Best LDS (Mormon) Wards in Mesa/Gilbert (Phoenix, Scottsdale: rental homes, condos)

[Grapenephi]

Hello, everyone. I know this thread is going to be a bit specific to the Mormons in the area, but it can't be helped, I'm afraid.

My family and I are looking to relocate to the Mesa/Gilbert area. I will be working in Phoenix proper. We have four school-aged children, and two younger than school age. We are looking for a very close-knit family ward that is very inclusive towards newcomers. We are leaving an awesome ward, and frankly it's our only reason for any hesitation for moving at all.

Realtors won't tell you if you're looking at a "good neighborhood" or a "bad neighborhood." We're doing most of our looking via the internet, and the transition will have to be pretty fast, so we won't have a lot of time to do much in-person research.

Basically, (and I know this is a tall order) we're looking for a great ward zoned in a good neighborhood that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. We're looking to rent for probably our first year, but we don't want to leave a good ward if we get settled into one to begin with. We're looking to stay in the $900-$1200/month range.

Is there anyone who can put us on the right track?

Thanks!

[Steve Pickering]

They are all more or less the same. Good Neighborhood equals an Arm and a leg. Just a leg will get you a place in the $1,500 mediocre area. Keeping them both and in your price range is gonna be a bad area.

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by Grapenephi

Hello, everyone. I know this thread is going to be a bit specific to the Mormons in the area, but it can't be helped, I'm afraid.

My family and I are looking to relocate to the Mesa/Gilbert area. I will be working in Phoenix proper. We have four school-aged children, and two younger than school age. We are looking for a very close-knit family ward that is very inclusive towards newcomers. We are leaving an awesome ward, and frankly it's our only reason for any hesitation for moving at all.

Realtors won't tell you if you're looking at a "good neighborhood" or a "bad neighborhood." We're doing most of our looking via the internet, and the transition will have to be pretty fast, so we won't have a lot of time to do much in-person research.

Basically, (and I know this is a tall order) we're looking for a great ward zoned in a good neighborhood that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. We're looking to rent for probably our first year, but we don't want to leave a good ward if we get settled into one to begin with. We're looking to stay in the $900-$1200/month range.

Is there anyone who can put us on the right track?

Thanks!

Side note. Some people here will say "Gilbert isn't that big on LDS, it's only 11%." These people have never lived in Gilbert. My wife grew up in Gilbert and it is a bigger LDS community than "11%." As far as where in Gilbert, shesh. There are so many wards in Gilbert it's hard to say. I am scared to post this online because of creeps, but check out the power ranch community. Really nice community with lots of families with k6 aged kids.

[Grapenephi]

@Steve Pickering--$1500, really?? I don't think I've even seen anything that high in my searches. Wow!

@Shiphead--Power Ranch, got it. Thank you! Yeah, I've heard that Gilbert has a pretty high concentration of LDS, and wouldn't they have to in order to build a temple there considering its proximity to the Mesa Temple?

[kodokan]

I live in the approximate region of cross streets Gilbert/ Lindsay/ McKellips, in North-East Mesa. I'm not LDS - we an English family who moved here a couple of years ago - but many of my neighbours are, as are many of the kids in my children's elementary/ middle schools.

The community here has been VERY welcoming to us incomers, despite us not being LDS (or religious at all, a fact we've never felt we've had to hide; Europe is generally secular and everyone's been very accommodating of our cultural differences). My kids play nicely with their kids, everyone gets along, the schools are excellent, and the whole community area has a great feel to it. No one's tried to convert us, or avoided us because we're 'different' - they're just really great, friendly people.

So yes, the wards around me are welcoming to incomers, at least the non-LDS ones!

Power Ranch is also lovely - we stayed there in a holiday rental house for a couple of weeks when we moved over from Europe and were waiting for our furniture to arrive. Our kids even made friends with the (LDS) kids in the house next door, whose family invited us to a Halloween party despite us being clearly temporary. It seemed a very nice place to raise kids.

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by Grapenephi

@Steve Pickering--$1500, really?? I don't think I've even seen anything that high in my searches. Wow!

@Shiphead--Power Ranch, got it. Thank you! Yeah, I've heard that Gilbert has a pretty high concentration of LDS, and wouldn't they have to in order to build a temple there considering its proximity to the Mesa Temple?

I am unsure on the rules of temple construction. But the Gilbert Costco was selling LDS themed paintings and professional photos, I have never seen that in any Costco in the valley.

[observer53]

Please keep this thread on the topic of the OP. Thanks.

[kodokan]

Originally Posted by Grapenephi

We're looking to rent for probably our first year, but we don't want to leave a good ward if we get settled into one to begin with. We're looking to stay in the $900-$1200/month range.

Just to follow up on this and give you a bit more information, there was a thread today on our neighbourhood Facebook group, where someone was asking for any houses to rent in our local elementary catchment area.

She mentioned one house, single storey, probably around the 2-2,500 sq ft mark on a small lot on a busyish road, as costing $1600 a month to rent; a two storey further along the same road, a touch bigger, was $1900. So your budget may be optimistic - it's unlikely you'll get good school zones with the sort of like-minded neighbours you're seeking, for your hoped-for price range. If anything became available around here that's any cheaper than the ones above, it wouldn't even make it onto the market; it would be snapped up via word of mouth and passed on informally between friends.

[PoppySead]

Phoenix / Scottsdale Arizona Property Management, Homes for Rent. Photo tours of rental homes, condos, luxury houses for rent, residential lease options, and town home rental properties in Phx AZ metro cities.

This should help you out. They have rentals within some decent areas in Gilbert. Between 12 and 17 hundred.

Most wards in Gilbert are welcoming and very nice from what I've heard. You can look south of Queen Creek for newer and cheaper housing. North Gilbert is more established and more expensive.

[ysr_racer]

Originally Posted by Grapenephi

My family and I are looking to relocate to the Mesa/Gilbert area. I will be working in Phoenix proper. We have four school-aged children, and two younger than school age. We are looking for a very close-knit family ward that is very inclusive towards newcomers. We are leaving an awesome ward, and frankly it's our only reason for any hesitation for moving at all.

When you say "ward" is that the same as a neighborhood ?