Phoenix Nesties
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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.
Moving to the Phoenix area????
We are seriously considering moving to the Phoenix area in the next year and I have been doing alot of research also. We are really interested in Avondale and Gilbert at this point. What are your opinions on these areas?? any other places that we should look at? We have a 4 year old and a newborn and want a safer neighborhood and school system. thanks!!
Re: Moving to the Phoenix area????
Well, first off I'd suggest finding a job. The job market is really hard out here and there aren't a lot of well paying jobs. That said, Avondale and Gilbert are on opposite ends of the valley. Both are VERY different from each other. Avondale is on the west side and Gilbert is on the east side. There are people here on the board who don't like the west side and people who love the west side (like me.... I am in the WAY west up in Surprise).
I don't know a ton about those cities but from what I've seen, Gilbert is very very pretty. We do have some girls on here that live in Gilbert and they can fill you in more. Avondale is nice too. I have a few friends that live there.
As far as the school systems go, make sure you do your research. It's a sad truth, but the school systems here in AZ are kind of in a sad state. We're ranked very low on a national level. I come from the Boston area and the schools here are 2ish years behind what they are there. My oldest is loving it because he is re-learning everything he learned in New England. It kind of drives me nuts. I seriously am going to consider private school or a charter school for my youngest before he even starts...
But like I said... find your jobs first and then look at where to live. You wouldnt want to live on the West side and have to commute all the way to the east side. The traffic isnt bad here but I know some people dont like to sit 30+ minutes in their car. When we lived in Boston we had a 90+ minute commute so my husbands 40 minute drive is amazing for us though others hate it..
Good Luck!!!
I live in Gilbert and love it so far. We've only been there for about a month since we bought our house. We were in Tempe.
If you want great schools then Gilbert is the place to be. Yes, AZ has terrible school systems (i'm from upstate NY) but Gilbert is one of the best.
I loooooooooooooove the East Valley and really don't care for the West Valley, JMO.
I agree that you should probably find a job first as the Valley is so large, you could move here and then get a job that requires a bit of traveling and you do NOT want to be on the highway during rush hour. It makes me CRAZY! I hate it!
good luck! Let us know if you have any other questions!
Well, it's always nice to meet another fellow (zonie) hopefully! Avondale and Gilbert are both very different....
I would recommend Gilbert for a safe and really good school district. I am a teacher...and trying to get a job through Gilbert. However, my sister works in the Gilbert Schools. ( I currently work in Mesa)
I give you a lot of credit for having the courage to move with two young kiddos...If you don't mind me asking, what are your children's names?
I hope this is helpful
Lindsay
Thanks so much for the advice. My 4 year old is Madison and my new little girl is Riley.
thank you all for your input. So far, our biggest factor is that I was really wanting to go to Culinary school in scottsdale but i wasn't sure that we wanted to stay there permanently. My husband does not have any college under his belt but he currently works in the customer service industry. He could really find a job anywhere that involves any sort of customer service.
I have also been looking at houses on realtor.com and so far, I have found a few great houses in both areas. I also think that we might just have to come visit for a week or so just to see what area we like and such.
again, thanks
We live in Gilbert, and LOVE it. There's lots of shopping, and restaurants, parks, etc close by. And it's not a terrible drive to museums, sporting events and concerts. We don't have any kiddos, so I can't speak on the schools, but we really like it out here. I can't speak of Avondale, as I haven't ever been there. I'm sure each have their own positives and negatives, it's just what works best for you & your family.
We love the East Valley, and will stay in this vicinity as long as we're in Phoenix. I have visited parts of the West Valley, and it definitely has nice areas as well. Again, it's all about what you like & what works best for you!
my read shelf:
I live in Gilbert and I LOVE it! I love both Chandler and Gilbert equally! As far as schooling, both Chandler and Gilbert are in the top ten school districts of Az. If you are looking for a uber family oriented area with some of the best schools the state can offer, Chandler/Gilbert is a safe bet ; )
I am hoping to go to SCI. I have looked into it the most.
I just moved from Gilbert further south. We personally did not like Gilbert because we don't have any children and we had issues with noise (children and dogs barking constantly, airplanes overhead and trains all night blowing the horn) in the neighborhood we were in (southeast Gilbert). I said at the time, however, that if I had kids (and we were Mormon) it would be a nice place to live. As I hinted at, the other issue for us was that since we were not Mormon we must have landed on some "not Mormon" list because we had Mormons knocking at our door daily (sometimes more than once a day). I would watch them pull up in cars, get out, come to our house ONLY and then get back in and drive away. It started to feel like we were being targeted for being different. I did not like that feeling one bit. In fact, I hated it. I asked them to stop coming and they did not. Coming from Philadelphia I treasure those that are different from me and let each worship what they choose to worship. I did not get that feeling of freedom in Gilbert.
We moved in under six months. Again, it is all relative and according to what you are looking for. I highly recommend coming out and staying a few days, and checking out the area with a fine tooth comb. Most people LOVE Gilbert from what I read.
I don't unfortunately know anything about Avondale.
Oh, you should also know that Scottsdale and Gilbert are far- and depending on the time of day, that can be a killer commute. Just some food for thought.
Hi and welcome! I have to say if you are looking into culinary school you really should go to SCI. I was a Catering Sales Manager at a very upscale resort when I lived in AZ and we always hired from there, it has a FAR better reputation than the other school in the area. Just my two cents.
If you do go to school there you should look into living in the east valley. Also, there area a ton of resorts in the east valley, your hubby will most likely have an easier time finding a job at a resort on that side of the valley just because there are more. I lived in Tempe and in Scottsdale when I lived in AZ and loved them, I vote East Valley ALL THE WAY!
I agree with Lyndsey on more resorts being on the east side (or central) than on the west side. You won't find any in Gilbert (small hotels and motels, but not resorts). Mostly Scottsdale (north and south), Tempe, and the AZ Biltmore area.
As far as schools go, if you are specifically looking at Gilbert and Avondale exclusively, I would probably go with Gilbert over Avondale for the schools. I'm not personally familiar with them, so I could be wrong, but based on what I've heard from friends' experience, I would personally prefer to send my kids' to Gilbert schools.
I am from the northwest side of town though, and I know of some really great schools and districts on that side of town too (Glendale/Arrowhead area). That is not close to Scottsdale though (although Gilbert is also a bit of a drive to Scottsdale, especially north Scottsdale).