Gilbert, Arizona

One of the interesting, and we think cool things about Gilbert is its insistence both philosophically and legally that it is a town and NOT a city. It is the most populous town in the entire U.S. of A. Why is this important or a good thing? Because Gilbert, which is technically a suburb of Phoenix, doesn’t want to be seen as a boring appendage of a bigger city, and it isn’t so hungry to be a CITY that it stakes its claim on that status -- quite the opposite. That civic pride in being distinct and intimate feels important in a world of mindlessly growth-oriented suburbs and cities.

Now, just being a town isn’t necessarily something to celebrate. Instead, what seems magical about Gilbert is how it maintains a small community energy but with a growing population. This is done in part through a vibrant series of events, mostly free, that bring everyone together in the town square. This includes a three-day festival called Gilbert Days that celebrates the paving of Gilbert Road through downtown. Gilbert Days festivities include a carnival, a 5k and 1k run, and an appearance of Santa himself. If they do that for the paving of the main street road, imagine what they do the rest of the year!

The tough part about living in Gilbert? Come on, it’s Arizona. You had to know this was coming. If you aren’t up for extreme heat from May through September, when the line crosses 100 degrees many days, then steer clear. That said, we should note that the people who live here are not immune to the heat, they’re just smart about it. Get stuff done in the morning, hide in the air conditioning in the afternoon, and then get out again at night when it cools off a bit.

We highly recommend visiting Gilbert and staying in the community in a VRBO rather than a hotel to get a feel for what it's like to live among the locals. You can receive discounted fares on travel via our partnership with Expedia as well.

We talked earlier about the town-like vibe of Gilbert that manifests in lots of family-friendly communal activities. They certainly contribute to a warm lifestyle for the mostly families that live here.

Gilbert also has lots of parks for your kiddo’s recreation, and it’s a biker’s dream town with a Central Trail System with over 135 miles of hiking and biking trails. It also has a skate park, an observatory, a Trapeze artist training facility, and, for god’s sake, a Wakeboard park. Who knew that was even a thing? It has such an interesting blend of things to do for just a “town” that your lifestyle here is going to include the options of a full-blown city but in the wrapper of a much smaller place.

Gilbert is only 25 or so minutes from Phoenix so plenty of residents commute into the big city -- at least they did pre-pandemic. Those working locally tend to work in either education or healthcare with some tech thrown in for good measure. The school districts are big employers as are local healthcare companies including Banner Health and Dignity Health.

Historically Gilbert has been more of a commuter city for Phoenix workers but the appeal of low housing prices, a great school system and compelling lifestyle are likely to pull in plenty of remote/wfh, pandemic movers.