Looking to relocate to Golden Valley or Kingman, Arizona

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by Rotan

The dust in Golden Valley is so bad at times you can not see accross the Valley. In the winter the wood smoke just hangs in the air. But for the most part the dust from the roads are the problem.

That is interesting; I have driven across GV on Hwy 68 many times, both winter and summer and remember little actual blowing dust-----outside of the monsoon season, obviously.

[Rotan]

I live on the easter edge of Golden valley and can look out accross the valley. That is all I see is blowing dust. The wind blows all the time and most times you can not make out the mountians looking west just the outline. People drive accorss the valley on the dirt roads and you can see the trail of dust they leave for miles.

[LolaLola]

I've been reading this forum for about 4 months now and see that you either love Golden Valley or hate it. I am one of those who could squat anywhere and like it.
I'm coming here from Sheridan Wyoming. It is beautiful here and hate to leave it but the rich people are moving in and driving up prices like crazy. Avg cost of a home here is 200k.
Also my mother is in Bull Head.
I will be looking at the North Eastern part of Golden Valley. Hows the area there?
I have 2 kids one 18 and a really sweet kid, and the other is 5 years and starting school this fall.

I know the roads are dirt but are they graded at times? Do I need a 4 wheel drive PU full time to get in and out of there?
Whats it like for a single mom there.

I intend on getting a wind generator and not being off the grid but to supplement and also installing a water catchment system. I have done the calculations on the rain fall and sq ft of catch area and it looks mostly sustainable with may be water haul supplement.
The place has a swamp cooler, do I need a full blown central air to survive the summers?

[haymann]

Originally Posted by LolaLola

I've been reading this forum for about 4 months now and see that you either love Golden Valley or hate it. I am one of those who could squat anywhere and like it.
I'm coming here from Sheridan Wyoming. It is beautiful here and hate to leave it but the rich people are moving in and driving up prices like crazy. Avg cost of a home here is 200k.
Also my mother is in Bull Head.
I will be looking at the North Eastern part of Golden Valley. Hows the area there?
I have 2 kids one 18 and a really sweet kid, and the other is 5 years and starting school this fall.

I know the roads are dirt but are they graded at times? Do I need a 4 wheel drive PU full time to get in and out of there?
Whats it like for a single mom there.

It may be to quiet for the kids. There will be no place for the young man to find work. Kingman would be better. I recall when I was his age it was difficult for me, to far from town, couldn't get work, it was very hard on me. He will probably have to join the military; which pays good now compared when i was his age. Boot camp they get pay to start, $1,300.00 a mo. sargents get $2000.00 to $4000.00 a mo., WOW.

I intend on getting a wind generator and not being off the grid but to supplement and also installing a water catchment system. I have done the calculations on the rain fall and sq ft of catch area and it looks mostly sustainable with may be water haul supplement.
The place has a swamp cooler, do I need a full blown central air to survive the summers?

The dry desert is the best place to have an evap. cooler.

[haymann]

wHEN A PERSON SAYS U CAN'T SEE ACROSS THE VALLEY I GOTA ASK HOW GOOD IS THEIR EYE SIGHT? I COME OUT OF KINGMAN ALL THE TIME AND I CAN SEE ACROSS THE VALLEY EASILY.

THE ROADS R DIRT THEREFORE U WILL GET DUST. IT'S THE DESERT.

WHEN THE GOV. HERE ALLOWS BUSINESS' TO BUILD WE WILL GET MORE MONEY FOR ROADS. NO BUSINESS, NO TAXES, NO ROADS. TAXES HERE COME FROM BUSINESS. IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT HOME DEPOT WAS GOING TO BUILD IN GV BECAUSE IT WAS EQUAL DISTANCE FROM KINGMAN AND BULLHEAD. BUT THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO BUILD.

COMPLIAN TO COUNTY SUPERVISORS. I DO.

[JennieJenofAz]

I live out here in a newer and very nice looking double wide on over 2 acres and love it. I like the wide open spaces. I haven't had any problems with the dirt or dust. Some have mentioned that it looks run down out here with junky looking single wide trailers...well, okay, some of it, but, you have to DRIVE around the WHOLE town for awhile and get the whole feel of it before calling it quits! A few junky trailers shouldn't define a WHOLE town! I live off of Egar and live on a very clean and friendly street. It's very quiet and my neighbors are very thoughtful. No problems here! Like someone else had said, I, too, can park anywhere and make it home. Just depends on your attitude.

[tnp]

I think I'm the one who mentioned the trashy looking trailers. I was there in 2005. I imagine a lot has changed by now. At the time I visited, I had the realtor listings to look at homes for sale, so I saw a good deal of the town, and most of what I saw looked really junky. I'm probably going to rent or buy a doublewide, but there is no way I would buy what I saw there at the time.

I saw some potential for growth though, and I understand there are now nicer neighborhoods than there were when I was there. That's why I'm still considering moving there. Right now the 3 areas I'm considering are Kingman/Golden Valley, Eloy, and Arizona City. There are other areas I like better than Eloy and Arizona City, but those two and Golden Valley fit my budget the best.

[JennieJenofAz]

I agree. I wouldn't live in some of the trailers out here either! Many are very run down. Bullhead has gotten that way, also. Our single wide was nice though. We lived off of Yale and Holly St. My husband and I got in the car and, weekly, we made trips out here and we took notes and pictures. I made notes on all the nasty areas and noted the nice areas. We lucked out, we live in a very nice area! Very clean and very friendly neighbors. I've heard it mentioned that the farthur end, nearest Kingman, is a bit rougher looking? And with crime? Not to scare anyone! But, don't forget, crime, drugs, nasty areas, etc.....are everywhere. Kingman/Golden Valley's no exception!

[tnp]

I wish I had kept my notes from when I was there 3 years ago, so I could remember which were the trashiest areas. At the time, most homes were more than I could afford, so I kind of gave up on moving to AZ and got rid of my notes. But now that prices have come down, I'm trying really hard to get my house fixed up here and put up for sale so I can move to AZ before prices start going up again, and I sure could use my notes as I'm looking at home listings online. I can't even remember the names of the worst streets. At least if I had my notes I'd know whether or not the homes in my price range are in the trashy areas I visited or not.

[JennieJenofAz]

I threw mine out, too. But, I seem to like the beginning half of Golden Valley. I'm off of Egar, the first street you'll hit coming this was from say, Bullhead, Laughlin, Fort Mohave. It's nice over here. There is some rough streets and run down looking trailers, but, for the most part, it seems to be pretty nice. I also like the Milky Way area. It's nice in there! There's homes and trailers in there and they're all pretty nice looking! We almost bought a lot in there. But, we got a better deal here. We drove around alot! I mean, I remember having my pen and notebook out and bumping along the gravel roads as the pen just scribbled............and then I tried to make sense of the gibberish I had written! And then, back out we were the following week to go over it again! We also got real estate papers and drove out to the sites for our inspections and we'd mark off the lots we didn't like. It sucks that I lost the notes, as it could've been helpful to other people. But, well, can't you go into a real estate office and maybe ask their opinion on the nice places? Or the ones to avoid? I mean, they would be helpful right? Of course! They want to sell you a house! I remember living in Bullhead and looking for a home, we asked the real estate agent for areas to avoid and we were told Riviera. His words were, "If you move there, be sure to pack a gun." Now, that was his opinion, so don't go shooting the messenger! I know people who live there and don't have any problems. Great. Some will like it and some won't. We all have the right to be happy wherever we want to be.