MovingtoAZ (Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale: real estate, housing, rental)

[jobklb]

I am moving possibly to the Phoenix, AZ area from southen IL. I do have some family in Phoenix. I may have a job at the Maricopa Sheriff Dept. I am interested in any advice or help. I have a 9 year old son whom will live with me. I am a 30 year old male. Any advice on rent, school condition, where to avoid, etc... would be greatly appreciated! Thanx! mail me at jpbklb@hotmail if you'd like.

[tzicali]

This is a website with information about the best schools in Arizona

http://www.ade.az.gov/profile/publicview/Excelling.asp

[jrmarshall]

In the city is pretty expensive....I think. My sister is a realtor there...I know she does rentals too. I can give you here office # if you are interested.

[Laura]

don't know where you live in Ill- but visit az. first - in mid-summer! It is Hades, to be sure. Lots of alcohol and meth going on there,statewide. Economically depressed for many years- Phoenix feeds off the older folks- there are no real industries- example:commerical painters here(Colo) make $10-20+ hr. -in Az. $10 tops in Mts;$6.in Phoenix) Developers have gone nuts- lots of houses,quickly built(with a lack of aprreciation for quality, but they'd try to convince you they are well-built);rent is reasonable, but you better know how to fix things yourself. I have lived there for two rather long stints- nothing seems to change, except they keep building- It is a right-to-work state, so wages are lower than most places; Airport region(Van Buren) is where you'll find the cheaper hotels,and lots of hookers and drugs. There is a lot of 'gang' stuff going on- constructive activities for youth are pool halls....Chandler schools are good. It reminds me of a massive commerical Calif.strip mall in its layout- yrs. ago it was quite nice there, but I cannot say that today. The nice areas are 'retirement'communities- most jobs in area are service-oriented(7-11,restaurants,care-taking;etc.) They are trying to pump it up into something better, but it may have already gotten out of hand in the other direction,quite frankly. Gas/food are as expensive as anywhere, but wages do not come close. Outskirts are probably better for family situation, but housing(to buy) is not easily managed- You might consider looking into the ratio of unemployment/types of jobs available/welfare/crime rate- and ignore the glorious flyers tooting how cool the place is.....It is a hard place to get out of once there, because you can't get ahead enough to do so. I wouldn't recommend it for child-rearing,particularly. But I am rather opinionated,having lived there(and my daughter and I are extremely glad to not be there!)

[Sundance]

I understand Phoenix is FAB if you're a nurse.
I'm steering clear, I believe Phoenix would be too large and urban for me.
There is a town about 40 miles SE of Phoenix called Casa Grande.
Pop. about 40,000 (and growing.)
Real estate is MUCH less expensive there.
May be a trade-off if you're planning to buy a home....you could do that and commute.

Just a thought.

Good luck with the move.

[BlueEyesAhead]

what does FAB mean???

Forget about it? nah that doesn't fit... hmm

[no user name]

Is this person saying that meth is rampant in Phoenix or the entire state? From what I hear, meth will be rampant everywhere very soon if it isn't already.
I was looking at this Casa Grande area as I saw some cheap homes but cheap homes usually equates depressed area which often means gangs and drugs...any thoughts on Casa Grande?
I would like to be as far away from meth and its users as possible until the inevitable.

Originally Posted by Laura

don't know where you live in Ill- but visit az. first - in mid-summer! It is Hades, to be sure. Lots of alcohol and meth going on there,statewide. Economically depressed for many years- Phoenix feeds off the older folks- there are no real industries- example:commerical painters here(Colo) make $10-20+ hr. -in Az. $10 tops in Mts;$6.in Phoenix) Developers have gone nuts- lots of houses,quickly built(with a lack of aprreciation for quality, but they'd try to convince you they are well-built);rent is reasonable, but you better know how to fix things yourself. I have lived there for two rather long stints- nothing seems to change, except they keep building- It is a right-to-work state, so wages are lower than most places; Airport region(Van Buren) is where you'll find the cheaper hotels,and lots of hookers and drugs. There is a lot of 'gang' stuff going on- constructive activities for youth are pool halls....Chandler schools are good. It reminds me of a massive commerical Calif.strip mall in its layout- yrs. ago it was quite nice there, but I cannot say that today. The nice areas are 'retirement'communities- most jobs in area are service-oriented(7-11,restaurants,care-taking;etc.) They are trying to pump it up into something better, but it may have already gotten out of hand in the other direction,quite frankly. Gas/food are as expensive as anywhere, but wages do not come close. Outskirts are probably better for family situation, but housing(to buy) is not easily managed- You might consider looking into the ratio of unemployment/types of jobs available/welfare/crime rate- and ignore the glorious flyers tooting how cool the place is.....It is a hard place to get out of once there, because you can't get ahead enough to do so. I wouldn't recommend it for child-rearing,particularly. But I am rather opinionated,having lived there(and my daughter and I are extremely glad to not be there!)

