Taking a good look at Anthem (scorpion, snow, outside)

[NJBuddy]

Originally Posted by AZJoeD

Yes, when it comes to "Anthem" you need to make a distinction between the Anthem community in the north valley (zipcodes 85086 & 85087) and other Anthem communities. The one in Florence is Anthem at Merrill Ranch.

Anthem is a brand name used by Del Webb to identify a number of communities throughout the southwest, much like the Sun City brand name. It can get confusing to someone not from the area.

Is that the same Del Webb that had the construction issues?
Can't wait to check out Lake Pleasant when we get there!...

[observer53]

Originally Posted by NJBuddy

Is that the same Del Webb that had the construction issues?
Can't wait to check out Lake Pleasant when we get there!...

It's the same company, but they changed the procedures that led to those issues in the original Anthem by, if I recall from the documents, 2003. Del Webb generally has a good reputation, even though it is not exactly the same company that started building the Sun Cities decades ago. They started out with retirement communities like Sun City, then developed the Anthem brand as a planned community for families. In 2001, after they started the original Anthem, they were bought by another home builder, Pulte Homes. The Del Webb name continued.

[TonyBalogna]

Ive lived in Anthem for almost 2 years now, here are my thoughts.

PROS:
For a family, it is about as perfect as it gets. It has an AWESOME community park with the biggest jungle gym Ive ever seen. Kids will love it. Train rides, fishing, every sport you can imagine played there, its a really great park.

Shopping wise you have everything you need. There is an outlet mall across the street from Wal Mart. The closest movie theater is only a 10 minute drive south.

Its very quiet and friendly here.

It's a little cooler here than down in Phoenix, but not by much. We actually had some light snowfall here a couple years ago.

CONS:
There is no place to go out to eat. Only fast food and small places to go in and grab a bite. No real sit down restaurants. But the closest ones are a 10 minute drive by the movie theater.

Wildlife. If you are not a fan of critters you should probably get into the city some. Scorpions are a huge problem where I live in Anthem. Snakes, coyotes, javelinas, tarantulas, bobcats, I've seen them all wandering around our neighborhood, which makes it a little nerve racking going for a walk at night, or just walking down to get the mail.

HOA. They can be a pain. And if you have one of THOSE types of neighbors, then they are a HUGE pain. Neighbors in Anthem are very nosey. Remember the neighbors in the movie Edward Sissorhands? They're like that. It's really annoying.

All in all, its a nice place to live. Great for kids. There are a ton of kids in Anthem so making friends is easy, and there are parks all over the place. And by a lot of kids, I mean on Halloween prepare for having 200+ trick or treaters coming to your door. I am not a fan of the heat, or of the HOA (I have a neighbor who I don't get along with, so he calls the HOA on me CONSTANTLY.) So I am looking to move up to Flagstaff. You should look into renting a house in Anthem for a year and seeing how you like it.

[NJBuddy]

Please correct me if I'm wrong. Scorpions and trantulas are all over. My friend in Fountain hills has Javelinas , bobcats and rattlers.... Deadlys are pretty much everywhere, some places more than others.
We're also looking into Desert Ridge, but Anthem is my first choice

[observer53]

Scorpions are found in parts of all areas of the Valley, but they are not "everywhere". The only tarantula I've seen in over 50 years here was walking across Highway 77 in southeast Arizona. There are other spiders around, but the odds of a tarantula in your house?? VERY long.

[liz451]

Originally Posted by NJBuddy

Please correct me if I'm wrong. Scorpions and trantulas are all over. My friend in Fountain hills has Javelinas , bobcats and rattlers.... Deadlys are pretty much everywhere, some places more than others.
We're also looking into Desert Ridge, but Anthem is my first choice

Scorpions and tarantulas are not all over. I grew up here and didn't see a scorpion until I was 14 because I never lived in desert areas or near construction. I've never seen a tarantula in the wild or near my home. Most of how much wildlife you see will depend on how close you are to the "wild". If you have open desert a mile from you then yes you (or your neighbors) will probably see a mountain lion or snakes at some point. Or if you back up to a mountain preserve, go on lots of hikes in the desert, etc.

Here's an article talking about a mountain lion sighting..this is quite far north in Scottsdale and even this made the news so it's not as common as it was 15-20 years ago due to all the growth the Valley has seen. I do recall friends who lived on the outskirts of the city near desert didn't leave their small dogs outside due to mountain lion concerns. If I was bordering the desert I'd do the same now.

Mountain lions sighted on Scottsdale golf course

[snowbird2B]

Well..we LOVE Anthem for all the reasons stated in this thread, even the HOA. They do seem a little strict, but for us, we prefer that than not having enforceable rules. We have had our house since February and had our hand slapped once already..left a piece of cardboard out on the driveway..but we removed it right away after the "warning"..and not another word.

I WAS going to say we haven't had any issues with wildlife..however, just today, my mom (lives in Anthem CC) saw a coyote crossing the street around noon today..and now my son (lives in Anthem Parkside) just called 15 minutes ago and while on a walk - on the sidewalk- came upon a Tarantula, even sent me a picture.

I still love the place..but I think I will be calling the pest control guy...sooner than later...

[johnp292]

I've seen 3 bark scorpions in the house in the last month. Killed two, one got away. But we do border the desert. I'm going to have to call one of those companies that seals up the house. We shake our shoes and clothes and check the beds at night now.

[TonyBalogna]

Ive lived in Arizona my entire life. And I lived off Happy Valley Rd and the I-17 since 1981. I lived there until 2007 and never once in my life saw a scorpion there. I moved to 43rd ave and Union Hills in 2007 - 2010, never a scorpion. In 2010 I moved to Anthem and at least once a week I would see a scorpion INSIDE my house. One day there was a few inside my house. Been stung a couple of times. All of my neighbors talk about the scorpions they constantly find. But....

If you do get Pest Control, get Burns Pest Control. The chemical they use actually kills scorpions. The pest control in Anthem, Titan, does not.

At the Home Depot nearby they sell a giant yellow jug that just said KILLS SCORPIONS. I've been spraying that around my entire house every couple of weeks, it hasn't 100% cured the problem, but it isn't as much of a problem as it was in the past. We also got a cat which I'm sure is also helping at keeping out unwanted pests.

[johnp292]

And yesterday I found a tarantula in the house!