Tell me about Phoenix/Tempe/Chandler/Gilbert (family living)(Moving from Denver) (Mesa: crime)

[Pookey001]

Hello everyone! My husband and I are looking to relocating to Phoenix. We are considering the Mesa/Gilbert/Chandler/Tempe areas. My husband is in the IT field. We are 30 years old and have one son. Denver is crazy expensive and I just can't justify 350,000-400,000 for a townhouse or tiny run-down house. I also don't have an extra 50,000 to put down above the asking price. The housing is much cheaper and I enjoy the not having snow part. What can you tell me about Phoenix? How is family life. People tell me there is cartel, drugs, super-hot, traffic ect. We have all that in Denver, minus the super-hot summers, so I don't see much of a difference in that aspect. How is the tech industry? What do you like or dislike? How is the schooling system? I will be visiting in March, but visiting won't give me details about living there. Thank you very much. I look forward to your insight!

[KurtAZ]

Probably better to put this in the Phoenix forum...you can ask an admin to move it. Also, searching the plethora of "I'm moving to Phoenix" threads should answer most of your questions.

[wase4711]

Originally Posted by KurtAZ

Also, searching the plethora of "I'm moving to Phoenix" threads should answer most of your questions.

there are probably 100 or more of these exact same threads here..

[viridianforest]

Generally, there are plenty of IT jobs around the valley. He should be able to find a job somewhere, although the pay would depend on his experience and such - it might be great pay and it may not be. I haven't been involved in the tech industry in Phoenix so I couldn't tell you from experience how it all is.

You probably won't ever see snow here so you got that right. Although, there isn't a ton of rain here, either. It does get super hot, especially in the summers. I feel they are intolerable, and others don't think it's all that bad - it depends who you ask. You won't know until you've experienced a Phoenix summer yourself and even then it may take you time to get used to it (although I haven't ever really adjusted in the Phoenix area).

Arizona's crime usually ends up in the top 10 out of the states, traffic isn't the worst compared to other places (it's mostly the drivers that have serious road rage issues that make driving not-so-fun).

Arizona doesn't usually rank well with education usually I think due to lack of funds and such. Although, it honestly isn't the best. Other states probably have more schooling opportunities.

Mesa has it's good and bad areas, and overall if you are in an okay area of Mesa it's liveable, but I wouldn't call it a family friendly area. I haven't heard a lot of good things about Mesa's schools. Tempe is kind of the same way.

Gilbert and Chandler are generally considered "family friendly", but I don't find a lot of free things for kids to do there. Most of them cost money, but if you have the money on you then it shouldn't be a problem. Gilbert is generally a big more expensive than Chandler. I have heard a lot of parents say good things about schools in Gilbert.

[Andrew Wilson]

Hey,

First of all you are off to a great start in your search. The cities in the valley that you are looking at are some of the best in the valley.

I would say if you want to be Tempe look at the postal zips 85282,85283 & 85284. 85284 is the nicest, but it can get kinda expensive. Overall Tempe is okay.

Good Mesa zip codes are, much of 85213,85205,85215,85207,85209,85212. Some parts of 85203 are nice and the southern portions (south of the 60) of 85202 and 85210 are also not bad. Mesa tends to have more pockets of really good areas, and then not far away you will sometimes have bad pocket that is like trailer homes or something. Some Mesa neighborhoods are great for families, but like I said it tends to be a bit more pockety if you will. There are some good schools in Mesa both public and charter. But, I would really look into that more, it's not like Mesa is known for great schools or anything.

Chandler overall is nicer and more family friendly than Mesa or Tempe. Housing can also be a bit cheaper and overall much of Chandler is newer than Mesa or Tempe. I would recommend the zip codes of, 85249,85248,85286,85226. 85225 and 85224 are older and tend to have the bad parts of Chandler. However, there is some good neighborhoods in there.

Gilbert I think is by far your best choice. It is known here in Phoenix for being family friendly, having great schools and being low on crime. Just about anywhere in Gilbert is good. I would suggest look at the master planned community of Morrison Ranch. It is really nice there and you have options for new homes coming the middle of this year.

Chandler is probably the most tech city in the valley. It does have the Intel plant. Tempe and Mesa are working to build thier own sort of tech scene. I think you should've fine on finding an IT job. There seems to be a lot available. But I am honestly not 100% sure on that either.

I hope you do decide to move here. It is a great place and I think you will like it!

[goolsbyjazz]

Andrew gave you lots of good info. Having lived in Chandler I would say housing is more expensive in Chandler and Gilbert. Your better schools among those cities would be Chandler then Gilbert. Mesa has good schools as well.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by Pookey001

What can you tell me about Phoenix? How is family life. People tell me there is cartel, drugs, super-hot, traffic ect. We have all that in Denver, minus the super-hot summers, so I don't see much of a difference in that aspect. How is the tech industry? What do you like or dislike? How is the schooling system? I will be visiting in March, but visiting won't give me details about living there. Thank you very much. I look forward to your insight!

Drug cartels are not a problem at all if you don't get yourself involved in the illegal drug trade. They exist everywhere, by the way. Family life depends on what kind of area you're looking for. Some areas are more "family friendly" than others, such as Gilbert, but keep in mind that Gilbert is a vastly residential suburb and it's not exactly inexpensive. Plus, most of the jobs are going to be a fairly long commute. It's always recommended to live within a reasonable commute of where your job is. Traffic can be horrible during rush hour, and it's even more frustrating when you live a considerable distance from work.

You mentioned the super hot summers, and that's definitely a good way to describe it. Many people are fond of saying "but it's a dry heat", which is true to a certain point, but 115 degrees is still excessively hot (and dangerous if you're outside for an extended period) regardless if it's dry or humid. Also keep in mind that on top of the heat, we can get higher humidity during much of July, August, and September because of the summer monsoon, which also produces scattered thunderstorms. Some people find it hard to live here strictly because of how hot the summers can be, but it depends on your tolerance.

[AZSunDevil83]

Originally Posted by Pookey001

Hello everyone! My husband and I are looking to relocating to Phoenix. We are considering the Mesa/Gilbert/Chandler/Tempe areas. My husband is in the IT field. We are 30 years old and have one son. Denver is crazy expensive and I just can't justify 350,000-400,000 for a townhouse or tiny run-down house. I also don't have an extra 50,000 to put down above the asking price. The housing is much cheaper and I enjoy the not having snow part. What can you tell me about Phoenix? How is family life. People tell me there is cartel, drugs, super-hot, traffic ect. We have all that in Denver, minus the super-hot summers, so I don't see much of a difference in that aspect. How is the tech industry? What do you like or dislike? How is the schooling system? I will be visiting in March, but visiting won't give me details about living there. Thank you very much. I look forward to your insight!

IT job growth in the valley has been exciting and has seen 48% increase over 5 past years. I work in InfoSec and this particular area has seen similar growth. The area you are currently looking at (East Valley)is perfect as most tech companies are concentrated around 101/202 interchange in Chandler and going north up the 101. Downtown Phoenix also has some tech companies and North Phoenix (AMEX, USAA). Wells Fargo, AMEX, PayPal, USAA, Chase, GoDaddy, Apple, Amazon, and Intel have a heavy tech presence here.