Moving to phoenix (Scottsdale, Chandler, Tempe: rental, mortgage, house prices)

[MYNAMEISEARL]

Hello everyone! My family and I, wife..both mid 30's and five kids (4 boys ages 11-5) 1 girl 3, plan on moving to the Phoenix area from Atlanta (Lawrenceville) within the next month. Our reason for moving is change of pace and we want to have more diversity with our children as well as be closer to the west coast, Cali. After spending a large amount of my childhood in San Diego, Before moving back to Alabama and Georgia where i lived my adult life. I want to offer my children some of the things that aren't offered here that I had in Cali in the 80's, and being a African American I'm sure there are some of my culture that understands what I am saying without me being so in depth or blunt. Any opinions about the cities surrounding the city will be greatly appreciated. I am concerned about schools, children's activities, my sons are very active in sports, football, basketball, baseball and boxing so a good youth park sports info. I would like them be able to have good friends to grow with. We don't mind the distance as though we live 30 minutes out from the city here.. and I think Atlanta traffic is about the worst in the nation or should be.... As far as work I am a courier, however I am looking to get back into my career field of my call center, customer service orschool maybe school for It certification. So basically I'm just the regular working Joe...lol. Also being a new biker crotch rocket ..info on that also be a big plus.. oh yeah forgot the wife. Oops shopping mall..movie theaters ..good restaurants.. thanks for all the insight ahead of time.

[sh9730]

Earl,

Budget? Renting or buying? These things will make a big difference in the advice given here...

[KurtAZ]

Sounds like pretty much anywhere would be fine but we would need to know what kind of price range you are looking at? Big difference between areas of the valley although there are nicer pockets all over. Call Centers...I would look at AMEX in the North Valley (I17), there are some others in Tempe but they are usually employing college students...NationStar Mortgage has one in Chandler as well as eBay...

Good luck with the move.

[goolsbyjazz]

Earl, I applaud you for wanting to expose your children to something different. I did the same thing when my children were younger. First, as the other responders said, more information (budget, etc,.) Would be helpful so people can give you more specific direction as to areas. The valley is a large area. Second, it is a pretty big sports area so depending on where you finally land your sons should be able to find what they are looking for.

Third, I know you mentioned living in San Diego, but have you ever been to Phoenix? There is a BIG difference in the climates and cultures. If you haven't been here I definitely recommend you take a trip to get a feel for it. As for diversity, Phoenix and the surrounding cities are much more diverse than when I moved here 15 years ago! African Americans were 2% of the population IN THE ENTIRE STATE at that time. Now it's around 4.5%...may not seem like much, but I sense it will rise quickly in the upcoming years if the economy continues to improve. As an AA I will tell you I have not experienced ANY racial prejudice in all of my years of living here. Not saying it is not around or that Arizona is perfect, but that is not as big of an issue over here, in spite of what the media tries to portray. Finally, this is almost the call center capital so it shouldn't be too difficult to find work in that area. Oh, and your wife will also have plenty of shopping and food choices as well. Do your due diligence and you should be fine.

[MYNAMEISEARL]

Hi everyone thanks for the replies , your insights are well received. I've been looking around some of the websites for rental properties And the housing market is pretty comparable to the suburbs here in Atlanta. Sooo im pretty much looking for around 1100-1500 monthly and thinking the Chandler area would be a good area to start. My wife and I will be coming the second week of February to see before we decide. Everyone keeps telling me about how hot it is however, the humidity here can be ungodly and then add the pollen on top of that, makes it pretty interesting. soo to me its one of those things you say tomato, toomato. I have been looking at other post and google earth, youtube and narrowed down to Chandler as a starting point. Theres a big mall thats 2 stories i think that has a resemblence to our Mall of Ga here in Buford ga. As far as employment I received alot of interest a few weeks ago although they wanted me there immediately for interviews.

[goodlife36]

I visited the Chandler mall. It is pretty decent. Which industry did you receive positive feedback from? Good luck!

[TiredOfyycCold]

I have to put a plug in for Stetson Hills / Norterra area (I-17 and Happy Valley Road). Great schools in the area, probably close to that Amex call centre, Two decent size shopping malls (Norterra and Happy Valley Town Center) and a short drive to the outlet mall in Anthem.

When we were originally looking to purchase our vacation home we spent a lot of time in Chandler and Gilbert... we found our money went further up north and we actually liked the look/feel of the area MUCH more than the pockets in Chandler/Gilbert we could afford to buy in. I would think that rent would correlate with house prices, so this MAY apply to you as well. It really is a personal preference on the look of an area though...

Good Luck in your search!

[SLOCurious]

Hey Earl! I used to live in Peoria (which is considered part of the "West" side) and my husband used to live in Chandler. He liked Chandler well enough, but is much happier living in the 85028 zip code of Phoenix. We now live in an awesome location basically in the middle of the whole greater Phoenix area. We are next to some great hiking hills, 10 minutes North of downtown, 30 minutes from Chandler, 15 minutes from North Phoenix where there is plenty of call center employment, and just 5-10 from Scottsdale. We feel like we have it all without the Scottsdale/Paradise Valley prices. So, I urge you to check it out! 85028! Oh, and in your rental price range, you'd probably get a decent house with a bigger yard. Our homes are the older ranch style with character.