A million questions about moving :) (Phoenix, Mesa: rentals, house, find a job)

[Hopeish]

I am sure this has been asked a million times before but still have a few questions.

Our background: We have never lived anywhere else except our small Western Washington town (Population under 20,000...think vampires/Twilight). We have to relocate to Phoenix due to my husbands job in Scottsdale.

1. Is there a way to search what schools offer for activities? Example: our schools offer music programs and competitive sports (specifically swim...I have a daughter that swims 5 days a week).

2. It has been said to live by your job. We can't afford Scottsdale. I have looked on Trulia/Zillow/Craigslist/etc,. (any suggestions on where to look for rentals?) We are waiting for our house to sell, so we will have to rent a 4 bedroom and want to pay 1300 a month. Surprise is over an hour commute, which is where we started to look originally. Right now, we both drive forty minutes to work and would like to live in that range. Is Chandler/Gilbert/Queen Creek feasible for commute time?

The husband is going down January to start work. We will be following after I give him a list of places to look/see, etc,. We have five kids (13, 13, 10, 8, and 1), so schools are important, but we will miss our small town. Is there such a thing without such a long commute? We were really blind sided by this move. I'm hoping for the best. I am so excited to shop. All we really have is a Wal Mart. lol This might not be a cost effective move afterall.

Thank you for your thoughts/input.

[Zathras]

I would rule out both Surprise & Queen Creek.. but depending on where in Scottsdale the job is, you could be looking at anywhere from Glendale to Mesa/Gilbert/Chandler/Tempe...

[11222blue]

Gold Canyon is a nice area,but its further out there from Phoenix.

[PhureeKeeper]

Your housing will really depend on where your husband's job is.

If you've seen maps of Scottsdale, there is easily 25 miles between "south" Scottsdale and "north" Scottsdale. I put the geographies in quotation marks as it's still one city. (Unlike Las Vegas and North Las Vegas).

If he's working towards the north you might find rentals in the north Phoenix area. If he's towards the south end of Scottsdale, then you'll easily find rentals in Tempe or Chandler.

$1300 per month is reasonable for Tempe, Chandler or Gilbert.

The Phoenix metro area has well over 4 million people, so you won't get the small town feeling without a very, very long commute.

[MalteseJane]

If you are used to shop only at Walmart, this is going to be a life changing event. For living close to the job, it depends where in Scottsdale the job is. Glendale is nice and could be 30 minutes from Scottsdale. One thing you can forget is the small town feeling. Personally I would have a hard time moving to a place who has only a Walmart. Lol, I had a hard time adjusting to the supermarket choices here in Phoenix compared to Houston. Still miss my Houston stores. But you adjust.

[Hopeish]

Thank you for your input. The husband will be in South Scottsdale. Home is where the heart is. We will make the best of what we have. We are very grateful to have a job. I bartend part time (I do have my teaching degree) at night so I know I can find a job pretty easily. We were just more worried about our kids. As with everyone else, we just want this to be an easy transition for them. Big city life will be quite a change. We are just trying to find some similar activities etc. for them.

We make it to Seattle a few times a year (we are three hours west). Hopefully we can find a good school and make the adjustment to a big town easily.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Hopeish

Thank you for your input. The husband will be in South Scottsdale. Home is where the heart is. We will make the best of what we have. We are very grateful to have a job. I bartend part time (I do have my teaching degree) at night so I know I can find a job pretty easily. We were just more worried about our kids. As with everyone else, we just want this to be an easy transition for them. Big city life will be quite a change. We are just trying to find some similar activities etc. for them.

We make it to Seattle a few times a year (we are three hours west). Hopefully we can find a good school and make the adjustment to a big town easily.

Well, there are homes in the southern part of Scottsdale (below Osborn Road, say) that would be well within your price range. They are older homes, yes. Tempe is a good option as well, with good schools and a good parks, rec and library department for the kids. You don't have to go all the way out to Gilbert; parts of Chandler would not be too far. Both of those are large suburbs by area, so it depends on where you are in those cities how short the commute would be. You will not find a true small town feel in this very large metro area, unless you go much further out than you would want to go for commuting purposes. And, even then, it's not going to feel like a small Pacific Northwest town.

[AZ Tracy]

Once you focus on an area, you can get tons of information about the schools at the Arizona Department of Education website. Another popular site to check out schools is GreatSchools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community

This will be quite a move with 5 kids. Good luck!!