I'm in Scottsdale on weekends and will be there full-time in the beginning of January. I grew up in LA and my prior golfing career took me all over the country, but Arizona is one of my favorite places. The summer is no joke. Not as bad as Miami, but it is tough. I highly suggest visiting for a week in August, especially if you're not used to serious desert heat. The weather the rest of the year is amazing, but late May to late Sept is no joke.
The East Valley is really growing - I have several friends that have gone out to Mesa. Very affordable housing. Tempe is ok, but as said, it's mostly college kids. Most people are moving out of the city area. Mesa, Scottsdale, even AJ are all booming. Prescott is really a ways out there. Surprise and Chandler are growing too. I like the Chandler area, it's just south of Tempe and a good location.
One of the nicest areas if you ask me is Fountain Hills. It's out towards Scottsdale but a little more northeast. It's just about to start growing. I'm a golfer and my life revolves around golf and Fountain Hills is a dream place for a golfer. They are building a new country club, Fire Rock and have one of the best public courses in the entire state, SunRidge - which has hosted numberous state tourneys. Fountain Hills is just right now starting to get popular, but housing is still far below Scottsdale. It's not that bad of a drive into Phoenix - maybe 45 minutes in the worst traffic. It's at a higher elevation too, which means it's a few degrees cooler - which can make all the difference in the world.
Prescott is tough unless you're going to work in or near Prescott.
Of the ones you've mentioned, Mesa isn't a bad choice. The cost of living is fairly low, you're close to Phoenix and there are a million new homes. The only downside is the schooling system and you need to pick the right neighborhood.
If you're looking at the East Valley, Superstition Mountain area isn't that much further out and is pretty nice. And if you're considering Tempe, you have to be on the south side.
One last suggestion, the commute downtown is brutal, but North Phoenix isn't that bad. There are a lot of great housing deals because so many people are moving to the suburbs and East Valley.
Taxes in all of Arizona are some of the lowest in the nation. State and local income tax are some of the lowest in the country as are property taxes. Car insurance is pretty low too.
The schools are definitely better in the Scottsdale area, but they're not terrible in the rest of the valley. And the job market hasn't been hit anywhere near what other places have in the country. It has definitely slowed in the past several months but it is still growing.
