Good family towns in Phoenix area? (Mesa, Glendale: apartments, crime, day care)

[617missy]

Hi Everyone!
My husband is accepting a job that will require us to move to the Western half of the Country. Ideally, California, but we are NOT Cali type people. He is attracted to Arizona because, beyond having some relatives in the area, Arizona has spring training games. (We are currently living in Riverview, FL, which is just South of Tampa.) Yes, it seems like a silly reason, but my husband is a huge baseball fan. I however, have many more requirements and I am hoping to get some guidance from people who live in the area.

We are in our late 30s and have two beautiful girls. Our 6 1/2 year old will be entering 2nd grade at a Catholic School and making her First Holy Communion this year. We would love to be in an area that has a good Catholic school nearby. Our 1 year old is currently home with me, but I plan to put her in day care at 3. So a great preschool like Montessori or, again, a great Catholic school that accepts children as young as 3, would be wonderful. Needless to say, a Catholic Church in the area with community involvement, ministries, and a welcome feeling of home is ideal. Equally as important as great schools is a safe neighborhood. I would love to be in an area that is filled with families. Play groups, mom's groups, a reputable park and rec organization and a general sense of community is important to me.

My husband needs to be within 1 hour of a major airport so we are mainly looking in the Phoenix area. The areas that seem most appealing are Gilbert, Chandler, Scottsdale, Surprise, Peoria, and Avondale. My husband's Aunt lives in Prescot and says it's wonderful there as well. I have heard the most about Gilbert, but Surprise has a great web site that makes it sound amazing. Can anyone give me some objective opinions about these areas? For those who have lived in other states, how does Arizona compare? I am not necessarily interrested in hearing about the weather, I figure anything has to be better than the discusting Florida humidity.

Oh, one more thing. I just began the process of getting an AS degree. My intention is to complete the program for Diagnostic Medical Sonography and Ultrasound. It would be great if we could be in an area that has a decent Community College with AS Medical programs available. A University is also acceptable, but they usually don't have those specific programs available.

I apologize for the long post. We are trying to make a very difficult decision and I hope to get some honest, objective, real-life feedback.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[Ritchie_az]

Look at Goodyear instead of Avondale. Don't rule out Verrado in Buckeye. Surprise is nice. Gilbert is nice. Chandler is nice. Peoria has some nice areas. Prescott is very nice... but likely too far from a major airport for you. Can't answer about the Catholic schools.

[617missy]

Thanks Ritchie! I will check out Goodyear! Yeah, we would love Prescott but I think it's almost 2 hours to the airport. Are any towns that are closer to the airport comparable to Prescott?

[Ponderosa]

Here's a link to the Catholic schools in the PHX metro area. Private schools here may or may not be better (performance) than public ones, so you will have to do some research on the school you are interested in to see how their academics are.

Catholic Schools of Phoenix

I would not take Avondale off my list. Goodyear is generally a nicer place, but the area of Avondale north of I-10 is good for the most part as well. Goodyear is a notch or two above Avondale and Surprise with respect to income. School quality in either place is on a neighborhood basis. Both Goodyear and Surprise have spring training facilities. Goodyear has the Ohio teams - Indians and Reds.

On the east side, Gilbert and Chandler are both good - Gilbert may be a little more family oriented, but you may not notice one way or the other. Scottsdale is nice, but you pay a lot for the name. The family lifestyle is much cheaper and just as good elsewhere.

[Ritchie_az]

If you are truly interested in Prescott, there are a few flights out of there:
Passengers- Book a Flight - City of Prescott, Arizona

[jimj]

Waddell! Quiet, far enough out where you get the rural feel but close enough to get to things.

[momtogrif]

Well, I'm going to put a plug in for Glendale or Litchfield Park. We live in the Arrowhead area of Glendale just north of the 101 freeway. I can get to North Scottsdale in 20 mins, downtown Phoenix in 25 mins(without rush hour traffic), and various other places relatively quickly. There is a vibrant Catholic community here and 2 of our neighbors attend St Thomas Moore Church. Unfortunately, I don't know much about Catholic schools but I'm sure they're out there, LOL!

Right now the average homes around here (think 2200 sf, 3-4 beds, etc) will run you around 200K. We have a great community center here by the library and there are plenty of golf courses, parent groups, shopping, and some upscale shops too. I live 3 miles from the Arrowhead mall, there's an ice rink, movie theaters, bookstores, etc all within a 10 min drive from my house.

Other communities like this are areas of Chandler, Gilbert, and Mesa. I would put Scottsdale in here but I have found that the housing there is still overpriced compared to what you would pay here in Glendale. My home, built by Shea homes, would run me $50K more in Scottsdale than what it would sell for here and the HOA's also cost more over there. I like living 20 mins from my Scottsdale shopping but I live in a more affordable area.

By the way, I'm a mom of an 11 yr old boy who plays competitive sports and we travel all over the Phoenix area. We have friends in most cities here and I think that Glendale and Gilbert have the most to offer families. Good luck with your move!

[jimj]

Gee I guess I should add that out in Waddell 4-5 yr old houses run from $89k (1600 sqft) to about $120k or less (2400 sqft). A 2 story 2300 sqft house just sold here for $105k, well taken care of and not destroyed.
The one we bought was only lived in for about 1 year so everything is pretty much still new. These houses sold for around $260k ++ originally.

[from nv]

Prior to moving, we lived 3 years in Glendale, not out by the AZ Stadium, but on the north side (Loop 101 and 59th Ave.) It's quiet, and pretty safe up there. We were in San Prado Apartments and then moved a couple blocks over to a house. The freeway is accessible, there's an Albertson's and a Fry's for grocery shopping, gas stations, library, Starbucks, etc. My husband commuted from the Phoenix airport for flights, so we made a weekly drive to/from there, which really wasn't bad at all...took the 101 to 51 straight into the airport..about a 45 minute drive during 7am traffic.

You can go to AZ Central and down at the bottom of the page is a spot for looking at crime in the various areas. This is a very useful tool.

Weather in AZ is quite different than FL. It's a very dry heat, especially in the valley. It can be sunny down in Phoenix, and snowing up in Sedona, just a few hours away. You won't have many mosquitos; we never saw scorpions, however, several of our friends said they had at one time or another.

Hope this helps you. Good luck on your move.

[MaccabeeMaven]

I would find a school for your daughters and then go from there. I have heard very good things in general about St. Bernadette's in Scottsdale, and they do have a school (K-8).

If you're going to settle in the Phoenix area, Scottsdale is a very good place to be. I recommend that you steer clear of all cities on the West side of town, due to crime and other factors.