We made a decision!!

Try looking in Gilbert. More costly but worth it. Kyrene school district is one of the bests.

Surprise was just voted one of the safest cities in Arizona. I don't know much about their schools or districts. Although, the development in that area has been massive in the last few years, so chances are you'll find brand new (or brand new with in the past few years) schools. I would take a look at the Arizona Department of Education website, all the schools in Arizona are listed and are graded, from excelling down to under performing, this should give you some insight on the better schools and districts, rather than just taking biased and personal opinions!! Congrats to you and your family!!

Monica, I'd get here sooner rather than later. The housing market here cannot be beat. 1-2 years from now the prices might be 10-15% higher. As far as safe cities and school districts. Gilbert cannot be beat. I've been here 5 1/2 years and can tell you pretty much nothing every happens here. It is one of the safest cities in America for it's size. The city is keeping up with growth and the schools are not too overcrowded.

gilbertmom

I highly recommend North Scottsdale, specifically the area known as Grayhawk. Grayhawk Elementary is one of the best schools in Arizona. You will definitely pay more for a home than you would in Surprise, Gilbert or Chandler, but as with anything, you get what you pay for.

I recognize you from Indy Moms! My family and I are possibly relocating to Tucson. We are waiting for a possible job offer for my husband. Just thought it was funny to see a familiar face. Good luck to you!
Michele

Where is your Mom? The places listed are great, but if she is in West Phoenix, it will take you a while to get there from these locations and from my experience traffic is terrible a good part of the day.

Madison School District is a great one here in North Central Phoenix if you want to be in the middle of it all.

Congrats on your decision! Good luck!

Lovemy4 is a discussion leader for North Central Phoenix, tired mother of 4 great kids and wife to one great husband.

We;ve lived in in Tempe for 10 years a love it - very family friendly, great schools, college town, plenty of cultural opportunities, diverse community, etc.

Susie is a discussion leader in the east valley for arizonamoms.com. She has two sons, ages 7 and 3.

"Grayhawk Elementary is one of the best schools in Arizona". According to who or what?

I love when people give statistics, but not the evidence to support them. Where was this proven or stated? Just curios!

Desert Ridge is a great place to live. It's still growing and not in the center of town,yet close to the fwy. It's really safe and clean. The HOA keeps everything looking nice. Traffic is getting bad for AZ, but it's nothing compared to what you're used to! I'm from SoCal and didn't realize how grey it was over there until I came here. The East Valley (Chandler Gilbert Mesa Tempe) is very crowded and the fwy is a mess, I avoid it like the plague. Litchfield Park is really growing, but it's SO far away for Arizonians. Being from SoCal you're used to the drive, it's about an hour to the east side.

Good luck!

Wow... I guess I should have provided a citation to my prior comment regarding Grayhawk Elementary School. I should have noticed from all of the other comments, which provided sources for their recommendations. ; )

I'd definatley recommend either Desert Ridge (Aviano, Fireside by Del Webb, or a new development under construction right around there by DR Horton) or there is a brand new area N of 19th Ave and the 101-- lots of new shopping/dining/kid friendly places just going in .One thing though, that I would definately advise is finding a good realtor--I had a great one that helped me with our new build purchase (Linda, 480.518.6000), she works for one of the top companies here, knows these areas extremely well, and actually listened to our needs, mainly-- new build, prefer cul-de-sac, and she even found one that is near an elementary that was just under construction at the time of our move. There are lots of realtors here (but previous experience told me many are shady) so I would definately get a good referral.