Thinking about moving to Casa Grande..... (Phoenix, Chandler: insurance, high crime, buying a house)

[elen]

or Arizona CIty. Or maybe even Maricopa? I was wondering if buying a house in any of these areas is a good idea? I have a family and were looking to buy a home, and need to know where the neighborhood/schools are a good place to move to?

[MotleyCrew]

Will you be working in either of these areas? It is advisable to live as close to your work as possible to avoid the freeways here.
Maricopa is just starting to grow and we think it is going to be a very nice city. Our daughter just moved into a new Shea home and she is very happy there. You can Google www.sheahomes.com and go to their web site and see the different areas they are building in. They have one development called the Village at Tortosa that starts in the $159,290's for 1,306 square feet. I believe Centex is also building out there as well. Standard Pacific is another builder that has a decent reputation. Pulte homes is another. I can't tell you much about Casa Grand because we have never made it out that far. Some of the others here will fill you in. Good luck.

[AksarbeN]

I thought that Arizona City was more of a retirement area but I’m not sure. Maricopa is very new and there are some issues with the area that you may not want to deal with after you bought a home there. I STONGLY advise you to visit these areas before even thinking about buying. If you need to have employment you may not find what you’re looking for in those cities, and a drive to Phoenix is unthinkable in distance and time.

[jco]

I can't figure out why out of state people are wanting to move to areas like Florence, Casa Grande, and Maricopa. Look into Surprise, Buckeye, Gilbert, or Chandler for outskirt cities with lower costs. There's a reason the cost of living in the first three cities is lowest.

[desertjewel]

Hello,

I must challenge your opinion of Casa Grande! We moved here two years ago and we love it. The people are friendly, crime is low, the area is beautiful, and the medical facilities are top notch. There are new schools being built, Harkins Theater is going into the new mall, and we have our own playhouse theater. There's 'art in the alley' once a month in old town and lots of intelligent interesting people here who call Casa Grande home.

I guess the developers of Robson Ranch and Villago, (an incredible, upscale master planned community in Casa Grande) missed your advice when they decided to develop here.

There are million+ dollar custom homes being built in our neighborhood, the lot sizes are 1+ acres, we have five quality golf courses in the area and we're only 40-45 minutes from Sky Harbor Airport.

[jco]

Well, desertjewel, you live there, so you would have a better perspective than I. I guess I base my opinion on the higher unemployment rate, high violent crime index, high number of high school drop-outs, low number of high school graduates going to college, and just what I saw from serving the homeless and very poor in the city. This was in 2004 and 2005, though, and from looking at their school scores, they've had dramatic increase in test scores in the last year. Perhaps there has been a major clean-up effort, in which case, my opinion would be outdated! Casa Grande is pretty well know throughout Arizona as being a slum city, though. Several slum cities have been turned into nice ones, I happen to live in what was (ten years ago) a very poor farm town to which many illegal aliens flocked. Now it's nice, clean and pretty safe! I just can't imagine Casa Grande's been made into the high-class, serene area in the not even two years I've been gone. Have you seen a huge clean-up effort? Do you live right in Casa Grande or on the outskirts? I think this would be useful information to someone considering moving there.

Forty minutes to Sky Harbor? In the middle of the night??? Even Google, which doesn't consider traffic, says it takes 52 minutes.

[aj661]

Originally Posted by desertjewel

Hello,

I must challenge your opinion of Casa Grande!...and we're only 40-45 minutes from Sky Harbor Airport.

You must be on the outskirts. I saw a huge amount of growth going in along SR387 (Pinal Ave) before I retired. jco is correct about Casa Grande being a slum in the past. They had very high crime and significant gang problems. Take a drive through the neighborhood between Casa Grande Ave to Trekell, Florence Blvd to Jimmie Kerr Blvd for example and you'll see the CG she's talking about. It's good to hear things are turning around in parts of the city.

But Sky Harbor in 40-45 minutes? Unless you are on the far north side around Val Vista Rd. and SR387 or very near SR287 and I-10 (about ten miles farther away)...have you met any of the Highway Patrol Officers yet? There's a lot of ticket happy rooookies working CG now! 'May I see your license, registration and proof of insurance please? Press hard, five copies!'

[desertjewel]

Yes we are about 10 miles north of town. We go to the airport regularly and it is 40-45 minutes (at the speed limit) when there's little or no traffic from Ray Rd to the 143.

The slum areas of town are being eclipsed by the new developments. They are still there, but...the winds of change are blowing. Check out just one of the many more than gentle breezes...
http://www.visitvillago.com/small_city_charm.php

When we had to relocate, our priority was to find a quality home with land. We couldn't afford that in Chandler. We did find everything we wanted here in Casa Grande except the big malls, movies, restaurants etc. Soon, all that will be available here too!

[SAPMAN]

Originally Posted by aj661

But Sky Harbor in 40-45 minutes? Unless you are on the far north side around Val Vista Rd. and SR387 or very near SR287 and I-10 (about ten miles farther away'

I go to PHX often and from I-10 and Jimmie Kerr (south Casa Grande) it takes me 43 minutes to Terminal 4, with no traffic and going 5mph over the speed limit.

[Beesk]

I spent 10 years of my life growing up in Casa Grande. If you have kids who will be going to school, you might want to reconsider moving there and look elsewhere. Yes, the town in growing, but it is still largely a slum town. New development "eclipsing" the downtown slum makes no difference. I completely agree with JCO in the statistics that were given. Take it from someone who lived there, went to elementary, junior high and high school there.