East Valley Neighborhoods for NJ Transplants (Phoenix, Mesa: cul-de-sac, middle-class, real estate market)

[SweepTheLeg]

Hi all -

Because of the real estate market, my wife and I have started giving some serious consideration to moving to Phoenix. We've been visiting the Valley for the last five years, and my parents are snowbirding here. (They live in Apache)

She wants to go back to school to become a teacher at ASU, and I can hopefully maintain my job with my company with working out of their office in Tempe.

That being said, what kind of neighborhoods can anyone recommend? I hear Gilbert and Queen Creek being tossed around, but QC is a bit of a hike to Tempe.

We also want to avoid Apache/Gold Canyon - give the parents some "breathing room".

We like the Agritopia area of Gilbert, but the "cow smell" was a bit much. Was this an aberration or is there usually the typical "farm odor" in this area?

The other essential thing that we're looking for is some grass. (No, not the kind that gets you in trouble with Sherriff Joe...)... I know a lot of areas don't have grass as part of their landscaping, but my wife said that having a little grass is a make or break thing for her to move to PHX.

As a little demographic, we're a upper-middle-class income couple with no kids but they are being planned for. So family areas, safe, good schools... gated community is a possibility but not a make or break.

Thanks all!

[exit2lef]

Why not Tempe itself? Southern Tempe has plenty of grassy, family-oriented neighborhoods with good schools. You'd live in an attractive area with less of a commute than you'd find if you moved to communities to the east.

If not there, you might consider the east Phoenix neighborhood Arcadia, which is near Tempe and is one of the most green and irrigated neighborhoods in the Phoenix Metro Area.

[SweepTheLeg]

Originally Posted by silverbear

Why not Tempe itself? Southern Tempe has plenty of grassy, family-oriented neighborhoods with good schools. You'd live in an attractive area with less of a commute than you'd find if you moved to communities to the east.

If not there, you might consider the east Phoenix neighborhood Arcadia, which is near Tempe and is one of the most green and irrigated neighborhoods in the Phoenix Metro Area.

I was under the (possibly wrong?) understanding that Tempe and Mesa had much higher crime issues than the outerlying suburbs.

Temple's also a college town, so there's those issues as well. (I lived in a large college town in NJ and it was far from ideal)

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by SweepTheLeg

I was under the (possibly wrong?) understanding that Tempe and Mesa had much higher crime issues than the outerlying suburbs.

Temple's also a college town, so there's those issues as well. (I lived in a large college town in NJ and it was far from ideal)

Tempe is a college town only north of the 60 Freeway. South of the 60, it's really just another Phoenix suburb, and a pretty nice one. I know many Tempe residents who have no relationship to ASU and just live there because they like the community. As for crime, you'll hear all sorts of alarmism on this board, but I don't think that crime is a huge issue in the residential neighborhoods of southern Tempe or Arcadia on the east side of Phoenix. Yes, you should have a burglar alarm and exercise normal precautions, but there isn't a lot of street crime in either area. Mesa's a little different. The west end of Mesa has some troubled areas; things get better to the east, but that's a longer commute.

[alterego]

South Tempe is very nice, and the prices of homes there reflect that.

[aj661]

South Tempe would be a good choice. In some of the older neighborhoods, you'll have grass in the front and back. I wish I had it in both-trying to keep the weeds out of the rocks out front is much more work than a weekly mowing. There are still some dairy farms in Gilbert but their days are numbered. It might be okay there on the north side by now. When we moved to Gilbert (Lindsay/Elliot) in 1996, we could smell the cows at night. By 1999 when we moved the smell was gone completely. I think it's sad. I remember when Gilbert was a sleepy farming community with less than 25,000 people. Maybe it's a little strange but that was a small part of the charm for me. We lived within walking distance of one of the best parks in the valley, Freestone Park, had tons of shopping nearby, yet still had that "hint" of country in the air at night.

BTW, it's Apache JUNCTION, or AJ or "Malfunction Junction", but not Apache. You wouldn't find much grass there except in the newest of neighborhoods. Considering the price of gas, the daily drive could take your upper middle class status down a notch real fast. Queen Creek would be even worse. Not all of Mesa is a high crime area. We're now in east Mesa and it's as safe as our place in Gilbert was, but we're real close to AJ, so the drive is too far. West Mesa has the real problem areas. Overall, I think I'd look at south Tempe first, Gilbert second and NW Chandler third.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by SweepTheLeg

Hi all -

Because of the real estate market, my wife and I have started giving some serious consideration to moving to Phoenix. We've been visiting the Valley for the last five years, and my parents are snowbirding here. (They live in Apache)

She wants to go back to school to become a teacher at ASU, and I can hopefully maintain my job with my company with working out of their office in Tempe.

That being said, what kind of neighborhoods can anyone recommend? I hear Gilbert and Queen Creek being tossed around, but QC is a bit of a hike to Tempe.

We also want to avoid Apache/Gold Canyon - give the parents some "breathing room".

We like the Agritopia area of Gilbert, but the "cow smell" was a bit much. Was this an aberration or is there usually the typical "farm odor" in this area?

The other essential thing that we're looking for is some grass. (No, not the kind that gets you in trouble with Sherriff Joe...)... I know a lot of areas don't have grass as part of their landscaping, but my wife said that having a little grass is a make or break thing for her to move to PHX.

As a little demographic, we're a upper-middle-class income couple with no kids but they are being planned for. So family areas, safe, good schools... gated community is a possibility but not a make or break.

Thanks all!

I don't smell cow smell in the Agritopia area. I did smell oit when I lived off of Guadalupe and Sossaman.

[SweepTheLeg]

Originally Posted by aj661

BTW, it's Apache JUNCTION, or AJ or "Malfunction Junction", but not Apache.

My apologies. I know it's Apache Junction, but I've heard several locals vocalize it as just "Apache" so I just said it too. Kind of like how people call New Jersey just "Jersey".

Do I get any Arizona cred back if I namecheck Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers?

Thanks for the info so far, from everyone. This is going to be a long process; my company is currently in transition and I'm not sure what the future holds. We'll see.

[jonna30]

Check out the Las Sendas or Red Mountain Ranch communities in Northeast Mesa. Las Sendas is all gated, lots of cul-de-sacs, lots of amenities and a good elementary school within its boarders. Red Mountain Ranch is a little older, but still nice with rolling hills and a country club that is pretty reasonably priced. Both are at the part of the 202 that turns south. It is a 20 minute commute to the ASU area (more in traffic). Of all of the outlying suburban areas I think it is by far the best option as far as a commute goes for the ASU/Airport area.

Las Sendas is alot of transplants from other parts of the country.

Best of luck!

[Captain Bill]

Northeast Mesa, where Las Sendas is located, and east Mesa are good areas.

Gilbert is great, and there is also Chandler and South Tempe.

You'll want to decide just how much of a commute you're willing to take. People who have lived here for many years feel that the commute is horrible. I agree that it is not good, but compared to New York, LA, or San Francisco, it's pretty mild.

But with the cost of gas today, commute distance is a concern.

You'll want to visit some of the communities in each of those cities to get a feel for them before deciding on where to buy. Renting for awhile is always a good choice.