Laveen vs. Surprise (Phoenix, Gilbert: HOA, school district, gated communities)

[dmiller01]

If you hate Surprise so much, just leave!! Unless you simply love being miserable and having something to complain about all the time....

[chocolaterie]

Originally Posted by dmiller01

If you hate Surprise so much, just leave!! Unless you simply love being miserable and having something to complain about all the time....

good question...

I work in HR and you just come to realize (as hard as I tried not to) that some people like being unhappy.

My husband's best friend and his best friend's wife moved out there 7 years ago. Their only complaint was the drive but they also commuted to tempe/downtown phoenix.

I moved down here from Canada back in 2003. During my time here, my husband (who is an az native) scoured Phoenix for a good spot to buy a home. We've settled on Surprise. Hopefully, we'll be in our home by fall.

My next comment is a general comment so I apologize for momentarily hijacking the thread. But whenever I read comments about people stating an entire city as "bad" because of a few incidents - I feel it is irresponsible. I wish people took more responsibility and care for their words, both spoken and written.

[Valley Resident]

Nobody said Surprise is bad or said they hated it. This is not what the thread is supposed to be about.

[ptbrennan]

Laveen, hands down. Remember the point of this topic?

My wife and I settled on Laveen for almost exactly the same reasons as the original poster, and we have been quite happy over the last year that we have lived here.

I would NEVER live somewhere that requires an hour's drive from everything that I want to do, so Surprise, Queen Creek, and Maricopa were a few of the first places off of our list. Instead, it takes me about 25 minutes to reach my friends in central Scottsdale, 15 minutes to Tempe, 10 minutes to downtown Phoenix, 15 minutes to the airport...... It's great!

My wife typically drives about 25 minutes in rush hour to reach the Biltmore area of Phoenix, which is the same time as from Tempe, where we lived previously.

For those interested in crime statistics, I didn't see a single direct comparison that included Laveen...... Thankfully, it's located in the city of Phoenix, and they provide these handy maps online: Phoenix Police Department - Crime Stats

Notice how the entire village of Laveen looks like a relatively low-crime area of Phoenix? Not bad!

[diggitydot]

Originally Posted by ptbrennan

For those interested in crime statistics, I didn't see a single direct comparison that included Laveen...... Thankfully, it's located in the city of Phoenix, and they provide these handy maps online: Phoenix Police Department - Crime Stats

Great link! Which link on that page has the stats specifically for Laveen, though?

ETA: Oops, nevermind. Laveen is in district 7. Is there another link that shows a differences in crime rates between the areas in that district? If not, it makes Laveen seem like it has some of the highest crime in the valley.

Here's how I found that info, for anyone else who would like to see what I'm reading:

Phoenix Police Department - Crime Stats > Interactive Crime statistics > View Crime Statistics > Choose Analysis Level > Click the radio dial for "Council District January 1, 2003 and After" > Continue > Click the radio dials for "Crime Statistics" and "Year 2007" > Continue


I know it's REALLY long, but this brings up a page that has the crime stats by district. Laveen is listed in District 7 on that districts page. Here's the web page for District 7. District 7 - Councilman Doug Lingner

[ptbrennan]

Clarification..... Laveen only comprises a small part of District 7, located south of the Salt River and West of 27th Ave.

Much of the D7 crime is probably occurring closer to Maryvale and along the huge industrial corridor between the I-10 and Salt River.

My low crime claim was based on the crime maps provided on the Phoenix Police website.

[diggitydot]

Originally Posted by ptbrennan

Clarification..... Laveen only comprises a small part of District 7, located south of the Salt River and West of 27th Ave.

Ah, thanks for the clarification! I figured I was missing something, there. Thanks!

[oc_chica]

I hear a lot of people talking about how the commute from Surprise to Phoenix will take you a good 2 hours.. I will have to dissagree with that! I live in Surprise and work in Scottsdale, It only takes me 45min-1hour depending on traffic.

[ibarrio]

I live in Surprise and work in Phoenix (Near Metro Center) and it takes me 25-35 mins to get to work.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by OctoberMoon

Well we were looking at the same builder in both areas. The home we were looking at in Surprise was almost $25,000 cheaper than the same hom in Laveen. Maybe it was just the location of the particular home in Surprise, but it was much more rural the the same home located in Laveen. I didn't check out the rest of Surprise because, honestly, neither my husband or I liked it there.

We're young and decided we would like to be closer to downtown, Tempe, and those areas. Plus, as I said in my original post, we have friends who are also moving to Laveen and that, as Pondorosa pointed out, can make all the difference in the world.

If you don't have kids I can understand you picking Laveen over Surprise, if the surrounding areas don't bother you.