My boss knows I'm not happy living in the super rainy, super liberal state that is Washington. About a month ago, he informed me that our company had an opening coming up in Casa Grande. The idea was pretty appealing at the time but I knew my wife would not be on board with the move. Mainly because she would have to be away from our grandson. But in light of our new,up and coming,heinous gun regulations, I'm ready to revisit the idea. So I'm looking for any info I can get on the area. Things like crime, cost of living, what to do for fun, will the heat kill me? Stuff like that. Any help would be much appreciated!

Casa Grande.  How do you feel about meth and dust storms?

Compared to heroin and monsoons we have here? Boy, that's a tough call. But seriously, that's what i was afraid of. Thank's for the heads up.

Depending on where your job would be in CG, you could probably live in Chandler (which is pretty darn nice) and commute (probably 35 - 45 minutes each way depending on traffic).

Yeah... Casa Grande is a shithole.
The ‘main’ street is bright and clean, just don’t stray more than a few blocks after dark.
As a previous member suggested, Chandler or Queen Creek are both at the extreme southern end of metro Phoenix and a commute to CG wouldn’t be bad at all

As others have said I would live in chandler and drive there. Chandler isn’t bad. My ex was from casa grande and wanted to move back there for some reason. That’s why she’s an ex

Live in the south east valley and commute to CG. It’s not that big of a deal.

There are plenty of nice places to live near CG,  freeway will get you to work in no time.

Last July I went there to purchase a travel trailer and a couple weeks later found out that my credit card had been skimmed. It was either at the hotel where we stayed or the gas station where I filled up. I know that can happen about anywhere these days, but I kinda felt like I needed a hepatitis shot after getting outa that shit hole.

If it means not living in WA, Casa Grande wouldn't be a bad trade at all.

Like others have said, commute from Chandler, Chandler Heights, Queen Creek, or San Tan Valley. Plenty of outdoor activities to keep one occupied.

It's supposedly growing, but is still substantially white trash.

I live 5 miles east of town on farmland, so my point of view may be different, but its not that bad.  Its a smallish town, so plan on going up to Phoenix often for anything not extremely common, but you have decent grocery stores and home improvement stores here.

I commute to the north side of Phx M-F (67 miles each way), so the drive isn't that bad, and just getting to Phx from CG is about 30min.

Nice free gun range on the southside of CG, and AZ weather is pretty nice once you decide that the summer heat isn't gonna kill you. (Hint, we stay indoors with the AC)

I know there are sections of CG that (like any time) are crap, but you can also find some decent places if you look.

Hit me up if you have direct questions.

You could also live in Marana and drive north. There are some nice areas, but they're small.

not sure its worth the effort given Arizona will probably be as liberal as Washington state by 2030...

I have worked in CG for almost 25 years.  I live in Chandler.  The commute is not bad at all - about 40 minutes each way for me.  Casa Grande is an odd place; it is a relatively small town with relatively big city problems.  It is geographically crazy - literally all over the map.  Development happens here there and everywhere.  One place opens and one place closes.  New business are announced and then they just sort of go away without ever getting going.  People complain about not having restaurants and stores and when they open up the people complain that they are too expensive or that they are not well run.  There are, however, some damn fine people who live there and so it has plenty of redeeming qualities too.

Like what?

http://communitycrimemap.com/   scroll into Casa grande area. Not much activity for the first 10 days of the new year.

CG is experiencing the arrival of the seasonal visitor right now aka "snow birds."

Like others have mentioned, there are good places and not so good areas to live in. Same with everywhere else.

Current gas prices for RegUNL are $2.5+ to $2.70 according to gasbuddy app. The closer the station is to the interstate, prices go ^^ .

https://youtu.be/byc9Fs5HBdQ.

Like I wrote - there are many good people who live in and around Casa Grande.

I guess I don't see having some good people living there as a notable redeeming quality for a city.  Everywhere I've ever lived had some awesome people there, except maybe NJ.

Right on.  Don't move there.  Easy peasy.

I lived there for a year about 20 years ago.  It has grown substantially since.  There are some newer, nicer areas on the north side.  South towards Eloy and Arizona City, nope.  I know a lot of officers at the PD, it is a good place to live and work.  it is historically a farm community, Cotton, Dairy, and other farming stuff now.  It is a small town trying to become the city.  The biggest issue is the Gila River Indian Reservation that separates Casa Grande from Maricopa county.   You will always have the separation of the two communities, and there is a lot of poverty on the reservation.

Lots of snowbirds.   Expect the Interstate from CG to Phoenix to grow to 3 lanes either way (six lanes, and maybe an HOV) in the next 5 years, which will lower the commute times either way.   And like many have said before, Marana and Chandler are closer communities, and growing bigger every day.

As someone who's lived in CG since '07, I can't help but wonder which company you work for that's here in town. There are certainly more job opportunities here than in, say, Maricopa or Coolidge, but still far less options than either Phoenix or Tucson. I know there are a few new companies coming to town, but typically the job offerings locally are repeats of the same old places.

IMO, the best thing Casa Grande has going for it is the ability to work in either the Phoenix or Tucson job markets, but with the benefit of historically cheaper housing than either. As of writing this (JAN-2019), you can get a solid house (3/2/2CG) in a safe, quiet neighborhood in Casa Grande for under $180k. If you don't mind having a carport instead of a garage, that could drop to sub-$160k. Most homes in that price range closer to Phoenix will likely be in a worse neighborhood, an older build, have less features, or all of the above. Within the past few years, house flippers have rehabbed many of the older homes vacated during the recession, so inventory is steady. On top of that, new construction has resumed if you're open to the mid-$170k+ market. There are subdivisions with new homes going up both on the north side of town, as well as the east and southeast. Plus, you're far more likely to find a house down here (new subdivisions aside) that isn't in an HOA when compared to the Phoenix area. Water bills in the $20-30 range (compare to $90+ in the city of Maricopa). Sewer and trash under $60. Electricity is on par with the Phoenix market, usually $50-80 in the winter, anywhere from $150-$400 or more in the summer, depending on the home's size, efficiency, and your self-control over the thermostat. However, if you've got solar, you may average $20-30 per month.

