gilbert vs anthem (Phoenix, Mesa, Glendale: tornado, vacation, rent)

[cindi907]

i am moving to phx. we want to rent b4 buying to get feel for right neighborhood. but we want to get kids in right school not having to move them again. we love the planned anthem area but we arenot moving with jobs so do not know where to settle. this blog gets me nervous but alot of good advice comes also so i am addicted to reading all. please give me gilbert advice??

[AksarbeN]

You’re doing the right thing with research and reading information. Also renting before buying is excellent. This will give you the time to look and choose the right home and neighborhood. No matter what others can tell you, each person has their own opinion of likes and dislikes, not everyone is right or wrong because there just opinions. You will do good making up your own mind and do the looking.

If you’re talking about Anthem at the north end of Phoenix on I-17 (I get confused because there is another Anthem in the s-e valley near Florence) it is a nice area with near homes. Gilbert is also a new and growing area; however with all things being equal the one item that sticks in my memory is weather. Every year we have storms move into the valley and this bad weather seems to be typically coming into the area in the south east areas. Storms with dust, wind, and some rain make a mess out of things. For the most part the s-e valley is always hit the hardest. All things being equal that would be a factor that I would consider for NOT living in that area.

You have heard the term “tornado alley” the same thing applies to the south east area of greater metro Phoenix. If a storm is coming into the valley, it comes in and hits that area most all of the time. Strong winds, dust, and rain make a mess out of everything and cause damage to homes and property.

Oh,,,, and if your talking about an anthem in or near Florence I would forget it! There is nothing that is an advantage for living in that area with so many other great places to choose from.

[cindi907]

Thank You That Info Was Something We Never Even Knew To Consider. We Are Talking About Anthem North Of Phoenix.we Love The Area But Hear Alot Of So So Things About Their New Schools. But Gilbert Keeps Popping Up With Good Responses. Planned Community Makes Me Feel Like I Would Love To Live Somewhere That I Can Feel Like I Am On Vacation.

[sablebaby]

Originally Posted by cindi907

Thank You That Info Was Something We Never Even Knew To Consider. We Are Talking About Anthem North Of Phoenix.we Love The Area But Hear Alot Of So So Things About Their New Schools. But Gilbert Keeps Popping Up With Good Responses. Planned Community Makes Me Feel Like I Would Love To Live Somewhere That I Can Feel Like I Am On Vacation.

If you live in Anthem and have to commute to phx for work it will anything but a vacation! If you have to work keep in mind where that will be.

[aj661]

Originally Posted by AksarbeN

Oh,,,, and if your talking about an anthem in or near Florence I would forget it! There is nothing that is an advantage for living in that area with so many other great places to choose from.

UNLESS, you're taking a job at one of the prisons. Then it would be about the best area. For the vast majority of the population though, I agree.

Gilbert is a family friendly town (how many times have I said that?) with good schools. I never was concerned about the weather there, but I've lived most of my life in the SE valley. I've never lost a roof or had any other major problems due to storm damage. During the monsoon season, we do get the wind and dust before everyone else. If driving is a concern, there are a lot of options for getting in and out of Gilbert. Not so with Anthem north.

Like so many of us have said to folks moving here...first find out where you're going to be working and use that as a starting point. There are nice neighborhoods all over the valley. What's the point of having a home in the very best area if you're hardly ever there because you're spending most of your free time commuting?

[Boatdrinks]

The commute from Anthem is terrible. I'd move almost anywhere else in the valley other then Anthem b/c of the near 24/7 traffic on the 17. Also, there is NOTHING up there....kind of an exaggeration, but you do need to drive a ways to get to anything outside of the Anthem planned community shopping, which leads you back to the traffic on the 17.

On paper, Anthem looks fabulous. But it's a lot different in real life.

Gilbert is a great place to live and raise kids. There are two new high end malls which will open late this year, tons of shopping, great schools and many highway and street options - 101, 202, and the 60, plus surface streets.

IMO, it's no contest between the two - Gilbert wins hands down. I do think a decision should be made after you know where you'll be living though. Commute times should weigh heavily in your decision.