[SpeedyAZ]

don't know where you live in Ill- but visit az. first - in mid-summer! It is Hades, to be sure. Lots of alcohol and meth going on there,statewide. Economically depressed for many years- Phoenix feeds off the older folks- there are no real industries- example:commerical painters here(Colo) make $10-20+ hr. -in Az. $10 tops in Mts;$6.in Phoenix) Developers have gone nuts- lots of houses,quickly built(with a lack of aprreciation for quality, but they'd try to convince you they are well-built);rent is reasonable, but you better know how to fix things yourself. I have lived there for two rather long stints- nothing seems to change, except they keep building- It is a right-to-work state, so wages are lower than most places; Airport region(Van Buren) is where you'll find the cheaper hotels,and lots of hookers and drugs. There is a lot of 'gang' stuff going on- constructive activities for youth are pool halls....Chandler schools are good. It reminds me of a massive commerical Calif.strip mall in its layout- yrs. ago it was quite nice there, but I cannot say that today. The nice areas are 'retirement'communities- most jobs in area are service-oriented(7-11,restaurants,care-taking;etc.) They are trying to pump it up into something better, but it may have already gotten out of hand in the other direction,quite frankly. Gas/food are as expensive as anywhere, but wages do not come close. Outskirts are probably better for family situation, but housing(to buy) is not easily managed- You might consider looking into the ratio of unemployment/types of jobs available/welfare/crime rate- and ignore the glorious flyers tooting how cool the place is.....It is a hard place to get out of once there, because you can't get ahead enough to do so. I wouldn't recommend it for child-rearing,particularly. But I am rather opinionated,having lived there(and my daughter and I are extremely glad to not be there!)

You're pretty wrong on all accounts. First, of course it's hot; it's PHOENIX! I like HOT, sunny weather if you don't, please move. Phoenix has no major industries, you're correct on that. The homes here are great! I don't know what part of Phoenix you live in, but it definetly isn't in the area I do. Homes are well-built and quite expensive. Retirement communities are rampany in Mesa and Apache Junction, most other places are mainly family. The winter is the only real time you'll ever see all the retirees, most of the time it's families and younger people.

I came from the Midwest and love it here! There aren't many other places I'd ever consider moving to except maybe Houston or San Diego.

[a1m1700]

All those things are true about the Phx area, but it really depends on what you like and what you don't like. Casa Grande is cheaper it's a commute to downtown Phx if you don't mind it then great. It's not cheap but cheaper and it's not a bad place. I dont know about the schools there though. It's out in the middle of no where but it's growing. Yeah crime is getting pretty bad here compared to most places.The wages could be better too. Yes a lot of service jobs but you should be able to find something. Let me suggest Gilbert as a place to live. It's probably the best of the best here. It is kind of expensive but the subdivision I live in is probably the least expensive in Gilbert. It is in one of the best school districts way better then Chandler. Chandler High is horrible!! My commute is about 35 minutes to downtown and it's not a bad commute at all. I don;t have to take these horrible freeways here and they are horrible. You can get a 4 bedroom house in my subdivision for about 230,000 ish and let me tell you that is cheap for Gilbert. The houses here were built in the early 90's they have tile roofs so they aren't dumpy. We have an HOA 22.00 a month. The market is flopping so sellers are willing to negotiate. You may even get yourself a pool with one of them. Let me know if I can help I am a Realtor also. No pressure if you just want info fine. I will tell you though I would set my sites on Gilbert though. Gilbert is no exception to having it's youth problems but so does glittzy rittyz Scottsdale. Good Luck and let me know if you need any more info.

[twiggy]

Originally Posted by a1m1700

All those things are true about the Phx area, but it really depends on what you like and what you don't like. Casa Grande is cheaper it's a commute to downtown Phx if you don't mind it then great. It's not cheap but cheaper and it's not a bad place. I dont know about the schools there though. It's out in the middle of no where but it's growing. Yeah crime is getting pretty bad here compared to most places.The wages could be better too. Yes a lot of service jobs but you should be able to find something. Let me suggest Gilbert as a place to live. It's probably the best of the best here. It is kind of expensive but the subdivision I live in is probably the least expensive in Gilbert. It is in one of the best school districts way better then Chandler. Chandler High is horrible!! My commute is about 35 minutes to downtown and it's not a bad commute at all. I don;t have to take these horrible freeways here and they are horrible. You can get a 4 bedroom house in my subdivision for about 230,000 ish and let me tell you that is cheap for Gilbert. The houses here were built in the early 90's they have tile roofs so they aren't dumpy. We have an HOA 22.00 a month. The market is flopping so sellers are willing to negotiate. You may even get yourself a pool with one of them. Let me know if I can help I am a Realtor also. No pressure if you just want info fine. I will tell you though I would set my sites on Gilbert though. Gilbert is no exception to having it's youth problems but so does glittzy rittyz Scottsdale. Good Luck and let me know if you need any more info.

Gilbert is a good place, so is Chandler, both if you live in the Suburbs though! The old parts of both are bad. Don't forget how much it cost to cool your house from April to November. It will run you about 400.00 to 600.00 a month. It is usually hotter than average quoted temp,s. Today it will be 112. ouch!! There is a lot of crime, and people are not as nice. If you get to know them they are but everyone here is from somewhere else so you really have to try and get to know the people on your street or you will never talk. Maricopa is a up and coming suburb, its south by 30 min. from Phx. Housing is very affordable but it won't be for long. It is very cultural here, half hispanic a lot of Indians. A lot of good mexican food! Freeways are crowded, gas is high, and the air quality here is really bad. If you have asthma or any lung conditions I would reconsider your move. Kids with asthma have a hard time with pollution warnings which we get half the year. (traffic and heat, bad combo). My father wrote a book on the history of Phoenix, so if you have any questions? My family and I are looking to relocate somewhere on the east coast. We want the seasons. Out here you have summer in the winter and hell in the summer, ha ha 115 to 120. Winter is nice around 75 to 90 but I must say it's hard to eat thanksgiving dinner while your sweating!!! Santa Claus cactus and roadrunner rain deer are getting a little old. If you are sick of the snow though you'll like it. High rate of teen suicide and car accidents though, so pay attention to your kids moods through high school. There are a lot of drugs out here, we are on the border of Mexico. Teens can get there in 3 hours, maybe you'll find a charter school like I did( smaller and more controlled atmos.). Well good luck, Robin from Chandler AZ