Your family thinking of moving to AZ

[PartIrish]

Lifelong Arizonan here who also raised two kids in Tucson. Yes, you will have at least 5 months when it will be too hot for outdoor activities except swimming. The problem is that the summer months are when kids have a lot of time on their hands, so they will be bored a good bit of their summer vacation. If you get your kids onto a swim team at a young age, however, it will provide at least one summer activity for them. Many kids who grow up in the desert can't wait to leave when they get old enough! Our grown children, and many of their close friends from childhood, live in cooler places near water, and tell us they just couldn't live in this climate again. Something to consider.

[cattastic]

There are a lot of great things about living in Arizona.

You do need to realize that the weather exceeds 110 degrees in the summers. It is physically not possible to do ANYTHING outside except swim in that kind of weather. You cannot go to the zoo. You cannot go to the park. You can barely touch the steering wheel of your car.

I'm not saying don't move, I'm saying this is a huge factor that may impact your happiness and quality of life. We have two kids and enduring long summers where we are all stuck in the house was absolute misery and was a big reason why we left.

That being said, Arizona is a wonderful state and an absolute gem. There is SO MUCH to do and see if you are into the outdoors (when it's not 110+!), things that don't exist anywhere else in the world. We now live internationally and believe me, the Sonoran desert is unlike any other place you can find. So many amazing natural wonders in this state (and neighboring states).

The great thing about Phoenix is....you can hop in the car, drive 3 hours in any direction, and be in a whole different place. You can be in the mountains where it's not so oppressively hot, you can go to Tucson where the Mexican food is out of this world, or the chiracahuas which are just spectacular.

8 hours gets you to Albequerque, 6 hours gets you to the beautiful beaches of San Diego or Disneyland.

Chandler, Scottsdale, and Gilbert are likely the most family-friendly places but the housing market has come back with a vengeance and is climbing!

The Phoenix Zoo is an amazing community resource with many family programs that are some of the best in the country (I used to work at the zoo and it was the best job I ever had). A yearly membership is well worth the price. Facilities are constantly being upgraded, there are so many awesome special events, there's splash pads and playgrounds, and it's just beautiful. Tempe is a fun place to be for farmers markets and some ethnic food too.

Scottsdale will give you the best shopping and has more going on than Chandler in my opinion. I thought Chandler was a wealthy wasteland of suburbs but not a lot happening. Scottsdale seems to have more events and programs for the kids, but maybe that's changed since we left.


Gilbert is very family friendly with more to do than Chandler in my opinion, and the downtown area has amazing restaurants. We used to ride our bikes as a family along the canals and eat breakfast in Downtown. Postino is a nice, trendy spot for fun after the kids go to bed. Different vibe than Scottsdale for sure, but home prices are kind of expensive. That being said there is a gorgeous riparian preserve in the Gilbert area right next to the library and there are great community centers offering cheap classes and activities for the kids.

I don't know about schools as we left while our kids were too young. But we sent our oldest to 2 beautiful Montessori preschools and were very happy with that.

My other biggest complaint is that the Phoenix metro area, while having a lot to do, is so spread out that we can't really *Walk* anywhere. Gilbert was nice because the canal system doubles as walkways, and our house was physically situated by a busy street so I could access a Starbucks on foot but this was very unusual in my lifetime of growing up in Phoenix/Scottsdale.

I love Arizona but the summers are just brutal. It's a big reason why we don't think we want to go back. That being said it is absolutely gorgeous for the rest of the year. But don't be naive about the mental impact of being stuck inside for 4 months.

[SarcasticPhxDude]

Are you guys still considering a move to AZ?