Name: Gilbert, AZ
Rating: 0.0

( 90 Ratings )

Living in Gilbert, AZ

Ranks better than 89% of areas Follow

Population

248,349

Median Age

34.5 Years

Gilbert Area Facts

Gilbert has a Livability Score of 89_/100, which is considered exceptional
Gilbert crime rates are 54% lower than the Arizona average
Cost of living in Gilbert is 31% higher than the Arizona average

What do the locals think about Gilbert?

66%

Family friendly

23%

Public transit is accessible

33%

Walkable to grocery stores

69%

Yards are well-kept

59%

Lots of parks

34%

Walkable to restaurants

Friendly neighbors

Safe at night

Pet friendly

Streets have sidewalks

48%

A quiet area

57%

Sense of community

Based on 86 votes from AreaVibes users. Take the poll

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Gilbert Reviews

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LOVE IT HERE! 5 rating By Anonymous ( Apr 20, 2020) I moved here to Gilbert 1 1/2 years ago from the East Coast. I mainly wanted to escape the snow and cold for good. I had been researching for years on where I might want to live next to better my life. I had never heard of Gilbert until I actually found it here on Area Vibes. ...Read More It was noted as being the best and safest area in AZ. And since I wanted to be on the West Coast, (but not the craziness and expense of California),,, It seemed to be my best option. I do have the luxury of working from home and can take my job anywhere. So I thought,, "What the hell, I have nothing to lose. If I do not like it I can try somewhere else in a year". So sight unseen I sold my house, packed up my ton of stuff along with my car and moved across the country not knowing a soul. Yes,, it was Ballsy, People back in PA all said I was crazy! They gave me a million reasons why I should not try AZ and to stay in their misery of the cold. Everyone tried to change my mind and stop me. I heard horror stories about the heat,, the snakes, the scorpions, etc. Blah, Blah, Blah. Whatever! lol. SO,,,,,,,,,, Here I am 1 1/2 years later to write this review. So let me say that I "LOVE IT HERE !!!!!" And all the negative Debbie Downers could not have been more wrong. In fact,,, I just built a house here in Gilbert and moved in this past October. Its Gorgeous. And for less money then I could have back east. So needless to say this was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. And to a few of the Negative Debbie Downers who have written some negative reviews here on Area Vibes About Gilbert I would have to challenge them as well. Yes,, its true. We all have and are entitled to our own opinions because we all see and feel things differently. However,,, there are no negatives here when you compare Gilbert to other locations. They write about the cops being strict and hovering around putting people in cuffs ,etc. lol. So not true. They talk about how expensive it is here? Ummmmm NO WAY! For being on the West Coast this is amazingly affordable. Not to mention its GORGEOUS HERE. I am very well traveled and I have to say that Gilbert has to be the most cleanest towns I have seen in a long time. You notice it right away when you drive in here. And last but not least... Gilbert is a diverse melting pot of every walk of life. From what I have seen and read Gilbert is progressing at lightning speed. The restaurants and shopping is awesome. Even since I have arrived here it has grown tremendously. Its very open and free feeling. There is every culture here. I am by the way in my mid 50's and gay. I am very accomplished and stable in my life. And I feel totally at home here in Gilbert. Yes it is more of a small home town feel. And that is exactly what I was after. "A small home town feel on the west coast that is beautiful, clean, peaceful and affordable". I have made some amazing new friends here and am happy with my new life in Gilbert. I took some time to write this review in hopes of possibly helping others with their journey. Life is nothing but chances. But at the end of the day we can all only move forward not backward. Please stay safe and be kind to each other. God Bless! :) Read Less

