Relocating to Phoenix area...any suggestions?

Hey all. In a couple months I will be moving to the Phoenix, AZ area for work (in Chandler, AZ). I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions of good regions to live in (safe places that are not boring). I've never been to AZ so I've been basically going off of Google, and it seems that Tempe and Gilbert (highly ranked as one of America's safest cities) are good choices.

Thoughts?

Scottsdale

Don't garden naked. There are lots of scorpions there

Tempe is small -- pretty much just the university.  Northwest Mesa is a nice area, and wouldn't be too bad of a commute down to Chandler.  Scottsdale is for the rich, and would be a terrible commute through the worst of the traffic.  There is a lot of expansion happening on the south side of town these days, which may be the best thing in your case.  The region from about Power Road headed east to Apache Junction is new development.  I don't remember exactly where Gilbert is.  Avoid the old parts of town (pretty much everything west of Tempe to downtown, and south to South Mountain).  The Phoenix area is really spread out, and cross-town commuting is made harder by Indian reservation land snaking through the middle.  You want to try to find something that isn't going to create a long cross-town commute.

15 hours ago, cbae wrote

Scottsdale

I heard Scottsdale has a higher cost of living (though it has a nice night life scene)

3 hours ago, ryanb wrote

 Northwest Mesa is a nice area, and wouldn't be too bad of a commute down to Chandler. 

I actually hadn't considered Mesa yet. Thanks for the tips! You wouldn't suggest Tempe then? I was looking into further south, far from ASU.

 

3 hours ago, Minh wrote

Don't garden naked. There are lots of scorpions there

Damn scorpions.

Tempe is OK.  It's just that there probably isn't much available there because it is really a small area surrounding the campus.  Not sure, but I would think the prices would be higher there too.  There are a lot of good stores and food places there.

Mesa is huge, and pretty well covers the full spectrum. 

There should be a lot to pick from on the south side of town (south of 60).  I haven't spent a lot of time down there, but it is the growth area.

 

P.S.  Cats are really good for tracking those tiny beige scorpions on the carpet!  Remember to check your shoes in the morning before putting them on.

 

16 hours ago, ryanb wrote

snip* 

P.S.  Cats are really good for tracking those tiny beige scorpions on the carpet!  Remember to check your shoes in the morning before putting them on.

 

And a life lesson passed on ... don't put clorox in the boot or shoe to get an uncooperative critter out (apparently glue and threads don't like it).