Vistancia vs. Sonoran Foothills / Norterra area vs. Desert Ridge vs. DC Ranch (Phoenix: foreclosures)

[suburbgal]

Hey Everyone! Grew up in Phoenix and moved to a little suburb (Parker) in Colorado 10 years ago. Thinking about making the move back to the desert to be near family - woohoo! I know the valley pretty well although the changes in 10 years are pretty huge (grew up in what is now the hood 43rd / Peoria - sorry if I offend anyone, went to ASU, most recently lived just north of Desert Ridge in Tatum Ranch, and almost bought a home in Tramonto right after our son was born in 2002. We'd like to stay up in the North Valley, something newer and would love to hear people's recommendations on the following communities that we're interested in (in no particular order):
DC Ranch, Desert Ridge, Sonoran Foothills (just discovered this place and the homes look pretty awesome for the price, but don't know anything else), Norterra, Vistancia, Westwing, Cave Creek (newer, larger land homes from Cave Creek - Scottsdale Rd / Dynamite north past Lone Mountain), and the Reserve at Eagle Heights in Glendale. We have 2 elementary school age kids (kindergarten and 2nd grade) that currently go to a private, Christian school. To be honest, the school system in Phx really scares me - I grew up in it and turned out to be ok, but want opinions on what everyone thinks about the schools in the areas I mentioned (public and private). Both kids are pretty active and want to make sure we're in a fun community with families and all the fun stuff the kids like to do: soccer, tennis, dance / cheer / gymnastics, karate, and football. I love to run outside when the weather permits, so it'd be fun to be someplace where the scenery is nice to be outside to run too so that I'm not hitting the cement and breathing in exhaust all the time. Also, want to have a fitness club nearby that a suburban mom feels comfortable walking into .... NO meat market. My current membership is at Lifetime which I LOVE but understand they have no plans right now to open in the N. West valley. If we land in N.East Phx, Scottsdale I know there is one up there and could keep my membership. If we end up in N.West valley, what would be a good place? We'd love a community where the neighbors are friendly, obviously kids, great restaurants (that's one thing I HATE about where we live now, has pretty good shopping...any plans for a better mall than Arrowhead out in the west--let's be honest, the stores there pretty much suck. We were originally only looking in Desert Ridge, Cave Creek, and DC Ranch area but you can get so much more house if you just go a little west AND it seems like people are a way more down to earth. Commute time is not an issue since both my husband & I work from home. We have family all over Phx and although we want to move back to be 'close' to them, it's not a requirement to be right next door to them .

[enigmadsm]

I personally think that the Norterra area is fantastic. There are a lot of new shopping and restraunts right there off of happy valley as well. I'm not to crazy about the shopping but the restraunts are on point!

Desert Ridge is probably my favorite area out of what you listed for a good balance of everything, but like you said a little farther west your money goes so much farther.

Vistancia I would say is the most visually appealing, but I haven't been out there in just over a year. Not sure if there have been more development out there, but it seemed like anything other than your home/community you had to get in and drive for a bit to get to.

I'd imagine that the Sonoran Foothills would be very similar to living in Tramonto...So if you liked it there, then I'd imagine you would like Sonoran as well...Its just right on the other side of Carefree Hwy.

Have you looked into any of the private schools in the Phoenix area? Myself, and my younger sister both went To Northwest Christian School, which is located off of 43rd Avenue and Bell Rd. they seem to have a decent program for various curriculums. I really disliked the lack of diversity and extracurricular activies that were offered in comparison to larger public schools. But as a parent I can see where the desire to have a good learning foundation and safe classrooms can be more important.
Northwest could be somewhat convenient for a commute if you lived more towards the west side. If you were over near desert ridge the only ones i know of are Scottsdale Christian Acadamy and Paradise Valley Christian School.

About 1-2 miles south of DC ranch is a pretty large park right next to a Public Library and there is ALWAYS youth sports there, baseball, soccer, etc. I'm sure in each region you are looking you can find something. Both DC ranch and Desert ridge are close to great shopping in Desert Ridge itself and also the Kierland Commons area.

sorry I don't have anymore first hand info. I personally like ALL of the areas you mentioned. I like the architecture of the houses in Vistancia the most, as well as the scenery but it seems like it may be a bit too isolated. Whereas the other areas mentioned also offer nice mountain/desert scenery with good proximity to things for the kids as well as shopping and other outdoor activies.

[roundball]

When we were looking a couple years ago Vistancia was my favorite by far of the ones you listed. Besides being beautiful out there (minus the power lines on the way) it seemed to have the most community feel to me. They have a huge community center. I remember seeing classes, clubs and quite a few community get togethers. I believe they still have a farmers market and a mini library. Another thing I was impressed with was, while looking out there I noticed that there was a community bus to a Suns game.

Unfortunately it was further from work than we were willing to drive. If it was closer for us we would be calling it home now.

[MotleyCrew]

We live in Vistancia and I might add that home prices are at an alltime low right now with the foreclosures and whatnots. Maracay is closing out and has one or two spec homes for under $190,000. I wished we were buying now instead of 5 years ago, but we still enjoy it here.

[AZJoeD]

All of those areas are nice. The key is to decide on you budget and see what you can get for your money. Don't forget to take into consideration taxes, HOAs, utilities, amenities, etc. These costs vary greatly in some areas.

If you travel and need to get to the airport, Norterra, Desert Ridge, Tramonto all have easy access to a highway(51 or 17).

[NorterraPhil]

I bought a home in Norterra and i chose this area because it has a nice community center with pools, jacuzzi, tennis and basketball courts plus it is very close to Happy Valley/Norterra shopping center. One thing the area has that Desert Ridge and other areas dont have is how close the homes are to the mountains (Union Hills), the homes are litterally few hundred feet from the mountain preseve. You really get a sense of being outdoors just by looking outside your window, plus you can hike a mountain right behind your home.