Potential Move To Phoenix East Versus West Phoenix (Mesa, Glendale: best suburbs, houses)

[OpenRoadSW7]

Evening All, loads of good info on this site, but going to be visiting Phoenix in a few weeks, eyeing up a potential move from Seattle, though I am originally from Europe. Never been to Phoenix before.


Have been looking at areas such as Gilbert/Chandler/Mesa/Goodyear/Glendale/Tempe to name but a few

Tbh I am pretty open to any location. Although a good school district or Private school in the $10k range would be a good pull, as would some nice restaurants/ wine bars etc.. I know Gilbert and Chandler appear to have lots of restaurants.


I have noticed that homes in say Goodyear appear to be cheaper than say a Gilbert or Chandler, any particular reason for that.

What areas would you stay away from?

[KO Stradivarius]

We lived in Goodyear near Pebble Creek and Indian School, which is a pretty nice area except that Luke Air Force Base is just north of there and you do hear the jets quite often. Now we live in central Gilbert and we do enjoy the East Valley more. It is generally better developed, has way more restaurants and of higher quality, really has more of everything in closer proximity, not to mention the airport, Mayo Clinic, nicer malls such as in Scottsdale, etc. And I don't know this for fact but I'd bet that the schools are generally better in the east valley as well, as well as job opportunities. I think all of this is basically why homes are more expensive here.

I've heard good things about parts of the "north valley" but I cannot comment. We haven't been living here in AZ very long, so my viewpoint is limited. This is just my opinion and others will surely give theirs. Of course nowhere is perfect - the cities here are so large that there are usually good and bad areas/schools almost anywhere. The west side has most everything you need but the east side has more and has multiple locations of many things. It also seems easier to navigate with more alternative highways such as 60 and 202 as well as 101. West valley has 101 and the new 303 but it seems like you often end up on I-10 which isn't ideal. But you did not say if you are working/commuting. I would not recommend commuting from one side of the valley to the other if you can avoid it. I'm generalizing so if you can give more details about your situation and lifestyle you will get better input.

[popwar]

avoid almost every part of the west valley inside the 101 besides up north past Bell avenue. Its the most undesirable part of the valley as its trashy and ghetto in alot of pocket. Its cheap there , but thats the reason its cheap. North Peoria north of the 101 is nice and new looking . Goodyear , Litchfield Park are nice. Avoid Tolleson.

The east valley is better all around than the west for a multitude of reasons that Stradivarius already mentioned. Prepare for a culture shock from Seattle.

[grmi66]

This is a big generalization, but the better areas of the West Valley tended to be filled with well off blue collar folks. Knew more than a few people that were actual millionaires in the West Valley because they owned a successful HVAC or plumbing company. At one point the only area outside of Paradise Valley with more millionaires was pockets of the West Valley. When I lived in Phoenix I was friends with many families that fit that bill and they owned trucking companies, HVAC, a high end cabinet company. So they have a ton of money, but spend it a lot of it on toys like boats, big trucks and such. A big cultural night for them is spending big bucks on front row seats to Guns & Roses when they played in Glendale.

[WK91]

The best place on the west side is Verrado.

Goodyear is mostly nice, except some areas around I-10. You can do a lot worse than Goodyear.

If you are definitely going to live on the West side, I’d also look at Litchfield Park too. Also, the part of Surprise, kind of where Peoria and Glendale intersect with it, is a good area. Most of Glendale is an absolute third world barrio, though.

But I wonder about the long term viability of places likes Goodyear and Litchfield Park and Peoria as the bad elements of Phoenix are steadily creeping outward. It might make sense to create some space between you and them, which is why Verrado is good, it has a buffer zone that will take awhile for the urban nonsense to spread to.

On the East side, I prefer Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, and North Scottsdale.

Mesa and Tempe? No way would I live in those places, especially Mesa.

Chandler and Gilbert have some decent areas, but why stay there when the other three I mentioned are better?

Not sure someone from Seattle would like my recommendations, though.

[MikeL78]

Originally Posted by WK91

The best place on the west side is Verrado.

Goodyear is mostly nice, except some areas around I-10. You can do a lot worse than Goodyear.

If you are definitely going to live on the West side, I’d also look at Litchfield Park too. Also, the part of Surprise, kind of where Peoria and Glendale intersect with it, is a good area. Most of Glendale is an absolute third world barrio, though.

But I wonder about the long term viability of places likes Goodyear and Litchfield Park and Peoria as the bad elements of Phoenix are steadily creeping outward. It might make sense to create some space between you and them, which is why Verrado is good, it has a buffer zone that will take awhile for the urban nonsense to spread to.

On the East side, I prefer Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, and North Scottsdale.

Mesa and Tempe? No way would I live in those places, especially Mesa.

Chandler and Gilbert have some decent areas, but why stay there when the other three I mentioned are better?

Not sure someone from Seattle would like my recommendations, though.

I've been wondering what happened to all the arrogant North Scottsdale is the only place to live people. I thought we ditched this thinking around 2010.

To the OP, please do not listen to this person. Many of the dismissed places have diversity in them. Which is probably why they were slandered. Some of the cities dismissed have made national best places to live lists. If you do a Google Search "2021 Best Suburbs to Live in Phoenix" then the first link should be from Niche.com. I would say their ratings are pretty spot on. It is a good mix of East and West Valley.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by MikeL78

I've been wondering what happened to all the arrogant North Scottsdale is the only place to live people. I thought we ditched this thinking around 2010.

To the OP, please do not listen to this person. Many of the dismissed places have diversity in them. Which is probably why they were slandered. Some of the cities dismissed have made national best places to live lists. If you do a Google Search "2021 Best Suburbs to Live in Phoenix" then the first link should be from Niche.com. I would say their ratings are pretty spot on. It is a good mix of East and West Valley.

You hit the nail on the head. The same poster told another not to go in to Avondale unless you're locked and loaded.

[OpenRoadSW7]

Appreciate the replies, having moved to Seattle from Ireland, I found that a culture shock, so will be interested to see what I make of Phoenix when we visit in a couple of weeks. We'll do some driving around and hopefully view a couple of houses to get a feel.

TBH, I know next to nothing about Phoenix, but my in-laws just bought a house in Queen Creek with the intention to move down eventually, for what you can get for your $ despite the market at the moment is pretty amazing, and potentially give us more of a chance to spend time back in Europe.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by OpenRoadSW7

Appreciate the replies, having moved to Seattle from Ireland, I found that a culture shock, so will be interested to see what I make of Phoenix when we visit in a couple of weeks. We'll do some driving around and hopefully view a couple of houses to get a feel.

Seattle & Phoenix are very different kinds of cities. Seattle is more comparable to Portland or San Francisco, and Phoenix is more comparable to Houston or parts of the L.A. metro. Above anything else, you'll probably have more of a climatic shock coming here from Seattle.

Originally Posted by OpenRoadSW7

TBH, I know next to nothing about Phoenix, but my in-laws just bought a house in Queen Creek with the intention to move down eventually, for what you can get for your $ despite the market at the moment is pretty amazing, and potentially give us more of a chance to spend time back in Europe.

Keep in mind that Queen Creek is an exurban area, and doesn't really represent what the majority of the metro area is like.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

The only area I would consider in the West Valley is North Peoria. They mostly dodge Luke’s “sound of freedom”. I learned to hate it so I left. YMMV.
also, North Peoria has rolling hills.