Plans to move to Arizona!

I'm from Indianapolis. My husband and I are considering moving to AZ soon too. He is working with a recruiter. Have you ever heard of Verrado? It is a beautiful community in the West Valley. My mom lives there and said that many people from the Midwest love it there because there is actually grass, trees, etc. Go to www.verrado.com. I am not African American, so I can't speak for that. My mom is single and feels very safe where she lives in Verrado. I have two kids, so I am worred about crime too. I am also a teacher, so diversity is very important to us too, even though we are not African American. The website for Verrado shows a great deal of diversity in the testimonials. It seems pricey though....at least for my family. We will probably lease like my mom does. I am glad that there is someone else from the Midwest thinking about a crazy far move!

While I can not comment on the Verrado community itself, I can tell you that it's very far out from the actual vicinity of Phoenix itself. It's very west of the valley and though it's developing with the recent real estate down fall and foreclosure rate the amount of building is slim to none (due to no one buying) therefore it may be sometime before the area actually explodes in the way of things to do. For example, a lady in my daughter's dance class drives from the Verrado area to bring her daughter to dance class, it's a good 1/2 hour - 45 minute drive. When my daughter took gymnastics there was another mother who did the same thing with her daughter, drove her in from that area. So while I'm not knocking it for being a great community and they definitely use the "hometown" feeling as their selling point which I don't doubt it is, but it's also not very local so to speak.

I'm saying this, because of parents with active aged children you may be doing a lot of driving and if gas prices don't get any better than they are now you could have an additional expense with gas just to be able to get closer in to do things and participate in things.

Just wanted to offer some different information that might not have been considered.

I live in Tempe which is right next to Gilbert and Chandler. There is some crime, after all we live in a huge city. These smaller cities in particular are known for being somewhat safe areas. I would suggest you be vigilent no matter where you live and take everyday precautions to protect your family. I lock my doors and carry mace, especially when hiking or alone with the kids in a park. Maybe I'm over protective, but I'd rather never be a victim!

While I would agree that the african american popluation is going to be quite low compared to what you are used to, you likely will feel well accepted and not out of place. Arizona has a huge hispanic and native american population and the african american population is ever increased dramatically over the last decade.

My children go to a wonderful school in Tempe and every class is quite diverse, their friends include white, black, asian and hispanic.

I'm also sorry to say that there are racists and ignorance in every area of the country, so there are no guarantees that you won't occassionally have issue with this regardless of where you live or your background. Being caucasion/native american and growing up in a primarily black community in baltimore I can certainly understand what discrimination feels like.

Best Wishes and I think you will find it quite comfortable here.

lovetwins2003

thanks for that info. "lovetwins". I know very little about Arizona and it may be a year before we even head out of MI but it's good to start scouting neighborhoods now.

Verrado is nice and going by their webpage, it's just what I'm looking for. (kid friendly community, family based, parks & and rec.)
That's why gilbert was our 1st choice. Because you're not stuck way out from everything like Verrado. And I can still get to the city in <30mins. But of course I still want the safe, close-nit community. Do you think Gilbert offers that? If not...any suggestions?

Mom from Motown