HOT HOT HOT, long commutes to get anywhere, crime
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6/30/2016
Lived in Mesa, AZ for 18 years, having moved there from Iowa. Lived in the 85210 and 85202 zip codes, near Dobson Ranch area for many years, owned several residential rental properties as well. Worked in Phoenix and I will say commuting anywhere in the Phoenix Metro area is an absolute nightmare, doesn't matter how dark your window tint is, you will roast in your car and it takes over an hour to drive the approximate 20 miles to Phoenix during morning and evening rush hour traffic, so be sure to plan that in to your day. Mesa was OK, it was one of the more affordable suburbs and having no children, I wasn't worried about the school systems. We lived in 2 different planned communities (Rancho Del Mar and Park Place) and neighbors in both areas were OK, not too friendly but not too stand-offish. Not the friendly neighborhoods like I experienced in Iowa. The economy tanked in 2008 and Mesa seemed to be having a rough time recovering from that, grocery stores and shopping centers had boarded up storefronts and our neighbors were reporting a lot of break-ins on the NextDoor app, even though we were in a "nicer" neighborhood. Property taxes were OK, not too expensive but electricity and water are very expensive, car insurance rates were very high and it took forever to drive anywhere because of traffic. Nightlife is lacking, mostly dive bars and pizza restaurants, unless you want to spend a ton of money dining out in Scottsdale. There were some nice bicycle trails along the canals and if you head out east, some beautiful hiking in the Superstition mountains but that's only a winter-activity, too hot to hike in the summer. The dust storms were pretty bad and during the 18 years we were there, it kept getting hotter and hotter and drier and drier, you can see the effects of global warming and urban sprawl in this area. We left and moved to the Nashville area in 2014 and our quality of life is much better here.
Sylvia | Lebanon, TN