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Can Someone Give Me A Town Breakdown?
So for the first 6 months I'll be living in the area I'm going to be in an apartment with a friend. But after that I, if I like Phoenix (which I imagine I will) I want to buy a house. I want to start researching some areas so I can visit them and get a feel for them when I'm there on my visit next week.
Anywho, ideally I'd love a small town-feeling place. Horse friendly, a town where you can get some land with your house, maybe someplace that has an annual rodeo (I love rodeos). But still close (30 miles) to a good nightlife and whatnot. Also good schools! I don't have any kids now, but when I do I'd like to already be in a good area for them. And affordable-ish. Someplace where I can get something decent for around $150,000.
Anyone have any suggestions for me?
Re: Can Someone Give Me A Town Breakdown?
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Waaaaaaaaaaaay north Scottsdale is horse territory. My co-worker just bought a house in the zip 85262, there are dozens of wild horses that run through his yard and lay on his patio.
Also try Goldfield, the zip is 85264, this is in the north-east valley, and it is also horse country.
The houses in north Scottsdale are a great buy, b/c its new construction, lots of land, and lots of square footage at foreclosure prices.
Good luck on your search! Have you checked out realtor.com? That is a really great home search website, very user friendly.
Can't wait to meet my baby boy!
You might try looking at Cave Creek/Carefree. I live in the newer subdivision part (which is technically North Phoenix) but the real Cave Creek is cowboy town if I've ever seen one... We go into the downtown area all the time and its serious small-town feel. There is live bull riding every Wednesday and Friday night out behind a local bar. The nightlife isn't terrible and its not that far of a drive from the real nightlife (fancy clubs and bars) of Scottsdale. Its also a bit away from the city so its much quiter and you get the real desert landscape (and all the animals that go with it).
Good luck!!
I agree with this. I am in Surprise and I love it. We have a lot of snowbirds up here too but they are so friendly..
In the end though, you should probably base your decision on if you are going to work outside of the other business you have. Because there are great places all over the valley and then you'd need to think about how much you want to commute...
I also ditto Carefree/Cave Creek. My husband's grandma has lived in Cave Creek since like 1980 (definitely since waaaay before any of the new parts started coming in). Her house is on a large piece of land, and definitely feels out there. There are a lot of older homes out there on lots of land. The new subdivisions have a lot of more suburban type feel to them. But it is SO close to Desert Ridge (shopping and restaurants), and not too far from Scottsdale where there is more nightlife (night clubs).
Her house definitely feels like what you are describing. I will post some pictures so you get an idea. (And please disregard my very short sweater. I was 6 months pregnant, and it had a tendency to keep creeping up on me, and I hadn't bought a lot of maternity clothes yet). The first three were taken in front of the house Christmas time 2008. My husband's grandfather had recently passed away, and they were decorating this old cactus (which they used to do when my husband, his sister, and his cousins were kids) with glass ornament balls that had something inside that reminded them of their grandpa, or that they wanted to give to their grandpa (we had an ultrasound picture of Isabella in ours).
The last two pictures were taken one Easter. It shows the inside of her house to give you an idea. It was built in the late 70's, so you may run into some homes in Cave Creek on bigger areas of land that are older and not updated. But it is a nice home.
Also, if you really like the small town feel, you may want to look into Wickenburg (a little northwest of Phoenix). My husband's dad has a house up there, and they want to retire there. Definitely a small town, horse friendly place. My mom lives in Surprise (far northwestern suburb in the Phoenix area), and it takes us like 20-30 minutes to from her house to get to Ray's dad's house in Wickenburg. Surprise is more of a suburban area though, so to get to more of a nightlife, you would have more of a drive to get to like the Arrowhead/NW Glendale area (still northwest Phoenix area, but further in than Surprise), which has more of a nightlife than Surprise, definitely.
Cave Creek is probably a better match to what you are describing, but I have no idea what home prices are like there. In Wickenburg, they will definitely be cheaper if price is a huge factor.
In the southeast valley, you have Chandler, Gilbert, and Queen Creek. There's the Gilbert Days Rodeo every year in November, and the Gilbert Rodeo Park has things going on year-round. http://www.gilbertdays.com/events/gilbertdays_main.htm
I live in Prescott, which has all of your requirements, except for the 30 miles to nightlife. We have Whiskey Row and are home the The World's Oldest Rodeo though, so that might make up for it!
I would have to second those who said Cave Creek however. We love that part of town!
Thank you guys! Cave Creek/Carefree made it on my list when I Googled Arizona rodeos (yes, I did that). I will definitely have to check that out when I'm there for my visit! Surprise, too!
Can anyone tell me what Fountain Hills is like? I have a friend who lives there who's trying to get me to move into her apartment complex when I first get there.
Tay lives there. She'll tell ya.
But It's super nice there, open, beautiful. I don't know about the land and horses thing though, Tay will.
Yup we live in FH, it is a small town, it backs to Rio Verde and McDowell Mountain Park (which are both horse friendly parts, but not sure on Rodeos). FH is also close to Goldfield, the town I mentioned earlier.
I've lived in FH for ten years. DH and I decided to buy our first house in FH b/c we know and love the schools, we love the monthly fairs and events, and of course the small town feel. Downtown Phoenix is a 35-45 min drive, and Scottsdale and Mesa are only 15-20.
Which complex does your friend live in? Another bonus w/ FH is that all the construction is relatively new, 1970 or later. If you have any questions feel free to ask, I'm happy to help. Are you coming through FH on your visit?
Can't wait to meet my baby boy!
Oh yay! I'm happy to hear this because I'm really leaning towards living here to start. Not sure where I want to buy yet, but I have to rent for at least 6 months before buying (personal rule... that and if two of my friends end up in Tuscon like they're talking about I may decide to follow...).
She lives in the Ridge View Apartments on N. Fountain Hills Blvd. Are you familiar with that at all?
And I think we will be heading through there. We have about 5 hours on Tuesday where another friend is going to be showing me around town so I can become at least a little familiar with the area, though it'll be during the day (between noon and 5).
Those are really nice apartments, very spacious two bedrooms. We looked at renting there right after we got married (during the house hunt). That is a great spot in FH, its very central, you'll be able to walk to the grocery store and town center.
Oh! If you do decide to live here, we totally need to gtg for coffee! FH is a lot of fun, I think you will really love it. All of the parks and shops are fun to visit, everyone is very friendly, and we have fairs and all sorts of holiday events very often.
Your personal rule sounds like a good idea, especially if your friends are planning on moving south.
Well enjoy your visit, and if you have any questions let me know.
Can't wait to meet my baby boy!