If Not Yuma Then Where? (Phoenix, Tucson: apartment, vacation, job)

[mesha73]

I really want to move my family to Arizona and if Yuma is not all it is cracked up to be then where? I am looking for a nice town with a nice subdivision and a great school. However, I am not going to spend over $300,000 for a house. I would like a town that has some culture, low crime and prospering. My husband and I will still be young when we move so somewhere that has a good majority of our age (at the move time 40's) and working citizens would be nice. I would like to live amongst citizens that work for a living and do not live off the government. I would like to live where the community is clean and upbeat. I would like some night life not necessarily a bunch of bars. My husband and I are photographers so places near where pictures would be good is nice. We both love love love the outdoors and we would like a place where the climate is warm or warmer not sweltering and the nights are cool not freezing. We are coming from Michigan so I am sure unlike the lifers of Arizona I will love the weather in the first few years of living there. Any advice or helpful city's to google would be great.

Many thanks,
Michelle.

[sh9730]

There are MAAANNNYYY places in AZ that are nice with houses less than 300K?!! You just need to search here about all the different cities and see what you like...

I just bought brand new home in Casa Grande (bout 3 hours east of Yuma along I-8). 1900 SF, fully upgraded....for 140K? There are lots of opinions about CG, just like there are about Yuma, good and bad. Big difference honestly between CG and Yuma is its proximity to both Phoenix and Tucson (about an hour to each in opposite directions...).

Otherwise, there are many other choices in that price range?! Some closer to mountains, some more desert...just depends on what you want?

[esselcue]

SH is right...Arizona is a plethora of towns and cities of all sorts. Yuma would be WAY down on my list of towns, but for those who live there, most like it. It really depends on what you like yourself. If you do not want extremes in weather then you probably should think of northern AZ or at least a higher elevation. Maybe the Verde Valley? Prescott? As I always say to people...come out and drive around a look carefully...in the summer. July, August...then you will have a much better idea of what part of the state you'd like

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by mesha73

and if Yuma is not all it is cracked up to be

And when was THAT? I must've missed it...

[gypsyrose14]

My husband and I moved in Feb to the foothills area we decided to move since it's just the two of us. Are kids are grown and would never move here they lived here with us in 95 and they hated it so we moved back to s.cal

My husband applied for his job before we got here we weren't to sure if they would call him for an interview so we kept our fingers crossed and pack our stuff with the hopes that things would work out okay........with in a few weeks he started working, not long after that we found an apartment close to his job. Money is a little tight BUT not as bad as it was in CA.

We don't mind the snowbirds or the heat just miss our kids but we can always use a mini vacation to go see our family in CA, and tx this is a great pit stop

[dookieboy]

Just read your "wish list". How the heck did Yuma become a consideration? I don't like to bash other towns, but wow! (No offense Yuma)
As some others have said, check into the Prescott/Prescott Valley area, or even Payson. Both have good climates and are within a short drive of mountains, forests, and tons of elbow room.

[mrkool]

Originally Posted by mesha73

and we would like a place where the climate is warm or warmer not sweltering and the nights are cool not freezing. We
.

I'm baffled... apparently you are looking for somewhere that is not overly hot. So why in the world were you *ever* considering Yuma ???
I think Kingman might come closest to having your desired climate, as well as some of your other requirements. Just maybe not the "culture" thing.