Movin' to the West Side (Phoenix, Glendale: sales, crime, buying a home)

[mycrazylife]

Hi all,
HELP!!!
I've been reading the boards for a week or so now. Trying to sift through all the information and opinons about areas on the West Side of the Valley...what I have now is a lot of confusion and a headache!

I think that the West Side in general gets kind of a bad rap. I know there are nice places to live there. I just need to find them!
We live in the East Valley right now, but will be moving probably within the next 6 months. We have lived here in AZ for 3 years now, so are somewhat familiar with the area. We bought our current home at the absolute peak of the selling frenzy...you can figure out the rest of that equation. Dh works on the West Side so finances and commute are the primary reasons for moving.

We are looking for a home in a nice, family friendly area. We have 4 children, two of which are still in school (2nd grade and 8th grade next school year). So good schools are a factor as well. We are looking to spend 200K-300K. 4-5 bedroom, 3 bath home. Bedroom and 1 bedroom on ground floor are a must.
We have looked at a few homes, primarily new builds or spec homes. We have looked in Goodyear and Litchfield Park area, and some in Peoria and N. Glendale. We are open to looking at resale homes too, and have looked at a few of those as well. We do like a little space...not needing horse property or anything, but I don't like feeling like I can reach out my window and touch the neighboring house. Dh and I both grew up in small towns in Utah, so anything in Phoenix area seems like a "big city" to us!

Yikes! I am rambling! I think I have a pretty good picture of issues and concerns in the area...And places to avoid (Marysvale, Tolleson, most of Avondale, Parts of Glendale, and I'm undecided about Surprise and Laveen, Surprise is a bit farther out, and Laveen seems to be either people love it there or hate it there).

Tops on our list are Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Northern Glendale and possibly Surprise.

The home we love is in Arroyo Mountain Estates, which is new builds and not alot of community things, (parks, stores, etc) in the area. Nice "mountain view" (that's sort of a joke to us, as we are from Utah...where a mountain really is a mountain!)

Someone also suggested we look at Estrella Parkway area, and I know there are other areas that are recommended. (Arrowhead, Vistancia etc.)

As far as commute goes, dh works off of 75th and the 10, but we also end up going all over the valley. I go into downtown Phoenix daily (sometimes twice a day) and so commute is not top priority...(I think the commute stinks anywhere in the area...)

Blah! That's a novel! So what am I missing? Recommendations? Comments? Places you love? Not so much? I welcome all comments. Well, maybe not the "I would NEVER move to the West side. I don't want to debate the East vs West thing...

I also have checked out greatschools.net and we are working with a realtor too (tomorrow will be our first time looking from that aspect).
Off to read more posts...after I take some Tylenol!

[Great Joy]

Welcome soon to the west valley, mycrazylife!

About the west side getting a bad rap, I think Ponderosa says it best. I copied this quote from a different thread. Ponderosa wrote, "I have lived on both sides of the valley. There are good and bad to be found in each half. West side people could make the same remark about needing to go to the east side. I have not been east of central except on my way out of town in at least five years. Most anything one would want on a regular basis is replicated on the east, west and in the north valley. People here live in their part of town for the most part and rarely spend real time in other parts of the city. So their opinions on neighborhoods outside their own area are, in my opinion, mostly outdated, inaccurate and simply reflect long-held biases."

You wrote, "Tops on our list are Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Northern Glendale and possibly Surprise." Based upon our house hunting all over the west valley a few years ago, your "tops" are also the areas that I would also recommend for you based upon your criteria. I haven't seen Arroyo Mountain Estates, so I'm unable to comment about that development.

To me, it also depends upon what type of neighborhood you're interested in. Do you want one with just homes, one with just tot lots/green spaces, one with a community pool, or one with lots of amenities and an activities/events coordinator?

Due to job transfers, we've moved quite a few times living in different types of neighborhoods. Prior to moving here, our last neighborhood was a master planned community (MPC) in a different state. We loved that so much that we mainly focused on MPCs here. We also looked at a few non-MPCs neighborhoods for comparison too. I think there are many very nice neighborhoods in the west valley; it justs depends on what you like. For MPCs, I really like Estrella (Goodyear), Verrado (Buckeye), and Vistancia (Peoria). We chose Vistancia, and love living here for many reasons. It has all the things you're looking for. Here's a video link about it:
YouTube - Vistancia in Peoria, Arizona Here's another link to more info about it as well as other areas: http://www.city-data.com/forum/phoenix-area/144932-places-worth-living-valley-2.html

I also really like Arrowhead (Glendale). It is a very nice MPC, but from what I've learned on this site, a home owner has to buy a membership in order to use the amenities and to take part in their community activities and events. If anyone else knows different, please let us know. Sablebaby, since you live there, can you please provide more details about Arrowhead?

