There are plenty of nice areas within a 20 mile radius from the airport. Housing is seriously down from the peak right now and there are great deals to be had. The house next door to me sold at the peak of the market for $460K. The house across the street from me is currently on the market for $269K. There are some differences, but not almost $200K worth.
Lots here tend to be small. If you like older homes you'll probably end up with a larger lot. We went to a party at a very cool older home in Chandler a few years ago. The bedrooms were much bigger than ours and so was the lot.
Schools vary greatly - both in education and atmosphere. AZ has a charter system (publicly funded private schools), plus you're not tied to schools in your area. Schools actually advertise.
http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/go/AZ
PCA is active with plenty of track and autocross events. Most DEs are at Firebird (just over 10 minutes from my house) and for reference autocross is near the Phoenix Zoo. NASA is also active if you need more track time.