Single African American mother with teenage son looking to relocate (Phoenix: best cities, to rent)

[Cali77]

Hi!
I am a single African American mother with a teenage son and a baby on the way. I am thinking of relocating to Arizona, and am in need of location ideas. I am trying to keep my son away from heavy gang problems in school. He is also an athlete, so I would like high schools with good academics as well as sport program. Somewhere that has community activities. As for myself, I am unemployed and looking to go to school for photography. I would like to work in the medical field as a Research Study Coordinator, MA, or Phlebotomist. I don't have to be in the big city but not too far out. I need to be able to rent at a reasonable price. I may need government assistance for a minute, how is that? I am in Georgia and the medical coverage sucks for adults. You cant even go to the dentist and get filings, they just pull your teeth out! I am not concerned about night life too much, but i would like to be involved in activities with other singles. I am from California, so I would like to be closer to my family. I am also concerned with racism and having a ethnic mix! Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

[Ponderosa]

Phoenix metro is a patchwork of good and bad. In general, the newer and the more affluent the area, the better. Safe bets are Goodyear and Surprise in the west and Chandler and Gilbert in the east. Queen Creek is cheaper and also good, but very inconvenient because it is so far out.

Things here are a lot different than in Georgia relative to race relations. Since you grew up in CA I think that is a better comparison. PHX does not have race based segregation. People live in areas that reflect income, so you see a mix in all the neighborhoods. Things being what they are, the affluent areas are mostly white and the poorest are Hispanic. However, the affluent areas always have some hispanics, blacks, asians etc. The affluent areas have good schools, the poor areas have dreadful schools. There are bigots around to be sure, but not a lot of overt racism. Very few people around here would use the N-word either to your face or behind your back. AA numbers overall are pretty small. If you live in a good neighborhood it is likely that your son will have mostly white friends. AA's and whites tend to get along fairly well in PHX. There is some increased tension these days with Hispanics and just about everyone else fueled by the illegal immigration issue. The race thing is a bigger issue in poorer areas than in the more affluent ones.

My opinion is that areas around Luke AFB are the most diverse due to military diversity. The best cities closest to Luke are Goodyear and Surprise. We are interracial and live in Goodyear. Our situation is fairly common. There are several mixed kids in the school and AA and mixed retired couples as well in our neighborhood. My sister in law who is black and has a teenage boy lives in Chandler, which is a good place too if you stay out of the downtown area. Chandler has a bit of diversity too with quite a few (for Phoenix) Asians. Gilbert is a very good family town, but less diversity.

Cant help with the public assistance questions other than to say AZ is not going to be very good for it and maybe worse than GA. On the other hand, I have a few deadbeat relatives who have been living on assistance for decades. You mention the medical field for work and that is one of the few areas that was not completely taken out by the recession.

[Ritchie_az]

and looking to go to school for photography.

I agree with everything Ponderosa said.

As far as Photography schools, I'm guessing ASU must have a decent program, and I'm sure there must be some other options, as well, but that can be a tough profession to break into. However, if you're going to do it, Arizona is a beautiful state to be in, you've got a lot of options. My suggestion is to read as much as possible before diving in.

I would like to work in the medical field as a Research Study Coordinator, MA, or Phlebotomist.

There are many great hospitals in the Phoenix and Tucson areas.

[~PaperMoon~]

I just moved to Tucson 8 months ago and I love it here, it's nice and quiet and not much crime in the area where I live. I can't tell you much about high schools or colleges here for what you want to study but you would like it in Tucson I'm sure. There's not many blacks here, there are some but not a lot, and there are no black nieghborhoods like in some cities, everything is pretty mixed here, no "white nieghborhoods", "black nieghborhoods" or "mexican nieghborhoods". Everywhere has a well mixture of all.

[Cali77]

Thank you all for your help!!!!

[MRS215]

I am a single 30 Y/O AA mom just moved here from Philadelphia, Pa about 4 months ago; I also work in the medical field, and I have to say for my daughters I love it.

What I love:
I moved to Avondale, which is very close to Goodyear (less than a 5 minute drive for me). The school and instructors are really involved and want to see the kids do well and progress; the teachers communicate efficiently through email (I am a heavy BlackBerry user so this is a huge plus for me), moving from a large public school system I find that this was a refreshing change. It is a very mixed area, my neighbors are all in the working class and of mixed nationalities. My daughters friends are of diverse ethnicities; they all play well together. There are extra curricular activities and there is a youth sports center that was built in Avondale as well, this I love. I have not had any racial issues at all since I moved here, and I am someone who is sensitive of racial issues and my surroundings.

