Please tell me about Anthem area (Phoenix, Mesa: sales, apartments, power lines)

[thormoose]

My family and I are considering a move back to Arizona after many years in Pennsylvania (where we are originally from). Shortly after my husband and I were married we moved to Scottsdale and my husband finished up school at ASU. We did not have any children at the time so when we lived out there it was more from the perspective of a young married/single viewpoint. I remember Scottsdale being nice...a little snobby, but nice nonetheless. After many years of living in Pennsylvania now, we think we might need a change and are considering a move back to AZ. Because we have two children now, a family oriented community is of the outmost importance. We are not interested in raising the kids in an LA-ish community so Scottsdale is definitely out. What I would like to know is what is Anthem like? I have heard that it's a nice family community, but any input would help greatly. Also, do you have any other ideas of nice small communities that aren't focused too much on material things...I mean just nice, normal communities with nice normal people....is that too much to ask? HA! Thanks!

[hts]

I'll offer my two cents on this one.

A little bit of background on us: early 40's, two boys, currently 6 & 7. We started off in DC (N. VA suburbs) and decided to leave DC shortly after 9/11 (our boys were 0 & 1 then). After much research, we settled on Chapel Hill and moved there in the spring of 02. I was promoted/transferred out West and basically negotiated a deal that we could live anywhere out there, even though my mgt preferred either the Bay area or Socal. Once we confirmed what we already knew (we couldn't afford San Diego county), we proceeded to look at Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, Vegas and Phoenix. We took two house-hunting trips to Phx and focused exclusively on Scottsdale, as that's where we 'knew' we wanted to be based upon our perceptions and on-line research. We looked at DCR, MMR, Greyhawk, Desert Ridge (was just starting), etc., and came away unimpressed. On my way down to Phx for our second trip (I had been in SF on business and my wife was in CH with our boys of course, so we flew down separately and met there), I sat next to a guy and we made small talk (I rarely speak to strangers on airplanes) and I told him I was meeting my wife there for a house-hunting trip. He told me he lived in Anthem and we should check it out. I had never heard of Anthem before, and when he told me about it, I knew we'd never be interested in anything that far out. So after 1.5 days of our second house hunting trip and we still hadn't seen anything we liked, we decided to drive up to Anthem to see if we'd be interested in renting up there. That would give us a chance to get to town, the boys would have lots of activities and meet lots of folks, while we continued to look around the valley.

We knew within 5 minutes of taking the Anthem exit that we were in a community unlike any in the US. We've both traveled quite extensively, both as children and as adults (I was an AF brat; she was in the Army), and neither of us have ever seen a community like Anthem. I'm convinced that Del Webb over-developed (i.e., invested way more then necessary in order to develop the community and sell houses) Anthem. We fell in love with the place and finally (there was so much demand and so little supply, they actually had a lottery system) were fortunate enough to purchase.

To make a long story short, I took another promotion/transfer with my company back to DC (ugh!), but we kept our home (currently leasing it) and plan to move back there next Summer ('09). My understanding is that the community continues to mature, the schools continue to progress, and of course businesses have moved in to support the town. We can't wait to move back. Personally, we've bought into the Anthem concept hook, line, and sinker, much the same as most folks who have actually experienced it (the haters haven't set foot in Anthem and can't understand what all the excitement is about). It's an easy 30 minute drive to Scottsdale (outside of rush hours), and maybe 45 to the airport (early morning or after evening rush hours, which is when I tend to go/return).

We actually think the somewhat 'remote' location is a positive, as we don't want to be on top of every other suburb that continues to grow out from Phx.

Anyway, I think you're doing your family a tremendous service by checking it out at least. I wish you the very best!

Originally Posted by thormoose

My family and I are considering a move back to Arizona after many years in Pennsylvania (where we are originally from). Shortly after my husband and I were married we moved to Scottsdale and my husband finished up school at ASU. We did not have any children at the time so when we lived out there it was more from the perspective of a young married/single viewpoint. I remember Scottsdale being nice...a little snobby, but nice nonetheless. After many years of living in Pennsylvania now, we think we might need a change and are considering a move back to AZ. Because we have two children now, a family oriented community is of the outmost importance. We are not interested in raising the kids in an LA-ish community so Scottsdale is definitely out. What I would like to know is what is Anthem like? I have heard that it's a nice family community, but any input would help greatly. Also, do you have any other ideas of nice small communities that aren't focused too much on material things...I mean just nice, normal communities with nice normal people....is that too much to ask? HA! Thanks!

[AZ Tracy]

There is another Anthem Ranch now : Anthem at Merrill Ranch This community is in Pinal County, near Florence. It is in the early stages of development. Right now it feels like it is in the middle of nowhere, and not very easy to get to. But, in a few years...who knows? I remember when Ahwatukee was first being developed, people thought that was a crazy place to build.

[ILuvAZ]

We visited Anthem North several times during its first few years because friends of ours built out there. The community was nice but didn't impress me enough to want to move out there. I don't feel the need to give up living near entertainments in my community like movies, shopping, restaurants, etc to have a clubhouse and a kid train in my neighborhood. I don't need a gym in the hood because I have one in my house and if I got a wild hair there are are 3 within a 2 mile radius of me.

Because my husband really wanted to move near his friend we made a whole hearted attempt to find a house but could never, not even on the gated side, find a floorplan that we would have built. They told us eventually they would open custom lots near the mountains but at that time it was years away and we just weren't excited enough to keep checking in to it. I have heard also its going downhill a bit(from people who live there).