Buying a home in one of the other MPCs I mentioned above automatically allows you full access and participation in the community's amenities and events.

Another great MPC is Anthem (north of Phoenix), but think the commute might be more than you would want.

I know of other large developments such as Marley Park and Cortessa (Surprise area), but I don't know much about them. Can anyone advise what these developments have for amenities and if they have an Activities Coordinator?

[LBTRS]

Originally Posted by mycrazylife

The home we love is in Arroyo Mountain Estates, which is new builds and not alot of community things, (parks, stores, etc) in the area. Nice "mountain view" (that's sort of a joke to us, as we are from Utah...where a mountain really is a mountain!)

We just purchased a home in Goodyear and during our search a Shea Home in Arroyo Mountain Estates was in the in our final two. The home in Arroyo Mountain Estates was our favorite, however, this development had a couple things that made us choose another development. First, there was nobody living in the development when we were there on January 15th, it was brand new with only a couple houses in the construction phase. They could not even tell us what school our kids would attend, where they would catch a bus, etc. The second negative was the communities location. It's out there a ways and there is NOTHING around. You have to drive into Goodyear to find anything. The third thing that gave us concern is a huge dairy/cattle farm you passed very near the community. We passed it as we drove to the community. It stunk to high heaven when we drove by. We didn't smell it while touring the models, however, if the wind switched direction I don't know how you could not smell it.

Arroyo Mountain Estates was a very nice place with some great views, however, those three things pushed us towards a Centex community in Goodyear.

Good luck.

[mycrazylife]

Great Joy...thanks for the links and info about MPC's. Verrado, Vistancia and Estrella are all on my list of areas to explore. (I think I need a shorter list!)
Since we have a wide age range of kids (20-7) we are looking for an area with more than just the tot lots. Basketball courts are a huge plus for us as all my boys love b-ball. Not sure about an events coordinator~
HOA's/CCR's would be a concern too. We prefer "reasonable" over super lenient or super restrictive...
So, I think we prefer a newer established area (HUH? Does that make sense?) With good amenities and community accessibility etc.
Thanks again for the info and links.

[mycrazylife]

LBTRS
Thanks for the reply.
We spent the day in the area...and pretty much came to the same conclusion. It's just kind of out there...in the middle of a bunch of brush and cactus. (Hmmm, okay that describes most of AZ, right?) We are looking at Centex in Goodyear too. (Cotton fiels as opposed to "wild desert") Looked at a couple of homes there today. We liked the neighborhood, and we liked the sales rep/realtor there. Everyone in the neighborhood knew him and everyone was waving to him, or stopping to chat for a second. I thought that was a good sign overall that the homeowners felt well taken care of. I just don't like their floorplans as well as some of the other homes. However, we have a long list of "criteria" and I know we'll never be able to meet all of them~ (I need to shorten that list too! I don't think there's anyway to find every single thing we want/need in a home/community. There's always some give and take.

[LBTRS]

Originally Posted by mycrazylife

LBTRS
We liked the neighborhood, and we liked the sales rep/realtor there. Everyone in the neighborhood knew him and everyone was waving to him, or stopping to chat for a second. I thought that was a good sign overall that the homeowners felt well taken care of.

Are you talking about Todd? He's the sales rep we went through and was super to deal with. He works in the Brookhaven at Oasis at Canyon Trails office. We were really happy with him.

I agree about the floor plans, however, the standard features, energy efficient items and the price we got on the home swayed us towards Centex. Maybe we'll be neighbors. We purchased lot 730 in the Brookhaven neighborhood.

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by Great Joy

Welcome soon to the west valley, mycrazylife!

About the west side getting a bad rap, I think Ponderosa says it best. I copied this quote from a different thread. Ponderosa wrote, "I have lived on both sides of the valley. There are good and bad to be found in each half. West side people could make the same remark about needing to go to the east side. I have not been east of central except on my way out of town in at least five years. Most anything one would want on a regular basis is replicated on the east, west and in the north valley. People here live in their part of town for the most part and rarely spend real time in other parts of the city. So their opinions on neighborhoods outside their own area are, in my opinion, mostly outdated, inaccurate and simply reflect long-held biases."

