Relocating to Surprise, AZ (Phoenix, Glendale: house, to buy, school)

[Burning Madolf]

Originally Posted by scocar

I lived in Surprise for about 6 years. It's boring and everything looks the same, but it's safe and has a pretty good rec program for kids. As far as areas to avoid that is pretty simple. Avoid all of El Mirage. It's right next to Surprise and has the same school district. As long as you stay west of El Mirage road you should be fine. The further west you go the better. I would also stay south of Bell Road.

And north of Bell you have places like Sun City Grand, so it can't be all bad.

[Burning Madolf]

Originally Posted by pandaundercover

Ha, I agree. I spent much of my childhood in Mesa and Tempe, and then lived in El Mirage 2 years ago, and that is enough to make Surprise look like the nicest city in this state (besides Scottsdale... and even parts of Gilbert), as well as feels the safest. And frankly, a year later, it STILL Feels the safest and looks the nicest. I really don't even know where these people that hating on Surprise live. Do they live next to El Mirage or something? I understand the more south end homes of Surprise (off Cactus, for instance) can seem less ideal compared to west and north Surprise. They're older homes in that area, with less strict HoA. I certainly viewed a couple houses in those areas and was totally against buying there cause it didn't give me that super safe feel (nor a nice house) that I was looking for.

However, I think most people in Surprise already knows it's had financial problems. I'm well aware that much of the cities money was misspent, heavily on exterior projects to make it appear so awesome, to the point it's in a financial hole now and has to work its way out of that and readjust its priorities. But I'm not going to complain... what they spent the money on DID work, and they will eventually fix their problems.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that the pie in the sky city hall area project worked when it led to city officials playing shell games with at least $70 million and counting. But at least the government has begun to acknowledge that they have issues and hopefully will resolve them without crushing the taxpayer.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Burning Madolf

I wouldn't go as far as saying that the pie in the sky city hall area project worked when it led to city officials playing shell games with at least $70 million and counting. But at least the government has begun to acknowledge that they have issues and hopefully will resolve them without crushing the taxpayer.

That's about $700 for every man, woman and child. I hope some heads will roll.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by pandaundercover

...I really don't even know where these people that hating on Surprise live. Do they live next to El Mirage or something? I understand the more south end homes of Surprise (off Cactus, for instance) can seem less ideal compared to west and north Surprise. .

Surprise is a bedroom community. The commercial development wave was cut short during the bust. I think it is safe to assume that more infrastructure (stores, bars etc) will arrive sooner than later. If I was 30 and single, it would not be my town of choice. If I was young and wanting some nightlife, I suppose I would "hate" Surprise as well.

That being said, people have a way of blaming their problems on other people. Let's say hypothetically that you got over your head and started a restaurant and you were loosing money. Next thing you know you have all kinds of coupons and started to attract the bottom feeders. Now you "blame" the town. Never mind there are many other restaurants that are kicking butt.

Let's take another hypothetical example. Let's say that same persons family bought rental homes and lost their shorts. Again, they are bitter. Or maybe they bought in the most budget neighborhoods and rented to just anybody. Now they "blame" the town, the religion, "old people" etc etc. But in reality, they should have blamed themselves. Some people are not as smart as they thought. The proof is in the pudding.

[scocar]

Originally Posted by Burning Madolf

And north of Bell you have places like Sun City Grand, so it can't be all bad.

Well I got the impression that the OP was not over the age of 50, so Sun City Grand is not an option. I just know that the area north of Bell between Grand and Reems is a little older and a little less desirable.

[theyreinphx]

Here are two report of the pitts:

UPDATE: Pit bulls viciously attack elderly woman - CBS 5 - KPHO
Surprise police: Pitbulls running loose kill dog, bite 2 people

I do not think Surprise is the worst in the state or even "ghetto." I am just saying that the quality of people have declined dramatically since we moved in. There is something to be said about drop houses, meth houses, vacant houses, knee high weeds, and low performing schools in this really "safe" city. To me, Surprise is very bland. I feel safe enough to walk to the streets, even at night but it is by far not somewhere I want to continue to raise my children.

