Moving to Tucson or Sierra Vista in Spring/Summer (Catalina Foothills: insurance, crime rates)

[wpcp]

Plannung on moving to Sierra Vista or Arizona in May/June. Have a 11 and 2 year old boys and a 7 year old year girl. Can someone compare and contrast Sierra Vista and Tucson for me:Crime (normal and illeagals), School (like too sure if I like how Sierra Vista only has one middle school and high school, Ill be pretty much suck if I dont like the school), neighborhoods (avoid and look into), etc. Also how are the mountains there? Like when traveling from Sierra Vista to Tucson? Ive drove from Wisconsin (where Im from) to New Jersery before (I was with people so I wasnt actually driven) but I believe there was a tunnel in the mountain and we drove through it, where as I heard you actually have to drive in the mountains from people that I know. How is that? NJ and AZ mountains were both a long time ago, so I dont even remember if thats right, but im pretty sure and I dont know if its changed or not.

[LordBalfor]

Can't tell you about the schools in SV but I CAN tell you that you do NOT drive through any mountains to get from SV to Tucson. There ARE mountains nearby but you go around them all at what is essentially freeway speed. It's an easy drive.

To find info regarding crime etc, go the to city-data.com main page and enter "Tucson, AZ" or "Sierra Vista, AZ" into the search box for detailed profiles. LOTS of data there.

Ken

[keninaz]

Sierra Vista is quite a bit smaller than Tucson and it's also cooler.
When Tucson hits over 100° in the summer SV is about 10° cooler.
The last poster is correct, it's all highway and straight road from SV to Tucson but you do drop in elevation.
I have lived in and near both towns. My preference is SV overall.
Less crime there too but you will have illegals coming through all areas of AZ.
The mountains are not that big here for the most part due to the higher elevation anyway. When we lived just south of SV by 9 miles at the base of the mountains they only went up some 3000' or so from the 4800' that we were already at.
Tucson is lower and of course Mt. Lemon is higher so there is a pretty good distance between those two.
I have been in and around AZ for many years and the only tunnel I am aware of in the area you are talking about is a short one that exists on the road from Benson to Bisbee which is some 22 miles from SV and you don't go through it going to Tucson.
Perhaps you were there seeing the mines in Bisbee and then drove to Tombstone where my wife was born.
You will find that both communities are military in nature. Tucson has the AF and SV has the Army. You can and will get jet noise from the base in Tucson and you have to watch where you live or you could get quite a bit.
The military has more impact on SV in that it's a smaller town of course and military towns suffer gains and losses with transfers of families.
The schools as far as I know are fine there, I never heard any complaints.
I lived there in '67-68 and then again for 5-6 years starting around 2000.
I last lived in Tucson in 1994.
You are also going to have more types of crime and more of it in Tucson but there are more jobs there too if that's a factor.
Traffic and numbers of people wise I much preferred SV. But I like smaller towns. I also like the fact that if we got to 100° there it did not last too long unlike Tucson can.
I hope this helps.

[mauiwowie]

I really like both places.

The differences between SV and Tucson are mostly scale. SV is less than 50,000 people and Tucson is over 500,000 (city) or 1m (metro). Amenities and services will be much greater in Tucson.

Many are willing to enjoy the cooler weather and small town atmosphere of SV and just drive to Tucson for the things that SV lacks like shopping options, restaurants, zoo, children's activities, hospitals and medical specialists.

SV, in general, is also more conservative. If you prefer a more liberal environment, then Tucson might be the better choice.

Tucson has much higher crime rates as SV is below the state average for violent and property crimes.

There are many schools and districts in Tucson. The central district TUSD isn't highly regarded, but there are good schools in the district and some wonderful charter schools within the city (BASIS and University are the best). The best school districts in Tucson are Tanque Verde, Catalina Foothills, and Rita Ranch (which is the Vail school district). Be advised VUSD uses a modified year-round schedule.

