Considering a move to Phoenix, give me the good, the bad and the ugly... (Mesa: scorpions, good schools)

[cancerrph]

My husband and I are considering moving to the Phoenix (Scottsdale) area with our two small kids (3 and 5). We are currently living in Kansas City (Overland Park), we originally moved to KC from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to get away from the congestion and raise our kids in a "better place". Over the past 5 years we have reallized we don't like the cold and have developed allergies. So, we are considering a move to the Phoenix (Scottsdale) area. I would like to know you opinions on various topics. I have researched but want to hear from locals. Thanks for all your feedback, please be honest and tell me the good, the bad and ugly.

1. where are the best places to live to raise good kids, in a family friendly area? Preferaby near Jewish synagogues, JCC etc.

2. What are some nice suburbs?

3. How is the weather really?

4. What exactly is a monsoon?

5. Are there alot of bugs? Snacks? etc...

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by cancerrph

My husband and I are considering moving to the Phoenix (Scottsdale) area with our two small kids (3 and 5). We are currently living in Kansas City (Overland Park), we originally moved to KC from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to get away from the congestion and raise our kids in a "better place". Over the past 5 years we have reallized we don't like the cold and have developed allergies. So, we are considering a move to the Phoenix (Scottsdale) area. I would like to know you opinions on various topics. I have researched but want to hear from locals. Thanks for all your feedback, please be honest and tell me the good, the bad and ugly.

1. where are the best places to live to raise good kids, in a family friendly area? Preferaby near Jewish synagogues, JCC etc.

2. What are some nice suburbs?

3. How is the weather really?

4. What exactly is a monsoon?

5. Are there alot of bugs? Snacks? etc...

1. I am not Jewish, so I do not know anything about synagogues. However, any of the outlying suburbs would be a good place to raise children.

2. Gilbert, Mesa, Scottsdale, Carefree, Cavecreek, northern Peoria (Arrowhead), northern Glendale, and Surprise.

3. Very hot with low humidity in the summer, the winters are beautiful with 70 degree highs.

4. Monsoon is July to August. It rains a lot, but lowers the temperature. Of course, humidity goes up, but no where near what you experience in Kansas City.

5. There are a lot less bugs than the midwest. It is also for much better in Phoenix regarding allergies.

I am from Phoenix, but have lived in Iowa, so that is my experience.

[synapse]

Originally Posted by cancerrph

1. where are the best places to live to raise good kids, in a family friendly area? Preferaby near Jewish synagogues, JCC etc.

2. What are some nice suburbs?

3. How is the weather really?

4. What exactly is a monsoon?

5. Are there alot of bugs? Snacks? etc...

1. The biggest Jewish and family oriented areas are largely northeast - north Scottsdale (Scottsdale Avenue north of Camelback- the main JCC is near Scottsdale Avenue and Cactus Avenue), the Biltmore area (24th St. and Camelback), the suburb of Paradise Valley, Desert Ridge (around Tatum and the 101), and also north central Phoenix around Central and Glendale and some in Tempe / Chandler. But Phoenix is very scattered - there are no specific ethnic areas. If you look up synagogues, you'll see the pattern.

2) "Nice suburbs" is difficult because it depends what you like - but Chandler, Tempe, Scottsdale, portions of Glendale and Litchfield Park are very nice.

3) The weather is hot in the summer. No getting around it - it's often near 110, and even if dry, that's very hot. Gets very annoying, especially as it doesn't cool down at night. But it's only July and August. After that, though it's still 100 during the day, it starts cooling down at night - and September to May verges on perfect.

4) Monsoons are summer storms that occur with some regularity in July and August. The clouds build up during the day and then unleash storms at night, often with a lot of rain, lightning, and wind. It's due to moisture coming up from the gulf.

5) There are scorpions, but they're relatively rare and mostly if you disturb them. I've seen precisely one snake (I assume you mean snakes - there are plenty of places to get snacks). Some bugs, but nothing more annoying than what you'd get in the northeast and midwest.

[LocoAZnative]

Originally Posted by cancerrph

My husband and I are considering moving to the Phoenix (Scottsdale) area with our two small kids (3 and 5). We are currently living in Kansas City (Overland Park), we originally moved to KC from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to get away from the congestion and raise our kids in a "better place". Over the past 5 years we have reallized we don't like the cold and have developed allergies. So, we are considering a move to the Phoenix (Scottsdale) area. I would like to know you opinions on various topics. I have researched but want to hear from locals. Thanks for all your feedback, please be honest and tell me the good, the bad and ugly.

1. where are the best places to live to raise good kids, in a family friendly area? Preferaby near Jewish synagogues, JCC etc.