Personally I've worked at two different jobs here in town, wasn't a fan of either. Though it's a city of over 50,000 people, it still seems to have a small-town feel socially. YMMV, but I highly prefer working up in the Phoenix area where people just show up, do their job, and go home.

In terms of food, Phoenix doesn't have a whole lot more selection than here, despite what some may say. Nearly all the fast food chains have a location here. Sit-down restaurant selection is admittedly more limited than Phoenix, but you've still got a fair number of options, most of them being Italian or Mexican oriented. If you like sushi, both Sho-Ga and Lucky's have good offerings, though the atmosphere and selection aren't quite up to the level of places in Chandler, Gilbert, etc. Unfortunately I haven't seen sea urchin on any of the menu's here in town. Between Walmart, two Fry's (you may recognize them as Fred Meyer's up in WA), Safeway, and two Food City's, your grocery needs are more than met.

Shopping can be a different story depending on your preferences, but most bases are covered in town. If your tastes are classier than JC Penney's or Kohl's, you may have to take a drive up to Phoenix Premium Outlets, Chandler Mall, or Scottsdale Fashion Square to buy clothing. The nearest Best Buy is in Ahwatukee if you're into electronics beyond cell phones. Aside from CAL Ranch and Walmart, I know there are two smaller gun shops here in town to get ammo, accessories, etc. Plenty of pawn shops around that have used guns for sale.

When it comes to entertainment, Casa Grande is more suited for the outdoorsy type. The local shooting range is free with no range officers, for better or worse. For what it's worth, I've never run into any unsavory types while I was there, but I don't go all too often. On the northeast side of town there's Signal Peak to hike. South of town Casa Grande Mountain has quite a few hiking trails, and you're more likely to see wildlife than you would hiking Phoenix's Camelback or Piestewa Peak. People you meet on the trails are far more likely to be friendly and engage in conversation compared to other hikers in Phoenix. Picacho Peak, though a state park and having an entry fee, is just a short drive away, and an awesome hike. If you're into the bar scene, there are plenty of spots to frequent, though I'm not sure I'd recommend any of them. If clubbing is your thing, expect to travel up to the Phoenix area. There's a Harkin's theater in town, but no IMAX. Not really sure what the offerings for live music are, since I've never looked into it, but I'd guess a trip to Phoenix would be in order.

Weather is nearly identical to Phoenix. Temperature difference is minimal and as far as I've seen, typically if we get rain here, the Phoenix area gets it as well, and vice versa. I'm originally from Wisconsin and moved to Arizona for the heat (I still despise the winters here, too cold), so the 110º+ summers may or may not be to your liking.

Gas is slightly cheaper here than Phoenix, which can be huge for you, or of minimal importance, depending on what you drive. No emissions testing in Pinal County AFAIK, so one less hassle to deal with when registering your vehicle(s). For vehicular maintenance, there are a number of shops and dealerships in town, both of the four and two-wheeled variety. Traffic is minimal in town, though can get a bit congested certain times of day during snowbird season. Traffic to and from both Phoenix and Tucson is very rarely an issue. Unless there was a fatality accident, it's typically smooth sailing along the I-10. If you're wanting to hit the beach, San Diego is about 6 hours away on the sparsely populated I-8. Freeway speed limit on both the I-10 and I-8 out here is 75 MPH.

All-in-all, CG isn't nearly as bad as many would claim it to be. In many ways, it's very similar demographic-wise to most other cities surrounding Phoenix, it's just geographically isolated.

I'd live in one of the nice communities in the north Tucson area and commute to CG. Weather is better there than living in metro PHX area.

We lived outside Casa Grande on the northeast side of the town near the main college campus for over 8 years.  We moved there primarily because of the cheap housing where we had a huge home on an acreage for half the price of a similar acreage in the Phoenix area. But we moved last year to get closer into the Phoenix metro area.  The town itself wasn't all that bad but we only went the 7 to 12 miles (depending on which end of town) into Casa Grande for shopping and medical as we're retired.  We never were there all that much and actually used Chandler and Gilbert for more and more of our shopping after Casa Grande started loosing so many stores.

So the big problem I had with Casa Grande is that it just seems to have become stagnant. There's always stores and eateries closing so despite some new store/restaurant opening they never catch up.  I'm sure its hard to keep some businesses going when the snowbirds leave and I think a lot of shoppers dollars go up the road to Chandler since its close. Casa Grande can't seem to grow and just keeps losing stores like Target, Sams Club, Best Buy, Albertsons, etc.

Also, Casa Grande has had all these supposed big projects announced but none ever seem to get off the ground.  There's been a plethora of projects that never seem to gain traction like the Phoenixmart fiasco (that also finally killed off the outlet mall since Phoenixmart got it as a temporary HQ), Attesa Motorsports park, Lucid Motors, Dreamport Village, etc.  Nothing ever seems to materialize.

One last note about the housing is that its harder to sell homes down there if they're not in the cheaper range under $250K range.  When you get into $300K and above it gets really tough to sell in their market.  If you could stay under $200K (and that will buy a lot of house in Casa Grande) it'd be better yet.  It would mean more available buyers who can afford a home.  It took some time to sell our acreage when we moved since the Casa Grande area has even few buyers in the $400K plus range.  So thats something to consider as well.