possibly moving to casa grande

[iuki001]

Originally Posted by drb85650

Retired, no commute? Smaller community close to big city shopping....try also Florence, Queen Creek areas. Newer affordable housing, especially foreclosures. Don't let the stigma of state prison affect you about Florence, no biggie. Queen Creek is farming community/land turned suburb.
No comment on Casa Grande, lived there once. To each his own.

Thanks for the tip. I'll check out Florence and Queen Creek.

I'm also open to any other tips you may have.

iuki

[mnsissy1]

Originally Posted by sydneysteele85

possibly moving to casa grande can anyone tell me any REAL information on things like: k-12 schools, colleges, nightlife activities, winter climate, crime rates, housing rentals?? anything else would be extremely helpful. i am moving from kansas with my kids and want to know exactly what im moving to

I moved to AZ in August 08. I initially looked into living in Queen Creek because of the affordable homes. I didn't like QC because of the traffic and sooooo many foreclorsures and businesses that turned and ran from the area. I thought QC would be more rural but is just another suburb of Phoenix. Therefore, I chose Casa Grande, because I wanted the small town feeling but didn't want to make it a day trip to go shopping. CG has all the chain stores and all the medical facilities that most families would need. My daughter will begin classes at Central Arizona College in Jan. it's a very nice, smaller campus set in the foothills. Night life? That's not for me so I cannot comment, but I have been to many communty events since being here and have enjoyed them all. Art in the Alley is my favorite. I don't think I'd like to commute to Phoenix during rush hours but other than that, driving there has not been a problem and I love being so close to Phoenix yet removed it. I won't call CG "lowend", I really don't understand where that comes from. This area seems to attract "snowbirds" and I love seeing them out walking, biking, riding mopeds etc.
My parents are on their way down here (from MN) as we speak and there are many options for them, in terms of RV parks, 55+ communities and rentals. I'm renting before I buy and so far I plan on staying here. Continue doing research and decide what is important in your life at this time.

[sh9730]

Iuki,

As the last poster commented there are 55+ options here. If you are looking for single family homes, the largest community seems to be Ironwood Villages. Not sure what is for sale in there as I only drive by the entrances.

But there are retirees and snowbirds in practically every development in town. We get about 15-20% increase in population in the winter!

I would reccomend that you try and stay east of Pinal Ave and north of McMurray Blvd. (Ironwood is in the area of Peart and McMurray). These are the newer areas and seem to be nicer...although very few areas in town are "bad" as most peope would put it.

[SAN BENARDINO]

I am moving to Maricopa, AZ from California can some one give me some input on Maricopa are there restaurants and hotels. How about entertainment. Are there shopping centers? Is it retirement friendly?

[sh9730]

SB - LOTS of posts already about Maricopa - 61Scout is a good source for info- But lets not let this thread go off topic. Just do a search for maricopa and you ll get hundreds of threads.