Relocating to Arizona which city is the best? (Phoenix, Mesa: real estate, insurance)

[pynkpanther]

both the east and west valley are much too huge to lump into one "good/bad" decision.
if he works in laveen, live in the foothills of ahwatukee and have him go around the back-way...sheena's right - there is a secret passage

[GT350]

Just keep in mind...you can buy more real estate for the dollar on the west side...and there's a reason for that...

[nitram]

You must be watching different news than me. Mesa Police dept corruption, Chandler rapist and dog killer. Mesa & Queen creek child molesters. It goes on and on. The crime rate is not any lower in the east valley than the west side.

School districts are about the same. More sports venues, more things to do to entertain yourself. better home prices. Golly Gee Gosh I think I'll live there too.

[pynkpanther]

if every crime committed in laveen were to be on the news, it would dominate.
but don't take it from me, take it from here:
Arizona Crime Search - Crime In Arizona - Phoenix Crime Search - azcentral.com (broken link)

[nitram]

Here are just a couple of the hundreds of stories lately for the east side.
QUEEN CREEK
By Christian Richardson
East Valley Tribune
updated 7:21 a.m. MT, Sun., Oct. 21, 2007
Authorities in Queen Creek are looking to thwart an increase in crime by boosting the number of patrol deputies. View more crime news in Tribune's Cop Shop Blog
Statistics released Wednesday show an 8 percent climb in the crime rate between 2005 and 2006 with the biggest increase coming from burglaries, thefts, robberies and aggravated assaults.
The town had 547 violent and property crimes in 2006 and a population of 20,479 people. That breaks down to a rate of 26.71 crimes per 1,000 residents.
In 2005, there were 453 crimes with a population of 18,342 - or 24.70 crimes per 1,000 people.
In 2004, there were 339 crimes and a population of 13,115. That equates to 25.85 crimes per 1,000 people.
2007 crime stats estimated to be above 2006.

Mesa Arizona Police discrimination policy against it's own officers
MESA
UPDATE 8-8-00: The following story now involves more than 30 officers that have come forward, all with similar claims with even more severe violations. Another update will follow soon.
Crime here is on a rampage with no end in sight. Sherrif Joe Arpaio (the joke of Arizona) says he is doing a good job, but the crime rate continues to climb ...
Rip-off Report: Mesa Arizona Police Department suffers with civil rights violations, discriminatory & corrupt policies against their own officers * Rebuttal Letters posted * Update: Lawsuit filed Federal Court *EDitor's EDitortial - 220k -

[jco]

Oh brother. There are good and bad areas of both west and east valleys. I've lived in both. People tend to lump anything west of the 17 as west valley, and surely 59th and Bethany Home has a well-deserved horrible reputation, but N. Peoria, Arrowhead, Happy Valley, Surprise, Litchfield Park, and Lake Pleasant are all great areas. The safest city in the Phoenix metro area is in the west valley as well as the city with the highest millionares per capita. Gilbert, Chandler, Scottsdale, and Awatukee (do I really have to look up the spelling?) are all nice in the east valley. Parts of Queen Creek are nice, but it really is far out there. I don't trust the real estate market in QC either.

[nitram]

OK, here it is people... The West side has the Crips, the East side has the Bloods...and referee Sheriff Joe say's "let's get ready to RUMBLE". Oh, oh Crips win.... That's cuz Sheriff Joe is in charge.

It never ceases to amaze me why some people always think they live in the best of everything neighborhood, Yet as I've always said, there's good and bad where ever you go.
East, West, North, or South it's all the same no matter where you live. :

Some of you people make me laugh...

[cxray]

Originally Posted by jco

Oh brother. There are good and bad areas of both west and east valleys. I've lived in both. People tend to lump anything west of the 17 as west valley, and surely 59th and Bethany Home has a well-deserved horrible reputation, but N. Peoria, Arrowhead, Happy Valley, Surprise, Litchfield Park, and Lake Pleasant are all great areas. The safest city in the Phoenix metro area is in the west valley as well as the city with the highest millionares per capita. Gilbert, Chandler, Scottsdale, and Awatukee (do I really have to look up the spelling?) are all nice in the east valley. Parts of Queen Creek are nice, but it really is far out there. I don't trust the real estate market in QC either.

Let's clarify a few things. People in the west valley regularly travel to the east valley for business, dining, shopping, or clubbing/bar hopping. But people in the east valley never travel to the west valley unless it's for the occasional sporting event or concert. And that didn't occur until 2 years ago, prior to that I know several people in the east valley that had never even been to the west valley despite living in the valley for years. I mean I don't know anyone in Scottsdale traveling to Suprise to shop.

Glendale may have the most millionaires but it doesn't have the most money. They have a lot of snowbird retirees. Most middle class people who save wisely and retire are worth 1-2 million so technically Glendale has the largest number of millionaires. But a guy who owns 1-2 million is a far cry from a multimillionaire in other parts of the valley that is worth 10-20 million; Glendale doesn't have a lot of these millionaires. This is why Glendale still lacks many of the upscale stores and restaurants that Scottsdale, Chandler, Ahwautukee and Gilbert have.

The bottomline is the west valley is improving but it's still in its infancy when compared to the growth and development of the east valley so you can't really compare the two; the west side has a long way to go. People aren't moving to the west valley because it's nicer than the east valley. They are moving there because it's more affordable than it's relative east valley counterparts. That's a perfectly legitimate reason but lets not start comparing Suprise to Gilbert; there is no comparison, Gilbert is far more developed than Suprise to say the least. It's funny how people on the west get defensive and competitive with people on the east side. You guys should enjoy what you have and be excited about your development.

[sablebaby]

Originally Posted by cxray

People aren't moving to the west valley because it's nicer than the east valley. They are moving there because it's more affordable than it's relative east valley counterparts.

I have to disagree. Yes, people do move to the west valley because they feel it's nicer and no some of them are not just moving there because it's cheaper. This valley is huge that no one can look at all areas to see where they want to move to. Virtually every weekend I drive around and find a whole other area that I never knew existed.

Some people are just particular to one side of town as that's all they know. Like I am extremely particular to the north valley (east or west) and never even thought about moving anywhere else.

The northwest valley is growing ever so large and beautiful. But, that's ok, it will be our little secret I guess.

[cxray]

Originally Posted by nitram

You must be watching different news than me. Mesa Police dept corruption, Chandler rapist and dog killer. Mesa & Queen creek child molesters. It goes on and on. The crime rate is not any lower in the east valley than the west side.

School districts are about the same. More sports venues, more things to do to entertain yourself. better home prices. Golly Gee Gosh I think I'll live there too.

Oh please, I lived in the heart of Arrowhead, 59th and 101 ( aka the nicest part of the West Valley) and my car insurance was $250 higher per year than what I currently pay living in the east valley.

Get an insurance quote and see how much higher it is on the west side due to it's increased crime and auto theft. Polls don't mean anything; they are biased. Insurance companies deal directly with the ramifications of crime (auto theft) and so if they are charging higher premiums to live in Glendale versus Chandler/Ahwautukee, that actually means something.

Go to Allstate, Statefarm, Progressive or Geico and see for yourself 85308 vs 85226