As for the dust storms, that would be SO far down on my list of reasons to chose one city over another.... We've lived in the east valley almost 4 yrs and never had any terrible problems. The dust storms are definitely an icky pain, but I wouldn't NOT move to the east valley b/c of them, especially since you'll have to deal with them anywhere in the valley.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by AksarbeN

You’re doing the right thing with research and reading information. Also renting before buying is excellent. This will give you the time to look and choose the right home and neighborhood. No matter what others can tell you, each person has their own opinion of likes and dislikes, not everyone is right or wrong because there just opinions. You will do good making up your own mind and do the looking.

If you’re talking about Anthem at the north end of Phoenix on I-17 (I get confused because there is another Anthem in the s-e valley near Florence) it is a nice area with near homes. Gilbert is also a new and growing area; however with all things being equal the one item that sticks in my memory is weather. Every year we have storms move into the valley and this bad weather seems to be typically coming into the area in the south east areas. Storms with dust, wind, and some rain make a mess out of things. For the most part the s-e valley is always hit the hardest. All things being equal that would be a factor that I would consider for NOT living in that area.

You have heard the term “tornado alley” the same thing applies to the south east area of greater metro Phoenix. If a storm is coming into the valley, it comes in and hits that area most all of the time. Strong winds, dust, and rain make a mess out of everything and cause damage to homes and property.

Oh,,,, and if your talking about an anthem in or near Florence I would forget it! There is nothing that is an advantage for living in that area with so many other great places to choose from.

What?????? I lived in Gilbert for years and I am the most terrified of anyone on this forum of Monsoons of any strength. It is not tornado alley and does not get the worst storms.We seem to get the tails of the storms moving in from Scottsdale and Queen Creek it's very unusual to take a direct hit. The North east Valley Scottsdale and Fountain Hills get the worst storms. If you are referring to anything in the south east valley that tend to get bad storms that would be Queen Creek and AJ.

I went through a heck of a storm up there in Glendale in Aug 1996. Does anyone remember that one? Block walls and roofs were down. It looked like a bomb hit. They called it a microburst, it was a tornado.

Trust me on this Gilbert is not Tornado Alley. Even North Mesa gets worse than Gilbert. Glendale gets bad ones, Surprise and Sun City.

[brittZ]

I remember that storm in '96. It was beautiful but it sure did some damage. i remember finding my neighbor's storage shed on my other neighbor's roof. Walls were torn down, trees were uprooted. Then I remember about 7 or 8 years ago when it just started hailing for no apparent reason in glendale. I still have video of it somewhere. I went outside and there was a two inch blanket of pea sized hail over everything and it was coming down very hard and very fast. Dont be fooled by people saying AZ is just a hot desert with no seasons and no weather, cray stuff happens here and it usually ends up being beautiful afterwards.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by brittZ

I remember that storm in '96. It was beautiful but it sure did some damage. i remember finding my neighbor's storage shed on my other neighbor's roof. Walls were torn down, trees were uprooted. Then I remember about 7 or 8 years ago when it just started hailing for no apparent reason in glendale. I still have video of it somewhere. I went outside and there was a two inch blanket of pea sized hail over everything and it was coming down very hard and very fast. Dont be fooled by people saying AZ is just a hot desert with no seasons and no weather, cray stuff happens here and it usually ends up being beautiful afterwards.

Yes that was very memorable, I'm sure some other people on here would remember that one too. That was a tornado for sure. I remember going to throw my trash out and the sky was this weird green color and it was very still and calm out and the all hell broke loose. I even heard the sound like a train coming.

[cindi907]

I Dont Remember That Stormbut My Motherinlaw Would Neer Tell Me Anything Likethat Bc She Has Been Trying To Convince Us To Move There For The Last 22yeas. I Like What All Have Been Saying About Gilbert So I Am Going To Look Into Planned Communiyies There That Can Compare To Anthem. We Need To Make A Trip There But Dont Have The Means Yet, Still Waitig To Sell Our Long Island Home.