Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We are moving to the Phoenix area in late June, mom, dad, and two teenagers. Our son will attend ASU and our daughter will be a sophomore in high school. Right now we are focusing our home search on Gilbert, because we have heard from multiple sources that it is family friendly and also because it seems we can get the most bang for our buck and still be a reasonable distance from Tempe (husband's commute) and Phoenix (our son-who will be attending ASU's downtown Phoenix campus-and my commute).
Here's the thing though. I am repeatedly hearing two opposing stories about Gilbert. I know that Gilbert has a large Mormon population, which, while we are not Mormon, doesn't bother me in the least. In fact, socially, we live a lot like Mormons anyway, in that we go to church, don't party, etc. One person I know who relocated to Gilbert from Michigan tells me that she has terrific, friendly neighbors, most of whom are Mormons, and that they make great neighbors. OTOH, she said that Mormons don't like their kids associating with non-Mormons once they reach a certain age. I have read on this forum recently that the Mormons in Gilbert are very cohesive and don't like to hang out with non-Mormons. I am very open to having close neighbors, since right now we live on five acres and are somewhat isolated from our neighbors, and I am looking forward to making friends in our new neighborhood, and I am very friendly. I guess what I am asking here is, is there a chance that we will be snubbed if we move into a subdivision in Gilbert and are not Mormon, and, most importantly, will our daughter be snubbed at school, because she is pretty shy anyway and we really want her to make some close friends out there.
I hope you can understand the intent of this thread, that I am not bashing Mormons, and, in fact, have a lot of respect for their social values and strength of faith and family and would have no problem being friends with them. But I also want to live somewhere where the neighbors that we have will be open to our presence and not care what our religious preference is. I hope that makes sense.
You need to be careful when reading these threads. Some of the "locals" who contribute have been in the area a long time and have a wealth of information. But often as is the case here, we don't really get outside of our own neighborhoods and don't realize the scope of change that has come to our city. Examples are posts that knock the westside and label Gilbert as a Mormon town when, in fact, change has swept away both stereotypes.
Gilbert was once as mormon as the temple on a Sunday afternoon. But in the last 20 years or so, Gilbert population exploded growing many-fold. The new people were not the children of Mormons, but outsiders from the midwest, California, everywhere. Mormons no longer dominate the population. They do hold disproportionate sway in the politics and the economy of the city and their influence is certainly noticed. The place is relatively conservative. But your neighbors all being Mormons and your kids being shunned at school? That's just silly and is not going to happen. So if Gilbert sounds right for you, follow the footsteps of the of the 200,000-odd people who have moved there in the past decade with confidence in your decision.
Gilbert was once as mormon as the temple on a Sunday afternoon. But in the last 20 years or so, Gilbert population exploded growing many-fold. The new people were not the children of Mormons, but outsiders from the midwest, California, everywhere. Mormons no longer dominate the population. They do hold disproportionate sway in the politics and the economy of the city and their influence is certainly noticed. The place is relatively conservative. But your neighbors all being Mormons and your kids being shunned at school? That's just silly and is not going to happen. So if Gilbert sounds right for you, follow the footsteps of the of the 200,000-odd people who have moved there in the past decade with confidence in your decision.
I couldn't agree with this more. We live in Goodyear now, but came from the Chandler/Gilbert border. We are Christians. I cannot imagine your kids being shunned at school, etc. I think you'll really enjoy the area!
Thanks to both of you! I was hoping that the things that I was reading here about being shunned were exaggerated and/or just downright false. We are conservative Christians, but we are open to being friends with any and all of our new neighbors and we are hoping that they feel the same way.
I'm biased because I live in Chandler. I often spend a lot of time in Gilbert and it's beautiful. However, whenever people like you ask if they should consider Gilbert, I always ask, why don't you consider Chandler? Chandler is everything Gilbert is except it's more diverse and liberal especially west Chandler which borders Ahwautukee. Chandler High School is one of the best high schools in the state. And if your son is going to attend ASU, East Chandler borders south Tempe and it would be really close to school. Furthermore, you can still access all the amenities in Gilbert by living in Chandler. You can hop on the 202 and still shop at San Tan Village and access their car dealerships for service etc if you need to.
