What is Glendale like? (Phoenix, Peoria: apartment, crime, find a job)

[Fresh Start]

Jobs, schools, crime etc.?

[observer53]

What field are you looking for jobs in? Glendale's a suburb, with a lot of the typical service industry jobs but not a lot of technical/industrial work. There's more than one school district in the city boundaries, and different types of neighborhoods comparing the older neighborhoods to the south and the newer ones to the north. Crime is somewhat higher in the older, generally lower income areas, but it's not atypical of other areas in the Valley.

Where you live in this Valley depends a lot on where you work. You don't want to locate in Glendale and then find a job in the East Valley. Long commutes here get old fast.

Do a search here and you will find more information. Then, you can ask more specific questions if you need to.

[Finger Laker]

A lot of it depends on where in Glendale. The area around downtown is probably worse than most parts of the metro for crimes and schools. The newer areas in the NW part of the city is probably a bit better for schools than crimes than the average part of the metro.

Then you have the bulk of it which is pretty typical.

I lived in the arrowhead area when I first moved out and loved it up there ...... but I agree with observer in that I wouldn't want to live there and have to work in chandler (or vice versa)

I disagree in about access to jobs centers ..... there are a wide variety of companies that have good access from glendale where your commute wouldn't be that bad (20-30 minutes)

the schools will definitely be impacted more by your location, socioeconomic status and neighbors more than just the district

there are some very good and very bad schools in the glendale elementary and HS district

[observer53]

I'm not saying there aren't companies located within a 20-30 minute commute, there are a lot, along the I-17 corridor and other areas. I was referring only to jobs within the city limits, where there isn't as much corporate stuff.

[Finger Laker]

there is some though and it's growing - glendale is a pretty old and established community and you have a lot of smaller, local legacy type companies before everything sprawled

then you have companies that move into the newer office developments (there are a lot of commercial office environments in the arrowhead area near the sports complex / mall)

in reality it's tough to make a guess, because glendale is pretty representative of the metro as a whole

large land mass, mix of new & old, good schools & bad schools, traffic, shopping and just because you have a job in the city and live in the city doesn't mean it's right next door

If you live in arrowhead and worked at Greenway & I-17 in phoenix you would have a shorter commute than if you had a job out near Luke AFB which is still in Glendale

that's why it's pretty difficult to about the metro is any broad terms to specific questions (i know you know this - but it may not be intuitive to someone moving here)

the glendale where we lived and the glendale where my wife worked were night and day different ..... she had a coworker who also moved from out of state and saw there places within a few minutes of work so he got an apartment there and was immediately miserable

in it's southern most portion glendale can run 100 blocks ... in it's N/S skinny portion it can run from pretty much camelback to pinnacle peak

you can find all sorts of different lifestyles, schools & commutes in there because it's just a huge land mass

if someone was working near desert ridge it would be tricky to gauge a commute if all they said was glendale

you could have someone at 59th & union saying that it's not that bad - some congestion but easy on and off near the freeway and some surface alternates

then you could have someone at glendale & dysart saying it would be a nightmare commute

someone at northern & the 101 would probably be near the middle

someone in downtown glendale or it's vicinity may find it difficult because there is no quick link to the freeway

basically supports your more info needed position

[Kentstate57]

Glendale's mayor and council have dug the city into a financial mess with their attempts to make Glendale a sports mecca.
They financed and built a hockey arena, and are in the midst of possibly losing the hockey team which will leave that arena minus it's major tenant. In order to keep the team in Glendale, they "borrowed" 25 million dollars from the water & sewer fund to protect the NHL, who now owns the team, from any losses the team may have. (Glendale's water & sewer rate is 2nd highest in the area.)
They built and financed a Spring training baseball stadium inside the city of Phoenix with the expectation that Glendale land adjoining it would be developed and produce revenue to pay off the stadium bonds. No development has taken place and doesn't appear likely for a while. Glendale is presently borrowing money to pay off the bonds that build the stadium. That's right: borrowing to pay off another debt.
They have already spent 3/4 million dollars fighting an Indian casino they don't want built adjoining the city. This expensive legal battle will likely go on and on requiring more and more city funds.
All this financial drama is bound to have an effect on property taxes down the road. When asked recently about all these financial problems, The mayor was quoted saying, "We don't have a plan B."

[Fresh Start]

Thank you all for your input. I truly appreciate it and find it very interesting.

[LocoAZnative]

Yes Glendale is having some mjor financial problems



Read more: Glendale saddled with $500 million in sports-district debt

[tashina]

You mentioned crime, so I thought you might be interested in the latest Forbes safest cities article. Glendale was #10.
America's Safest Cities - 10. Glendale, Ariz. - Forbes.com

[azriverfan.]

From my perspective, Glendale is a new community. Prior to 2000, I wouldn't have even considered Glendale as a legitimate option because of the crime and horrible reputation it had. Since 2000, the area has gone a long way to cleaning up it's image and establishing itself. I would only consider the the very northern part of Glendale. Check out the areas near 59th avenue and the 101. That area is nice. Peoria is also nice which is Glendale for all intents and purposes.