SperlingViews - Surprise, Arizona

Surprise might be a good place to raise a family, but altogether it is not a place you want to live. The school system here is terrible, the crime rate including theft, vandalism, and teen substance abuse is on the rise. The police force out here is lazy, and often pull you over or arrest you for pretty much anything they can. There is nothing to do in this city, you have to drive 15 to 30 minutes outside the city to find anything to do. There are barely any jobs, and if you get a job your lucky to even keep it or get decent hours to live off of. There is no sense of community, as people barely come outside their houses. And last but not less important, the people are more judgemental than friendly and there is a lot of bullying issues throughout grade school and high school.[read more...]

Sunshine and friendly people. That is all you need.[read more...]

I use to work here, Fact is I worked here for 8 years, and what I have seen there would make your hair stand on end. You ask how was I able to stay there that long, well these are hard times and we all need work. But now, I am free, and I was taught never say anything bad about a company you are working for. If you currently are thinking about putting your child in that school, don't, if you currently have your child enrolled in that school, then put them out, and run as fast as you can. The ower of the school, T.C. has grabbed, smacked, and even banged students heads down onto tables, she is only in this business for the money, not for the kids. Her theory is, the teachers and her useless adminatrative staff (except for the one running the front office, she was just hired this year) all work for her, not the kids or the parents. Her and her staff should be working for the teachers, which in turn works for the students. She also has one of her staff members who fordged documents, to get three teachers qualified, and there are a few others who are not qualified...and one who is still in school..and in a none crededed school...mmmmm more to come...[read more...]

The City of Surprise is a wonderful place to raise a family. the area is farely new, grocery and shopping stores are nearby, schools are decent (considering arizona), and the city has many family parks and family activities. However, the commute you have to endure to live their is grueling![read more...]

There is alot to do in Surprise even if you are not retired. Rec center with championship tennis courts and racquetball courts. Small Community Lake with fishing, community playground, library and aquatic center. Spring Training Facility which is used in off season for various activites. Rec center classes from basketball or guitar for kids to yoga for adults. LOVE LIVING HERE!![read more...]

Surprise Az is awonderful place to live comfortable as well as peaceful and affordable.[read more...]

Surprise is a beautiful city. It is lovely to see the sun come up in the mornings over the east valley, causing a golden sky. The back drop of the White Tank mountains create a wonderful view for the peaceful fall sunsets. The fall breezes that we so look forward to all summer are here and we go outside as the sun sinks behind the mountain, meeting again with our neighbors and catching up on everyone's summer vacation activities.[read more...]

I have lived in Surprise Az. for 10 Years now. The Town had a Population of 16,000 back then. Most of those Residents lived in a square mile area and alot of Crime came from that area. Now the City enjoys a population of over 100,000 and the City has turned into Bedroom community U.S.A. Nobody knows Anybody. Everybody Works someplace else. the Design of the City lends itself to Major traffic backups am/pm. There is nothing for the Youth to do here and the Police are very rough with them. So with tempature's well over 110 degrees for four Months,Humidity riviling the east coast For Two of those months and a Police Dept.with a Savage attitude towards our own citizens be them Young or Old. Most People stay indoors most of the Year.Don't get Me wrong We have everything and if We don't, its on its way. We are a big City now.But We still have a Backwards way about doing things. So if You are looking at Surprise Az. as a place to live, Come stay awhile and take a good look around and make up Your on Mind. Also Remember Sheriff Joes here and he is NO Joke.So before You move her and bring Your Children to be raised here You may want to scratch the surface and look AROUND John[read more...]

My husband and I have been here for almost six years now and it has been a good place to raise a family(so far)It has some stuff to do I guess but mainly you spend half of your time driving down Bell rd or Grand ave just to get to the freeway which is a joke anyway.I have to say that the people are all really friendly and everyone seems to always have a positive attitude. For some reason though and it might be because everyone is all coming from somewhere else but there are some HORRIBLE drivers here and their not all old folks from Sun City either.If you have little ones then you will fit right in because everywhere I look there are toddlers and babies and more and more pregnant women. Not too much to do with them except go to the library ( again!) or sign them up for a class through the city, there are some other things opening I hear but who knows.My biggest gripe is the DUST!! It is soooo dirty here! Don't bother to wash your car cause it will be filthy again in an hour.Not to mention the inside of your house.There are no seasons to look foward to except HOT and not so hot and then nice.Hot not so hot and nice, over and over again. It can get sorta cold but not really. You never see fall leaves change color or smell the smells of fall or spring. Nothing like that, the sky is almost always blue which is really nice, and there are some amazing sunsets.Monsoon season will either cool you down or make you more miserible because it is super humid.All in all if you don't mind missing out on seasons or you don't care about looking at trees and other green stuff and you like to golf and love the heat, then Surprise AZ might be your future home. Hopefully it won't be ours for too much longer.[read more...]

We moved here 4 years ago from the Midwest. Our home is well-built, the community is family-oriented with parks, MBL Spring Training stadium, Dream Catchers Park for Developmentally Delayed children. the main park has two 2 dog parks, a fishing pond, play park, tennis courts,etc. There is always something going on. Homes are affordable for the first-time buyer and reasonably priced for the move-up.[read more...]

