arizona: I live in Pennsylvania and can't take another winter. I want out and need to live somewhere where it is warm all year. Arizona seems like a nice place with good schools and great house values, no earthquakes or hurricanes to worry about. Any comments about the area would be appreciated.|||Chandler or Gilbert in the East side of town. Goodyear or Avondale in the West side of town.|||I've heard the Kyrene elementary district is one of the best in the country. If you wanted your children to go there, you'd have to live in Ahwatukee or Tempe. Mesquite is a good high school, but that's in the Gilbert school district.|||Vail is pretty nice and is growing very fast. Its nice houses and upper class compared to in town tucson. Best school district in tucson.|||scotsdale fountain hills paradise valley chandler tempe|||up towards the north west side of Tucson is the small-ish town of Oro Valley. It's filled with middle to upper class families, with grade a schools. absolute perfect place to raise a family. Virtually crime-free, but there are a lot of older folks, so Sunday driving is a mess =). It was named one of Nick Jr.'s top ten playful towns, because of it's schools, safety, and arts and recreation among other things. also, be sure to know that our summers are extremely hot- hotter than you may think. It's common that temperatures reach 120 degrees, sometimes higher. And that can make a car seat burn you up.|||Moon Valley (in Phoenix) has the best school district in the state (Washington School District). Very nice place, low crime, lots of families, huge park in the area, very neighborly (everybody knows everybody), etc. etc.|||Well I live in Scottsdale not the cheapest place to be.... but I like it good schools and neighborhoods. If you decide to move I would recommend using a realtor it saved me so much hassle I told him what I could afford and what I was looking for and he took care of everything. He was so nice and very knowledgeable he has lived in AZ for over 20 years. You should contact him I think his office is up north but I remember him telling me that he had a lot of clients in other areas. Edward Graziano ejgraziano@cox.net buynsellforu.com|||Paradise Valley, Chandler, or Surprise. Laveen, AZ is really developing too. =D Good luck. Houses here are such a good deal, they give out loans so quick and easy! My child goes to Cesar Chavez and it's going good, has a lot of AP classes. However, Surprise is a good quiet, city too.. Many will tell you though that the east side is better, but you should look around first.|||i reccomend the foothills of tucson. actually, all the schools in arizona suck. it got rated 3rd worst in the country for schools, and the highschools here have the lowest SAT scores and in the nation. Private schools are the best, and there are some good ones, but generally all the public ones are horrible. House values here are extremly high. Where you could buy a 3 story home in the midwest, a house of the same price would only get you a one story 3 bedroom home here.|||If you want good schools, do not move to Arizona. It has now been ranked 50th in the nation. There is a teacher shortage out here and many districts hire teachers that have emergency certification just to fill spots. Also legislature out here is trying to pass a bill that will make it even easier to get certified. (Basically all that you would need is a bachelors degree in any field and one education class/no student teaching is required) Az is an age appropriate state, which means students pass each year no matter what. You could miss two years of school and still get put in the "age appropriate" grade.|||There's a lot of nice areas with good schools here. It depends on where you are going to work to. It's a big city, so you don't want long commutes to work. The East Side is a little more expensive, especially around ASU (Tempe) and Scottsdale. Gilbert and Chandler are really family oriented communities. If you want to go farther out from the big city and get more house for your money, head out to Queen Creek or South Chandler. Those areas are still growing, especially with the new freeway out there. If you consider the West Side, you should look into Surprise, Peoria, North Glendale, Goodyear or Litchfield. I live in Peoria, and people move here because of the good schools and safe communities. You still see ladies walking or jogging alone after dark. You don't see that in Central Phoenix. Surprise, AZ is the hot spot for new home buyers.|||It kind of depends on how much you want to spend on a house. Paradise valley and Scottsdale are expensive to live in but their schools are pretty good. Gilbert and Queen Creek are good places also on the east side of town. The crime is usually pretty low there and the housing is still farely cheap. Chandler has been having problems lately with rapists, so look out there. The west valley includes surprise and maybe Peoria probably for the safer/better areas to live. Hopefully this helps, good luck!|||Chandler or Gilbert, Arizona!!! I live in Gilbert and it is a great place to raise a family. The crime rate is incredibly low, plenty of great public schools, lots of convenient shopping, tons of parks, and friendly people! What more could you ask for? =]]