Area's "West" of the Valley/Phoenix..Recomendations to Relocate (Avondale: for sale, real estate)

[jdg1724]

Originally Posted by Western Urbanite

Just wondering--why are you looking at the West Valley in particular?

Not a problem at all, the office where I will be at is that way. 405 N 75th Ave in Phoenix...I have heard the traffic on the main "drag" is rough at rush hour to get to the east valley...we are definitely open for areas

[observer53]

Originally Posted by jdg1724

Not a problem at all, the office where I will be at is that way. 405 N 75th Ave in Phoenix...I have heard the traffic on the main "drag" is rough at rush hour to get to the east valley...we are definitely open for areas

Then you definitely want to stay west. Goodyear, Litchfield being closest.

[jdg1724]

thanks...havent heard good things about goodyear schools...but hoping to get some additional info on them as it looks like a nice area

[Finger Laker]

Goodyear has 3 elementary school districts. Stay north of I-10 and you are in the Litchfield Elementary School District which is well run and has many good schools.

There are also charter options, with Basis and Great Hearts being the most competitive.

There are 2 HS districts, although most are covered by the Aqua Fria district. Millennium is the best thought of, but honestly I'm really not thrilled with the public HS options in the state. Good educations can be had, but with a lot of diligence

[jdg1724]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

Goodyear has 3 elementary school districts. Stay north of I-10 and you are in the Litchfield Elementary School District which is well run and has many good schools.

There are also charter options, with Basis and Great Hearts being the most competitive.

There are 2 HS districts, although most are covered by the Aqua Fria district. Millennium is the best thought of, but honestly I'm really not thrilled with the public HS options in the state. Good educations can be had, but with a lot of diligence

Charter Schools are new to us...not offered in Ohio and very unfamilair with.Goodyear falls w/i thhe Litchfield school district?

[DrDog]

2 Questions

Is the west valley I-10 area hotter than other parts of the valley?

Isn't I-10 the busiest freeway in the valley?

[Finger Laker]

Temps will vary a few degrees, but nothing meaningful over the rest of the metro ..... I-10 sucks

For the OP, I just read your original post. I would seriously look at Litchfield Park in the actual city "within the walls". Really nice community, it would fit your budget, Litchfield Elementary is fantastic. The city parks and recs facility as well as branch library are across the street from the school.

With a student needing an IEP or some extra assistance the academically rigorous charters like Basis may not be a great fit. They really don't have the same level of resources and expertise. If a student isn't keeping up they typically drop. There may be charters that are more specialized that could fit, but I don't know them off hand.

Millennium is a big school that can accommodate a lot of things. Just need to keep the kid focused through the distractions and potentially lower expectations of summer of their peers

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by jdg1724

Great...thanks! how are the schools etc in that area? also areas for a family?

Re: school rankings. Nationally, and of course locally in the West Valley, always follow the money.

It's an easy trail to follow. Here is why:
1. Higher family incomes normally occur in higher parent education levels.
2. Higher income normally equates to double incomes (less single parent families) and/or higher incomes where someone stays at home. In short, people who value two parent families or a stay at home parent, on average, have a family culture with higher expectations.
3. The problem towns and neighborhoods normally correlate to lower income areas. So often times, family cultures aren't as motivated on instill educational values. There are cultural exceptions. But the net-net is distracted students (where the district has to hire new "babysitters" for the students) equals bad test results. The "babysitters" are the school district counselors, police, etc. Therefore when districts spend little on the babysitters, all the students suffer including the motivated families.

I mention this because it's easy to get fooled and assume higher average test scores==better schools. Not true unless your family culture doesn't value education. NORMALLY when districts have enough resources, as long as there are a lot of motivated families (even with a lot of unmotivated parenting in the same area), you are not hindered at all. Where our kids grew up, the test scores I paid close attention to were our own kids and not the distracted families in the area. Our daughter is in dental school here in AZ and our son is at Harvard Medical school. We lived in an "average" MN scoring district where C-D type parents would poo-poo our high school as substandard. Whatever, I don't mind comparing our kids scores with theirs.

But AZ is different. That's because AZ, nationally, it has the 2nd lowest K-12 expenditures. All things being equal (and if I had kids and in AZ K-12, I'd be moving as far away from non-motivated families as possible. Because PHX public schools don't hire many babysitters and therefore those unmotivated, coaster family cultures, will be more integrated in every AZ classroom slowing down the class. A lot of words to say, if you have the resources, pick the better boundaries in Goodyear and LP. Bonus: much shorter commutes to spend time with your family.