Good place to live but maybe not for me 3.5 rating By Anonymous ( Sep 30, 2019) Lived here not too long ago in highschool and middle school, still go there to visit family. Obviously living anywhere near phoenix is like living in an oven so there's that. Gilbert is pretty expensive compared to the rest of the surrounding areas, so is it worth it? Not in my o ...Read More pinion but its still a nice place to live. Its incredibly safe and has nice houses and apartments. Theres freestone park where I hung out in highschool and a downtown area with some good restaurants. Not sure if the santan mall is still open (great idea, outdoor mall in Arizona) when I was there most the shops were closed, but it doesn't really matter it's a big city and you're not too far from other cool stores and whatnot. Traffic has gotten terrible, though. I moved around to quite a few schools because (I'm not sure how to put this nicely) a lot of kids came from families with more money than mine and were pretty rude. Also there's quite a lot of mormons and they either made judgemental comments towards me or tried to convert me. But kids are mean right? Yeah, well fast forward now I'm an adult and im sitting outside my parents house in my beat up old car finishing up a phone call... This lady i don't know comes up to my car asking what I'm doing here why am i sitting in my car in this neighborhood. I tell her I'm visiting my family. She says which house. I point to the house im in front of. She says I'm making her nervous and she has young children. I'm a small white female. I don't look stereotypically threatening. Also whenever i go visit I get dirty looks whenever I'm outside smoking a cigarette. I've never had experiences like this in any other place I've lived. However I found it very easy to find a job, there's tons of cool stuff to do. Its safe. I just feel like a lot of other neighborhoods around gilbert are still very safe, nice places to live and cost less. Read Less

Nice but not as advertised 2.5 rating By Anonymous ( Dec 02, 2018) Gilbert is a medium sized city that acts like a small town. There are many new nightlife type attractions that have recently appeared.Police are stationed in the middle of the road across from the taverns and night clubs, plugging license plate numbers in their laptops all evenin ...Read More g on Friday and Saturday. It is a town with many amenities and a 25 mph speed limit in their main business district. It is heavily influence by the local Mormon community. All in all not a terrible place to raise a family if you are white, married, and christian. If you aren't in this category I wouldn't advise it. The Police make a huge amount of traffic stops and place handcuffs on many people every day. The crime statistics do not reflect this at all. In fact for many years there have been strong rumors of Police "chasing people out of town". I can tell you as a white male, I am treated very differently during a traffic stop than my friends who are of Hispanic descent. Keep in mind, Gilbert was home to the "Devil Dogs". This white pride group went underground, but they are still around and are still violent. Read Less

Ward and June Cleaverland 5 rating By areavibes85297 ( Apr 01, 2018) We're a retired couple and we've lived in Gilbert (southwest of Lindsay & Germann, east of the irrigation canal) for 9 years now. Nearby are restaurants, shopping, parks, doctors and hospitals (Mercy Gilbert and Chandler Regional), libraries and a community college which are al ...Read More l very convenient yet not on top of us. Loop 202 is nearby which makes it easy to get to other parts of the Valley and a trip to the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport takes 25 minutes in non-rush hour traffic. Our area is within the Chandler School District as the school boundary borders are slightly different from those of the city. Life here is very nice with wonderful neighbors and plenty of places to walks our 2 small dogs. Neighborhood children call out to us by name to say and wave hello. My wife has a few medical issues and the nearby medical facilities are very much appreciated. Can't speak anything about nightlife as we're rarely out after dark. Read Less

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Nice but not as advertised 2.5 rating By Anonymous ( Dec 02, 2018) Gilbert is a medium sized city that acts like a small town. There are many new nightlife type attractions that have recently appeared.Police are stationed in the middle of the road across from the taverns and night clubs, plugging license plate numbers in their laptops all evenin ...Read More g on Friday and Saturday. It is a town with many amenities and a 25 mph speed limit in their main business district. It is heavily influence by the local Mormon community. All in all not a terrible place to raise a family if you are white, married, and christian. If you aren't in this category I wouldn't advise it. The Police make a huge amount of traffic stops and place handcuffs on many people every day. The crime statistics do not reflect this at all. In fact for many years there have been strong rumors of Police "chasing people out of town". I can tell you as a white male, I am treated very differently during a traffic stop than my friends who are of Hispanic descent. Keep in mind, Gilbert was home to the "Devil Dogs". This white pride group went underground, but they are still around and are still violent. Read Less

