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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Neighborhood rec's
So DH and I are living with my parents for the time being until we get on our feet from our move from NJ.
We currently live in Maricopa. Yup the town that is 15 miles away from civilization lol
It is a cute town and everyone knows everyone. No doubt a niceplace to raise a family. But I would like to see what else is out there. We are more of an urban couple and like to be close to things.
So...what towns/neighborhoods would you recommed? Good schools, nice areas/parks, etc. TIA, we are totally clueless. 
Re: Neighborhood rec's
We just moved to LaVeen and I ADORE it. I love being at the base of the South Mountain range, and the community is wonderful. Not to sure about schools, but there are community parks everywhere, and being so close to South Mountain we get quite a bit of use out of those parks and hiking paths.
I love Chandler! Don't ask me where because I'm not familiar enough with it. But, I think it's great...there are some spots that have great parks and nice neighborhoods and it has LOTS of shopping and restaurants. That's where we plan to buy a house.
Good luck!!! There's a lot to choose from!
I've always been on the East side. I love Scottsdale and Tempe/Chandler.
Ahwatukee and Gilbert are also really great.
We're trying to buy a house in Peoria though, so it's like a completely different world to us. I hope I like the West side!
I grew up in Laveen, even though i lived in South Phoenix. My grandparents live out there and I went to the schools out there too, so I am good.
I currently live in Awahutkee and it's been ok. Not sure on the school. The traffic and HS drivers also suck, but I think it's where I live. I think more down in the hills is good, but not sure.
Click Me
My In-laws house just got on the market today. It's a 3 bdrm 2.5 bath, two story, nice paint and what not, they did a lot of upgrading and nice neighborhood and near schools, like 5 minutes away from the school, maybe even less then that. Nice backyard too. It's going for about $270,000.
Oh yeah, its in Phoenix or Awhatukee. on Chandler Road and like 40th Street
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If you are concerned about schools, definitely check out greatschools.net. It has all the information by school or zip on ratings, etc. For crime info you can check http://www.azcentral.com/CrimeMaps/?sort=d_date&city=Select+City&zipcode=85339&location=&days=30&category=
Honestly the Phoenix area is soooo huge, you're really going to want to narrow down a city before you try to look at neighborhoods. Look at where you work and what you normally do, and use that for a starting point on what that's near. There are a lot of great areas out here but this city is sooo spread out
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Where abouts in Peoria?
I lived there and thought some areas were way too congested.
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83rd and Olive.
Laveen is going to be the least expensive right now. I've seen a lot of SSs that were in the 100-140 range (new homes).
Chandler and the 'Tuk are going to be a bit pricier right now. You're probably looking at 150-220 for starter homes in those areas.
Of course it all depends on which neighborhoods, what kind of a house, and the sale of the house. If you are doing SS and foreclosures you can probably find great deals, but they can be PITAs.
I live in South Chandler, and absolutely love it. After being in the lower East Valley for about 4 years now, I would probably only live in Chandler or Gilbert. The entire community is great, there's always events going on, we're close enough to the city to go do stuff, but still feel like we live out in the country-- especially with all of the cow farms and fields around, I feel like I'm back in CA.
The two main high schools near us (Basha and Hamilton) are great schools, I don't know much about the lower level schools, but my friends have kids in them, and have no complaints. There's tons of parks and bike trails through out the area, 2 big malls very close by as well as a ton of dining. The traffic isn't that bad, but it also depends a lot on where you work-- I work near Ahwatukee, and DH works in Mesa, and neither of us drive more than 20-30 minutes with traffic.
Homes vary greatly-- I've seen some under 200K, and then there are neighborhoods with million dollar homes and sports celebrities--- Donovan McNabb and Matt Leinert both live within 5 miles of my house. We bought at the height of the market, however we haven't lost that much value in our home, and there is hardly any foreclosures in our neighborhood.
I would first start with where you work and look within a 20 mile radius of there. If those areas are not appealing, then search farther out. IMO, the commute can make a big impact on your quality of life-- I have coworkers that drive an hour to an hour and a half to and from the West valley, and they hate it. Spending 3 hours a day in a car is no fun! GL!
Jaye is right- Laveen is going to be your "cheapest" or most bank for the buck or whatever.
There are a lot of new builds (brand new from the builder, not even Short Sales or Foreclosures- which is what appealed to me) going for $100-$150K.
Oh, your gonna be OK then. I lived off of 83rd and Union Hills and it was a nightmare just to get anywhere.
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P-Meg- are you talking about "Knit Happens!"
I work right next to it, so drive by often and always want to stop in but never do...
Wow thanks so much for all the info.
*Jennifer- Do you have a rec of any of the new builder names in Laveen or a website that is specific to Laveen?
We are still weighing out our options between Maricopa and towns closer to the action. I am an urban, love the action type of person and DH is more of a homebody. We are looking for the least expensive options since we really would like to save and pay off our student loans. So price range is anywhere up to $140 being the top.
Check out www.allphoenixhomesnow.com
It's a great website and I've found some cheap homes that look pretty nice in all areas.
I drove into Laveen once, because I found some houses on that website that looked awesome but I didn't really like the town. It seemed a little rundown. I don't know, maybe I was in a different part of it. I'm sure there are nice parts too.
um in our area there's K-Hov, Maracay, and Elliott, but around here there are more. Oh Centex has a big development near by that I've heard nice things about.
Stacey- there are some older area's, close to Laveen, we live right off 51st ave but 35th ave is kind of the cut off, from that point it's hit or miss between really old house and oddly like million dollar homes lol.
I'm coming in way late, but I definitely agree about Surprise being a great place to live! There are lots of community events, and it has a small town feel too it. The crime is low and the schools are good.
That being said, it is kinda a hike from the highway and due to our jobs, hubby and I will probably end up moving further south eventually and closer to the expressway. We have friends in the east valley so it is literally 1 hour away from us. Previously we have always lived close to the expressway, and now we realize how convenient that was for everything. We will most likely look in the Litchfield Park area when we move. School districts are getting to be very important as we will be TTC in the next year or so.
HTH with your decision.
PS cwill didn't realize you were making the switch the west valley?! YAY for WESTSIDE!
LOL