I agree with Ponderosa. People do tend stereotype Gilbert as being only a Mormon town and that's not true. At the same time, there are a lot of Mormons there. I don't think you would have a problem at all especially if you live conservatively and are Christian. Conservative Christians, like Baptists or conservative Methodists, have more in common with Mormons out here near the west coast than the general public especialy in regards to lifestyle and thus living among Mormons would actually be an asset for your family; I don't know your views but it's just something to consider. Mormons consider themselves to be Christians and just another Christian denomination so they wouldn't have any issues with your family and would probably be more welcoming. However, if you were non-religious or non-practicing Christian or some other faith, then you might feel odd living there. I don't feel like Mormons shun people. I think it's the opposite. Non-Mormons don't feel comfortable socializing with them because all their friends are Mormon and their social events revolve around their church. However if you are okay with that, they would certainly invite you to hang out with them without trying to convert you or anything like that.
You have to remember the context and point of view of criticisms against Mormons. Although Arizona is not California, it's still near the west coast and people are generally socially liberal regardless if they vote Republican. In Texas and Oklahoma (where the majority are Baptist), I felt the public didn't make such a big deal about Mormons because their own lives are similarly conservative. But out here, that conservative lifestyle sticks out and people react to it much moreso than they do in the south for example. I think you will really love Gilbert. And the schools and the safe neighborhoods are so strong that it attracts even liberals like myself; I have friends that live out there.
Last edited by azriverfan.; 04-03-2009 at 09:10 AM..
Being (as far as I know) the only person to reply to this thread who A) lives in Gilbert B) has children in public school and C) is not Mormon I can honestly say that in spite of what the person above said, YES, it is possible that you will move to a community that is "more Mormon" than most of Gilbert and be shunned.
Is every Mormon like that? Of course not! Is every neighborhood like that? Of course not! Do they exist? Absolutely! When I moved here, I moved here in part because I was such a fan of the LDS "lifestyle"...like you, I don't party, don't drink (alcohol OR coffee!) and don't gamble or curse or do anything differently than a Mormon, other than, of course, attend the LDS church or pay a tithe! I always defended Mormons when people would bash them and never understood what all the hubbub is about.
I will still defend Mormons in the sense that they live a wholesome lifestyle and are great neighbors in that they keep up their homes and communities and definitely live a low crime-rate type lifestyle. They care about education and safety and community- and those are all great things. I am definitely not going to paint all Mormons with a broad brush or "bash them". However, they are extremely cohesive and I have been shunned (as have my kids) in one community that we lived in when we first moved to Gilbert.
My kids were not invited to a single birthday party or playdate. We were never greeted by any neighbors or welcomed at any "family friendly" social functions hosted by the community. We aren't weird or unlikable people- in fact, in our current neighborhood we have tons of friends and social connections. Our current neighborhood, though, is FAR LESS LDS. All I'm saying really is that you should look for an area with a good mix of LDS and non-LDS. They aren't bad neighbors in most ways, but they aren't going to play with you if they have tons of other Mormons on the block to socialize with, period.
Of course there are exceptions to this rule- anyone who claims that 100% of any type of person is one way or another is ignorant. This has been my experience, though, and I've been here almost two years exactly. I came here with the same mindset as you and if I could choose all over again, I would still pick Gilbert every single time! I would just have been more mindful of the diversity of any given area- I have loved the area of Gilbert I'm in now MUCH more than the other we began in.
When looking for a house, drive through the community. Is there a temple at the entranace and/or exit to the subdivision? This is a good sign that this area is heavily LDS. Again, nothing wrong with that...as long as you aren't expecting to be best buds with the mom next door! I'm not sure about teenagers- where I grew up, the few LDS kids in our school were the biggest partiers around...but that was a far less LDS-heavy area. I imagine there will always still be plenty of non-Mormons around for teens to socialize with (they are much better at making connections without parental involvement at that age!) but I have read stories in the paper about kids feeling judged and shunned by Mormon peers in Gilbert high schools.
That's my experience, anyway. I love Gilbert- I just love it in a different way than I did "on paper" when we first picked this city to move to. I'm not alone in my experience, I have TONS of friends here who shared the same- it's been a learning experience for sure. I am not a huge fan of any religion that encourages people to insulate and isolate rather than reach out and love, but whatever. It's a free country and people should live, worship and believe as they choose
When looking for a house, drive through the community. Is there a temple at the entranace and/or exit to the subdivision? This is a good sign that this area is heavily LDS.