Ward and June Cleaverland 5 rating By areavibes85297 ( Apr 01, 2018) We're a retired couple and we've lived in Gilbert (southwest of Lindsay & Germann, east of the irrigation canal) for 9 years now. Nearby are restaurants, shopping, parks, doctors and hospitals (Mercy Gilbert and Chandler Regional), libraries and a community college which are al ...Read More l very convenient yet not on top of us. Loop 202 is nearby which makes it easy to get to other parts of the Valley and a trip to the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport takes 25 minutes in non-rush hour traffic. Our area is within the Chandler School District as the school boundary borders are slightly different from those of the city. Life here is very nice with wonderful neighbors and plenty of places to walks our 2 small dogs. Neighborhood children call out to us by name to say and wave hello. My wife has a few medical issues and the nearby medical facilities are very much appreciated. Can't speak anything about nightlife as we're rarely out after dark. Read Less

Great Quality of Life in Gilbert AZ 4.5 rating By Anonymous ( Jan 13, 2015) I have lived in the city of Gilbert, AZ for over ten years and have enjoyed the excellent quality of life that the city offers. With affordable housing, a safe environment and lots of amenities such as shopping and restaurants, living in this city has been a great experience. In ...Read More the city of Gilbert the main attractions are the parks, restaurants and places to shop. This particular city offers residents to live in a place that has a nice safe community so you can enjoy a variety of activities peacefully on a regular basis. In terms of restaurants, Gilbert offers a wide variety that allows you to choose between a number of options which will allow you to have a fine dining experience. The nightlife of Gilbert is not as abundant as major cities, but for a small city of its kind it offers some restaurants and nightclubs you can go to in order to enjoy yourself late at night. In Gilbert, there are plenty of places to shop so if you are looking to purchase a variety of items, there are countless places you can go to in order to have the best shopping experience.

In my years living in Gilbert there are a number of things that I like about the city very much. These include the restaurants, parks, peaceful neighborhoods, and the quality housing. Living in Gilbert has been a great experience and allows me to have a very comfortable lifestyle. Like any other place, there are some things that I'm not the most fond of. One of the things I don't like is the fact that many places close by 10PM so there isn't much to do late at night. Although the housing and neighborhoods are very peaceful, you can be living far away from important places such as shops and restaurants and therefore you can be at an inconvenience. Therefore, you need to be careful where you choose to live in the city. Anyone who is looking to live in Gilbert will want to keep in mind that there are plenty of amenities, affordable housing and also an environment that is very peaceful and pleasant. You will want to look into renting a house or an apartment so that you can enjoy the many benefits of living in the city. Read Less

Gilbert--super safe and great food 4.5 rating By LivinginAZ1976 ( Aug 30, 2014) I've lived in Gilbert for 6 years and I have to say it's amazingly safe and has some great local restaurants. I work in the heritage district near about 5 of the best restaurants in the city (or town, as they actually call it). The people here are very friendly and welcoming. T ...Read More here's excellent customer service at retail establishments and restaurants. I've been excited to see how Gilbert is being transformed into a hub for great food and entertainment over the last few years. It was pretty sleepy here about 6 years ago. The weather is fantastic year-round if you can escape the 110+ degree days into an air conditioned space. The vast majority of Gilbert is new since it's more than doubled in size over the last 10-12 years. The newness makes it very clean and liveable. There are always street sweepers out and the areas are well manicured.

If I had to pick a CON for Gilbert, it's probably that it doesn't have much of a night life. Most people tend to go to happy hour at one of the restaurants and there are a few wine bars, but not a lot of places to catch some live music or go dancing. There are a lot of places in Scottsdale and Phoenix, so it's not really that far to drive, but it would be nice if Gilbert had a few more options. I guess that's what you give up by having such a quiet and safe city. When I was a single woman, I enjoyed the feeling of safety by living in Gilbert, but there aren't a lot of ways to meet other singles. From my perspective, I definitely recommend Gilbert for couples, families and retirees, but not necessarily for younger single people unless you're going to move into the area near the heritage district.