2. What are some nice suburbs?

3. How is the weather really?

4. What exactly is a monsoon?

5. Are there alot of bugs? Snacks? etc...

No, use the search function first since all these topics have been discussed to death.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by LocoAZnative

No, use the search function first since all these topics have been discussed to death.

Really, there is all kinds of current information here about all these topics, if you use the advanced search function and plug in the keywords, and limit the search to the Phoenix forum, you will get the info you need.

[las vegas drunk]

Cancerrph,

Unfortunately, Arizona is a generally a Republican state. In other words everyone for themselves selfish type attitude. You won't get much help from the locals (as you can tell from the above posters) because of that. If you need any information feel free to pm me. I lived there for over 30 years so I will help you the best I can.

[drb85650]

Originally Posted by las vegas drunk

Cancerrph,

Unfortunately, Arizona is a generally a Republican state. In other words everyone for themselves selfish type attitude. You won't get much help from the locals (as you can tell from the above posters) because of that. If you need any information feel free to pm me. I lived there for over 30 years so I will help you the best I can.

Ignoring the above.....

There are alot of Jewish believers living in the central Phoenix area....google street view of 6000 north Central Avenue, Phoenix...will give you a idea of the area. $$$ but great area to raise kids.

The heat is bad, but frankly, if you can stand the summers and humidity in Kansas, this will be a piece of cake. Imagine 75-80' with Kansas humidity...our 105 will feel better.

Monsoon....what they said, except my experience is that central Phoenix gets more dust storms than rain during Monsoon. And believe me, our worst monsoon rain is but a shower in Kansas.

Bugs....in 23 years I've seen less than 5 scorpions, and only 3 live rattlers, all in outlying areas, not the city. Our bugs are nothing compared to Kansas summer eveings outside(yep, I lived there awhile).

Suburbs....Fountain Hills, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley(some areas),Cave Creek, Carefree........depends on your budget.

and we went blue last election. Las Vegas is just Phoenix with casinos.

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by drb85650

Ignoring the above.....

There are alot of Jewish believers living in the central Phoenix area....google street view of 6000 north Central Avenue, Phoenix...will give you a idea of the area. $$$ but great area to raise kids.

The heat is bad, but frankly, if you can stand the summers and humidity in Kansas, this will be a piece of cake. Imagine 75-80' with Kansas humidity...our 105 will feel better.

Monsoon....what they said, except my experience is that central Phoenix gets more dust storms than rain during Monsoon. And believe me, our worst monsoon rain is but a shower in Kansas.

Bugs....in 23 years I've seen less than 5 scorpions, and only 3 live rattlers, all in outlying areas, not the city. Our bugs are nothing compared to Kansas summer eveings outside(yep, I lived there awhile).

Suburbs....Fountain Hills, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley(some areas),Cave Creek, Carefree........depends on your budget.

and we went blue last election. Las Vegas is just Phoenix with casinos.

Before posting nonsense, get your facts straight. I am from Phoenix, and it is a Republican state, always has been. You tell the op to ignore my post, BUT your post nearly mimics mine. By the way NEVADA voted blue, Arizona is red, sorry.....

President - Election Center 2008 - Elections & Politics from CNN.com

[zenkonami]

Don't know if I understood "snacks" correctly, but Phoenix is one of the major test markets in the country, so you can usually find just about anything product-wise in the Phoenix area. Culturally, Phoenix can be a bit "dry" as there is no real cultural center to the city, but if you don't mind driving you can usually find a little bit of anything cultural you might be looking for.

Not Jewish myself, but my impressions were usually that Scottsdale and Tempe (and maybe areas near downtown Phoenix) tended to be the more "Jewish" areas...that said, Phoenix is pretty homogenized and not particularly hung up on religion, so I suppose if you've got good schools and a Synagogue you'll be in pretty good shape.

If I understand JCC to be "Junior Community College" or something of the sort (my folks are from Overland Park), then you are in luck because the Maricopa Community College system is excellent. There are schools spread all across the valley including Rio Salado for a good selection of online courses.

I think other people answered your other questions better than I could, so I'll let it go at that.

[synapse]

Originally Posted by las vegas drunk

Before posting nonsense, get your facts straight. I am from Phoenix, and it is a Republican state, always has been. You tell the op to ignore my post, BUT your post nearly mimics mine. By the way NEVADA voted blue, Arizona is red, sorry.....

But I would be willing to bet that if it wasn't for the fact that the Republican candidate, McCain, was from Arizona, that Arizona would have gone blue. It *leans* Republican, but it's not Oklahoma.