Wanting to move to the Phoenix area. (Gilbert: low crime, houses)

[mandies8]

My wife and I are looking to move to Arizona from New England with our 13 year old son. She has a back injury that we believe would benefit from a warmer climate. I know about the job situation there. I would try to get a job before the move. Any recommendations? My wife and I are social and would be looking to make new friends. We are in our mid 30's and are non religious. I have read a few posts about the Mormon influence in some towns. This wouldn't affect us personally, but we don't want to be left out socially. Again, any thoughts?

[Pillage Your Village]

Send me a message. I will give you the low down.

[rjrcm]

Originally Posted by Pillage Your Village

Send me a message. I will give you the low down.

Why not post it here for everyone's benefit?

[MotleyCrew]

Where will you be working?
You can live in just about any community here on the west side and not be bothered. We live our lives just fine and do not go to church and that is not saying we don't believe in God, we do. We have ministers two houses down who would not shake my hand 6 years ago when we tried to introduce ourselves. Oh well. But, again, we live just fine and will move where we feel like moving when we feel like moving. The weather is wonderful here for the most part.

[observer53]

You are going to get opinions here from both ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between. Take the overly positive and overly negative ones with a large grain of salt. Whether someone likes living somewhere or doesn't is an intensely personal thing, and an anonymous internet forum will not tell you how you will feel. The only suburb where there would be a really strong Mormon influence would be Gilbert, but there are people who are not particularly religious or political who appreciate Gilbert for what it is, a growing suburb with well-kept neighborhoods, good shopping, and good schools, who aren't really affected negatively by the religious influence on local Gilbert politics.

There are lots of nice areas here, in various parts of the Valley, that would give you what you are looking for. Commuting distances DO matter here, so where you are working will be a huge influence.

[Captain Bill]

Information from Wikipedia regarding Gilbert religion demographics:

• 17.26% claiming to be Roman Catholic,
• 11.12% Protestant and
• 12.6% Mormon.

Gilbert is also rated as a town of relatively low crime. According to FBI records,

• Gilbert was the largest city in the United States with zero murders in 2005.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

Information from Wikipedia regarding Gilbert religion demographics:

• 17.26% claiming to be Roman Catholic,
• 11.12% Protestant and
• 12.6% Mormon.

Gilbert is also rated as a town of relatively low crime. According to FBI records,

• Gilbert was the largest city in the United States with zero murders in 2005.

That was then, as they say. Since then, there have been several murders in Gilbert including the murder of a Gilbert policeman last year. Having said that, I don't think murder rate is particularly useful as a barometer of crime unless it is very high. Most murders are among people who are known to each other or people involved in illegal activities. I would agree that Gilbert is a safe place overall - slightly better than the area's other suburban towns and well above (lower crime rate) the national average.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

That was then, as they say. Since then, there have been several murders in Gilbert including the murder of a Gilbert policeman last year. Having said that, I don't think murder rate is particularly useful as a barometer of crime unless it is very high. Most murders are among people who are known to each other or people involved in illegal activities. I would agree that Gilbert is a safe place overall - slightly better than the area's other suburban towns and well above (lower crime rate) the national average.

You're right, most violent crimes occur between people with a history between them, and often involve other criminal activity. Where either of the parties involved lives is pretty much irrelevant. The policeman's killing could have happened anywhere in the Valley, as they are always at risk, particularly when making a traffic stop or trying to apprehend someone.

As areas of the Valley go, Gilbert is definitely on the low overall crime side.

[Ritchie_az]

Originally Posted by rjrcm

Why not post it here for everyone's benefit?

Pillage has posted the same tired super-negative message over-and-over-and-over, and I guess is tired of folks calling him or her out on the logical fallacies. I was hoping his or her move would end the posts, but I guess that has not happened.