People do tend to keep to themselves here, at least in my neighborhood. We all drive into our garages, put down the door and stay inside. It's funny because you'll meet a neighbor at a restaurant and hang out there, but never see them in your neighborhood.

Just to give you a bit of background so you can understand my review a bit more, I've lived in Scottsdale and Tempe, AZ, Lubbock, TX and Savannah, GA, so those locations are my comparison to Gilbert. I'm in my late 30s and have been married for four years. Read Less

Gilbert is ghetto-don't be fooled 0.5 rating By JaredB ( Mar 16, 2013) I've lived in the same neighborhood near Val Vista and Guadalupe for almost ten years now. I thought this was a great place to live. Neighbors on both sides of me are retired, there is a Gilbert Police Officer that lives a few doors down and there are more than a few stay-at-ho ...Read More me moms. Our little area is almost a mile from Val Vista or Guadalupe and it's kind of secluded. It's kind of like an enclave, there isn't much traffic and life is pretty quiet.
Or so I thought.

I've never given a second thought to locking my door when I walk the dog or locking my car. That is until Thursday when my camera bag with over $1200 worth of camera equipment was stolen. In broad daylight. Someone walking or driving through the neighborhood like nothing. Trying to open door to see if they're unlocked. And talking whatever they can find. My windows have a pretty dark tint. Someone would have to open my camera bag since it looks like a backpack. I felt devastated and decided to call the Gilbert Police to file a report. I thought that there was maybe something they could do. I am not working right now and really cannot afford to replace $1200 worth of camera equipment.

It was a waste of time to call the police. Not only did the police officer check ME for warrants, he could not explain how criminals could be so bold to come so far into a neighborhood and just wander around. I knew why. BECAUSE THE GILBERT POLICE NEVER PATROL THESE AREAS. BECAUSE THEY NEVER PATROL AND THERE IS NO POLICE PRESENCE, CRIMINALS CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT. SOME OTHER NEIGHBORS HAD BICYCLES STOLEN AS WELL AS AS SOME OTHER CARS THAT WERE BROKEN INTO.

ACCORDING TO THE WORDS OF GILBERT POLICE CHIEF TIM DORN AND I QUOTE "Our patrols are allocated based on data and intelligence, and routinely patrol neighborhoods. Research indicates that directed patrols, coupled with high visibility enforcement, is far more effective than random patrols. Citizens often do not see our patrols, as they are occurring in the middle of the night and when you are not at home".

THEY GILBERT POLICE DEPARTMENT MUST USE INVISIBLE POLICE CARS OR I MUST BE TOTALLY CRAZY AND NOT ABLE TO RECOGNIZE WHAT A POLICE CAR LOOKS LIKE. I HAVE NEVER, NEVER NEVER SEEN A POLICE CAR DRIVE THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE TEN YEARS I'VE LIVED HERE. I USED TO SMOKE IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE AND I'VE BEEN HOME THE LAST THREE MONTHS AS WELL AS A GOOD AMOUNT OF TIME GOING FIVE YEARS BACK. NOPE NEVER SEEN POLICE PATROL OTHER THAN THE TIME THERE WAS A GILBERT POLICE CAR IN FRONT OF THE NEIGHBORS HOUSE WHO IS A POLICE OFFICER. OF COURSE IF SOMEONE STOLE A SIX PACK OF BEER FROM THE CIRCLE K, THEY WOULD PROBABLY SEND IN THE SWAT TIME.