You wrote, "Tops on our list are Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria, Northern Glendale and possibly Surprise." Based upon our house hunting all over the west valley a few years ago, your "tops" are also the areas that I would also recommend for you based upon your criteria. I haven't seen Arroyo Mountain Estates, so I'm unable to comment about that development.

To me, it also depends upon what type of neighborhood you're interested in. Do you want one with just homes, one with just tot lots/green spaces, one with a community pool, or one with lots of amenities and an activities/events coordinator?

Due to job transfers, we've moved quite a few times living in different types of neighborhoods. Prior to moving here, our last neighborhood was a master planned community (MPC) in a different state. We loved that so much that we mainly focused on MPCs here. We also looked at a few non-MPCs neighborhoods for comparison too. I think there are many very nice neighborhoods in the west valley; it justs depends on what you like. For MPCs, I really like Estrella (Goodyear), Verrado (Buckeye), and Vistancia (Peoria). We chose Vistancia, and love living here for many reasons. It has all the things you're looking for. Here's a video link about it:
YouTube - Vistancia in Peoria, Arizona Here's another link to more info about it as well as other areas: http://www.city-data.com/forum/phoenix-area/144932-places-worth-living-valley-2.html

I also really like Arrowhead (Glendale). It is a very nice MPC, but from what I've learned on this site, a home owner has to buy a membership in order to use the amenities and to take part in their community activities and events. If anyone else knows different, please let us know. Sablebaby, since you live there, can you please provide more details about Arrowhead?

Buying a home in one of the other MPCs I mentioned above automatically allows you full access and participation in the community's amenities and events.

Another great MPC is Anthem (north of Phoenix), but think the commute might be more than you would want.

I know of other large developments such as Marley Park and Cortessa (Surprise area), but I don't know much about them. Can anyone advise what these developments have for amenities and if they have an Activities Coordinator?

Nowadays, there is not much of a difference between the West Valley and the East Valley. Each side now has good schools, nice neighborhoods, and lots of restaurants and shopping malls.
Just like anywhere else, you just have to be careful where you live in each of those sides.
I think Phoenix in general is safe, but I live in North Scottsdale so I have no real concept of crime living here... But, in general, I think most areas are safer in Phoenix and its surrounding suburbs than many other cities around it's size.

[mycrazylife]

LBTRS
Todd, Brookhaven...yup, yup! And ditto on your other comments. Great value in a home and lots of energy efficient features.

[mycrazylife]

Originally Posted by londonbarcelona

Nowadays, there is not much of a difference between the West Valley and the East Valley. Each side now has good schools, nice neighborhoods, and lots of restaurants and shopping malls.
Just like anywhere else, you just have to be careful where you live in each of those sides.
I think Phoenix in general is safe, but I live in North Scottsdale so I have no real concept of crime living here... But, in general, I think most areas are safer in Phoenix and its surrounding suburbs than many other cities around it's size.

I agree. I am shaking my notions of the West side being a bad place to live. We've spent a couple of Saturday's over there and I haven't been shot at yet! :0
And, we live in a very nice area now & I've had my car windows bashed in twice...and two miles north of us...a not so nice area, and the same two miles West of us...a HS that is well known for drugs and gang violence etc. Every area has it's good and bad. And I do agree that overall it seems a safe place to live.
So, the West side is becoming more and more appealing to me. I'm feeling much better about the whole prospect of moving

[londonbarcelona]

Originally Posted by mycrazylife

I agree. I am shaking my notions of the West side being a bad place to live. We've spent a couple of Saturday's over there and I haven't been shot at yet! :0
And, we live in a very nice area now & I've had my car windows bashed in twice...and two miles north of us...a not so nice area, and the same two miles West of us...a HS that is well known for drugs and gang violence etc. Every area has it's good and bad. And I do agree that overall it seems a safe place to live.
So, the West side is becoming more and more appealing to me. I'm feeling much better about the whole prospect of moving

The West Valley is HUGE! You will be fine. You will be safe. The people here will try to help you narrow it down. There are many, many more "nice" areas in the West Valley than there used to be. It's really coming into it's own!