Relocating to Gilbert area.. need help (Phoenix, Mesa: crime, houses, neighborhoods)

[Ashlie5]

My husband and I are relocating to the Gilbert area from Illinois. (surprise surprise I know)
My parents currently live there and we are looking to move as close to them as possible. I may look for a part time job after we get settled and my husband is currently a beer delivery driver. We are looking at houses around the 200k-215k range in Gilbert, Chandler and Mesa. We are finding some things, but not that just right house in our budget. I know Gilbert is a little more pricey than other towns and I have heard there is good Mesa and not so good Mesa. Can anyone recommend neighborhoods/areas or other towns we could be looking in? I noticed we could get a lot for our money in San Tan Valley, but I did not read fantastic things about the area. We have a baby so looking for good school districts. It appears that a lot of schools out that way are highly rated. I have also found some nice homes in Queen Creek. MOST of the homes I have found are NOT in Queen Creek school district. I am seeing Queen Creek homes and the school districts are rated at a 2 unless I get that rare find of a home in Queen Creek that is in that district. I noticed the QC school district is 9's and 10's. We have been to Gilbert and I absolutely love their downtown area. We are looking for a sense of community and maybe mid to upper middle class. Due to your HOA's, its hard to tell what a "bad" neighborhood is because for the most part, your yards are well kept.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Looking to move by June this year.
Thank you!
Ashlie

[ajonesaz]

Hopefully a MOD can move this to the Phoenix forum, you might get some better feedback. Thread moved. Mod.

That budget is completely doable in Gilbert. For Mesa, I would recommend staying south of the US60, but housing will be similar in cost to Gilbert. Chandler is good as well, it might be a little pricier, but it is closer to downtown. All three of those areas have great schools.

In my opinion I would steer clear of Queen Creek and STV. When gas goes back up it will cost you a fortune to commute and the commute is awful. But if you must, Queen Creek is better than San Tan Valley, STV has began to earn a white trash reputation.

Find out where your husband will be commuting to work and go from there. I have lived all over the east valley and I can tell you that life is too short to be stuck on a car Monday-Friday.

[Ashlie5]

Originally Posted by ajonesaz

In my opinion I would steer clear of Queen Creek and STV. When gas goes back up it will cost you a fortune to commute and the commute is awful. But if you must, Queen Creek is better than San Tan Valley, STV has began to earn a white trash reputation.

Thank you! That was exactly the type of honesty I was looking for.
We both commute from Chicago to almost Wisconsin so I fully agree with your commute comment

[ScottsdaleMark]

Ashlie5 there are some crime mapping website like RAIDS online which shows every incident over a selected time frame, or other sites that are more general.

Here is one example, I think you can get such a map for any city, just change the name of the city from Mesa to whatever:
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

[smoochaz]

Originally Posted by Ashlie5

My husband and I are relocating to the Gilbert area from Illinois. (surprise surprise I know)
My parents currently live there and we are looking to move as close to them as possible. I may look for a part time job after we get settled and my husband is currently a beer delivery driver. We are looking at houses around the 200k-215k range in Gilbert, Chandler and Mesa. We are finding some things, but not that just right house in our budget. I know Gilbert is a little more pricey than other towns and I have heard there is good Mesa and not so good Mesa. Can anyone recommend neighborhoods/areas or other towns we could be looking in? I noticed we could get a lot for our money in San Tan Valley, but I did not read fantastic things about the area. We have a baby so looking for good school districts. It appears that a lot of schools out that way are highly rated. I have also found some nice homes in Queen Creek. MOST of the homes I have found are NOT in Queen Creek school district. I am seeing Queen Creek homes and the school districts are rated at a 2 unless I get that rare find of a home in Queen Creek that is in that district. I noticed the QC school district is 9's and 10's. We have been to Gilbert and I absolutely love their downtown area. We are looking for a sense of community and maybe mid to upper middle class. Due to your HOA's, its hard to tell what a "bad" neighborhood is because for the most part, your yards are well kept.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Looking to move by June this year.
Thank you!
Ashlie

There are plenty of nice homes in Gilbert for your price point. If you're interested in Mesa I have friends/clients who love the Red Mountain School District.

[AZtoCO1]

Ashlie5, there are definitely areas of Gilbert, Mesa and Chandler that you should consider, all of which have great school districts. And I would agree with ajonesaz; stay away from Queen Creek and San Tan Valley! You will quickly tire of the commute, especially as your husband will spend the majority of his day driving anyway. There are some good schools out there, but a lot more that are not. Personally, we've lived in Gilbert and raised a family there since 1998 and we love it. Like everywhere, there are pros and cons, but for the most part, we really enjoy living in Gilbert.

If you've got specific questions, please feel free to PM me. I'm happy to help. Good luck on your move!

[observer53]

Originally Posted by smoochaz

There are plenty of nice homes in Gilbert for your price point. If you're interested in Mesa I have friends/clients who love the Red Mountain School District.

Just so the OP doesn't get confused. There is no Red Mountain School District. Red Mountain High School (and its feeder schools) are part of the Mesa Public Schools. You may be thinking attendance area, not school district.

[AZJoeD]

Originally Posted by observer53

Just so the OP doesn't get confused. There is no Red Mountain School District. Red Mountain High School (and its feeder schools) are part of the Mesa Public Schools. You may be thinking attendance area, not school district.

This is important for the OP to understand. DO NOT automatically assume that because you live in Gilbert you will be in the Gilbert school district. The same is true for Chandler, Mesa, Queen Creek etc.

OP, if you find a school that interests you (or one you wish to avoid) you need to research the attendance boundaries as they will often cross town boundaries. Even though AZ has "open enrollment" at most schools, there may not be transportation available or the other children in your neighborhood may attend a different school.

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by AZJoeD

This is important for the OP to understand. DO NOT automatically assume that because you live in Gilbert you will be in the Gilbert school district. The same is true for Chandler, Mesa, Queen Creek etc.

OP, if you find a school that interests you (or one you wish to avoid) you need to research the attendance boundaries as they will often cross town boundaries. Even though AZ has "open enrollment" at most schools, there may not be transportation available or the other children in your neighborhood may attend a different school.

In fact, many of the newer areas of Gilbert are either in the Chandler or Higley districts, neither of which have been facing the problems of Gilbert Public Schools.

[ajonesaz]

Higley school district wasn't mentioned before, but it is a great district.