[Kimballette]

Thank you for providing the links.

Now, let's stick to the thread topic of relocating to Surprise and leave the dog breed discussion for another forum.

[lewdog_5]

Thanks for all the response. I forgot I made this thread for a while!

My girlfriend and I are both in our mid 20's and I am just finishing graduate school. We wanted to move to Phoenix, we are both from Montana, to have no winters! Surprise wasn't the first option but I negotiated to make more because it is a less "desirable" area.

We are looking at a place south a bell road and within miles of the surprise stadium complex. Looking at the map it would make my commute to work, 5 miles, which is important to me. Coming from small town Montana, Surprise will seem big to us and the suburbs aren't a deterrent for us to live there. The money we save on being able to rent a cheap house and for me to have a short commute will allow us to enjoy more things about Phoenix when we choose, even though the commute to other parts of the valley will take us quite a while.

We really just wanted to make sure we were in a safe area, located near my work. I think the area we are looking at seems just that and the crime rate for Surprise is super low compared to the national average. Thanks for those who have helped in this thread. Any other things you can think of to tell me about Surprise would be helpful!

[Ray_in_Surprise!]

Lol, the person that says people are miserable are uniformed. The commute to Phoenix everyday for me is about 35 minutes. There are no "seedy" places in Surprise. I would avoid El Garbage (also known as El Mirage) by all means. You cross over into that city and you go from the suburbs to trash. Only recommendations I'd have is don't go further than 2 miles south of Bell and stay east of the 303...but that's preference, not due to anywhere being a bad area. Keep in mind there is not a lot to do out here...we have ONE legitimate sports bar, zero malls, the nearest Costco is quite a distance, plenty of chain restaurants but not much besides that.

The police here are a bit bored, so expect 5 Surprise PD, 6 Sheriffs, 2 fire trucks and 2 ambulances to respond to every fender bender. If that fender bender is on Bell Road (the main way of getting in and out of Surprise) during rush hour, expect the the lane restrictions to limit Bell to 1 lane and last for several hours. The law enforcement get excited and don't want to "rush" getting the roads open again.

Surprise started as farming, evolved into retirement and is now being taken over by families. Great city to live...take it from someone who lived in Phoenix for almost 30 years, I'll live out my life in Surprise and dread going to Phoenix.

[pandaundercover]

Originally Posted by Ray_in_Surprise!

Lol, the person that says people are miserable are uniformed. The commute to Phoenix everyday for me is about 35 minutes. There are no "seedy" places in Surprise. I would avoid El Garbage (also known as El Mirage) by all means. You cross over into that city and you go from the suburbs to trash. Only recommendations I'd have is don't go further than 2 miles south of Bell and stay east of the 303...but that's preference, not due to anywhere being a bad area. Keep in mind there is not a lot to do out here...we have ONE legitimate sports bar, zero malls, the nearest Costco is quite a distance, plenty of chain restaurants but not much besides that.

The police here are a bit bored, so expect 5 Surprise PD, 6 Sheriffs, 2 fire trucks and 2 ambulances to respond to every fender bender. If that fender bender is on Bell Road (the main way of getting in and out of Surprise) during rush hour, expect the the lane restrictions to limit Bell to 1 lane and last for several hours. The law enforcement get excited and don't want to "rush" getting the roads open again.

Surprise started as farming, evolved into retirement and is now being taken over by families. Great city to live...take it from someone who lived in Phoenix for almost 30 years, I'll live out my life in Surprise and dread going to Phoenix.

I agree with this guy. It is a great place, regardless of opinions that it is "Boring." Obviously some people prefer partying and bars and clubs, while others know how to entertain themselves and enjoy silence. While I agree with Ray, don't limit yourself to just east of the 303. lol. I live just west of it off Cotton and it's a nice area down here too. Further west is also just as nice, but of course, just an extra few minutes of driving to get to Point B at any time. But traffic out on this part of Surprise is usually not so bad compared to east Surprise.