Don't even get me started on Anthem at Merrill. If you've bought in to the anthem sales pitch buy north NOT Florence.

[PhxBarb]

You can find the same kid friendly, nice people neighborhoods in Gilbert with a whole lot more shopping, entertainment, and housing that doesn't all look the same! Anthem is nice but the trip up there on the freeway can be a nightmare. They need an 8 lane hiway to get there which isn't going to happen too soon I think.

[az4good]

We lived in Anthem for 3 1/2 (2002 - 2005) years before we left AZ. We were "converted" by my husband's boss at the time who lived up there. I liked it while we were there, but at the time there wasn't much around. Now with the shopping at Happy Valley life would be much easier. With a 6 month old baby in a new state it was easy to meet moms. But there was nothing west of 17 and Daisy Mtn Rd. didn't exist then so it was a much smaller community. When we were thinking of moving back to AZ there were many reasons why we decided not to move back to Anthem. These were the biggest ones.

1. The commute. It was awful for my husband to go into Phoenix or Tempe. If we dared to leave to go down 17 on the weekend we could almost guarantee an accident on the way home and sitting for over an hour. Especially in the summer when everyone is escaping north.

2. The schools. I was glad to leave before my son was kindergarten age. I was and still am very unimpressed with Deer Valley schools as a whole. The private schools were no better and the only other options were religious.

3. Overbuilt. I still have a good friend in Anthem and going up there I was shocked at how much more they have built. All those apartments just east of 17 and then the homes to the west of 17. I don't see how the community amenities are going to support that many people. The community center isn't that big and the parks had vandalism issues when I was there which was when there were a lot less people.

Overall, I'm extremely happy we decided against Anthem the second go around in AZ. For us the cons far outweighed any pros we could come up with. If we ever decide to go back to living in a master planned community it will be the DC Ranch/McDowell Mtn. Ranch area.

[hts]

As I suspected, there sure are a lot of haters out there. Last time I checked, there was *nothing* special about Gilbert/Chandler/Mesa. It's one big grid. Bordering on Phoenix, another big grid. Hwy 60 is nothing to brag about during rush hours, and I dare say the commute to/from Scottsdale is roughly the same as it is from Anthem. I dare anyone to suggest one master-planned community in the East Valley (or anywhere in the Valley--we looked at DCR, Greyhawk, Desert Ridge, Estrella, Verrado, Vistancia, etc. before buying in Anthem) that offers comparable amenities to Anthem, including a large, reasonably-priced gated section with two 18-hole golf courses and reasonably priced country clubs. While we didn't fall in love with any of the models in the Club side, we did like the Rochester (the biggest, at around 4300 sq ft on one level) enough to buy it. We really bought into Anthem for the community and the fact that we knew our kids would enjoy it and be safe/nurtured there. So what if we saw a floor plan we liked better in DC Ranch (we did, but it was 1.2m at the time and backed to above-ground power lines).

[vegaspilgrim]

Originally Posted by hts

(the haters haven't set foot in Anthem and can't understand what all the excitement is about). It's an easy 30 minute drive to Scottsdale (outside of rush hours), and maybe 45 to the airport (early morning or after evening rush hours, which is when I tend to go/return).

It's not that people hate Anthem itself, it's the fact that the entire subdivision is wedded to I-17. I wouldn't call the drive down to the core of Phoenix, whether it's an off-hours drive or a commute, an "easy drive." That's simply a lie. You say the master planned communities in the East Valley are nothing to brag about; well Anthem is nice but it's nothing to brag about either. Even with all that remote and cheap land up there, the homes are still pretty close together-- at least in the "normal" Anthem. Out of curiosity, do you live in the Anthem Country Club or the Anthem Parkside?

[nitram]

Check this out first. This situation is not unusual in Anthem.
The Miller Law Firm - Online Press - Largest Construction Defect Suits Filed in Arizona History

[ILuvAZ]

Originally Posted by hts

As I suspected, there sure are a lot of haters out there. Last time I checked, there was *nothing* special about Gilbert/Chandler/Mesa. It's one big grid. Bordering on Phoenix, another big grid. Hwy 60 is nothing to brag about during rush hours, and I dare say the commute to/from Scottsdale is roughly the same as it is from Anthem. I dare anyone to suggest one master-planned community in the East Valley (or anywhere in the Valley--we looked at DCR, Greyhawk, Desert Ridge, Estrella, Verrado, Vistancia, etc. before buying in Anthem) that offers comparable amenities to Anthem, including a large, reasonably-priced gated section with two 18-hole golf courses and reasonably priced country clubs. While we didn't fall in love with any of the models in the Club side, we did like the Rochester (the biggest, at around 4300 sq ft on one level) enough to buy it. We really bought into Anthem for the community and the fact that we knew our kids would enjoy it and be safe/nurtured there. So what if we saw a floor plan we liked better in DC Ranch (we did, but it was 1.2m at the time and backed to above-ground power lines).

Are you trying to say my kids aren't safe/nurtured in my Gilbert neighborhood? Lol. Are you saying we don't have a sense of community here? I beg to differ on those points. We are just as safe/nurtured and with just as much community as you have in Anthem.

I am not "hating" on Anthem, I am saying for me it suits me more to live in an area with more sorrounding it that does not only have one road out. To me having a club house, train and whatever else might be there is not all that important because I have all that and more right here sorrounding me, including the golf. I don't see anything extra special about Anthem to make me want to move there. If you do... then great!