Moving to Phoenix area -- need advice on where to live (Mesa: for rent, affordable houses)

[jenraynor]

My husband and I, and our new baby girl will be moving to the Phoenix area in August. My husband is an officer in the air force. We are looking to rent at first, then possibly buy. I would like to know what parts of Glendale, Surprise, and other areas close to Luke Air Force Base that are optimal, as well as those areas to be avoided! We are apsolutely thrilled to be moving there! Just found out today!!!!!!

[lyzzard]

Surprise is a pretty decent area to look into. It's all relatively new and will most likely pick up again once this recession is gone. The housing prices are definitely a good deal right now. I personally would prefer there to Glendale.

[R_Cowgirl]

Surprise is nice - but the OP is talking about convenience between Deer Valley and Downtown. Surprise is a one-way-in one-way-out nightmare in traffic if you have to get into downtown from there. You're talking almost an hour commute, and that's in decent traffic. One thing to look at is older, more established neighborhoods. Houses that were built 10-15 years ago are often better priced, in stable neighborhoods, with bigger yards (for your dogs), and with houses that may be more solid than some erected in the boom of the past 5 years. I love my place near Desert Ridge. My house is older, but the yard is huge and the dogs love it. I can jump on the 51 FWY and get anywhere pretty quickly. 15-20 mins to downtown, 15-20 mins to Glendale, 15 mins to S-dale. Nice central location. Just a thought.

[Finger Laker]

you can also check out goodyear & peoria as well

for glendale it would be the part that hugs the 101 until you get to about thunderbird and into the arrowhead mall area - that whole section is pretty nice

there are neighborhoods in avondale, litchfield park & goodyear as well that a lot of Luke people live in

surprise is pretty solid as well - if you live near sarival it's a dusty 2 lane road that takes you N/S which is a lot less congested than the 303 - you could run that down and then cut over to Luke - although you wouldn't be as convenient to the rest of the phoenix metro

[lyzzard]

Originally Posted by R_Cowgirl

Surprise is nice - but the OP is talking about convenience between Deer Valley and Downtown. Surprise is a one-way-in one-way-out nightmare in traffic if you have to get into downtown from there. You're talking almost an hour commute, and that's in decent traffic. One thing to look at is older, more established neighborhoods. Houses that were built 10-15 years ago are often better priced, in stable neighborhoods, with bigger yards (for your dogs), and with houses that may be more solid than some erected in the boom of the past 5 years. I love my place near Desert Ridge. My house is older, but the yard is huge and the dogs love it. I can jump on the 51 FWY and get anywhere pretty quickly. 15-20 mins to downtown, 15-20 mins to Glendale, 15 mins to S-dale. Nice central location. Just a thought.

Maybe you were confused with someone else, the OP is talking about areas that are close to Luke AFB which has nothing to do with Deer Valley or downtown.

[trudawg]

Litchfield Park is a nice place to live and seem to have some very affordable houses for rent. Water bills were a tad high for my liking but overall it was nice, with a nice school district rated pretty high in AZ

[R_Cowgirl]

Originally Posted by lyzzard

Maybe you were confused with someone else, the OP is talking about areas that are close to Luke AFB which has nothing to do with Deer Valley or downtown.

oops - you are right - there were two threads on this and I thought i was on the other one. My bad. The other one wanted something between downtown and deer valley... sorry about that. On too many threads yesterday!! LOL Thanks Lyzzard!

[ibarrio]

Surprise would be an ideal fit. You can take Litchfield Rd. to the base. It takes about 15-20 mins to get to the base from Most areas within Surprise.

It does not take an hour to get out of Surprise. I get to work (near 51 Ave and Thunderbird) in 30 minutes. I can make it to my Brother in Laws house on Val Vista (Mesa) in about an Hour. And I do not speed because of all the Cameras.

[NiceJohn]

Market price speaks louder than anything else. pick a high end neighbourhood, you will get safety and convenience both. Check Scottsdale, Chandler and Ahwatukee out. You will know it.

[Finger Laker]

all 3 of those would be terrible commutes to Luke AFB