Sierra Vista Apartments? (Tucson, Flagstaff, Bisbee: apartment complex, rentals, crimes)
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Looking into the possibility of relocating the family to Sierra Vista. Not getting a whole lot of information on apartments, and seeing plenty of bad reviews. Need something family friendly/safe, and preferably 3 bedrooms. Will probably be stopping by town at some point in the next month to look at it, so some suggestions would be appreciated so we can go check them out while we are there!
Anyone have other comments about Sierra Vista as a whole? It seems like a really nice place from the information we have found. How is the water hardness? (It's very hard where we are now.)
Saw the thread on TV reception (bummer). We get PBS HD here over indoor antenna and it's pretty much the only thing we use the tv for. Though, we don't get NBC which we would use occasionally. We use netflix/hulu for anything.
Good walking areas? Covered playgrounds available?
Opinions on local restaurants? I know that an IHOP can be great in one town and gross in another for example.
Would you consider the town friendly? We're in an area that isn't so friendly (i.e. saying hello while passing a neighbor at out apartment complex and they just ignore you).
I would look for renting a house instead of an apartment. I don't remember seeing many apartment buildings and what I did see didn't look that great. But I also didn't pay too close attention to them...
Generally, the southwest corner of the town is better. I have heard that the northwest corner is seedy. There is a nice covered playground on the westside of town, right next to the highway. The Cove (indoor swimming) is a fun place, but packed, on the weekends. We lived in Hereford and had a private well and our water was pretty darn hard. Don't know about the city water.
There is a lot about SV on this forum, just do a search.
Looking into the possibility of relocating the family to Sierra Vista. Not getting a whole lot of information on apartments, and seeing plenty of bad reviews. Need something family friendly/safe, and preferably 3 bedrooms. Will probably be stopping by town at some point in the next month to look at it, so some suggestions would be appreciated so we can go check them out while we are there!
Anyone have other comments about Sierra Vista as a whole? It seems like a really nice place from the information we have found. How is the water hardness? (It's very hard where we are now.)
Saw the thread on TV reception (bummer). We get PBS HD here over indoor antenna and it's pretty much the only thing we use the tv for. Though, we don't get NBC which we would use occasionally. We use netflix/hulu for anything.
Good walking areas? Covered playgrounds available?
Opinions on local restaurants? I know that an IHOP can be great in one town and gross in another for example.
Would you consider the town friendly? We're in an area that isn't so friendly (i.e. saying hello while passing a neighbor at out apartment complex and they just ignore you).
Thank you for any input!
Water hardness: VERY hard water.
TV Reception: Don't know much. I've heard people say they could sometimes get the local NBC network via antenna
Walkable: The town is moving towards being more pedestrian/bike friendly, but they've still got a LONG way to go to catch up to the rest of the world. There are walkable areas in most of the newer neighborhoods. There's a covered playground at the walking/dog park on 7th Street and Buffalo Soldier Trail and I'm sure there are more too in the newer neighborhoods.
Local Restaurants: A few good mom and pop-style places. Sierra Vista is chain-restaurant central (Olive Garden, IHOP, Chili's, Applebees, etc.). But there are some good privately owned places like German Cafe, Guten Appetit, The Breadbasket (all German food); Golden Dragon, DaBok, Tanuki, Hana Tokyo (Asian food); Rodolfo's, Filibertos and Mariscos Chihuahua for Mexican food. There's a Diner on Highway 92 which is okay as far as diners go. Not much in the way of "fine dining" here. Locals get sticker shock if they have to pay more than $20.00 for a meal but gripe that there aren't more dining options outside of casual and chain restaurants.
Friendliness: Honestly it's really hit or miss on the friendliness front. My experience has been there are some nice, friendly folks in Sierra Vista, but also quite a few people with a stick up their you-know-what. Sometimes you'll get a hi and a wave from someone. Sometimes you'll get a smile returned. Many times you won't and I've even had the experience of people glaring at me, sticking their nose in the air (literally), grimacing at me. There's no real consistency. But I still try to be nice just the same because you really never know. I get the vibe there's a lot of distrust and maybe even a little paranoia in a lot of the long-time residents here. There's also the fact it's a military town, so a portion of the population is transient and maybe don't want to bond too much because they'll just be leaving again anyway. Generally if you keep trying to be nice and not let the sticks-in-the-mud tear you down, you'll eventually collect a nice small group of friendly folks who appreciate your efforts. But this is certainly no Mayberry.
Hopefully that's some info you can use. As far as apartments go...there aren't any three-bedroom apartments in the area unless I'm forgetting a complex somewhere, and apartments are EXPENSIVE here. But so is renting a house and landlords in this area are really lousy about maintaining their rentals. The house I bought was a rental previously and there are so many code violations, half-a**ed jobs, cheap fixes and just pure goofiness that I wish I could go back three years and NOT buy it. Cost of living here is high for the size of the town and how little it offers in my opinion, but that's just my view on it based on living in many places over my lifetime. Your perceptions will be different from mine depending on your experiences.
Most of the town is safe. I'd avoid the area affectionately referred to as Fry Town. This is mostly the northwest corner of the city. No part of the city is particularly "dangerous", but that area has had more than its share of drug and gang-related crimes. They're trying to clean it up, but that might be a long time coming still.
Restaurants The Mesquite Tree on 92, La Casita is excellent Mexican food owned by the same family that owns La Fonda in Flagstaff.
Fry town IS now being torn down and replaced by a series of low cost apartments.
My son lives in the Las Brisas apartments and likes it.
Most people (and some apts include) Cox Cable for tv/cable and their internet.
There are a handful of playgrounds in the whole town and the two better ones have shade covers.
Fry Town is in the eye of the beholder. I found out when I asked on here that most people GROSSLY exaggerated the "ghetto" experience of Fry Town. The very middle has some ratty houses and trailers but most of old "Sierra Vista" is along Fry and completely normal. Even the apts in Fry Town are fine. Some people get very nervous in "non ultra cushy" areas.
Realize if you are not military, or don't go to church, or dont play sports, or dont use public/private schools that there is very limited things "to do" with kids and teens.
The main part of town is along Fry and and is very much like a strip mall and NOT like a homey "small town" with a downtown and "coziness". This town pooped up around the base as support and that's where it stands. Alot of retired people (many military) here and alot of soldiers and contractors.
This is the largest town within 70 miles. It takes 1-1 1/2 hours to drive to Tucson, so if you love 24/7 convience/shopping/nightlife/choices... Sierra Vista will not offer them to you.
It is gorgeous in Sierra Vista, as long as you like the desert and mountains. The sunsets are to DIE for!!!!!!
People are mostly nice. Many food places suck but most people love them as its all they got. There are two movie theaters, a mall, fast food, one of the two McDonalds has a decent playplace, the library is nice, there is one small indoor waterpark/pool, basic services of all types, doctors/dentists/vets/etc..., a Safeway/Fry's/Food City to grocery shop at, one new Super Walmart with grocery, one Target that is getting a grocery store, churches, Walgreens/CVS, a hospital, a very limited bus system, lots of interesting places to drive to within an hour, Tombstone and Bisbee are close... so is Mexico (though if you are working on base you will be told not to cross the border), two colleges, a small community center/history museum, Lowes and Home Depot, couple icer cream places, and one large bookstore called Hastings, etc... etc....
Now that I typed half a book, any other specific questions?
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