Just to be clear, you really don't mean "temple". . .there's only one of those in Metro Phx, that's in Mesa. What you mean is an LDS church building. They are fairly recognizable, as they all seem to have similar architecture. And, it would be a good sign that the immediate area will have a higher percentage of Mormons.
Being (as far as I know) the only person to reply to this thread who A) lives in Gilbert B) has children in public school and C) is not Mormon I can honestly say that in spite of what the person above said, YES, it is possible that you will move to a community that is "more Mormon" than most of Gilbert and be shunned.
Is every Mormon like that? Of course not! Is every neighborhood like that? Of course not! Do they exist? Absolutely! When I moved here, I moved here in part because I was such a fan of the LDS "lifestyle"...like you, I don't party, don't drink (alcohol OR coffee!) and don't gamble or curse or do anything differently than a Mormon, other than, of course, attend the LDS church or pay a tithe! I always defended Mormons when people would bash them and never understood what all the hubbub is about.
I will still defend Mormons in the sense that they live a wholesome lifestyle and are great neighbors in that they keep up their homes and communities and definitely live a low crime-rate type lifestyle. They care about education and safety and community- and those are all great things. I am definitely not going to paint all Mormons with a broad brush or "bash them". However, they are extremely cohesive and I have been shunned (as have my kids) in one community that we lived in when we first moved to Gilbert.
My kids were not invited to a single birthday party or playdate. We were never greeted by any neighbors or welcomed at any "family friendly" social functions hosted by the community. We aren't weird or unlikable people- in fact, in our current neighborhood we have tons of friends and social connections. Our current neighborhood, though, is FAR LESS LDS. All I'm saying really is that you should look for an area with a good mix of LDS and non-LDS. They aren't bad neighbors in most ways, but they aren't going to play with you if they have tons of other Mormons on the block to socialize with, period.
Of course there are exceptions to this rule- anyone who claims that 100% of any type of person is one way or another is ignorant. This has been my experience, though, and I've been here almost two years exactly. I came here with the same mindset as you and if I could choose all over again, I would still pick Gilbert every single time! I would just have been more mindful of the diversity of any given area- I have loved the area of Gilbert I'm in now MUCH more than the other we began in.
When looking for a house, drive through the community. Is there a temple at the entranace and/or exit to the subdivision? This is a good sign that this area is heavily LDS. Again, nothing wrong with that...as long as you aren't expecting to be best buds with the mom next door! I'm not sure about teenagers- where I grew up, the few LDS kids in our school were the biggest partiers around...but that was a far less LDS-heavy area. I imagine there will always still be plenty of non-Mormons around for teens to socialize with (they are much better at making connections without parental involvement at that age!) but I have read stories in the paper about kids feeling judged and shunned by Mormon peers in Gilbert high schools.
That's my experience, anyway. I love Gilbert- I just love it in a different way than I did "on paper" when we first picked this city to move to. I'm not alone in my experience, I have TONS of friends here who shared the same- it's been a learning experience for sure. I am not a huge fan of any religion that encourages people to insulate and isolate rather than reach out and love, but whatever. It's a free country and people should live, worship and believe as they choose
I stand corrected. Very good and insightful post. Very informative
Just to be clear, you really don't mean "temple". . .there's only one of those in Metro Phx, that's in Mesa. What you mean is an LDS church building. They are fairly recognizable, as they all seem to have similar architecture. And, it would be a good sign that the immediate area will have a higher percentage of Mormons.
Absolutely right, sorry! I never know what to call them so I call them temples- but no, they aren't really temples
I live in Gilbert and I am not mormon. Honestly, there are lots of mormon churches everywhere, but I have never ran into a problem with anyone being 'mormon'. I do not have kids, so I don't know how differently it would be with other children and their parents. I talk to my neighbors quite a bit, and to be honest, I don't know who is mormon and who isn't. To me, they are just people.. it isn't like they are trying to push me to join them or anything!
I really like it in Gilbert. It is a nice place to live and lots of clean parks. I recommend it, don't let a religion scare you away. I mean, you can move to Mesa or Phoenix where their would be more illegals if that is what you want instead..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
