Thinking of moving to Pheniox, AZ and need to know where the family friendly areas are? (Phoenix: real estate)

[AJ and Travis]

We are a family from Utah thinking of moving to AZ in the next six months and wanted to know if Laveen, Surprise, Tolleson, Queen Creek, Maricopa, Buckeye or Avendale were good places for a young family to move to?

Also we wanted to know how bad traffic would be into phoenix from these areas.

[observer53]

This needs to be posted in the Phoenix subforum, where it will get better response. Perhaps the moderators here will move it for you. There's already a lot of information over in that forum about many of these areas, as well.

I will tell you that all of those are outlying areas, some more than others, and that the schools in most of them are not as good as you will find closer in to the Valley. Traffic is an issue from all of them, and long commutes can be very tiring over time.

[ANDIONE]

I would agree with observer53- you would get more responses by posting under 'Phoenix'. It definitely depends on each individual and your priorities-visit first before buying a house or moving. I have lived in most states and find Surprise, AZ to be the best fit for my family. Education could be improved greatly. Arizona tends to have a lot of school districts and charter schools..look at greatschools.com for some ideas there. As for purchasing a home the newer area of Buckeye has very large and spacious homes but the drive to shop is horrible. Check each city-most have a mapping of the recent crimes. I would recommend living north of I 10 if you choose the west side of town. There are many areas with acreage or horse property. Maricopa county is more expensive to live than pima or pinal counties but Maricopa has more jobs and better living. The drive into Phoenix from Surprise during rush hour traffic on I 10 is about 15 minutes to go south to enter I 10 and about 30 minutes to Phoenix -when there are no accidents that is-- I think traffic on the East side of town is worse because it is more populated. check out the newspaper on line -
each city is listed also with their happenings.. Arizona Local News - Phoenix Arizona News - Breaking News - azcentral.com
GOOD LUCK TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.

[Ritchie_az]

"We are a family from Utah thinking of moving to AZ in the next six months and wanted to know if Laveen, Surprise, Tolleson, Queen Creek, Maricopa, Buckeye or Avendale were good places for a young family to move to?"

I can't comment on the east valley cities too much. I'd skip Laveen and Tolleson. There are some better areas of both, but it's too hit-or-miss to recommend anything without first visiting. Avondale is also hit-or-miss, but if you keep your search north of the freeway you'll be fine. Buckeye has a few decent communities (Sundance, for example) and one really nice community called Verrado. Surprise is a very nice suburb that you'll like. You should also consider Goodyear and Litchfield Park.
I personally recommend Goodyear.

"Also we wanted to know how bad traffic would be into phoenix from these areas."

You should strongly consider where work will be when deciding where to move. Phoenix is very large, and you might find many of the places you are asking about too far away for commuting. If you know specifically where the workplace will be, you might get some information on commute times.

[grippit]

The traffic from any of these cities will be bad during rush hour. Tolleson, Laveen and Avondale are closer to Phoenix via I-10 than is Buckeye. Surprise is probably farther than Buckeye using the 303 to I-10. Because of the reasoning in the posts above it would be prudent to check these areas and issues out in person before moving. There are areas in each city that would be fine for a young family as well areas that would not. Best wishes.

[snowflake13]

My family and I are relocating to the Phoenix area as my husband is transferring to the Tempe office. So I did a lot of research as to areas that are "family friendly" as we have a 2 and a half year old. I have discovered Dobson Ranch in Mesa. We went and visited last weekend and fell even more in love as we were able to actually wallk the streets.

The thing that really makes me nervous is the school system, and I figure that if it truly is really bad...we will just have to pay for private school, and problem solved.

As someone else said earlier find out where your guys will be working..then narrow it down to commute time as for us, Dobson Ranch area is about a 20 minute commute for my husband and I plan on going back to school so my commute wont be bad either. Good luck to you!

[jeffb27]

Of the cities you mentioned I would recomend Maricopa.....It seems like you are looking for the most house for your money, be in a safe new area, and avoid traffic the best that you can in a city that is ranked in the top five largest in the U.S. The reason for this is because this city is a product of the boom where almost every home was sold for overvalue. Now, they all have to be sold again because everyone is walking from them. This means great buys, a new clean city, and a half hour drive from sky harbour airport. As far as traffic goes, this city is unique from the others that you have to drive through about 12 miles of indian reservation to get to the Chandler, Phoenix area which cuts down on Traffic for the majority of the trip. Traffic from Queen Creek and Surprise, Buckeye is a nightmare the entire way and those cities are just as far if not further from Phoenix then Maricopa. I've been in real estate out here for a few years now and if you have any other questions or concerns let me know.