What's it like in the city of Maricopa, AZ?

[Vinny536]

I'm not sure who "they" are in your quotes, but here is what i pay,

I have a 1300 sq foot home with a salt water aquarium that is an electric black hole. The aquarium has nearly 900 watts of lighting, probably 500 watts of pumps and other various equipment. I keep the house between 74 and 76. My summer bills are about $250-$300. About the same as the apartment I had in chandler. The apartment was living space over garage, so that didn't help the cooling bill.

I have grass in my back yard and use a lot of water. I generally shower twice a day, top off the aquarium, water the garden and so on. My water/sewer bill is about $85 a month. this is nearly double my coworker that lives in glendale. I think trash is about $15 a month, and the HOA's vary. I have no gas appliances in this house, but 2 years ago i rented a place with a gas water heater, that cost $25 a month just to have the service, I forget what the bills would range from.

[blueeyz911]

Originally Posted by 61scout80

I'm not sure who "they" are in your quotes, but here is what i pay,

I have a 1300 sq foot home with a salt water aquarium that is an electric black hole. The aquarium has nearly 900 watts of lighting, probably 500 watts of pumps and other various equipment. I keep the house between 74 and 76. My summer bills are about $250-$300. About the same as the apartment I had in chandler. The apartment was living space over garage, so that didn't help the cooling bill.

I have grass in my back yard and use a lot of water. I generally shower twice a day, top off the aquarium, water the garden and so on. My water/sewer bill is about $85 a month. this is nearly double my coworker that lives in glendale. I think trash is about $15 a month, and the HOA's vary. I have no gas appliances in this house, but 2 years ago i rented a place with a gas water heater, that cost $25 a month just to have the service, I forget what the bills would range from.

My electric bills are pretty damn high.

Example: LOWEST winter bill without running the heat ever- $75- RIDICULOUS... considering we have SW gas for water which in the winter, bills are $35 a month. We will expect to pay $200+ this summer keeping the AC at 83-84 ALL THE TIME AND we are on the time of use plan and stick to it religiously. Our house is one story, 1250 sqf, NO pool, windows are sealed except no sun screens on some windows because I cannot afford it. But we do have window coverings, AC tuned up and all that Jazz. ED3 (the Maricopa electric co.) definitely is more expensive than APS or SRP and I speak from experience having lived in the valley for 30 years, I have never paid these type of electric bills anywhere else that I have lived.

Water bill is average I guess, $65-90 a month (higher in the summer), 2 people, no pool, water the grass and trees.

The FLY problem has been beyond terrible this spring. I have had it with flies. Hopefully once all the cows have been transported that will get better. I have noticed that it does not smell nearly as much as it did the first year we lived here and that was 2008.

The Super Walmart has been a huge benefit to us. I would like more restaurants (not fast food) and some dept stores like Kohls, etc. and a Home Depot and a Safeway would be nice. Not to mention, more banks, doctor's offices, a hospital, obviously Maricopa has a long way to grow.

Living in Maricopa is fine. We love being out of the city, it's peaceful at night and you can actually see the stars. We like our house, our street and our neighbors and there really is not much crime to speak of and those who say there is either do not live here or must be high on crack. I have lived in the valley for 30 years and BELIEVE ME, Maricopa is not a city to be worried about high crime.

[cmholm]

I'm a former Tucson resident, and although I drove by the Ak-Chin casino billboards countless times on the I-10, never darkened Maricopa's doorstep. (We had our own casinos!)

As you might guess, 3.5 years since this thread last saw action, the prices in the various housing tracts are a wee bit cheaper than in '07. As you can see in the previous posts, there were signs of things going south even then.

On the plus side in 2010, the Safeway and a few surrounding stores and eateries are now open, as are a couple of elementary schools. According to Redfin, the selling prices seem to have bottomed out, and there are plenty of straight repo (as opposed to short) sales.

On the minus side, unless you like to gamble or hunt varmints, there isn't much to do other than socialize with your neighbors. it's a 30 minute drive to the outskirts of metro Phoenix. The situation being what it is, it's going to be a loooooong time until the city grows out to Maricopa.

[hart4july]

Bristol Palin is dancing into Maricopa, so there must be something there!

[Ritchie_az]

Originally Posted by cmholm

The situation being what it is, it's going to be a loooooong time until the city grows out to Maricopa.

An indian reservation stands between Phoenix metro and Maricopa, I believe. It's kind of a similar situation with Green Valley and Tucson.

I suspect that, with our local economy having started a recovery, not only will Maricopa see some growth (both residential and business), but that the far south/southeast valley and the Casa Grande area will, as well. That will make Maricopa not seem so far "out there".