Family friendly near Tolleson (Scottsdale, Avondale: HOA, low crime, how much)

[beazfam]

Hello! Hoping some of you fine folks can help me focus my searching from it's current all over state. My husband has a potential job offer in Tolleson. I am looking for safe, family-friendly neighborhoods within a 30 minute commute for him. Our needs, in order of importance are

1) safe - of course low crime, but coming from a rural community in the midwest I would love if I could still be comfortable with my kids riding their bikes to friend's or a nearby park.

2) good schools - We have one in 3rd and one in 8th. So, grade school through high school needs to be good. (doesn't have to be the BEST in the area, but good quality)

3) good value- While we could spend upwards of $250000, I would be much happier staying under 200,000 for a 3+ bedroom (1500+ sq ft) home

4) bonus if there is a community pool (or maybe a pool at the house, but I know nothing of maintenance) Uprooting the kids and would love for this to get a bigger buy in from them on the process.

5) close to necessities - currently living in a town/city of 35,000. Literally 4hrs to drive to anything larger. We have basic chain restaurants and stores, wm/target, etc. But, not exactly exciting shopping and nightlife. So, my standards or needs aren't real high in this category. I would just like to be able to get groceries without spending 30 min in the car to get to the store.
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6) Bonus for mountain view or general "prettiness"

Thank you in advance for any and all suggestions!

[observer53]

Hopefully some of our reliable west side posters who live in the area and have more direct experience will fill you in. I would say you will have a number of choices within 30 minutes. And trust me, no long drive for any necessity you can think of! Good luck!

[Italy04]

We live in Goodyear, about 15 mins from Tolleson. We LOVE it. I am literally 2 minutes from my favorite grocery store (fry's) and there are 3 others within 5 mins. You will have no problem finding a house in your price range. Look at Canyon Trails or Estrella Vista subdivisions for community pools. We have a private pool and love it. You can easily find inexpensive pool maintenance although we learned to do it ourselves. Your basic shopping is very close by. A large mall is about a 30 min drive (Arrowhead or Scottsdale) but how often do you really go there.
I've heard not so great things about Tolleson and south Avondale so I would not choose to live in either place with my family. But with your budget you could easily afford Goodyear or north Avondale and have a very easy commute.
I can't speak of schools as we homeschool.

[Java Jolt]

Don't live in Tolleson, it's old, small and boring but with a higher crime rate and it's not very desirable for families, I call it the armpit of the southwest valley.

Nearby Avondale is better but not most of the southern parts below I-10, northern Avondale is where the safer, newer, family-friendliest neighborhoods are.

Goodyear is even better, lots of safe master-planned communities with HOA fit for families and easy access to basic shopping, Avondale is too.

Under $200,000.00 might be too cheap if you're searching for a neighborhood with safety, good schools, and a pool but you can still find some good values if you do your homework.

[beazfam]

Thank you, all! We should know for sure in the next week or so if we are going to make the move. If so, obviously we will drive around and get a feel for the different areas. I have been looking in Avondale, Litchfield Park, and Goodyear. Really like the look of Estrella Mountain Ranch. I have looked at Verrado, as well. Any other master-planned or just HOA communities that offer a pool for easy access that I should be checking into?

This might warrant another thread, but what about public pools? I know different areas of the country and communities are set up differently. Here we have one local pool that anyone can pay a couple of bucks and go swim. But, I know some areas you basically have to belong to a club to swim. Basically wondering if we don't buy a house with a pool or live somewhere our HOA pays for access how much of a hassle will it to be to take the kids swimming?

[Italy04]

I have driven by the Goodyear public pool and it looks decent. I would look it up for pricing and what not. FYI it is kind of small so not sure how crowded it is in the heat of summer. We also love taking the kids to splash pads and those can be found all around as well as at almost every outdoor mall.

Both Estralla Mountain Ranch and Verrado are very nice. A little pricier though. EMR has Safeway, Verrado has Basha's for grocery stores or else you'll have to travel 15 mins or so to get to different stores. If your kids really like to swim I definitely recommend your own pool though! We literally swim every day from April-September!!!