What's happening in Kingman, AZ? (live, bikes, tattoos)

[holiday Drive]

I've lived in Dolan Springs 22 years. sure its windy,dry, in 1985 i moved here.
2.5 acres cost me 925.00 for septic T&F put it in.
Mohave County value card 2.000
in 2008 29,600 same place, yea the Hoover dam project has allready changed this town. seen hundreds die here from all kinds of reasons.
'm still healthy and alive and I have a bad rep, there just jealous, ha ha
I'm a musican Songwriter and my income keeps being going here in Dolan.
give 200,000 cash you can buy place ha ha lol

[unclejake]

golden valley is not kingman i've lived in both areas. gv is trashy i hope it gets better, it is an awesome valley! i have prop in lazy yu ranches, it works out on paper. 200,000 for a piece of land, 250,000 on building including everything, your house will plan appraise for at least 590,000, more like 675,000. no morgage insurance because of built in equity. lazy yu is an amazing buy still, and for a long time.

[Trump]

Originally Posted by unclejake

golden valley is not kingman i've lived in both areas. gv is trashy i hope it gets better, it is an awesome valley! i have prop in lazy yu ranches, it works out on paper. 200,000 for a piece of land, 250,000 on building including everything, your house will plan appraise for at least 590,000, more like 675,000. no morgage insurance because of built in equity. lazy yu is an amazing buy still, and for a long time.

Values for Lazy YU may be a bit exagerated. The stated building costs can't be disputed because the size and list of amenities weren't disclosed. But $200k for a parcel of land is optimistic based on previous sales in the community. $150k would be closer to reality on the upper end. Previous sales of existing homes in the area are closer to $400k than $675k. I also understand that a troubling water situation in Lazy YU would conflict with your claim that the area is "an amazing buy".

[Kingmanite]

I live in Lazy YU and we have our own well, not to mention a beautiful view of the Hualapai Mountains. There have not been any issues with water. One of the stipulations in that area is that no one can have less than 5 acres of land, which means building out there is limited.

As far as living in Kingman, the wind does blow here, but when you consider it's what keeps the air clean, it is definitely worth it. I would much rather put up with wind than smog!

And, since Kingman was recently rated as one of the top 100 places to relocate in the United States, it can't be all the bad. I have lived here 2 years and absolutely love it. Besides the clean air, the temperatures are moderate, jobs are plentiful, and it's close to the big city life if one still needs that! There's a lot of growth going on but it still has the small-town character. At the same time, they are keeping up with the modern world as seen in the recent recognition of the Kingman Regional Medical Center as one of the top 100 hospitals in the U.S and Mohave Community College recently received a national award for graphic design by the editors of Graphic Design USA magazine (previous winners include Southwest Airlines, Capital One). So, this may be a small town, but it is full of big happenings!

[Leana76]

Well, the good thing about Kingman is that you aren't very far from Las Vegas, baby!!! Lucky you!!!

[racechick73]

If you want to see Kingman's finest- check out the fitness center at the hospital or try out Praise Chapel. I had great experiences at both places.

If you want to see Kingman's worst- go to the Super WalMart any time of day or KMart late in the evening- meth-heads in all their glory.

[Trump]

Kingmanite - Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself about some concerns you have regarding Lazy YU. True, there are some nice views of the Hualapais in most areas but denying the inevitable water problem is where fact and fiction take separate paths. The 5 acre minimum lot size is a zoning issue and has nothing to do with assuring future water availability. Your take on the wind as it relates to smog is even more interesting. Only a creative marketing campaign would attempt to replace a negative (irritating wind) with a positive. Fortunately, in this case, smog is not a severe problem (yet) in Kingman but to suggest that the unpleasant wind is actually beneficial in removing smog is ludicrous. If the smog is coming from somewhere other than Kingman then it's just passing through faster during windy conditions. Lastly, your claim that "Kingman was recently rated as one of the top 100 places to relocate" is pure fiction. You don't even go through the effort of making up a source for it. Understandable because none exists. Now, how about some reality?

[Kingmanite]

Yo Trump -- In response to the wind, water, and rating:

According to a science teacher of 24 years, the wind would indeed contribute to smog, smoke, or any other type of pollution being blown away. Obviously, the more smog places have due to high popluation, etc., the bigger the wind would have to be to blow it all out.

Everyone I talked to regarding the water issue in Lazy Y-U, indicates that there are no problems. The tests done on our well showed we have plenty of water, as did other tests around. What you might be referring to is the Department of Water Resource indicating there are no tests that they have done in the area, however, no tests by them does not mean there is no natural water. We also had our water tested for impurities and there were none.
As far as the rating that Kingman received as one of the top 100 places to relocate, check out Relocate-America'sâ„¢ 2007 Top 100 Places to Live (http://top100.relocate-america.com - broken link). The initial rankings information was on the news everywhere about a month ago, which, even if someone didn't know about Kingman, they would know there was information out on who made the list.

Kingman is the real thing.

[Trump]

Kingmanite - Apparently you can't be helped out of your disillusionment. It appears that you have impeccable sources to guide your thinking. No doubt that your science teacher will be a valuable asset when the time comes to search for water. Good luck.

[unlawflcombatnt]

Originally Posted by desertrat

I have posted here over the last year , evaluating the area and giving my opinions based on my own observations , and talking to other people in the area . I'm just going to lump it all together , random thoughts on the place.

Kingman is not where its at . Its WINDY .. let me repeat WINDY , all the time , the realtors call it " cooling breezes " . Bull**** ! Its a ****ing huricane most of the time . 15 to 30 MPH winds are not uncommon....Oh yeah , did I mention dust ? Forget keeping your house clean and dusted ... its imposible....Local real estate is over priced because of California people ( like me ) paying way more than stuff is worth . Groceries and goods are all trucked in and twice what I was paying in Orange County CA....There is nothing to do around here really unless you go to Laughlin to gamble or like to drink in the evenings .....

I'm telling you the truth about the area ... I own property here and will make a little money when I sell ... but , honestly , unless you are a real pioneer , just need a place to settle down for a while until you get the wanderlust again .....or you just want to experiance the last of the wild west for a while ... bypass Kingman , AZ .

Desertrat,

Thanks for the assessment. I am (was?) considering moving to Kingman. My wife owns land there. I've been there once. Everything you've said fits with my impression of Kingman. The wind was hurricane-like. As per what you and others have said (Trump & Shariv) , the wind is a permanent occurence. (And a permanent problem.)

There certainly appears to be nothing to do in Kingman. Though I'd heard from some sources that Kingman is "growing," no one could ever tell me what the source of that growth was. It sounds like it is largely due to home speculators, and home construction to build homes for those speculators. Clearly this is not a sustainable source of growth.

The 40-acre parcel my wife purchased went for $26K. That seemed like a good deal. Until I visited it. No water, no power, hurricane-force winds. (I really hated the wind.)

I wasn't aware of grocery prices being sky-high, but I'll check that out the next time I visit. Thanks for the heads-up on that point.

I put particular emphasis on your evaluation because I'm also from Orange County, California. Your overall comparison is probably similar to what mine would be.

Thanks again for posting this.