Yuma Arizona Help (Phoenix, Gilbert, Parks: for sale, rental, crime)

[mapletears]

Can anyone tell me about Yuma arizona? IS it a good place for familys with children? What about the schools, crime, housing, etc... climate??? Please any info will be appreciated. THanks

[sfw1979]

HI! There are several posts about Yuma, so just do a search and a ton will come up. There are several negative comments so take it with a grain of salt. We really liked Yuma and miss it. It's a great place fora family, and is close enough to drive to San Diego for a weekend..or even Disneyland for a few days My son went to Sunrise Elementry and it was a wonderful school, it's brand new and the teachers are great! We lived in the foothills where there are a ton of family communties there.
The climate is NO JOKE!!! When people say hot in the summer..oh yes..we would have family from Phoenix come visit and comment it's so hot...I was like it's only one degree higher? But the winters are really wonderful and it's no wonder it's flooded with snowbirds in those months.
Housing is still pretty cheap considering the rest of the US. With children a pool was a must for us. It's so hot in the summer so it's really nice to have a pool to play in.
As for crime, I'm not to sure. Maybe someone else can comment on that. We lived in the foothills where it's all housing communities all over and I always felt very safe in our neighborhood.

Yuma is a great place to live, good luck!
Here are some sights:

YumaSun
yumaera.com

[yumadons]

. . . As for crime, I'm not too sure. Maybe someone else can comment on that. We lived in the foothills where it's all housing communities all over and I always felt very safe in our neighborhood. . . .


Flashback 451 sums it up nicely here:
"Too many drugs and scumbags for a town this size."

Absolutely true. When I moved here 12 years ago, killings were rare. Not anymore. But . . . most of it is drug people and scumbags killing other drug people and scumbags (or their associates, girlfriends, kids, etc.). So I stilll feel safe. I don't run with that crowd, live on acreage "out in the county," and don't have much "stuff." That said, Yuma's a bordertown. You'll read about at least one big bust a week in the Yuma Sun - drug smugglers and human smugglers. There's an overage of theft even in good neighborhoods (drug people need guns, cars, and anything they can cash in). A co-worker came out of the house this morning and found a box of ammunition under their vehicle's tire and a gun holster out in the street. Investigating further, turns out several houses in this upscale neighborhood were robbed overnite. It's a shame for our once - idyllic rural community that the illegal / criminal element goes unchecked by the powers-that-be in Washington.

[yumadons]

How could I forget to say that just last year, a rental house down my street was being used as a flophouse (place to stash illegals). The guy who cleaned it up told me he found 75 blankets on the floor of this thoroughly trashed little 3-bedroom house. The "renters" appeared to be running a power-washing service and I never saw extra people - they must have come and gone at night. The tanks on their trucks had been cut out to transport as many illegals as possible.

[JetSet]

We moved to Yuma in '94 and, honestly, have never regretted our decision. Originally from northern NM, it took us a while to acclimate to the heat but now we love not having a winter.

Other than having two cars totaled by un-insured motorist, we have not been victims of crime since moving here. We live in an older neighborhood in Yuma Valley and have never had any problems with theft or vandalism.

So far, we have no complaints with the schools. Our daughter attends 6th grade in the Crane School District. She has some difficulties in math but the schools has provided testing and some one-on-one special education to help her get caught up with her class. My son is a senior at Yuma High (Go Criminals!!). He also attended Crane schools and is doing really well. He passed all his AIMS (http://www.ade.az.gov/standards/aims/ - broken link) tests during his sophomore year. I haven't been able to help him with his math homework for several years now.

Yuma seems to have plenty of stuff to keep the kids busy. The city parks are decent but my boys complain about the lame skate-park. It seems that Yuma Parks and Rec usually have a fairly large list of programs for the young folks. There are plenty of municipal swimming pools but I would suggest finding a pool home. There are many dance schools, karate classes, gyms, etc. in the private sector. Of course, there is always the movie theaters. With the Imperial Sand Dunes and
Colorado River so close, many Yuma families invest in sand toys and/or a boat. A family that plays together, stays together.

[DreamworksSKG]

Yuma isn't bad there's some great areas outdoors to explore nearby.
like the chocolate mountains, some old ghost towns out there in s. calif. the salton sea, you're not far from palm springs if you want to get away from it all for awhile or for some golf. You're halfway between LA and Phoenix so its a decent place right on the colorado river. Good mexican food there's a burrito place there that has plate sized burritos (Forget the name of it but it was right near the river on the main road there. Awesome)
Cheap hotels too if you have family coming (Motel 6)

I thought Yuma was great

-jeff
Winchester, MA

[ejv]

can you grow oranges in yuma? please help

[JetSet]

Originally Posted by ejv

can you grow oranges in yuma? please help

Yeppers. We have Tangelo, Blood Orange, and Grapefruit trees in the backyard. They all produce more than my family of five can eat. Lemons seem to be the big commercial citrus crop in the area.

[yumadons]

<< can you grow oranges in Yuma? >>

Heavens, yes. Yuma's a huge citrus area - lemons are actually the main citrus crop, but plenty of oranges and grapefruits too. We've got 12 orange trees and 25 grapefruits - they were here when we moved in. Where I live, "out on the mesa," there are acres upon acres of citrus orchards. It looks (and smells) a lot like Gilbert used to before all the development. You "order" irrigation water when you need it. Farmers have first dibs and I don't know what they pay. But my yearly water bill to keep 2 1/2 acres in grass is ~$180 a year. Actually, we never use all the water we're alloted - we try to irrigate as little as possible cuz it makes the grass grow - then we have to cut it :-o My farmer friend visiting from Ohio was blown away at the concept of "ordering" water / risk-free farming.

The place next door is for sale if you wanna be a citrus farmer. He's got it in all sorts of fruit trees - retired with too much time on his hands. But I'm sure you could turn it back into all citrus if you wanted. $170,000 for 2 1/2 acres and a crappy but usable old mobile. Make an offer, he wants to get out!

[Dangerous Dave]

Yuma? I would look elsewhere. I did, couldn't be happier than I am here in Oregon.

If you like ridiculous heat, it's for you. But after a few years of never seeing rain, you will miss it. I've seen it over 100 degrees in early March.

Good: Yuma has a great hospital. Not many good doctors, but the hospital itself and the staff are excellent. The people, for the most part, are warm and friendly. There is some snobbery and gold digging, "look what I got" sort of show off behavior, but it isn't too bad. The snowbirds aren't as bad as people say they are, and the area depends on them anyway. Shopping and restaurant selection has improved drastically over the last 2-3 years. There is decent recreation if you like getting a face full of sand. The lakes and rivers are a joke, but there is great bass fishing if you know where to find it.

Bad: Besides the horrible heat, Yuma has a lot of crime. Jobs pay low, especially when you consider the housing costs are high and your electric bill will be $200+ from May through October. Often, you need to speak Spanish just to get a job. The heat wreaks havoc on your car, so that's a hidden cost. Also, it's in the middle of nowhere, so if you do get bored and want to see something else, you're going to need to drive three hours just to find civilization... and it's a boring drive. The proximity to Mexico brings a lot of crime and drugs. While people brag that it's close to San Diego, which it is if you consider 3 hours close, you have to suffer all week in the summer and while San Diego is a nice place to get away from the heat, it's impractical to get in the car and head out to a $100/night motel every weekend in the summer, which happens to be 5-6 months long.

The recruiters brag that you'll never see snow. They forget that there are much more inhabitable places to go which also do not snow.