The housing is gorgeous and very cheap; back home I would be paying double in rent in comparison to what I am paying here. The cost of groceries is actualy lower in comparison to what I spent back home also.

What I hate:
I will tell you that everything will require a car. EVERYTHING! There will be alot of highway driving involved which I hate, this is more of a personal preference thing than anything else. The roads are well kept, in some parts there is some construction, but nothing that is really bad. I will tell you that finding hair care is a struggle; unfortunately I still have not found a place that I am really happy with. Night life may not e an issue when you initially move here but I tell you eventually you will want to go out and mingle and you will want to find places that are similiar to back home, and that will be a problem. I live about 25-33 minutes away from downtown PHX and when I want to go out that is a huge deterrent. I did find one nice jazz club called Doc's Place. I am still on the hunt for a place that has that Philly flair .. lol.

I did have CHIP in Philly, so when I got here the first thing I did was submit an application for medical assistance, and can tell you that the process took about 2 weeks, and the girls were covered within 30 days. I did have to supply proof that the medical assistance for my daughters (CHIP) in Philly was terminated, which did cause a slight delay. I hope some of this helps! Best of Luck!

[Westerntraveler]

I suggest the Phoenix or Tucson metro areas

[LinaJo76]

Phoenix metro areas. There are tons of schools for art and design stuff (I'm sure photography is included) all over the Phoenix area.

[BillieHiser]

Originally Posted by Cali77

Hi!
I am a single African American mother with a teenage son and a baby on the way. I am thinking of relocating to Arizona, and am in need of location ideas. I am trying to keep my son away from heavy gang problems in school. He is also an athlete, so I would like high schools with good academics as well as sport program. Somewhere that has community activities. As for myself, I am unemployed and looking to go to school for photography. I would like to work in the medical field as a Research Study Coordinator, MA, or Phlebotomist. I don't have to be in the big city but not too far out. I need to be able to rent at a reasonable price. I may need government assistance for a minute, how is that? I am in Georgia and the medical coverage sucks for adults. You cant even go to the dentist and get filings, they just pull your teeth out! I am not concerned about night life too much, but i would like to be involved in activities with other singles. I am from California, so I would like to be closer to my family. I am also concerned with racism and having a ethnic mix! Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance

How about Kingman?! We don't have big fancy universities but our community college is great and has medical classes as well as photography classes. We have reasonable rents, lots of community stuff going on. With the new bypass bridge open, I think travel time to Vegas is just over an hour or so and 2.5 to 3 to Phoenix so its not like you're in the middle of nowhere! Cost of living is not outrageous and there is always something to do within a modest distance. I've not noticed any racism personally (I'm Filipino/American) but there is a nice ethnic mix to our town. My neice is also athletic and the program here seems to be pretty good, not all stars, but the coaches are good and the kids are judged on their ability not their social status... I think Kingman would suit your needs well!

[Dr. K. Ramirez]

HI
Although Atlanta seems to have a growing economy, I think I read that Georgia has the lowest minimum wage in the US. Tucson is not much better economically - hard to find a descent job. If you and teenage son are soon to enter job market and you are flexible on location, why not consider a state with lower unemployment rate and more opportunity - better chance for keeping a son out of a gang if he's hanging with a successful crowd with ambitions for the future.
I did a google search for
'states with low unemployment strong economies'
and came up with
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/.../ns/business-us_business/ - United States
[URL="http://www.vitrolenta.com/finance/best-cities-for-young-professionals.html"]www.vitrolenta.com/finance/best-cities-for-young-professionals.html[/URL]
www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/.../bw20091021_441398.htm (http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/.../bw20091021_441398.htm - broken link)
I think more economic opportunities also lead to less racial discrimination.
Best of luck to you and your new career and home choices! Congratulations on being an superb Mom! Keep up the good work!

Originally Posted by Cali77

Hi!
I am a single African American mother with a teenage son and a baby on the way. I am thinking of relocating to Arizona, and am in need of location ideas. I am trying to keep my son away from heavy gang problems in school. He is also an athlete, so I would like high schools with good academics as well as sport program. Somewhere that has community activities. As for myself, I am unemployed and looking to go to school for photography. I would like to work in the medical field as a Research Study Coordinator, MA, or Phlebotomist. I don't have to be in the big city but not too far out. I need to be able to rent at a reasonable price. I may need government assistance for a minute, how is that? I am in Georgia and the medical coverage sucks for adults. You cant even go to the dentist and get filings, they just pull your teeth out! I am not concerned about night life too much, but i would like to be involved in activities with other singles. I am from California, so I would like to be closer to my family. I am also concerned with racism and having a ethnic mix! Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance