Thinking of moving to the Phoenix area - where is a good place to live?

We are currently living in the San Francisco Bay area. We really want to find a nice, safe, family-friendly community with great schools and good people. I'm curious about areas like Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, and other cities in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. I see lots of affordable housing in some of these areas, but would love your thoughts and suggestions on where a good place would be to settle long-term. Also, how many months out of the year would we totally melt from the heat? :-) Any insider information would be great!!