Gilbert's Counterpart in the West Valley? (Phoenix, Glendale: home, transfer, established neighborhood)

[canudigit]

Okay, so Hubbie was trying to get transferred to his company's Tempe plant, and in the meantime we visited and fell in love with the city of Gilbert. Now, Hubbie has been offered a great job at his company's Glendale plant instead, which is just west of the 101 and north of Camelback Rd. He is being very stubborn and still wants to move to Gilbert, but the commute will be about an hour one way in the AM, since he will be going in at 5 AM, well before rush hour traffic, and longer in the PM, depending on when he gets his work done.

My question is: is there anywhere in the West Valley that has the same "vibe" as Gilbert, as in, family friendly, newer subdivisions that are well-maintained, good schools, good shopping with fairly new malls, lifestyle centers, restaurants, etc. (think: San Tan Village and Chandler Fashion Square Mall)? Our son also has to commute to the downtown campus of ASU for the next four years, so somewhere like Surprise would probably be too far out. I am open to any suggestions. I wish we had toured the West Valley when we were out there in April, but who knew? Is the commute from Peoria to downtown Phoenix a tough one? Some of our son's classes are in the AM and may coincide with rush hour.

Thanks! BTW, I honestly did try to research this subject before starting a new thread, cuz I know that a few people here a kind of ouchy about that, but I honestly couldn't find any threads comparing Gilbert to anywhere in the West Valley. We really like the Old Town Scottsdale area too, and were looking forward to at least living on the same side of town as that area. Would it be ridiculous to look in the area around the 101 and N. Scottsdale, or would that also be the commute from hell over to west Glendale?

Any and all suggestions and opinions are welcome! We need advice!

ETA: If there are any parts of North Phoenix, in the Happy Valley/101 area that are family friendly with good schools, we are also open to that. Our realtor did suggest though, that we avoid Glendale, and we tend to agree with him on that.

[Finger Laker]

the arrowhead ranch area may suit your tastes

i'm also very bullish on my home city of goodyear, although our mall is on economic delay..........

[canudigit]

Where exactly is Arrowhead Ranch? Is it in Phoenix? I will Google it and check it out, and thanks for the suggestion.

I should add that we already have a wonderful realtor that we really like, just in case anyone responds who wants to try to solicit our business. He is very knowledgable, but he lives in and specializes in Gilbert, so I was hoping to get some feedback from others who live in the West Valley as well as seek his opinion. We may still end up in Gilbert if Hubbie won't consider any other areas, but I am just thinking that he would soon tire of the commute.

Thanks!

[andrzejn]

North part of Glendale (85308) is very nice and has one of better school districts in the state (Deer Valley). North Peoria has nice newer communities like WestWing or Vistancia that could compete with anything that Gilbert has to offer. Travel time from community like WestWing to downtown Phoenix should be around 30 to 40 minutes in rash hour traffic. West valley has Arrowhead Mall, Westgate and within short drive to Desert Ridge. I really dont see anything special that Gilbert has to offer that you cant find in north parts of Glendale or Peoria.

[Finger Laker]

I think he'd hang himself after a while with that commute - there are a lot of good part of the city

arrowhead ranch is different things to different people - i generally think of the area from bell road north to the 101 from 75th avenue to 59th avenue ......... some really nice established neighborhoods there, kind of little quiet alcoves right next to any amenity you can image

i think most of it is in glendale

[andrzejn]

Originally Posted by canudigit

Where exactly is Arrowhead Ranch? Is it in Phoenix? I will Google it and check it out, and thanks for the suggestion.

I should add that we already have a wonderful realtor that we really like, just in case anyone responds who wants to try to solicit our business. He is very knowledgable, but he lives in and specializes in Gilbert, so I was hoping to get some feedback from others who live in the West Valley as well as seek his opinion. We may still end up in Gilbert if Hubbie won't consider any other areas, but I am just thinking that he would soon tire of the commute.

Thanks!

Arrowhead Ranch is located in northwest corner of loop 101. Its located in Glendale on a border with Peoria. I know your hobby is set on Gilbert but what specific things that he likes about town of Gilbert?

[andrzejn]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

I think he'd hang himself after a while with that commute - there are a lot of good part of the city

arrowhead ranch is different things to different people - i generally think of the area from bell road north to the 101 from 75th avenue to 59th avenue ......... some really nice established neighborhoods there, kind of little quiet alcoves right next to any amenity you can image

i think most of it is in glendale

Zip code 85308 has the most millionaires in the state at least it had couple of years ago when I read that story

[andrzejn]

There is one thing that North Peoria or Glendale does not have that Gilbert still has which are farms and cows

[Finger Laker]

you can hit the occasional farm as you work your way south in glendale - one of the things i still find neat about this metro

[andrzejn]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

you can hit the occasional farm as you work your way south in glendale - one of the things i still find neat about this metro

I would suggesting of sticking with north side of Glendale.
I dont have issue with farms but I just dont like smell of cows when a wind blows