Which AZ area is nicest to raise a young family? (Phoenix: ski resort, real estate)

[amongwildflowers]

Hope anyone of you can help...I am a 40 year old married woman with a 6 and a 4 year old who currently live in the on the Hudson River in NY across from West Point. My husband has the opportunity in the next few short months to transfer pretty much wherever we want (how lucky are we)...having been a gypsy my whole life, I've been exposed to some pretty nice places as far as living is concerned, fav's include Park City, Utah, Woodstock, Vermont, spent last 9 years in the Eastern PA where I met my husband and started our family. Having been an IBM child, I moved every 3 years to many different places in the northeast...so kind of been there done that. Am searching for a new and different place that offers a great place for my kids and my husband and I...safe first of all, and beautiful with lots of cool stuff around. Would love to be near a Ski Resort as I was an avid rider before moving to PA, but not necessarily want the cold temps anymore..and want to expose my kids to that now that they are of that age...also want a beautiful modern/green eco-friendly kind of home...we can afford something in the $400's...so I'm hoping we can get something pretty nice with a pool...I'm an avid gardener as well, love wildflowers and planting...and a not so crazy place overloaded with people but with all the amenities...am in the process of checking out Palm Springs, CA area, Scottsdale area of AZ, possibly Taos area of New Mexico Provo, Utah...am just afraid of the temps a bit (how hot it gets) I mean SLC was a desert, but not like where you guys are...I'm thinking we can handle it as long as we have a pool...anyway, any insight would be super helpful...you can only search for so long on the web and besides physically going to all the places, hearing it from you all who live there is the next best thing...so thanks in advance for any help. Take care, Michelle PS I am in the process of trying to plan a vacation to check one or 2 areas out for mid-summer...

[Ritchie_az]

Have you considered Sedona?

[uli2000]

Honestly, if money and location are of no concern, I wouldn't live in AZ at all. Education spending has always been in the bottom 3 or 4 and is being cut back even more. We moved right before my daughter was to start kindergarden. Her cousin the same age, in his class, one teacher with no aid had 35 kids in her kindergarden class. This was when full day was the standard, but class sizes wont go down much. My mom teaches in Mesa and class sizes are so big its hard to give one on one help when kids need it. Teaching has become all about covering whats on the test, not what needs to be learned (thanks No Child Left Behind). Most every district has cut staffing and salaries and low morale is even lower now. Not to say there are no good teachers, but many great ones are leaving the field either by choice or their districts have decided for them.

Utah is a little better on the education front, the scenery and weather is near perfect, but it does have its quirks. I grew up LDS (Mormon) and find Utah Mormons a little strange for my liking. I could never live there myself, but someplace like Park City, those kind of people won't be a problem. Provo on the other hand...

Cant speak for Palm Springs or Taos. PS gets a bit hotter than Phoenix does, but you are ~100 miles from the ocean. It has a big retirement population, and places like that usually dont like spending a bunch of money on someone elses' kids. Taos has that cool artsy vibe, but I have allways wondered how much of that is just for commercial purposes.

[amongwildflowers]

Thanks so much...I know Park City was pretty awesome...but that is kind of my backup...what did you mean Provo on the other hand...it's been a while since I was there...I know it has a high Mormon population, but nice homes and at the gate of Sundance...just thought it would give me the little bit of change but still like similar to what I was used to while living there...thanks again.

[amongwildflowers]

No I haven't considered Sedona...but will look into it, thanks

[beekay21]

Check out Camp Verde, Arizona...

[bongofury]

(among)Wildflowers. That sounds nice, and they sure are blooming out here in Arizona now. I know the Hudson Valley pretty well and moved to Arizona from there. Am well acquainted with NYC/Westchester/Woodstock/Saratoga Springs/Lake George/Tanglewood & Lenox MA/Jersey/New Hope, PA/ect. ect. If I had $400K (and could stretch little bit more) I'd bypass AZ and look at nice areas in the Santa Ynez Valley or even the central coastal towns areas like Arroyo Grande in CA. $400K would just get you in as real estate prices have come down. I agree Park City is nice, but you say you don't necessarily want cold weather? I rented in Sedona, the Village of Oak Creek, for a year. IMO the Sedona tourist-based economy gets old. With the great variety of stuff to do in the NE, I'm guessing you'd get bored in Sedona after a year or two after you did the stuff everyone moving there does - then what? Truthfully, the hiking never gets old in Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon. Does your family like hiking? Seeing the red rocks never gets old either, but there is a definite want of intellectual stimulation in that town. I have a sister-in-law in Scottsdale and have been down often, but I'd never live there. Scottsdale is strange in that there is a vapidness and superficiality that permeates that place. Good dining choices and shopping though. I'd avoid The Valley of the Sun just because of the summer heat and air quality issues. Some communities in the higher altitudes in Tucson/Phoenix are OK (I liked Oracle), but you can do better elsewhere. New Mexico is overall a poor state. Santa Fe in the tourist areas is known for really good dining and shopping (that's why I go there often), but life in neighboring communities is very different. Taos is altogether a different animal. I love Taos but could not handle the isolation and those cold winters. Silver City, NM was OK. Not much going on, but that was part of the charm. If you get a chance, stay a night or two at the Bear Mountain Lodge in Silver City run by the Nature Conservancy. Wonderful hiking trails begin right out your room, and the wildflowers this time of year must be lovely. I can only dream of how nice the wildflowers must be in the Santa Ynez and/or Carmel Valley, CA this time of year (I've seen plenty of then in the past). I'm already planning another escape for a week to Big Sur (again) to shake Arizona out of my mind for awhile. Having lived and traveled widely is good and bad, good in that you have plenty to compare with, bad in that any place you move never lives up to so much of what other places offered, but no place has it all (in my estimation Big Sur comes close though). Much happiness in your travels and experiences finding a new place to hang your hat and raise the kids.

