Where to live if you work at Sky Harbor?

[GirlinAZ]

Originally Posted by MrLee1960

Looking to spend from $250,000 - $325,000
Need area with good schools as youngest is in the 4th grade.
Maybe Arrowhead Ranch is best bet and just do the drive like everyone else.

Lee

Driving in this town is enough to make you want to kill yourself. If in fact the drivers do not do it for you. It is very dangerous to drive here and the gas prices are usually on the higher end. I would NOT move far away from your job. YOU WILL REGRET IT. Consider the Ahwahtukee area or Tempe. Both are close and have nice areas. I have met some people from Ahwatukee and they were very nice people.

[MotleyCrew]

As much as we would like to add you to the Vistancia community, you might be better off being closer to work. We just came through Chandler and parts of Tempe and I think I could be happy there. I do not know much about Gilbert but would love to go see it soon. Arrowhead Ranch is very nice and I think it has a very Leave it to Beaver kind of calm to it. Fletcher Heights is nice as well, right in the middle of the "town" so to speak and we like the remoteness of Vistancia for the time being. I think it would be good to rent for a bit then make a decision.

[AZHawkeye]

Hi,
I agree with an earlier poster....arcadia area of phoenix and scottsdale is a great area with some character...not all cookie cutter homes. We own a condo down around there and used to travel a lot before kids. It would take us 10 min to get to the airport-didn't even have to get on the free way. We lived off of Indian School area.

[SMG]

Originally Posted by MrLee1960

Looking to spend from $250,000 - $325,000
Need area with good schools as youngest is in the 4th grade.
Maybe Arrowhead Ranch is best bet and just do the drive like everyone else.

Lee

Kyrene schol district is excellent...put you about 25-30 minutes out. it is in an excellent area as well..

[jlj2007]

South Phoenix gets a bad rap, but it's a great, growing community. You could also try Ahwatukee or Central Phoenix.

[postermom]

Just left northwest Mesa and it was never more than 15 minutes from Sky Harbor unless it was unusual high morning traffic. Schools are great for kids; great homes in your price range and safe neighborhood.

[starfish]

We moved to central Phoenix/lower Arcadia in June and love it. It's fifteen minutes to Sky Harbor for my husband who works there during normal business hours. It seems like it's about fifteen minutes to everywhere and the real beauty of this location is that one doesn't really need to get on the highway except to get way out of town. Regarding schools, you might consider the Madison district in 85016 if not Hopi in 85018.

[Great Joy]

MrLee1960, welcome soon to AZ! If I were you, another question I would be asking is how often your family will be visiting your northern Phoenix relatives. Daily, weekly, or ? The reason I ask this is because if your immediate family wants to be with your relatives often then I would focus on being in a neighborhood near them somewhere in north Phoenix. You driving to work each day only affects you. Your wife and children seeing and doing things with your relatives affects all of them. For example, they may want to visit a lot during the day or attend your children's sport, band, etc events. There are other things too like you may want to attend church together. Just something to think about to kindly help you.

[southphoenix]

south phoenix is the place to be mr. lee! yes, south phoenix has some rough neighborhoods, but it also has beautiful, affordbable neighborhoods. if you live in south phoenix, you have to quick access to all major highways. more and more shopping centers and restaurants are being built and you'll find plenty of homes from the high $100s.

[DreamworksSKG]

Also take into account that you might want to locate in a place that'll be near the new light rail such as Tempe ...in the future... - i think it opens what 2009???or something? its only a couple yrs away -
and well they will have a stop at the airport or at least a shuttle connection or something.

Here's the map of the light rail
Maps

I would suggest Tempe or Mesa ...since its not far commute to the airport via back roads.
get a local map book and highlight shortcuts via back roads. its always fun to find routes no one else knows about that cut travel time in half

And you'll be close to the light rail when it is done and can take a train to work

-jeff
Winchester, MA