Should I move to Arizona and work out of the company office located in Chandler; what are my options to live in an ideal climate and commute? I would be willing to drive up to 1.5 hours each way.
Mayer or Payson appear to be at that distance and have trees. Im just starting to look into this. I just want to not be in the desert.

Chandler, Gilbert, East Mesa, Queen Creek, Casa Grande, Maricopa are all good locations.

If you want mountains, you want North Scottsdale/Cave Creek.

Driving from the towns you listed will be hit or miss on how long it takes.

Drive an hour and half to work??? How many day!!?? Payson is an hour and half to edge of town. The. Another 45 min or so once you jumpOnto  202 in rush hour

Our GM lives in Showlow and drives down 1-2 times a month.  She mainly comes for medical appointments and schedules a company meeting at the same time.  But it's 3 hour drive.  Christmas party for her is an overnighter.  She actually has a place near our office that she can stay at.

Globe (Top of the World) is 1.5 hours and I think a pretty nice area and gets you out of the desert.  Or less desert I should say.  Its dry, but there are trees and hills.  It's always an easy drive into Chandler unless an accident shuts down the 60.  I live in Chandler and ride out to Globe when I want a get away ride on my motorcycle.

The thing about Chandler, is it is in the very South East side of the Phoenix area.  So while I love Prescott, you have to drive all the way through Phoenix to get to the start of the trip there.

If you don't like the desert, then why move here ?

If you want trees(oak/pine), closest to Chandler that are larger population centers would be Payson(and surrounding), Prescott, Globe/Miami areas.

Would this be a daily drive or only have to come to the office once or twice a week drive?

Have you been here before, im assuming you have?

You may also look at Oracle to the South of Chandler.  It's closer to Tucson (on the other side of Mount Lemmon), but it has trees as well and under 2 hours from Chandler.  

I also want to add some info for Prescott/Mayer as far as driving goes.  It'll take you an exhausting hour just drive through Phoenix from Chandler if there is any traffic.  When I say exhausting, if you get caught in traffic, it can be stop & go for long stretches.  Once you are leaving the Phoenix area via the I-17, it can take you another 2 hours during holiday weekends.  I avoid Prescott on any long holiday weekend because of the traffic.

Payson is better, but there is still a ton of Holiday traffic.  Everyone from Phoenix all try to escape and there is the main route that everyone takes.  There are several elevation climbs, so you get stuck in traffic because of RVs, semi-trunks, etc.

The drive to Globe is extremely easy for much of the drive.  There isn't any big climbs until you get to Superior.  Once past Superior, traffic is mostly thins out, so you can still get through relatively quickly.    

So while the map may make Mayer, Payson, and Globe all look the same distance away.  You should take the routes into consideration.  

My last little bit of info.  I do pool & landscaping in a custom home development call The Pecans in Queen Creek (Ellsworth & Chandler Heights Rd.) which is next to Chandler.  When you are inside gated community, you definitely feel like you aren't in AZ for a little bit.  It's in an old Pecan grove and it is over planted in there as required by the HOA.  It's spendy, I'm just wrapping up a $500K backyard landscape/pool project on a $3mil house.  There is a house with a drive in basement with ceiling to floor windows so the guy can look at his cars.  There is a $250K Ford F350 in the driveway.  The West side (with the older homes) start at $1mil or so.  The lots of the other end are $700K without a house.

Agree. Where I lived back east ( believe me I am very happy in AZ and wouldn’t move back for any reason) if one road was jammed up, there were at least 3 alternate north south or east west roads you could get to. In AZ alternate routes are very limited. For example here in Dewey/ Prescott valley, if you want to get to Prescott, they’re are only 2 ways. If one of them is jammed up it is definitely a headache.

As far as valley traffic a little story. I did some job interviews about 9 years ago in Phoenix metro ( things have only gotten worse since!) I had one that finished up in chandler at 3. My next one was in Scottsdale at 5 - by the map only about 30 miles. I barely got there.

You are out of your mind if you are willing to drive 3-4 hours each day to/from work.  Just idiotic.  Unless you only have to go into the office 2-3 times per month...but I still wouldn't do it.

There are plenty of trees and green spaces in Chandler....we don't live in a barren wasteland.

If there is any type of accident on the I-17, US 60, or I-10, you are not getting to work on time.  Those are the only routes north, south, or east to higher elevations.   And it still gets to be 105 in Globe, Payson, Prescott, etc...it just cools off at night.

You'd be able to find a place real easy in Chandler, and save yourself the absolute shit show our roads are here.

All the places listed out of town, are not realistic options. Like was posted, an accident, even a small one, brings our roads here to an immediate, and long lasting complete stop.

Save your driving time for exploring this amazing sate. There's a lot to see!!

Better to live in the southeast valley in Chandler and drive up to Payson area on the weekends

I live in Chandler and work in Casa Grande.  

I really don't mind the drive.   I also don't mind the desert.  No way I'd want to drive 1.5 hours each way, though.  I'd say if you don't want to live in the desert, this job might not be right for you.

If you are willing to drive in/out of Chandler for a 1/2 hour in traffic, San Tan is the place to be.

If you want a place with trees in town look for a neighborhood with flood irrigation.  You can narrow down the candidates by looking at sat images on Google Maps.  Look for the green neighborhoods.  Usually these also have 1 and sometimes 2 acre lots which is also a plus if you don't mind doing yard work or can hire someone.  The houses tend to be older - 1970's and 80's aren't uncommon but are often block construction (most new construction is stick overlaid with chickenwire and stucco.) Look for a neighborhood that gets SRP irrigation through the canal system.  In many cases the big lot neighborhoods that depended on wells and pumping managed by an irrigation district have had the district go out of business due to high costs and fewer and fewer people taking water because of that.

Other neighborhoods not mentioned:  Awatukee and the south side of South Mountain.   Also the north slope of South Mountain.  Former farm land and barrios, better than it sounds.  With the right lot, good views of Phoenix.

Sample sat image.  Spotting the big lot, likely irrigated neighborhoods is pretty easy.

This.  I live in "Chandler Heights" which is an unincorporated area tucked between Gilbert, Mesa, and Queen Creek.

All the lots are 1 acre, have flood irrigation, and are mostly former citrus orchards.  There are also nice sections of Mesa,  Chandler, and Gilbert with flood irrigation.