[impala666]

Originally Posted by bongofury

(among)Wildflowers. That sounds nice, and they sure are blooming out here in Arizona now. I know the Hudson Valley pretty well and moved to Arizona from there. Am well acquainted with NYC/Westchester/Woodstock/Saratoga Springs/Lake George/Tanglewood & Lenox MA/Jersey/New Hope, PA/ect. ect. If I had $400K (and could stretch little bit more) I'd bypass AZ and look at nice areas in the Santa Ynez Valley or even the central coastal towns areas like Arroyo Grande in CA. $400K would just get you in as real estate prices have come down. I agree Park City is nice, but you say you don't necessarily want cold weather? I rented in Sedona, the Village of Oak Creek, for a year. IMO the Sedona tourist-based economy gets old. With the great variety of stuff to do in the NE, I'm guessing you'd get bored in Sedona after a year or two after you did the stuff everyone moving there does - then what? Truthfully, the hiking never gets old in Sedona/Oak Creek Canyon. Does your family like hiking? Seeing the red rocks never gets old either, but there is a definite want of intellectual stimulation in that town. I have a sister-in-law in Scottsdale and have been down often, but I'd never live there. Scottsdale is strange in that there is a vapidness and superficiality that permeates that place. Good dining choices and shopping though. I'd avoid The Valley of the Sun just because of the summer heat and air quality issues. Some communities in the higher altitudes in Tucson/Phoenix are OK (I liked Oracle), but you can do better elsewhere. New Mexico is overall a poor state. Santa Fe in the tourist areas is known for really good dining and shopping (that's why I go there often), but life in neighboring communities is very different. Taos is altogether a different animal. I love Taos but could not handle the isolation and those cold winters. Silver City, NM was OK. Not much going on, but that was part of the charm. If you get a chance, stay a night or two at the Bear Mountain Lodge in Silver City run by the Nature Conservancy. Wonderful hiking trails begin right out your room, and the wildflowers this time of year must be lovely. I can only dream of how nice the wildflowers must be in the Santa Ynez and/or Carmel Valley, CA this time of year (I've seen plenty of then in the past). I'm already planning another escape for a week to Big Sur (again) to shake Arizona out of my mind for awhile. Having lived and traveled widely is good and bad, good in that you have plenty to compare with, bad in that any place you move never lives up to so much of what other places offered, but no place has it all (in my estimation Big Sur comes close though). Much happiness in your travels and experiences finding a new place to hang your hat and raise the kids.

Big Sur is great to get away from it all but is no place to raise kids I moved there from England and within a year had to move to Malibu. It may be cool for adults sipping a drink and gazing out to sea (when you can see it!) but It drove my kids mad.
They are off to university now and I intend to make my base in Flagstaff I like it and the Tax situation is much better than California or England with its 50% tax.
Its easy to fly to LAX if you need it and the weather is much better than California (in my opinion).

[bongofury]

Originally Posted by impala666

Big Sur is great to get away from it all but is no place to raise kids I moved there from England and within a year had to move to Malibu. It may be cool for adults sipping a drink and gazing out to sea (when you can see it!) but It drove my kids mad.
They are off to university now and I intend to make my base in Flagstaff I like it and the Tax situation is much better than California or England with its 50% tax.
Its easy to fly to LAX if you need it and the weather is much better than California (in my opinion).

Right. Of course people don't move to Big Sur to live or raise a family. It's where I go to clear my head. Good places to raise the brood IMO would be the Santa Ynez Valley or California central coast areas near Arroyo Grande. Of course you need the bucks to buy in.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by impala666

Big Sur is great to get away from it all but is no place to raise kids I moved there from England and within a year had to move to Malibu. It may be cool for adults sipping a drink and gazing out to sea (when you can see it!) but It drove my kids mad.
They are off to university now and I intend to make my base in Flagstaff I like it and the Tax situation is much better than California or England with its 50% tax.
Its easy to fly to LAX if you need it and the weather is much better than California (in my opinion).

Flagstaff weather better than Malibu, California? I am assuming I interpreted your post correctly........

Flag summers are not that different than Malibu's and the former place's winters flat suck unless one is a snow bunny.