Originally Posted by jdg1724

Any specific neighboorhoods? sorry for all the questions

My research is now 4 years old. Also, as an empty nester, I didn't focused on schools. But look at areas north of the 10. All of the Palm Valley neighborhoods are nice. One thing to note: When we recently toured Luke AFB (home of the F-35 fighters), we learned that they are getting a lot more planes. Keep that in mind. There is no doubt that I hear more planes now. To judge this, don't listen near the last 1/2 of the month but rather the beginning of the month. That's because of budgets, they often times start running out of money by month's end and the total flights in a day drops a lot. Source: ex-base commander who is a friend.

I was very impressed by this area Homepage. I'm 100% sure anybody would be. But it's farther out (far south) in Goodyear. That's a compromise but certainly close enough for work. You dodge the planes. You are in the foothills (beautiful). It's away from crime. BUT, you don't have a lot of restaurants in comparison and are a little disconnected. I hear the schools have good ratings (they shed the demotivated families). That area should be on your short list. Add to it and any all of the Palm Valley area. Note: Palm Valley is building new homes close to Luke. OMG does it get loud on take-off! I'm a geek. I measured 115 db while golfing at Falcon Dunes which is adjacent to the new PV builds. No thanks! Keep that in mind.

Last point. Grass in the winter goes dormant. Estrella, like our neighborhood, annually plants ryegrass. So Estrella looks a lot better in the winter than Palm Valley or nearly every other area. Like another person mentioned, drive out to Buckeye and see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ipnxBlUAOE Verrado. We live in the flat version called Marley Park. Same developer. It will be worth the drive to at least look. For me at least, any area I would personally consider has to have a dashing of green parks in the winter. So if in Palm Valley and if "green" is important to you, get a home on a golf course. lol

Good luck.

[jdg1724]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

Re: school rankings. Nationally, and of course locally in the West Valley, always follow the money.

It's an easy trail to follow. Here is why:
1. Higher family incomes normally occurs in higher parent education levels.
2. Higher income normally equates to double incomes (less single parent families) and/or higher incomes where someone stays at home. In short, people who value two parent families or a stay at home parent,on average, have a family culture with higher expectations.
3. Problem towns and neighborhoods normally correlate to lower income areas. So often times, family cultures aren't as motivated on instill educational values. There are cultural exceptions. But the net-net is distracted students (where the district has to hire new "parents" for the students) equals bad test results. The "new parents" a.k.a. school district counselors, police, etc. Therefore when districts spend little on the babysitters called police and counselors, everyone suffers including the motivated families.

I mention this because it's easy to get fooled and assume higher average test scores==better schools. Not true unless your family culture doesn't value education. NORMALLY when districts have enough resources, as long as there are a lot of motivated families (even with a lot of unmotivated parenting in the same area), you are not hindered at all. Where our kids grew up, the test scores I paid close attention to were our own kids and not the distracted families in the area. Our daughter is in dental school here in AZ and our son is at Harvard Medical school. We lived in an "average" MN scoring district where C-D type parents would poo-poo our high school and it drove me nuts.

But AZ is different. That's because AZ, nationally, has the 2nd lowest K-12 expenditures. All things being equal (and if I had kids and specifically lived in AZ, I'd be moving as far away from non-motivated families as possible. Because PHX public schools don't hire many "parents" and those demotivated, coaster family cultures will be more integrated in every AZ classroom. A lot of words to say, if you have the resources, pick the better boundaries in Goodyear and LP. Bonus: much shorter commutes to spend time with your family.



My research was 4 years old and as an empty nester, I wasn't focused on schools. But look at areas north of the 10. All of the Palm Valley neighborhoods are nice. One thing to note: When we toured Luke AFB (home of the F-35 fighters), we learned that they are getting a lot more planes. Keep that in mind. There is no doubt that I hear more planes now. To judge this, don't listen near the last 1/2 of the month but rather the beginning of the month. That's because of budgets, they often times run out of money by months end. Source: ex-base commander who is a friend.

I was very impressed by Homepage. 100% sure anybody would be. But it's farther out (far south) in Goodyear. That's a compromise. Close enough for work. You dodge the planes. You are in the foothills (beautiful). It's away from crime. BUT, you don't have a lot of restaurants in comparison and are a little disconnected. I hear the schools have good ratings (they shed the unmotivated families). That area should be on your short list. Add to it and any all of the Palm Valley area. Note: Palm Valley is building new homes close to Luke. OMG does it get loud on take-off! Keep that in mind.

Thank you so much for the information!!!

[LagunaMom]

Some parts of Avondale, too. For $300k, you could get lakeside at Garden Lakes or Crystal Gardens.