for buyers and tons of rentals in Vistancia right now. There is a 2,065 square foot home for rent across the street for only $1,069. We have 3 swimming pools, a new elementary school on site and most of the folks on our street work in the medical field. She would have lots of company.

[sablebaby]

I really think Peoria (northern parts, such as north of union hills rd) would be a lot better than Maricopa. There are lots of areas that would be suitable. And lots of hospitals to choose from.

[sandylw]

Thanks for the information. I'll tell her. I'm thinking of traveling to Arizona this summer with my sister to investigate places to live. I wanted some idea of where to look.

[advancedgraphix]

The nicer places in town are on the east side of town, like the Northeast Valley and North Phoenix, I live around Greenway and 16th street, in my opinion the east valley is a big difference compared to the west. If you're looking to rent a house until you get used to the area, I've used Rental Homes Arizona (AZ) | Rental Homes with Rent to Own options to find rental homes in Arizona. Otherwise if you're looking to buy a house make sure you've looked into all your options, some areas of town have brand new homes for around $300,000.

[Bayarea123]

I had nothing but problems after contracting with this management company.
My Tenants also had a difficult time making contact with them as they would prefer everyone to correspond via email. My tenants didn't have a computer.
I would not recommend them to anyone.
The property management is the only one that came out ahead in this business.

[dan k]

Now this is my thought and you can take it with a grain of salt but i would consider somewhere out around Prescott.The main reasons i say this are, air quality(its not polluted to the point you cant see south mountain from 3 miles away at times), schools are good, crime rate is alot lower than phoenix area and they have nursing opportunities there as well, all in all it is a much better place to have a life without having to look over your shoulder like we do in phoenix.Hope it helped but i myself, my wife and i are taking our kids out of here in 2008 to a place they can enjoy being outside without having to carry mace or a gun to protect themselves.

[diggitydot]

Originally Posted by sandylw

My grandson suffers from a serious lung disorder and doctors feel that he will do better in a warm climate.

While the valley has warmer weather, it also has significant air pollution that could possibly be a problem for your grandson, depending on his medical issue. There are regular

I live in Surprise and regularly notice a large brown haze over the valley. Wintertime is particularly bad when there's an air-inversion that holds the smog to the ground. In the summer, its so hot that he likely won't go outside much. Late summer brings the monsoons that kick up enormous dust storms, which I'd imagine wouldn't be great for anyone with lung issues...even when you're inside. Somehow the dust just creeps in.

Definitely check out areas outside of the valley. They'll likely be cooler, but hopefully won't have the air pollution issues that could be damaging to your grandson's health.

Dink around a bit on the ADEQ's Air quality page: ADEQ: Air Quality I'm sure they'll have some handy info for you. Good luck!


Oh, and there are a TON of hospitals all over the place down here. Your daughter likely won't have any trouble finding work. My husband is a 4th year med student and has had most of his rotations here in the valley.

[imtaya2]

As a nurse, your daughter shouldn't have any problem looking for a job. Nurses are high demand here in AZ.
I agree with Bayarea123 - we used Home America as our Property Management and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. They don't call back or response to any calls.
I live in the West Valley and I like the quietness....

[FunkyPioneer]

Originally Posted by dan k

Now this is my thought and you can take it with a grain of salt but i would consider somewhere out around Prescott.The main reasons i say this are, air quality(its not polluted to the point you cant see south mountain from 3 miles away at times), schools are good, crime rate is alot lower than phoenix area and they have nursing opportunities there as well, all in all it is a much better place to have a life without having to look over your shoulder like we do in phoenix.Hope it helped but i myself, my wife and i are taking our kids out of here in 2008 to a place they can enjoy being outside without having to carry mace or a gun to protect themselves.

I agree, if he has a serious lung condition steer far away from the valley. The pollution is horrible there.