SV has one school district, so the only real choice is elementary and the best is Pueblo del Sol. I'm not sold on Buena, but it has decent ratings. University and BASIS are miles better, IMO.

I like both places and they are pretty similar in their libertarian streaks. AZ, in general, is a live and let live kind of place. I struggle with liking the natural environment of SV better because of more trees and cooler weather with what I view as a lack of amenities. Tucson is not a world class city in that regard, but I can get just about everything I need there.

SV attendance zones Attendance Zones • Page - Sierra Vista Unified School District #68

TVSD is on the NE side I can't find a good link to the map.

CFUSD http://www.cfsd16.org/public/_distInfo/pdf/map.pdf

VUSD http://www.vail.k12.az.us/files/2010/03/vsdmap1011.jpg

[keninaz]

I don't think you are correct about the schools.
First of all, unless they very recently closed them, there are 1or 2 schools on Fort Huachuca itself. I know at one time one is an elementary.
They were built there to accommodate the GI families (I used to be one years ago) I served there and worked there at one time.
I know for a fact that the Army spent a lot of money renovating one of the schools during the time I live just south of SV by 9 miles for 5-6 years until 2008.
I have no idea if they are part of the local district but I would think that they would have to be.
Then again, seeking information via the internet I found this which seems to indicate that they are not and they have K-8 there.
I have worked on and served on many bases in my time until retirement and have yet to see a base without schools on it.



Fort Huachuca Accommodation School District #00

[mauiwowie]

Originally Posted by keninaz

I don't think you are correct about the schools.
First of all, unless they very recently closed them, there are 1or 2 schools on Fort Huachuca itself. I know at one time one is an elementary.
They were built there to accommodate the GI families (I used to be one years ago) I served there and worked there at one time.
I know for a fact that the Army spent a lot of money renovating one of the schools during the time I live just south of SV by 9 miles for 5-6 years until 2008.
I have no idea if they are part of the local district but I would think that they would have to be.
Then again, seeking information via the internet I found this which seems to indicate that they are not and they have K-8 there.
I have worked on and served on many bases in my time until retirement and have yet to see a base without schools on it.



Fort Huachuca Accommodation School District #00

Fort Schools are not part of the SV school district, so I did not include them. They are governed by Cochise County School Superintendent, but not SV. The schools are newly renovated.

[CoyoteBCougar]

We are considering moving back to Sierra Vista for retirement. Can anyone chime in on the medical treatment situation? We are retired military and have been using Tricare Prime. Thanks.

[Subie2]

Coyote, you'd be better off calling your insurance carrier and investigating yourself on what your coverage is in SV and the surrounding area. It's pretty tough for those of us that do not share your insurance to give you a definite answer. That's something a policy holder has more access to.But as far as specialist care, you'll probably have to go to Tucson for that. SV's hospital is very small and limited in its resources. If you require frequent/routine specialized care, Tucson or somewhere closer to Tucson like Green Valley might be a better option.

[keninaz]

Originally Posted by CoyoteBCougar

We are considering moving back to Sierra Vista for retirement. Can anyone chime in on the medical treatment situation? We are retired military and have been using Tricare Prime. Thanks.

We are retired Civil Service and lived in the SV area for sometime before moving a couple of years ago.
I think you will find that your care providers are much the same as we had on our retirement insurance.
Care providers in that area were pretty busy and it seems that the demands at times outstrips the numbers of providers.
The SV hospital is a pretty good facility overall. I had outpatient surgery there a couple of times and had good care and service.

[azbound123]

I am considering moving to AZ in a year or two for retirement. I am considering Sierra Vista and Kingman, but heard unpleasant things about Kingman. The proximity to Mexico concerns me and possible gang violence. We would hopefully live in a remote area, perhaps on an acre outside of town. I hope to open a bed and breakfast in one of the two towns. I would appreciate if folks would share anything they think I need to know. I heard the weather is more temperate in SV. I see you have a theatre with 10 screens and a new Walmart. It is good that at least one poster will be moving back to the area.