Trees (Phoenix, Surprise, Oro Valley: HOA, new home, neighborhoods)

[rksrl]

Are mature trees able to maintain themselves over the summer or do they need water from either homeowners or city?What type of tree is most abundent?

[Ponderosa]

Some trees grow faster than others. The Chilean Mesquite grows like a weed if it is watered. A big mesquite can provide a lot of shade, but they are messy. A lovely shade tree that grows extremely fast is the sisu aka Indian Rosewood (dalbergia sisu, I believe). I think it must be the "city tree" of Goodyear, because they are planted everywhere along streets and in parking lots. It gets very large though so might not be good on the typical sub-division lot. They take a hit but recover from a bad freeze quickly as I learned this year.

[rksrl]

Originally Posted by silverbear

I agree that NCP would be a good choice, but I also agree that it would be hard to buy much more than a toolshed there for $350K. Arcadia and McCormick Ranch also come to mind. Both have abundant mature trees, but the same price issues would exist there. The challenge is that home prices are generally lowest in the outer suburbs, but those are newly developed areas with desert landscaping and few mature trees.

Great info,thanks everyone.I liked McCormick Ranch after a quick look on Realtor.Is 85258 too small to cover this area?

[silverbear]

Originally Posted by rksrl

Great info,thanks everyone.I liked McCormick Ranch after a quick look on Realtor.Is 85258 too small to cover this area?

That zip gets you all of McCormick Ranch plus the adjacent neighborhoods of Gainey Ranch and Scottsdale Ranch. Here's a good map of the neighborhood:

McCormick Ranch Map A01 (broken link)

[Lovegun]

Originally Posted by rksrl

Hi,
I would like to move west,maybe next year,maybe 09.
Phoenix at the moment is top of the short list.In your opinion which city,town, area wihin a 40 mile radius would suit my family best based on these three concerns.:
We need great public schools and a neighborhood where kids can meet and play with friends on the street safely.
We realize there is not as many trees in phoenix as eastern U.S. but would like to have trees around house and in the neighborhood.
Would like to come home from work to an area thats cooler and cools off faster in the evening than Phoenix in general.Maybe the west side of a hill,mountain so it would get shade late afternoon.
We would like to buy a house less than 350k,is all this unavailable?
Thanks in advance,
Rich.

Please come vist Phoenix in the middle of July before you make your decision. Tree's won't grow big like they do in the east and you'll find out it can be very hot at night even in the summer so it can be hard to cool off. It will get dark at an earlier time compared to the east in the summer as well.

Right now, home prices are dropping and we have lot of foreclosures. In 2009, I would say you should be able to get something decent for around 200K.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Anyone know how long my Oak trees will take to grow? Just wondering. Thinking I should have some nice shade in the next 30 or 40 years.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Anyone know how long my Oak trees will take to grow? Just wondering. Thinking I should have some nice shade in the next 30 or 40 years.

Sounds promising... You'll be all set for retirement! Then again, I don't know how old you are, so perhaps your offspring will enjoy the shade.

[xwideopenskyx]

Originally Posted by rksrl

Hi,
I would like to move west,maybe next year,maybe 09.
Phoenix at the moment is top of the short list.In your opinion which city,town, area wihin a 40 mile radius would suit my family best based on these three concerns.:
We need great public schools and a neighborhood where kids can meet and play with friends on the street safely.
We realize there is not as many trees in phoenix as eastern U.S. but would like to have trees around house and in the neighborhood.
Would like to come home from work to an area thats cooler and cools off faster in the evening than Phoenix in general.Maybe the west side of a hill,mountain so it would get shade late afternoon.
We would like to buy a house less than 350k,is all this unavailable?
Thanks in advance,
Rich.

Oro Valley north of Tucson is a great place to live. It meets all of your requirements, except for location. You will be cooler at a higher elevation and get more rain (no snow) than the Phoenix area. Which in turn will provide you with many large mesquite and palo verde trees plus others for wonderful shade. Tucson has plenty of jobs.

Oro Valley is an upscale community located right next to the glorious Santa Catalina Mountains. Not sure what your line of work is but one of the major employers in the Tucson area is located in Oro Valley - Honeywell.

You will get more for your money here than you will anywhere in the Phoenix area. You can buy a great house for well under 350k and a condo/townhouse for half that price. The major real estate company here is longrealty.com you can see photos of different properties.

It only took me 6 weeks to find a job in my field once I got here without any contacts. It took me months in Ohio to find something suitable. So, at least from my experience the economy is very good here. Phoenix isn't the only place with all the good jobs but being as large as it is, it does provide more employment opportunities.

I originally had Phoenix on top of my list also until I visited Tucson. Come out for a visit and explore as much of AZ as you can and I urge you to experience 110-120 temps in the Phoenix area during July and August. I live at an elevation of 2700 feet and trust me it's hot enough as it is, I couln't imagine living in h*lls kitchen. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Anyone know how long my Oak trees will take to grow? Just wondering. Thinking I should have some nice shade in the next 30 or 40 years.

They grow comparatively slowly. I have two in the yard that have grown maybe 3 feet in 10 years. They are about 20' tall. Two fast growers - the sisu that I mentioned and the tipuana tipu. Tipu is very pretty with yellow-orange flowers in the fall.

[sablebaby]

I have a sissoo tree in my front yard and it's pretty big. It shades our front pretty nicely. I believe it grows 4-10 ft per year.