Where to live in Arizona (Phoenix, Tucson: homes, safe area, elementary school) - (AZ) - City-Data Forum

tonee273 · 12-08-2008, 12:58 AM

My husband and I were thinking about moving to Miami. Well, now we are leaning towards Arizona. We currently live in a Chicago suburb. We are an interracial couple and have 2 children. We live in a subdivision where all races get along. I have friends of different races. We go to dinner together, to each others homes, etc. I work at a high school and you will not find one race of kids sitting at one table and another race at a different table. Everyone sits together. We live in a safe area. I am looking for the same in Arizona. If we live in such a nice area, why move? We are tired of the cold. I am really tired of driving in the snow.
Any suggestions which city to move to?

drb85650 · 12-08-2008, 09:13 AM

Being a white middle aged male, I can only answer from the perspective of my skin color...
Phoenix seems to be color blind, especially central and north. Tempe, Scottsdale, Glendale, Peoria....all would be good candidates, mere suburbs to Phoenix.
South Phoenix is considered the "black" part of the metro area. Enclaves of new development, but predominantly black.
I think the new "racial" prejuidice by all persons here is anti Mexicans, all grouped into "illegals" regardless of status.
Tucson, I am not that familiar with. Assumptions could be made that any areas around the college would be liberal, accepting. Perhaps someone here will voice more knowledge.
Small city wise....the Buffalo Soldiers were housed and settled around Sierra Vista from the late 1860's on. We've many families of color here that trace their roots back to those days. And being a military base, couples of color, be it black, yellow or whatever are just the norm here.
I would advise that "neighborhoods" here are not like the midwest. Most homes have blockwall fences 6' high, people live inside or on their patio,pooldecks in the backyards. Our summers are your winters, people stay inside mostly, or go from airconditioned place to airconditioned place.
Gatherings are going to be few and far between, involvement in a good sized church or social groups will be needed for that interaction.

tonee273 · 12-08-2008, 10:03 AM

Thank you. I appreciate your reply. I am black and my husband is white. We could run into problems anywhere. I just hope that we don't.

Ponderosa · 12-08-2008, 12:57 PM

I am half of an interracial couple with school age children. We live in Goodyear. Our school and our neighborhood are as you described. There are several other families same as us in the neighborhood. Our racial status has never mattered at all here - no looks, no words, no bad treatment of the kids - really nothing at all. We are concerned about moving to other places because we think that it won't be that way where we go, so I understand where you are coming from.

tonee273 · 12-08-2008, 02:41 PM

Thank you so much. I am going to have to tell my husband about Goodyear. Are there plenty of stores in the area?

LordBalfor · 12-08-2008, 02:56 PM

Can I ask a question here (I hope you folks don't mind)?

I see questions on this board regarding acceptance of interracial couples here on the C-D board all the time - and personally find it a bit odd that anyone would need to even ask the question. To me, in the environment I've always seen, I would have to say that "OF COURSE" interracial couples are accepted. However, the fact that so many people around the country constantly feel they need to even ask that question seems to indicate that folks DO find that some places (at least) don't treat interracial couples the same as everyone else.

So my question is - have you really run into issues with being an interracial couple?

Maybe it's because I live in such a Progressive part of the country (Seattle) but to me it seems a no-brainer that interracial couples would be fully accepted.

Sorry to be a pest, but I'm curious.

Ken

tonee273 · 12-08-2008, 03:14 PM

Ken,
My husband and daughter went to a store in a city where we once lived. My daughter is darker than my husband. A little girl saw them together and told her mother that my daughter was too dark and that parents and their kids should look the same. How did the mother react? She said "honey you are exactly right".
Some people are bold enough to make comments loud enough to hear. It has been obvious that some people have a problem seeing us together. It hasn't happened often but it has happened. It's a shame that it has to be this way in some places.

LordBalfor · 12-08-2008, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonee273

Ken,
My husband and daughter went to a store in a city where we once lived. My daughter is darker than my husband. A little girl saw them together and told her mother that my daughter was too dark and that parents and their kids should look the same. How did the mother react? She said "honey you are exactly right".
Some people are bold enough to make comments loud enough to hear. It has been obvious that some people have a problem seeing us together. It hasn't happened often but it has happened. It's a shame that it has to be this way in some places.

Yeah I agree. Sorry you have to put up with that. I can see a child asking something like that (especially if it was a young child - kids are pretty innocent and often ask questions simply based on observation (with no social or cultural agenda yet) - but clearly the mothers response was out of line.

I come from family that has just about every race/religion in it (especially when taking into account both my wife's side AND mine) so for us it's not all that unusual - not that it is anyway in this part of the country.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I don't mean to hijack the thread. Good luck finding a place that is right for you.

Ken

tonee273 · 12-08-2008, 03:36 PM

You are very welcome. Thanks for wishing us luck. Hopefully this will be our last winter here.

Ponderosa · 12-08-2008, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LordBalfor

Can I ask a question here (I hope you folks don't mind)?

I see questions on this board regarding acceptance of interracial couples here on the C-D board all the time - and personally find it a bit odd that anyone would need to even ask the question. To me, in the environment I've always seen, I would have to say that "OF COURSE" interracial couples are accepted. However, the fact that so many people around the country constantly feel they need to even ask that question seems to indicate that folks DO find that some places (at least) don't treat interracial couples the same as everyone else.

So my question is - have you really run into issues with being an interracial couple?

Maybe it's because I live in such a Progressive part of the country (Seattle) but to me it seems a no-brainer that interracial couples would be fully accepted.

Sorry to be a pest, but I'm curious.

Ken

Ken,
I think it is not so much about the couple when they ask, it's often concern for their kids. Kids are hard on each other anyway and if you add racial taunting and insulting and "cliqueing" to the mix - regardless of which color in doing it - school can be a very sad experience. My wife was in elementary school in Texas in the late 60s and was beat up and spit at and taunted every day for attending a "white" school. It ended when they moved to Phoenix.

Every parent wants their kids to be happy and treated with respect and allowed to achieve their potential. People ask about places because they worry that maybe racial tensions exist in the culture there and those tensions will be visited upon their kids in unpleasant ways. Mixed race kids have it tough too because they are of more than one race. So in places where it matters, the black kids tell them they are too white and the white kids treat them as black. Same thing can happen with the hispanic kids or asians or anyone different. It would be nice if such distinctions did not exist, but they do. The extent to which they do concerns us as parents who love our kids and don't want to see them hurt.