looking at Florence or Coolidge AZ to move to.. (Phoenix: real estate, schools)

[meallday]

My husband and I are a interracial couple. He is from Ireland and I'm a Spanish/Black American. We want to feel comfortable and are kids to feel comfortable and around at least both their ethnic backgrounds. if anyone knows about these cities, I welcome your opinions.

[Steve Pickering]

You will like Florence and Coolidge. Do remember there are two Florences. One is new and next to Coolidge. If prisons, cops and convicts disturb you , stay away from Old Florence. You have INS, State, County, and City lockups there, and the majority of the population is either Cops or Convict Families.

[Elyse Margardino]

Anthem at Merrill Ranch in Florence is really nice, and it is new w/ lots of amenities and things for kids to do. Its about 10 min away from downtown Florence (old Florence) and 10 min away from Queen Creek town limits.

[Steve Pickering]

Yep, That is where My Daughter lives.

[Boompa]

Originally Posted by meallday

My husband and I are a interracial couple. He is from Ireland and I'm a Spanish/Black American. We want to feel comfortable and are kids to feel comfortable and around at least both their ethnic backgrounds. if anyone knows about these cities, I welcome your opinions.

None of the above

I'd go nearer to a military base, there are a lot more mixed marriages in the military. Glendale near Luke, Tucson near Davis or Sierra Vista near Fort Huachuca.

[meallday]

Thank you for your responses. i cant wait to visit this area. I'm a hospital employee so the commute kinda scares me. Not much around this area as far as hospitals, restaurants, and stores. Does anyone know more about this area like school information and such.
thanks again

[sh9730]

As far as hospitals there is a newly opened small hospital (I think like 20 beds for now) in Florence. Not sure if they would be hiring. There is the main hospital for the area in Casa Grande (Casa Grande regional), and then I think there is a new Banner Hospital up in Queen Creek area - Both Casa Grande and QC are about a 20-30 min drive from Florence, and Coolidge is closer to Casa Grande than it is to Queen Creek area.

BOTH Coolidge and Florence are somewhat smaller cities that were on the cusp of booming before the real estate crisis. SO, for now there are lots of developments unfinished with large swaths of land in between those developments. Commercial activity never really got going out there too much since the population base didnt quite get up there. So, for anything MAJOR you ll need to head into Casa Grande or up into Queen Creek/East Mesa. Of tghe two, Florence has more than Coolidge.

As for the interracial portion, you may want to consider Casa Grande if this is the area of the state you want to reside (for cost purposes or whatever). Casa Grande is a more fully developed city and has a little more diversity than some of the other areas, but it is not metropolitan by any stretch. It costs just slightly more than Coolidge/Florence, but thats because we have things like the hospital, mall, big box stores, etc. here already. Plus CG is on the freeway (I 10) basically, so the commute into Phoenix metro (if neccessary) is a little easier than from Florence/Coolidge.

Oh as for the schools, any of the areas I ve mentioned (CG, QC, Cool/Florence) all will have hit and miss schools. I dont know A LOT about the other areas, other than generally they are hit and miss as I said - but here in Casa Grande as is typical, the newer schools seems to do a better job than the older ones in the core areas.

Best to just come spend a day driving around, then narrow the searches based on your desires and price range.

[Steve Pickering]

Casa Grande is a City originally founded by Black Cowboys.