When we moved to Arizona after law school, we knew Tempe would be a great option because it was one of the closest residential cities to downtown Phoenix. We were promised long hours at the law firm and did not want Greg driving any further than necessary to add additional time to his long days.
What we didn't know is how much we would fall in love with Tempe.
The following pictures are from Emma's City of Tempe "movement class", which she affectionately RE-named "dance class". It costs $2 per week. TWO DOLLARS!!!!! I've shown pictures of her incredibly cheap, but amazing art class, so here are some of another class.
I have had her in these classes since she was 1 and I seriously can NOT get over how phenomenal they are. And for the unbelievable cost... just blows my mind. And FYI, non-Tempe residents can register for our classes.
So here is Emma in her class, sprinkled with reasons why we LOVE our community.
Demographics:► Population: 166,000
► Median Age: 28.8
► Median Income: $60,800 (Age 25+)
► Education: 40% Age 25+ With At Least Bachelor’s Degree
Fantastic community events. Our Fourth of July over Tempe Town Lake is a favorite and last weekend we saw "Up" at Kiwanis Park on a big screen for FREE. (btw, different kids movie every Friday evening in October, shows start around 6:30pm, west side of Kiwanis Lake, come!, we'll be there.)
Just built an INCREDIBLE new Arts Center, where they showcase all kinds of great stuff. Also, where I practice and perform with the Tempe Symphony, an obvious favorite opportunity in the community.
Super bike friendly. Bike lanes almost everywhere and then they throw in the newly finished and designed canal path that takes you from (almost) our backyard all the way to Power Road in Mesa.
Arizona State University. Just love the feel of living in a city with a university campus. Lots of really fun opportunities, including close access to all of the ASU performances, games and anything coming to Gammage.
Tempe is land locked. So it is forced to improve the existing city as opposed to just building bigger and better elsewhere.
Very diverse population. LOVE THAT. Really enjoy a variety of friends and neighbors, which I greatly appreciate from growing up in Kentucky. Different races, different religions, different perspectives - it is all very refreshing.
Lots of yummy international food. Ethiopian to English. We have it all and it is super authentic and tasty! 
Love our central location. It takes Greg 20 minutes to drive to work (in no traffic) and we can get to almost any Phoenix community in about the same. Of course there are the exception cities, but we enjoy being accessible to most things fairly easily.
We are so happy with Tempe, Arizona - which is good - because we could be here awhile. What do YOU love about your city? There are so many wonderful places to live!
10 comments:
I love Tempe too. And you're just about ready for the most perfect weather ever. So jealous!
I'm not a resident of Tempe, but Makenzie does go to a dance and an art class provided by Tempe! They have great classes for toddlers.
You are SO GOOD about taking Emma to all these activities! I'm impressed. And after reading this..I might just have to up and move to Tempe. ok, I kid. I would miss my peeps over here too much. BUT, I should look into those art classes, 'cause goodness knows, my kids need some "high falutin learnin" in their lives.
I agree with you about the awesome classes Tempe offers. We just moved to Mesa this summer and their classes are non-existent for the toddler age. We still come to Tempe for classes. I just wish housing was a little cheaper in Tempe or we would still be living there!
My kids used to attend the community classes too - I think I paid about the same all those years ago! Emma is darling - taking those classes very seriously! We love Tempe too and we love that you are here too!
All the things you mentioned about Tempe are what I loved about Iowa City, IA. College town, very educated people, lots of culture and free museums to enjoy with the kids, the most amazing community centers with the most fun kids classes (we did baby bop, music time, discovery classes, cooking classes, sports classes) - all for about $15 for a two month session, so many parks that also did free movies in the park every month of the summer, the most amazing libraries with so many kid story times and art times and really fun playgrounds, amazing apple orchards for apple picking and berry farms for berry picking, and we loved visiting the Amish communities and German communities which were all within 20 min. of our house. It even has Allegiant Airlines which has direct flights right to Mesa.
The biggest downfall - December to March. If you can live with the frigid winters then it is truly one of my favorite places and I would move back in a second (and then complain about the cold all winter long).
I can't believe you would think that telling other people you are going to be at a movie would make them want to go. Were you really trying to get the Friday Night Kiwanis movies to yourself?
Looks like that's the place to be! Although I am a bit partial to Lexington, being that it IS heaven on earth :) We are really enjoying Oklahoma City though right now!
By the way, my very much single cousin is moving to Tempe this week. If you know of any cute church girls, we need to hook him up! He would probably be mad that I'm writing this :)
Wish we were there to play with emma-looks like so muchfun!!! And what a steal of a deal!
What I love about Rosebud...trailer homes and their lack of good stores. Jk. Really I love all the farms And ben's awesome preschool.
Great city but you forgot one thing! Don't go to AM/PM. Didn't Greg tell you of the day I called to say how I hate Tempe (you were at the temple). It sounds like a great city but I swear every gas station I went to didn't accept credit cards. What?!?!
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