Surprise is a great place for kids to grow up. There is a lot of things to do from the new tennis rec center, thorugh many activities from Park and rec. The White Tank mountains are only a few miles away if you want to go hiking or camping, pricing on homes are good, the school system is good even though in the past it didn't have a great reputation it has really changed.[read more...]

The city of Surprise, much like many of the continuously developing exurbs on the fringes of the Phoenix metroplex, has a notable amount of open land causing a minor but welcome temperature drop of at least 10 degrees from the official measurements taken at Sky Harbor Intl. Airport. Precious little of this open land remains in an unfettered native state, most acreage being in various stages of development, though there is quite a large percentage of active farmland that has some type of crop most of the year. This provides a noticeable, and pleasant, cooling effect in Autumn and Spring adding to the amount of time you can comfortably spend out of doors enjoying the many activities offered by the area (parks, golf, fishing, etc.) That said, this is still the desert and should not come as any "surprise" that it is hot much of the year and dry all year, save for the brief respite brought by the monsoon storms. However, the same monsoonal changes exacerbate another inescapable fact of valley life: dust. It is persistent and has no "off-season". And, finally, despite the relief to those with ailments otherwise made worse by humidity (e.g. respiratory illnesses, arthritis, and mold allergies) there is a fair amount of allergens throughout the region, many caused by non-native plants plus the aforementioned omnipresent dust.[read more...]

There are obviously many people who have not lived in very many other places that write these negative comments. My job has taken me to seven major cities in my many years, and PHX is by far the best. I've lived in the northeast, midwest and south. Don't tell me that a Buffalo winter, or a humid Atlanta summer are better than the climate here. EVERYTHING is air conditioned here!!! Overall, a good cost of living, a diverse economy, great restaurants, major league sports, and for those that want it cooler, just drive a couple hours to the mountains. I could go on and on...[read more...]

Moved here from Maryland to escape traffic and now I live in a town with no highways and very few traffic lights. They keep building museums, ballparks and tennis facilities, but not roads or infrastructure to get to them. We were better off back east.[read more...]

The Surprise, AZ area is a newer, up and coming part of the Metro Phoenix - Northwest Valley. This area was previously a farming community, but will soon be somewhat comparible to other Metro Phoenix areas: Gilbert, Chandler, ETC. I have lived in Surprise since 1999, and I will say that the population explosion was to be expected. It happened so suddenly! I am happy to report - that although our local Surprise Government could have planned for the future a little better, they seem to now be on track to get the City where it needs to be. In most of Arizona, at the present time, if anyone decides to reside here, he or she will have an opportunity to help shape/decide how this place will end up for future generations. It is still that NEW! As I drive to work every morning, I am reminded of this as I pass field after field of green crops land. The particular crop land parcels I drive passed are supposedly protected from becoming rooftops/businesses. You see, the farm land that is to our South, is the buffer for Luke Air Force Base! If you like "Suburbia" - you will probably like Surprise (and you will have a chance to shape a city). Just remember, from late June to August, it is HOT outside. Just like Colder parts of the country, you may prefer indoor activities when the weather outside is too much for you. Many people can stand to be "too hot" verses "too cold". You have to decide for yourself! I have many friends from all over the country. Why? Is it because I am a frequent traveler? NO. It is because I have met so many people from "Everwhere, USA" that have chosen to move to the Phoenix area. The majority have stayed and like it here. YMMV.[read more...]

My family's quality of life has improved tremendously since we moved to this city.[read more...]

I am moving to your area from Thousand Oaks, CA. I would like to hear about the city demographics etc. I have seen that some people post there is a Meth problem in the Surprise area would anybody like to comment on that. I love Thousand Oaks but as a teacher I can not afford to stay out here. Looking forward to Surprise.[read more...]

My husband and I have lived here for just over six years. It was much quieter then, not nearly as much traffic as it is now. We came from North Phx and bought our 1st home because we could - for under 100K we bought a small, 3/2.5 home. Not bad. Not bad to see that I can get just over double for it now. But with that came huge population growth. It's like a mini melting pot. Everyone here is from everywhere else which doesn't make it bad. Honestly, local Arizonan's have their own "culture." It's hard to meet trust-worthy people, there is major crime for such a small area, meth-addicts all over and they will steal from you blind if they can find away, it's hard to drive because Bell (Hell) Rd makes it difficult to get anywhere, no major freeway access WHATSOEVER. We want to leave but have to wait for the market to pick up again as everything literally took a dive after 12/05. Anyway, people from the midwest and other colder climates seem to like it here, but if you are from the Northwest, California or Florida, you will probably not care much for it. There's no water but an itty-bitty pond they call "Surprise Lake." You think they might come up with something a little better? It's really no surprise at all.[read more...]

it's hot! don't move here unless you like to bake from may-october. the really hot months are june-sept. you can survive better with a pool![read more...]

I have lived here for one year. The biggest problem is lack of infrastructure. No East-West highways at all. The City council seems to be unaware of any problems and they spend a lot of time worrying about opening museums, but not roads to get to them. I would not recommend moving here if you have a choice.[read more...]