Gilbert area (Mesa, Chandler, Kingman: to rent, crime, neighborhood)

[MinMI]

Came down a couple weeks ago to check out a school in Gilbert to decide if i wanted to take the teaching job. Liked the area better than GA where i also have an offer. Now to decide where to live in Gilbert area. I have read on here that Gilbert and Chandler are both nice areas with good schools and are safe. Wondering which is going to be the better package as far as schools, safety, recreation for children and more to offer young families and more affordable. We be renting till we get to know the area better. Thanks for any in put. Also read on here - someone said AZ ranks 48th nationally when it comes to education. Wondering if anyone knows this to be true?

[sablebaby]

Originally Posted by MinMI

Came down a couple weeks ago to check out a school in Gilbert to decide if i wanted to take the teaching job. Liked the area better than GA where i also have an offer. Now to decide where to live in Gilbert area. I have read on here that Gilbert and Chandler are both nice areas with good schools and are safe. Wondering which is going to be the better package as far as schools, safety, recreation for children and more to offer young families and more affordable. We be renting till we get to know the area better. Thanks for any in put. Also read on here - someone said AZ ranks 48th nationally when it comes to education. Wondering if anyone knows this to be true?

We rank 49th for spending per child. I just saw this on the news today. Yes, we always rank VERY low (about 48th) for schools. (It's the same thing for mental health.) This has been known to us for years. Partly, it's because of our property taxes being so low-- people just don't want to pay more.

[mfpd]

I currently live in Gilbert, so this may be biased. I have also lived in Chandler. I really enjoy Gilbert. It is a very family friendly place. In church this past weekend, the pastor threw up a stat that 42% of the population of Gilbert is <18 yrs old. So, there are a lot of kids in the township. There are several family places to go, either in Gilbert or a surrounding municipality. There are lots of parks, new movie theaters, malls, city pools, etc for kids. I believe that Gilbert was voted one of the safest places to live in 2006.

Schools are notoriously bad in AZ. We are going to send our child to a private school in the area this year.

Good luck with your decision.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by mfpd

I currently live in Gilbert, so this may be biased. I have also lived in Chandler. I really enjoy Gilbert. It is a very family friendly place. In church this past weekend, the pastor threw up a stat that 42% of the population of Gilbert is <18 yrs old. So, there are a lot of kids in the township. There are several family places to go, either in Gilbert or a surrounding municipality. There are lots of parks, new movie theaters, malls, city pools, etc for kids. I believe that Gilbert was voted one of the safest places to live in 2006.

Schools are notoriously bad in AZ. We are going to send our child to a private school in the area this year.

Good luck with your decision.

Gilbert has some of the best ranked (public) schools ANYWHERE. Many AZ schools are excellent. The state has higher than average scores on TerraNova, SAT, ACT, and the graduation rate is higher than the national avg (Source: http://www.azed.gov/srcs/statereport...tCard05-06.pdf). The UofA is considered one of the top public universities in the nation. Kids can and do get a good education in this state.

[aj661]

Originally Posted by MinMI

Came down a couple weeks ago to check out a school in Gilbert to decide if i wanted to take the teaching job. Liked the area better than GA where i also have an offer. Now to decide where to live in Gilbert area. I have read on here that Gilbert and Chandler are both nice areas with good schools and are safe. Wondering which is going to be the better package as far as schools, safety, recreation for children and more to offer young families and more affordable. We be renting till we get to know the area better. Thanks for any in put. Also read on here - someone said AZ ranks 48th nationally when it comes to education. Wondering if anyone knows this to be true?

I've also lived in both cities. Gilbert was far better for my family. Personally I don't have any faith in school rankings by state. Actually, I think it's idiotic. There are far too many variables from neighborhood to neighborhood, city to city, county to county for it to be meaningful. Keep in mind we have a large illegal immigrant population. Kids that don't speak our language have a difficult time learning here which tends to bring down the states overall educational standings.

My kids went to an above average (but not great) HS in Mesa, a city with "known" for it's poor schools. Both have high IQs, both excelled in academics, were on their HS academic decathlon team and both all but aced the AIMS testing in spite of the lack of funding from the state.

You need to look into the individual schools your children may attend, Check out GreatSchools.net for info. You can plug in zip codes and get ratings for any school.

[mfpd]

Ponderosa:

I may have been misunderstood, or didn't state it clearly. Gilbert does have some very good public schools. The schools being "bad" seems to be the sentiment for public schools across the state from what I hear.

We chose a private school for other reasons. We wanted a Christian-based education.

The elementary school where we could send our child this coming year is excellent. I have heard nothing but good things about the program there.

[Trisher]

mfpd, I've made a few posts about AZ. We had originally thought Kingman, but reading about crime we're rethinking. Gilbert is sounding nice. I don't want others to take offense to this cause I don't mean anything bad by it - but in this invisible cyber world, you look for kindred spirits, you know? You're the first one I've noticed so far that has mentioned church. Can you give me the lowdown on Gilbert area? We're both in our early 50's, not rich - will have to rent and work. We both are skilled office workers - and church is important. I understand there is a large Mormon population, but what's the big deal? Personally, we attend Assembly of God, but we're just folks looking for a place to live our life safely and just in a better place. Can you give me any info?

[joemomma]

Gilbert is by far better than Chandler. Stay east of McQueen, south of 60, west of Power.

[azme]

Gilbert schools are some of the best in AZ. That's why we chose Gilbert over other AZ towns. It's true AZ schools rank at the bottom of the country. It's hard to teach anything advanced when half or all of the class doesn't speak english to begin with. The illegals bring the average way down. If you pay attention to the demographic in the area you are moving to you'll be fine.