Get to know Phoenix before you relocate.

The Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas of the country. Whenever I encounter someone that is considering a move to the area they often ask “Where should I live in the Phoenix area”? This is always a difficult question to answer because Phoenix, affectionately known as The Valley of the Sun, is in many ways unlike any other area of the country with regard to employment and housing. The Phoenix MSA (which is officially known as Phoenix/Scottsdale/Mesa) consists not only of Phoenix the largest city but several other large cities like Glendale, Mesa, Peoria, Scottsdale, Tempe and dozens of smaller suburbs that together comprise a massive land area of nearly 10,000 sq. miles. Traveling from one end of the valley to the other can literally be classified as a “trip”. Lengthy commutes become not only a matter of time, but of distance as well. With few public transportation choices, most residents here use their automobiles to commute. When you factor the cost of gas, wear and tear on your car and the wear on your nerves, it can get very expensive, very fast. So living within a reasonable commute is not only important from an economic sense, but from a travel time perspective as well.

When it comes to employment here in the Phoenix area again we break from the tradition found in many other parts of the country. Instead of just one central employment hub as in many older cities, there are several employment hubs throughout the valley. Downtown Phoenix, which has shown encouraging growth in the last few years, of course is one employment hub. Phoenix also boasts of job centers in the North Central corridor, Deer Valley and the west valley areas. While other major employment hubs such as Scottsdale which is home to the likes of GoDaddy, Pay Pal and Vanguard (just to name a few) is another. The east valley cities of Chandler, home to Intel, Broadcom (and other high-tech companies) and Mesa with its fast growing Gateway Regional Airpark are homes to thousands of jobs. Tempe, home to Arizona State University is also home to American Airlines (formerly U.S. Airways), Freescale, Wells Fargo and others.

With all these options available to someone relocating you can see that when relocating to the Phoenix area one must research many factors before deciding on where to live. As is common most people want to live in communities that are clean, convenient, low crime, good schools and a variety of entertainment choices. Fortunately regardless of the area where you will be employed, north, south, east or west, there are housing options that will suit most people’s needs within a reasonable commute, if you know where to look. I always recommend before relocating to the Phoenix area to pay us a visit. Learn more about your employer and place of employment and then find a good Real Estate Agent that knows the local area. Their expertise will be invaluable when it comes to making Phoenix a great place to call home.

Need more information? Visit my website at: Homes in Scottsdale, Cave Creek, Phoenix, Arizona, AZ, Real Estate Joseph Domino where you can find lots of information about the area, search for homes and get all your questions answered.