City of Maricopa (Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale: for sale, real estate, foreclosure)

[nukegm]

Going to be relocating to maricopa. Anyone have any input on positives & negetives about this city? Any info would be great.

[AksarbeN]

I can give you one opinion for what its worth. I hope you are retired, or work at home. The trip into the metro Phoenix area for employment can be difficult with the rush hour traffic.

I remember the last time I was in the City of Maricopa it was growing with new shopping and new homes which is a good sign. I didn’t like the large amount of “dust” that seemed to always be blowing no matter which way the wind was coming. Also there was a very bad smell in the air that was constant from the cattle feed lots south of the City going towards Casa Grande. I have seen large amounts of livestock in feed lots from the midwest but never this large and this constant with the smell. I was in the area a number of times on many different days and it was always bad.

On the bright side, I hope that the new residents can get together and form a large new community that works well for them! It will take alot of effort on everyone’s part but it can be done and have positive results. ;-)

[nukegm]

Yes the smell can be strong there. We have a friend that lives there and have visited many times to get a feel for things. I have heard that the cattle farms will be reduced in a few years as land is bought up around Maricopa. They are expecting to grow from a population of 30k currently to 110k-130k in the next 5-7 years. Thats pretty huge. I am used to driving at least a hour to work as it stands now where we live (live in Chicago suburbs and drive to Wisconsin every day) Been doing it for years so drives are a part of my life. We cant afford the houses that are closer to Phoenix.

[MotleyCrew]

My daughter and her new husband just bought a very nice new home in Maricopa. There are several new developments with new shopping centers going in and if you goolgle Shea Homes and go to Maricopa you can see some of the homes and the very reasonable prices.

[AksarbeN]

Just an opinion and some thoughts.

Looking into my household budget I would prefer to spend some extra money on a house payment for real estate then to give it to the oil industry filling my gas tank all the time. I will recoup the money on the real estate but not that, which goes into the gas tank.

Maricopa has only 1 road that goes into the Phoenix metro area and it connects into I-10 that is a nightmare for commuting. The city of Maricopa will grow in a few years to come but the highway systems and infrastructure will take more time for those who need to drive into Phoenix metro area. The rule of thumb is if you live more then 30 minutes from where you work you may be living in the wrong area. I think most people in Phoenix metro may be driving closer to 45 minutes now.

[Caroleh11]

I remember when they said Ahwatukee was to far out one store one gas station long drive into Phoenix.Home prices were in th 80's but streets rolled up at 9. Elliott Road was the exit and entrance in.Though we did not have the Feed Lots Queen Creek did.

[observer53]

This thread is old- going on three years since the last post. Not sure why it was brought back up again today.

[MAtheBanker]

Oh wow...3 years old. I'm sure they went into foreclosure like over half of Maricopa did...leaving the rest of us smokin' deals!

[miamiman]

Maricopa was in MUCH better shape when this thread was created.

[Vinny536]

Originally Posted by miamiman

Maricopa was in MUCH better shape when this thread was created.

what makes you say that?

in 2006 people where fleeing the houses they paid too much for, in 2009 homes are selling, many for higher than asking price.
News Article Details

since 2006 several businesses have opened. among those are walmart, pet club and big o tires. A public library has been constructed. walgreens has a second store under construction and should be opening soon. Sonoran creek marketplace is under construction. A new school administration building has been built. Several new schools have been built or are under construction. Homes are still being constructed.

The Arizona Republic reported that the City of Maricopa had the second lowest vacancy rates in the Metro-Phoenix area. East Phoenix was the lowest at 5.6% with Maricopa coming in at 6.3%. Compare this to Scottsdale at 6.7%, Mesa/Gilbert/Chandler at 11.6%, Paradise Valley at 12.7% and Northwest Phoenix with a whopping 14.5%

Struggling Valley retailers pursue rent relief

Many places are still under contract, but delayed due to funding on a national level. One of those is Home Depot who is now projecting to start construction in late 2010. Ruby Tuesday's is still under contract as well as another bank. there are a few other places in the same boat. There are rumors of a hotel as well.

At the last city council meeting a measure was voted on that will remove about 3/4's of the cattle from maricopa by December of 2010. That's about 70,000 cows. this action will alleviate maricopa's legendary stench problem. this also creates an industrial zone along a busy rail corridor.

CopaNews.com | Cows hitting the trail out of Maricopa


In the very long term interstate 11 when complete will encircle maricopa.

CopaNews.com | Cows hitting the trail out of Maricopa


maricopa has been slowly improving over the last year, personally I feel the worst is behind us. I see less and less for sale signs and less people loading up moving vans. My development has been seeing a steady stream of home starts. While housing prices have a long way to go to the absurd prices they were during the boom they are starting to show signs of recovery.
I think the proverbial economic winter is ending for maricopa and some of the first spring flowers are starting to push though the snow...