About West Valley Handbook
West Valley Handbook is a free community resource from The Sears Group, a real estate team with West USA Realty. It puts six everyday tools for West Valley neighbors in one easy place.
From your neighbors at The Sears Group
Why we made this
As a real estate team with West USA Realty, we get asked the same questions over and over: where's the closest cooling center, what day is trash pickup, which trails are good for kids, where can the dog run. The answers are spread across dozens of city, county and state websites.
So we put them in one free place for everyone in the West Valley, whether you're buying, renting or have lived here for years. Official sources only, no sign-up and no sales pitch. If something's out of date, email media@searsgroupaz.com and we'll fix it.
Where the information comes from
| Tool | Records | Official source |
|---|---|---|
| Beat the heat | 36 | Maricopa Association of Governments, Heat Relief Network |
| Summer meals | 204 | USDA Food and Nutrition Service, Summer Meals Site Finder (Summer 2026); Arizona Dept. of Education |
| Trails | 69 | Maricopa County Parks & Recreation trail GIS; City of Buckeye (Skyline) GIS; City of Glendale (Thunderbird) |
| Libraries | 22 | Maricopa County Library District and city library websites |
| Dog parks & splash pads | 61 | City park pages and community (HOA) sites, via westvalleyparks.com |
| New-resident guide | 12 | City, county, state (MVD) and utility websites |
All data was checked on October 25, 2026. Seasonal programs show their season and dates. Always confirm with the official source before you go.
What's not included (yet)
- Beat the heat: Phone numbers from the source data are not shown (contact policy). Sites outside the West Valley area are excluded.
- New-resident guide: Trash pickup days vary by street, so we link each city's official lookup tool instead of listing days.
- Trails & hikes: City neighborhood trail systems (e.g., Goodyear, Surprise and Peoria multi-use paths) are not included: no official trail-by-trail data was found. Spur, connector and very short segments (<0.3 mi) are left out. Thunderbird lengths come from Glendale's trail table and are not drawn on the map.
- Libraries & free programs: Hours are linked, not copied, because they change often.
- Free summer meals for kids: Site contact names and phone numbers are not shown. Phoenix sites are included only for Laveen (85339).
- Dog parks & splash pads: Tolleson and Litchfield Park have no city dog park or splash pad listed on their official parks pages.
Privacy
No cookies, accounts, ads or analytics. "Near me" uses your location only in your browser to sort results; it is never sent to us.
Contact
Email media@searsgroupaz.com.