Possible Relocation - Questions

[belgirl]

Originally Posted by countchocula

I don't think it's unrealistic to buy a house in Chandler or Gilbert for $250k...? Or at least close to it. We literally just sold our house in Gilbert (cross streets Gilbert and Baseline) for probably around $269k, but we originally bought it for $242k and it's a really nice house in a nice area. There were other houses for sale in the surrounding neighborhood for $230k and they were 3 bedroom houses. If you want to ensure a nice area and usually decent prices, try sticking to Gilbert. I did love living in Chandler where we did because we were literally right by the mall and all the restaurants, but I think you can get a lot of bang for your buck in Gilbert for sure like others say. Wouldn't recommend Mesa or Tempe, though some Gilbert areas are sort of Gilbert-Mesa and they're not half bad. You'll do fine.

All depends on how many bedrooms, yard and sq. ft.

[ryanfze55]

Originally Posted by belgirl

If commute is not an option, then stick to Gilbert. Great city and more bang for your buck. And 9-5 is NOT ideal for a commute time. 5 pm is the worst time for traveling home. You would need to do 6 am to 3 pm for a decent commute. (Which is what my husband does now) Here is a nice home in Gilbert that is right across from the pool and park:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2...71623561_zpid/

Thanks for the link. Obviously I won't be buying that house, but it's good to see that there are nice places in Gilbert in my price range. And it's even larger than I was intending to buy. For some that may be small, but I try to keep things pretty minimalist. I think I am going to narrow in on Gilbert if I get the job. The commute might suck, but it sounds like a very solid, family friendly community.

[MalteseJane]

In Festival Foothills you can find a nice house for less than 250,000$. As a matter of fact, I just saw one on the market for 204,900$ (1700 sqft). But you would live out in the boonies. There is a nice school tho (Wickenburg school district). Foothills is part of Buckeye. Even in the boonies we have a fire department and a police station.

[wilberry]

the City of Maricopa , AZ . still very affordable homes .

https://www.tripsavvy.com/travel-tim...ricopa-3573649

[rwphx2016]

Hello,

I just moved to Pheonix from San Diego in December and can see Chase Tower from my apartment. LOVE living downtown. My office is in Tempe and my commute (straight shot down Washington St) takes 20 minutes. With your rental budget, you could probably rent a home in one of the historic neighborhoods just north of Downtown Phoenix. FQ Story, Coronado, and Roosevelt are all very nice. Not sure you could get into Willo or Encanto on $1,500/month, but they are also nice.

[wilberry]

Maricopa city is a long commute indeed ....

[Bert_from_back_East]

Coming from St. Louis, you will notice that people in Phoenix, especially in the more upscale suburban areas, are generally more materialistic and pretentious. However, unlike people in, say, Orange County, CA (another place where people have a strong tendency towards materialism and pretension), people in Phoenix are not particularly friendly, approachable or enterprising, which makes them seem like even uglier people, IMO.

Phoenix tends to attract domestic migrants from higher-cost areas of the country such as Chicago, San Diego and Seattle, for example, who are seeking to lead a more materially rich suburban life while still benefiting from excellent access to outdoor recreation and fairly decent weather by national standards. However, it's important to keep in mind that the primary impetus for most Phoenix relocations, regardless of where you hail from, is money or, more specifically, how much money you'll be saving in housing, taxes, etc. To deny that has any impact on the local culture is disingenuous at best.

Additionally, nearly everyone you meet in Phoenix is from someplace else originally, but unlike other generally shallow-rooted areas such as Atlanta, Charlotte or Orange County, CA, for example, people don't tend to remain in Phoenix for more than 3-5 years, on average. Unfortunately, this makes the area very transient, and when you couple transient with shallow-rooted, it fosters a general environment that is not conducive to building meaningful, dependable, long-lasting friendships and, accordingly, a strong social support network. IMO, this is one of the most important considerations for an individual or family who doesn't know a single soul in the metro area.

I lived in Florida for years before I moved to Arizona, and while the Florida cities are very shallow-rooted and transient like Phoenix, there are a couple differences. In the major Florida metro areas (i.e., Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa), you're never all that far from small towns and rural areas wherein most families have resided for generations and are deeply prideful of their hometowns (there is no consortium of small towns in and around Phoenix for glaringly obvious reasons, LOL). Additionally, Florida is home to many, many more people than Arizona (somewhere in the range of 13-15 million more), so although you get lots of people moving in and out of Florida, the probability of at least some friends staying for good is still higher simply from a numbers perspective. Like they always say, if you throw enough mud at the wall, eventually, some of it's gonna stick.

You may be wondering why people are constantly moving in and out of the Valley. Well, there are a host of different reasons, but the ones I hear most frequently are: a general dearth of well-paying corporate career opportunities, poorly funded and low-achieving public school systems, absence of or distance from immediate and/or extended family (i.e., your social support system), extreme summertime heat that lasts for months on end and brown natural scenery coupled with a built environment that is almost exclusively brown in color. Other things like a large gang presence, a high illegal alien population and dangerous pests and critters (e.g., scorpions, snakes, spiders, etc.) are less global issues and can be easily circumvented by where you live and with whom you associate, although you will hear people complain about these issues quite often, too.

If you're searching for a place to live with milder weather that isn't terribly far from decent hiking and outdoor recreation, you might want to investigate Atlanta, Charlotte or Nashville. Relative to Phoenix, those cities have stronger, more diversified economies (except Nashville in this case); friendlier, less transient, more well-adjusted populations; higher-quality public school systems with more local and in-state options for higher education; and, IMO, less polarizing natural environments than Phoenix that will be more consistent with you and your family are already accustomed to. Plus, those cities are a lot closer to your family and long-time friends in St. Louis than Phoenix is, not to mention closer to large lakes and the ocean (you mention that you don't care about ocean access, but going to beach with young children is a much more practical activity than hiking in the wilderness or scaling the side of a mountain). And I do not care what anyone says, 85-90 degrees and humid is empirically less dangerous and more comfortable than 105-115 degrees and bone-dry.

[wase4711]

hey Bert, after reading your post, I am not sure if you like the Phoenix area or hate it...which is it?