To any body that lives in Arizona, my wife and I are thinkin about movin to Arizona in about 6 to 8 years,( I know thats awhile yet) but its where we would like to end up when were closer to retirement, ( were tired of the cold and snow where were at now) Iam 44 shes 40 we got the financial stuff down and the plans are laid out and we should be debt free and ready to buy a house or some prop ( free and clear) in about a year or so. So my big qeastion is what areas of Arizona should we avoid ??? We went to "Find your space.com" and came up with a couple of places in Arizona that fit what were lookin for, but I have never been there, like "Fountain Hills" or "Bisbee" how about "Scottsdale" or "Tuscon" it could narrow down my search if someone has been there and give me an oppinion, is it a **** hole[:'(] or a good place to live ???? We want to go check these places out and look for ourselves on some trips. THANKS

 

Depends on what you want. Are you more urban, or rural? There are ton's of nice places to live, but the cost of real estate has been going up like crazy. All the Californians have driven the cost of houses up over 300%. It's starting to taper off quite a bit, but it is expected to rebound and go even higher.

 

I've been looking at areas in Phoenix area and although there are lots of nice places in the Phoenix area, Gilbert does it for me. Prices now are in the $250 range, the area is not ghetto like a lot of Mesa is, and most importaintly its a couple exits away from roads that lead up to the mountains where you would most like ride.

Phoenix is a very fast growing city and in 6 to 8 years, a lot will change!

 

any where from now to 2 years is our plan for prop or a house, gota wait for a 12 year old to turn 18 then then we can leave any time, ill put Gilbert on the list, already Google Earthed it Thanks

 

I live in Bisbee and love it. It is about an hour and a half south of Tucson near Tombstone and Sierra Vista. I like it because you get the awesome Arizona weather but since we are at a higher elevation, when the state is hitting 110 degrees or mor we are at about 98 so it is much more comfortable. Bisbee is a very laid back town with a lot of history. It used to be a mining town and has lots of great scenery!! There are a couple of different areas of Bisbee to consider. Old Bisbee is set on the side of a mountain where all the miners lived back in the day. The homes are all set on the sides of a mountain. It is very cool looking and picturesque!! The homes are quite a bit older in that area, it is also the area where all the tourists go. Warren is another section of town where City Hall is located and the High school. Also a nice area with some older homes. I live in the part of Bisbee called San Jose, which is on the west side of town. It is the newest area of Bisbee with some new develpoments getting ready to be built. On this side of town is where the stores and restaurants are. Also the main roads to Sierra Vista and Naco intersect here. Sierra Vista is about 25 minutes away and is the "Big City" for us...lol!! Sierra Vista is a large town with a large retirement poulation and is also home to Fort Huachuca. The home of the Army's Military Intelligence Corps. I was stationed there for three years and fell in love with Southern Arizona so I stayed. Home prices in Sierra Vista are going up in certain areas, around 250,000 to 400,000 for what is considered to be the nice mansions of the area. I know that is cheap compared to other areas, but kind of steep for here. Bisbee is better on home prices, but it depends on where you are looking. The houses here range from $100,000 in Old Bisbee to $300,000 in Warren to $200,000 in San Jose.

I know I just kind of rambled but just wanted to give you and idea of what Bisbee and Southern Arizona have to offer. If you have any questions please feel free to ask!!

Ryan

 

Fountain Hills and Scottsdale are both northeast of Phoenix, and really just a suburb. Both are very pricey when it comes to homes. Bisbee is definitely a rural small town, miles from anywhere. Tucson is about 90 miles southeast of Phoenix and a bit cooler during the summer and the pace of life is fairly slow. I live in East Mesa now, Mesa, Gilbert and Chandler are all suburbs that are just east of Phoenix, and property values are much better than other places in the valley, the west suburbs, Peoria, Glendale, Avondale and such also have some pretty good property values. AZ is nice, a bit hot during the summer, but 65 to 70 degrees at christmas time means its year around riding, weather is the best for riding from mid to late september until the end of may; june july and august are simply hot, but I still ride daily.

 

mesa ghetto????? what????? I know mesa has some older areas, but ghetto, hardly, that would be south phoenix and a substantial portion of west phoenix....and Apache Junction is Arizona's git 'er dun community....I live in East Mesa (Elliot and Ellsworth area) and its more like Scottsdale, with the exception that the same house in mesa cost me about 300k less than scottsdale.....anyway, just wanted to make sure that people didn't get the wrong idea

 

Please don't take offense, but when I was looking at PHX areas with the wife, we noticed the North side of the 60 on Stapley and getting off the main roads and into the neighborhoods you can see a big difference between North and South of hwy 60. I'm not saying all of Mesa is ghetto, but we were having a hard time finding something comfortable in East Mesa. We felt more at home in Gilbert and the areas south of the 60.

 

Ill agree with the mesa is ghetto comment. I mean you can go there and see ALOT of people walking/riding around at like 2am, i think its turning into the slums of scottsdale and chandler. I have lived here for 8 years now mainly central phoenix and now the west valley (avondale area) and i can tell you so much has changed in that time frame. Its hard to say where it is going to be in 6 years but we have the brand new arizona cardniels stadium and phoenix coyotes stadium both on 95th ave and glendale. That area is going to be huge in 6 years. Also buckeye now is a ****hole but there is a huge mall going up out there soon and is supposed to be the fastest growing city in a couple years. Tuscon is dead out there i would avoid that city if i were you. My suggestion would be the west valley like glendale or avondale. Scottsdale and chandler are beautiful places but have way to much traffic and rich snobs for my taste.

 

I think you are refering to the industrial parts of Mesa where many of the "undocumented" types live. Scottsdale has some similar part, but not as much. Chandler as well. Usually, those are the older parts of the city's infrastructure.

I live in Mesa. In 1/4 mile of my house they are selling the lots for $400K. That only gets you the land. The house is extra. In fact, they just started a new subdivision where the prices start at $850K. So don't think that Scottsdale, PV, Chandler, and Gilbert have a lock on the more exclusive areas.