IT IS FRAUDULENT AND A LIE THAT THEY TELL YOU THAT CRIME IS LOW IN GILBERT. PHOENIX AND MESA HAVE SOME OF THE HIGHEST CRIME RATES IN THE COUNTRY OF COURSE IT SPILLS OVER INTO GILBERT. BUT HERE'S WHY GILBERT IS GHETTO AND RIP OFF. THEY CHARGE PROPERTY AND SALES TAXES, USE THE MONEY TO PAY FOR POLICE, BUILD FANCY LOOKING POLICE STATIONS AND CLAIM TO HAVE A LOW CRIME RATE. SURE NO-ON REPORTS IT BECAUSE WHY?? THE POLICE JUST DON'T CARE.

DON'T BE FOOLED GILBERT IS JUST AS GHETTO AS ANY OF CITY IN AMERICA, EVEN WORSE THAN DETROIT. Read Less

Gilbert, AZ - Great Attractions and Lots of Green 4 rating By Anonymous ( Jun 04, 2010) There are many attractions and things to do in Gilbert, but the one that comes to mind first is Freestone Skate Park. I am not an extreme skateboarder, but all forms of skating are allowed there. It is also free and the locals there were all very nice. The rest of Freestone Park ...Read More is filled with picnic areas, playgrounds and a baseball batting cage.

I love that the communities and neighborhoods in Gilbert seem to have lots of trees. It was really hot while I was there so i loved that where ever I went, shade was provided. There were more bike riders than joggers but everyone seemed very friendly and helpful.

I visited a couple of restaurants in the city of Gilbert and found most of the food to be above average but, it didn't wow me. Joe's Real Barbecue had the best food but the restaurant itself was kind of run down. Euro Cafe' had good food and the waitresses were really nice.

The nightlife in Gilbert has excellent music. All the clubs I went to had me dancing all night. The night clubs didn't have much of a variety when it came to the drinks. A bar called Static was where I had the best overall experience.

The only shopping in Gilbert is the SanTan Village Mall. It doesn't have a movie theater but there are great stores, good overall shopping selection and a playground for the kids. Read Less

Gilbert Awards

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Compare Gilbert, AZ Livability

Gilbert, AZ

Gilbert, Arizona, is a suburb of Phoenix that is starting to step out of the shadow of its larger cousin by offering its residents a great living experience. The city is home to over 245,000 residents who are able to enjoy all of the amenities in the Phoenix area with less traffic, crime, and pollution. The city has changed from an agricultural-based economy to one that is reliant on healthcare and tech for the majority of the city's business revenue. Temperatures in the summertime often soar past 100 degrees, although the temperatures drop dramatically once the sun starts to set over the Maricopa Desert.

The city does not have any issues with traffic during most periods of the day except for the occasional rush hour delay when there is an accident on the Interstate. As indicated, it is a quick drive to get to downtown Phoenix from Gilbert. Valley Metro offers regular bus service and express bus service to get riders from a to b in the local area. There are commuter busses that frequently run all the way into the Phoenix Metro Area.

Golfland Sunsplash is one of the best places to spend a warm afternoon in Gilbert thanks to the many waterslides that can be found at the park. Once you are tired of splashing around in the pool, you can head over to check out the mini golf course that is also part of the entertainment complex. Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch is one of the best spots in the city to watch birds in their native habitat, and it is a popular place to film the majestic creatures when they are making their flight south for the winter. San Tan Mountain Regional Park has miles and miles of desert trails that are designed for those who want to get out in nature and experience the area's stark beauty.

Home prices in Gilbert are cheaper than downtown Phoenix, and a homeowner or renter has several nice areas in the city that are highly recommended by Gilbert residents. The Islands, Val Vista Lake, and Seville are all award-winning communities that offer a lot of amenities as part of the HOA dues. Each of these communities also provide good public school options for families who are looking to find good schools for their children.

Dignity Health and Banner Health are two of the city's top employers. As indicated, the healthcare sector plays a very important role in the city's economic development. These good paying jobs have seen a large number of high-end retail stores move into the city as well as a number of trendy restaurants that are proving their staying power.