Thinking of Moving To The Phoenix Area (Mesa, Glendale: jobs, housing)

[SWEETARIES]

Hello All,

I am a 30 year old single mother of one who currently resides in the busy San Francisco Bay Area. I moved to Bullhead City, AZ in 2002 and lived there 2 years before moving back to CA. Overall, I love the desert and I want to move back to AZ. Just not BHC because for a woman my age there wasn't much to do, employment sucked and there was a lot of racism! That was a real challenge for me and had a negative impact on my son as well.

I actually began researching the Phoenix area back in 2002 before my move, but decided on BHC because I had a friend there. Now I have family that lives in Queen Creek and I want to get away from crazy CA! From what I see the employement & housing markets in the PHX area are great! Just don't know where to start: PHX, MESA, TEMPE, CHANDLER, GLENDALE, SCOTTSDALE, GILBERT HELP!!! Maybe you all can give me some information on which is the best area for a single mother of color to reside. I don't really go out much but I am looking for somewhere that is safe to raise my son, where the people aren't blatantly racist and the housing/employment/schools are good. Is that too much to ask for :-)? I appreciate your feedback!

[AksarbeN]

Your first question should be “I do this kind of work” and where can I find a home near that type of employment? Some jobs are work at home others can be found just down the street in the business district close by. You do not want to drive more then 30 minutes to work each day. The location of your home will depend on where you work and there are many great areas of business throughout the valley. Schools and neighborhoods are important however I have to say that most areas are about the same. So if you can organize or work location + your son’s school = then you can narrow down the where to live part. I don’t believe you should have a problem with race anywhere in the valley however people will be the way they are and there is no accounting for it sometimes.

How old is your son? What they of work will you be doing? And I just remembered that you have family in Queen Creek, that’s important and you should consider that factor in your choice of location.

[SWEETARIES]

Hi AksarbeN,

Thanks for your reply. My son is 9 and my employment background is in Customer Service/Administration. Don't want to do Queen Creek because from what I have heard from friends and family there are obsticles similar to the ones I encountered in BHC...been there and done that! Any neighborhoods i should just flat out avoid due to crime etc.? I remember when I was in BHC there was always stories on the news and in the paper about crazy violent things going on in PHX. Thanks.

[june]

Originally Posted by SWEETARIES

Hello All,

I am a 30 year old single mother of one who currently resides in the busy San Francisco Bay Area. I moved to Bullhead City, AZ in 2002 and lived there 2 years before moving back to CA. Overall, I love the desert and I want to move back to AZ. Just not BHC because for a woman my age there wasn't much to do, employment sucked and there was a lot of racism! That was a real challenge for me and had a negative impact on my son as well.

I actually began researching the Phoenix area back in 2002 before my move, but decided on BHC because I had a friend there. Now I have family that lives in Queen Creek and I want to get away from crazy CA! From what I see the employement & housing markets in the PHX area are great! Just don't know where to start: PHX, MESA, TEMPE, CHANDLER, GLENDALE, SCOTTSDALE, GILBERT HELP!!! Maybe you all can give me some information on which is the best area for a single mother of color to reside. I don't really go out much but I am looking for somewhere that is safe to raise my son, where the people aren't blatantly racist and the housing/employment/schools are good. Is that too much to ask for :-)? I appreciate your feedback!

Surprise Az look into and the Dysart school district. Beautiful area all my little cousins live there now. I think you will be happy there, I didnt see any racism going on when I was there. And seen all types of people living there. The homes are very reasonable also. Look into marley Park or more new homes on Reems rd. Also KB further down on 187 ave homes started at 183000 and nice , 2 stories 3 bedroom. Good luck.

[Boatdrinks]

I always recommend Gilbert - if you do a search for Gilbert, you'll see many long and rambling posts from me on the many positive aspects of Gilbert. It's a great place to raise a family - TONS of kids here, people are very nice, good shopping, and houses are reasonably priced.

That said, I agree that you should find out where you'll be working first, then go from there. You wouldn't want to commute from Gilbert to the west valley or north Phoenix every day. But if you happen to work in the east valley, I recommend Gilbert.

Good luck