Where are the "new growth areas" of Metro Phoenix? (Tucson: foreclose, new home)

[Scraper Enthusiast]

Where are the new growth areas of metro Phoenix? I realize that Phoenix sits in a valley (often touted as the "valley of the sun"), and that growth is expanding out throughout this valley, but I'm curious about the specific areas for new construction in the Phoenix area.

I was in the Phoenix area about six years ago, and it seemed like newer developed areas were newar Avondale, Buckeye, and Goodyear, as well as some on the very far north end of town. I remember that development pretty much backed up to the Indian reservation on the southend, and so there was little room for development there.

So how about it, Phoenix area residents? Can you tell me where the new growth is being directed?

[ccand3]

I live in Goodyear and the southwest valley is definately growing, slowing down a little, but still growing. Goodyear is in the process of developing a mall, baseball field (spring training for the Indians?), and a lot of new retail shops. Communities are still building new homes, but it looks like a lot of investors are trying to pull out of the newer areas. I might be biased because I live in the southwest valley, but I still it as the area that is really growing.

[ibarrio]

NW Valley out to Surprise.

Heard that Goodyear might pull the funding for the new baseball field due to the failing economy.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Even with the slowdown seems to be growth occuring in the North West corner of the valley in the city of Surprise. They are building our home right now in a new devlopment. This is occuring even though the area has a high concentration of forecloser homes. Many of the homes in the area were built since you visited. I can only use Surprise as an example because I am familar with it. Five years ago their were around 35,000 or so people living in Surprise. Now the city has grown to just over 100,000. Just south of our development is a master planned community, auto mall, and shopping mall that will be going in soon. That project is scheduled to begin this year and be completed by 2025. The mall is being compared to the Mall of America which is currently 2,765,000 square feet. The Surprise mall currently has 1,000,000 square feet of space reserved for future tenets and it won't be built for sometime. They figure that 20,000 people will eventually work in the mall. The Auto Mall has 10 brands that have signed up to open dealerships there. I don't live there yet, but we do visit quite a bit and will live there full time after the summer.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by ibarrio

NW Valley out to Surprise.

Heard that Goodyear might pull the funding for the new baseball field due to funding.

They are debating whether they will pay for a second team (Reds) or leave it at one. You can be sure once they have pretended to care about our tax burden, they will vote for building facilities for a second team. Little Ohio here!

Anyway, the fastest growing areas are in the west valley (all of it) and Pinal county in the east/SE. Eventually, Buckeye is supposed to be the biggest city (population) in the state. We'll see.

[vegaspilgrim]

Maricopa and Casa Grande have recently been turned into the latest satelite suburbs of Phoenix. Within the more built up East Valley, Chandler still some a little bit of growth going on the southern and eastern fringes (though it's mostly built out now), south/ east Gilbert has a lot of growth, Queen Creek, the Hunt Hwy/ Pinal County/ Florence corridor are all pretty fast growing. IIRC, East Mesa still has a lot of development left to go too.

[Scraper Enthusiast]

What made me think of this thread is that I live in metro Atlanta, which has grown like crazy on our end of the country (we added 151,000 residents to the metro last year), and yet Phoenix, a desert city, added about 140,000. It's hard to believe that metro Phoenix is now over four million residents. It's hard to believe that metro Atlanta is now almost 5.5 million residents.

If we ever have to move out west, in the order of avoiding southern California, where my wife's family is from, but still close enough to drive for a weekend, what is the average price of a 3 br, 2 ba home? We'd want a decent school district in an area that will be predominately white (not too kind to illegal aliens), and that won't lose much value in property. Places where trends are good.

Of course, I'm planning to stay in metro Atlanta, and it's a ninety percent chance that we will. However, if that ten percent chance happens, I'd like to be prepared.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Surprise is 71.8% white. I am moving from a city in So Cal that is 78% Hispanic. Homes in Surprise have taken a beeting allready in price. No knowledge if they will go down further although they could. You can buy a new 3 bedroom 2 bath 1,800 square foot home on a 100' x 50' lot for $159,000. Chances are you could find a forecloser property for even less. It takes us about 6 hours to drive from Surprise to the Coast in Ventura County.

[Great Joy]

Originally Posted by Scraper Enthusiast

What made me think of this thread is that I live in metro Atlanta, which has grown like crazy on our end of the country (we added 151,000 residents to the metro last year), and yet Phoenix, a desert city, added about 140,000. It's hard to believe that metro Phoenix is now over four million residents. It's hard to believe that metro Atlanta is now almost 5.5 million residents.

If we ever have to move out west, in the order of avoiding southern California, where my wife's family is from, but still close enough to drive for a weekend, what is the average price of a 3 br, 2 ba home? We'd want a decent school district in an area that will be predominately white (not too kind to illegal aliens), and that won't lose much value in property. Places where trends are good.

Of course, I'm planning to stay in metro Atlanta, and it's a ninety percent chance that we will. However, if that ten percent chance happens, I'd like to be prepared.

We moved from Altanta (actually Suwanee) about 3 yrs ago, so I know what you mean about fast growth. When we lived there, Forsyth county was the fastest growing county in the US and all the kids attending school in the temporary trailers proved it. I miss GA's beauty, but now love AZ too. I don't miss Atlanta's traffic though. Phoenix's traffic is much better. The growth here apparently is more spread out because we sure don't have the crazy temp school trailers.

The average price of a home here can vary widely depending upon location, house type, builder, yard size, and development. The range for 3bd 2bath could be anywhere from $160K to $700K or more. Lot sizes are often smaller here than in GA. To get into a decent school area, you would need to spend $200K+; however, that level is questionable now with the current housing mkt.

Cost of living is higher in AZ than in GA. Homes, land, restaurant food, and almost everything I've noticed is more expensive. I think it may have something to do with Californians bringing more money with them when they relocate and visit here. We have many CA friends, so that is not meant at all to be negative; it's just my guess.

In my opinion, anywhere on the outskirts of Phoenix are good trend places, some more than others. The local newpapers have written "growth" articles about the land between Phoenix and Tucson, Goodyear, Buckeye, Surprise, northern Peoria, and the area north of Phoenix. We chose northern Peoria, and are very glad we did. Best wishes to you!