More info on Casa Grande (Phoenix, Mesa: apartments, rentals, houses)

[tancee]

Hi, I would like to learn more about Casa Grande. What are the safer family friendly areas to live and the decent schools? I have elementary and high school aged children. How is it living there for teens? Thanks for your help.

[sh9730]

Well...AS A RULE try and stay north of Cottonwood Lane and east of Pinal Ave - however there are good pockets outside of those boundaries and a couple of less desirable pockets within.

I ll assume you ll be either buying or renting a single family home so will leave apartment areas out of mix unless you say otherwise.

Some good subdivisions (in no particular order)

Villago
McCartney Ranch (Has elementary school in subdivision and high school across street)
Mission Valley
Arroyo Vista
G Diamond Ranch (this is right across street from Elementary and Middle school with a CHARTER high school (Legacy) in the subdivision)

Mission Royale is a very nice subdivision with water park included and is directly across the street from the large mall with movie theatre etc. Problem here is NO schools close - you ll have to go about 5 miles to get to the nearest high school and elementary schools. They are going through process to put a charter HS in here but it will be awhile.

Basically any houses built in the last 10 years are going to be in a decent area.

If you have specific questions feel free to post...

Best to you! You can still get a lot of house for your money down here...but competition is hot right now, as elsewhere.

[imartin26]

I guess another really big question is where are you going to be working/commuting to daily?

[sh9730]

I martin,

I skipped that question because the OP already lives in Mesa and was specifically asking about CG. So I assume they were looking for more detailed information in this case, rather than commute stuff, since they are already familiar with the area....

[tancee]

Thank you for the info Sh. Any idea which high school is better? Is Vista Grande a newer school?

I would rent first to get a feel for the area. I hope some of these nice communities will have something available.

[sh9730]

Yes, Vista Grande is the newer school (like 3 years now I think?) - it is combined with a city library. The Charter HS in town is the Mission Heights Prep on Cottonwood - that one just opened this year.

To go to that high school you ll want to be in some of the subdivions east of Peart Road - Monterra is one of them, and then Mission Royale that I mentioned earlier. Not sure if Mission Valley kids go to Vista Grande or CG Union...

The newer elementary schools though are on the north end of town - McCartney Ranch and then Villago Middle - both very good schools - but if you lived near those kids would go to CG Union instead of Vista Grande.

You should be able to find rentals in town (check Craigslist) - for about 800-1000 a month depending on the home and area....

The main thing is unless budget is a real issue is to try and stay out of the older "core" areas from Cottonwood south to the railroad tracks and then west of Trekell Road. These are the homes from the 40s and 50s and lots of apartments in the area - so incomes are a little lower. Although when compared to the worst areas of Mesa or South Phx, they arent bad at all....and there are some nicer newer areas on the west side of Pinal Ave near Korsten....just dont go south of McMurray over there....

[tancee]

I thought so, Greatschools didn't have much info on it. I wonder if their low rating is because of them being fairly new. How is Casa Grande High?

I've been checking craigslist. I can do a 4 bedroom, but a 5 would be much better. I'll keep checking since I am not in a hurry. They newer homes are affordable so, I will keep checking into those.


Thanks again for your help!

[sh9730]

No problem. I didnt have kids in the schools here, although I have a sis in law who is an Asst Principal at one of the Middle Schools. The HS are seperate district though. From what I understand they arent the best, but not horrible either. There is a little bit of drama with the HS school board and the Superintendent recently - he resigned, so they are looking for a new one now. I ve always thought greatschools is like any internet forum (even as awesome as C-D is) - you have to take some of the comments with a grain of salt. NO way to know how active the PARENTS were in their childs education etc. But we DONT want this thread to get off on that tangent.

I was driving tonight and forgot about a few more nicer subdivisions that are family type areas:

Ironwood Commons, Kensington, Wildwood, and Cottonwood Ranch. Add those to your list of possibilities.

Now, you might save some money if you are willing to go way up into the north end of town (Along the north end of Pinal Ave if you are looking at a map). There are some nice houses in:

Avalon
Ghost Ranch
Copper Vista
Countrywalk Estates

But then you ll be 3 miles to the closest grocery store and 5 miles to CG Union, McCartney Ranch elementary and Villago middle.

BTW, will you be working in town? Its not like this place is THAT big...but if you lived in one of the northern communities and worked in the mall, it would be a good 15 minute drive....CG is a BIG place land wise...goes from exit 185 on I 10 to exit 198 (13 miles) and its also about 10 miles wide east to west....

[tancee]

My husband would be working in town. Is the commute to Maricopa from there an easy one? There are a lot of larger homes in Maricopa and we would be closer to the bigger cities. I have a daughter that would be attending MCC that would need to commute. My son has been taking computer aide and design classes in his current school. I see that the schools in Casa Grande or Maricopa do not offer this. So we need to weigh our option on where to live. Either way someone will have to commute.

[sh9730]

Tancee,

Well, as far as the commute into CG from Maricopa - its not quite as close as people think to Casa Grande - depending on exactly where in Maricopa to where in CG it can be an easy 30+ mins or more. There is only one road between the two (CG-Maricopa Hwy) and its a two laner so....

Also, its only about 5 extra mins from CG into most areas up in the metro area....for example to the MCC campuses in Phoenix there is only a 5 min difference according to google maps (again depends on exactly from where in each city.

Im not anti-Maricopa - I considered buying there when I moved here in 08.....but its just there is so much less in that city so far. They ARE building a movie theatre/bowling alley/entertainment complex near the Harrahs casino which should be done this fall, and they do have a walmart now etc... But no hospital, no home depot, FAR less restaraunts etc.... so basically from there you end up driving out of town for more things, whereas in CG there is a lot more in town.

But I ve never bought the argument that commutes from Maricopa are considerably better than from CG. CG has I 10 access (which is being widened right now - unfortunately not between CG and Chandler though - but at least in town here it will be 3 lanes each way).

Let me know if I can help anymore. But yeah, you arent going to find all the options for schools here (yet) that you will up in the metro area....just not big enough here yet to offer all things...