Sonoran Foothills vs. Anthem Parkside (Phoenix, Scottsdale: power lines, custom home, new construction)

[dgfurman]

They're both MPCs on the north side, but of course, Anthem is a bit further out. It does, however from what I can see, have better amenities. My question is - for people that know that area pretty well, are there definate advantages to live in one of these MPCs vs. the other?

I don't know if the commute time from SF is that much less than from Anthem. Or if the amenities in SF are so good that you really don't wouldn't miss what they have at Anthem. Which is closer to good shopping/restaurants/hospitals etc?

I think we've narrowed things down to the north side (as far as an MPC is concerned) due to the proximity of things we like to do up north, and Scottsdale just south. Would Vistancia be in the running even tho it's more NW?

[JoePAz]

I live in Anthem and know the area quite well.

I am not sure of what amenties are in Sonoran Foothills so I can't really compare. Back when I was looking for homes SF was just being started and choose what I felt was more kid and family friend Anthem. As for the commute. I would guess 5 minutes more for Anthem in general, but alot depends on where in each community and how many side streets it takes to get there.

[Great Joy]

I think Anthem is great; beautiful mountains and lake, amazing amenities, nice established MPC with schools, shopping, etc, and still has new construction occurring. It would have been "in the running" for us, but it was just a little too far for my husband's commute to work as well as the I-17 traffic to/from there. Others here have shared that AZ is planning an additional route, so that is good to hear. If you choose Anthem, be sure to check if the home has a foundation problem as there is an issue with soil in that area. Please know there are many areas in AZ with soil issues, so Anthem is not alone. We have several friends who used to live there, and they have only good things to say about Anthem. One of our friends (live next door to us here) lived for quite a few years in Anthem. During the housing boom, they sold their original home in Anthem. They then bought two new homes, one in Anthem and one in Vistancia. With the downturn in the market, they could only keep one. Choosing which home and MPC was a very difficult decision for them. They ended up keeping the one in Vistancia, but they still love both MPCs.

About Sonoran Foothills, we haven't been there so it's difficult to compare. I looked at their website. It looks nice, and looks to be a "real" MPC with the amenities and organized community events. The nature pics look like it is located in a beautiful desert area, but the mountains are shown in the distance. To compare, Anthem and Vistancia are right next to mountains. According to the master plan, SF looks like it is in an earlier stage of development because it looks to be just homes right now with proposed land areas for an elementary school, retail center, etc. Anthem has retail and school(s?) already established. Vistancia has one elementary school currently with another elementary planned for late 2009/early 2010. A Vistancia high school is also in the future plan. Loads of shops and restaurants have recently opened both outside and inside Vistancia with even more to open soon. Since we didn't consider SF during our house hunting, I'm unable to say if soil is an issue there. In my opinion, SF is in a good location just north of Phoenix and has a good group of different builders. I especially like Toll Brothers and TW Lewis if you can afford them.

About Vistancia, I would include that in your search as well. We live in Vistancia and love it. Great schools, programs, and parent involvement. Caring community. For example, one child was recently seriously hurt and is still in the hospital. Residents have established a bank acct for donations as well as other fundraising efforts, meal making, prayers, etc for that family. Another example is that residents have sent multiple shipments to Iraq for the family members serving there. We have a fire department and in the future we will have a regional medical center built nearby. Lots of new shopping/restaurants. New city park and community parks. 3 pools with water slides; 4th opening soon. Dancing water fountain. Lookout tower. Solar Garden. Miles of paved walking/biking paths. Lighted tennis courts. Indoor gymnasium. Multiple clubhouses. Golf courses. Custom homes and lots. 10+ builders so lots of architecture and floor plans. Soil is good; low risk area of AZ. Close to Lake Pleasant. Lake Pleasant Parkway was just completed, so there is now easy access to the 101 and the Phoenix core from here. Happy Valley is being further expanded now allowing another option going further east. The "303" currently gives us a great route south, and in the future the northern section of the "303" will be done providing another additional route going north and east. Great events; Easter Eggstravaganza, Oktoberfest, and Winter Wonderland (with tons of snow for sledding) to name a few. With all the activities and events to choose from, our circle of friends all around the community has grown fast and still continues to grow.

I can tell you that both Anthem and Vistancia are top rated MPCs that have won multiple awards including national ones. Both are beautiful with amazing amenities and great quality of life. Sonoran Foothills also looks great. So I think choosing any of them would be a good choice. I recommend spending at least a day at each of them checking out the homes, amenities, and talking with some residents. Best wishes!

[JoePAz]

Originally Posted by Great Joy

I think Anthem is great; beautiful mountains and lake, amazing amenities, nice established MPC with schools, shopping, etc, and still has new construction occurring.

Anthem was started in 1999 and therefore has well established retail and schools. There is 1 high school and 3 elementary schools. Also there two supermarkets (Fry's & Safeway) and Walmat has food. There are also a decient seletion of local dinning.

ANTHEM however does NOT have much new construction. It is only in a very limited area and most of it is not the most desireable area of Anthem. Anthem Arroyo Grande is the new build area and this strangly isolated from the rest of Anthem. The best way to move into Anthem is to look at resale homes. You can find starter homes under 200k to 5000 Sqft "mini resorts" at 750k+ in the resale market plus alot of choice in between.

[trefive]

I live in Anthem and I too love it. Sure, I-17 gets backed up at certain times, but they are working on it. People like to make it out like it's so far, but it really isn't. Anything you could need is either in Anthem, Tramonto or a 10 minute drive to Happy Valley. Once the market comes back (whenever that is) and I-17 is somewhat completed by 2009 I see the I-17 cooridor and Anthem as being hot areas.

[dgfurman]

Thanks everyone - that really helps clarify a few things. I didn't realize that Arroyo Grande was kind of separated, and will look at the resales more closely. I really liked what I saw about Vistancia too, altho it's a little more west and I figured not as easy access to Scottsdale or Sedona. But ultimately it will depend a lot on how we feel about things once we start driving around the areas.

[hts]

I don't remember, but is Vistancia the MPC that has above-ground power lines? That was one of the things we absolutely HATED about Greyhawk and DC Ranch. What an eyesore.

[Great Joy]

Vistancia has under-ground power lines, which I'm glad about because I think above-ground are an eyesore too. I'm happy that the developer took that into consideration when they built the community. There are some above-ground power lines outside the community and south of it, that don't impact any of our beautiful mountain views.

[hts]

That's GREAT news, thanks for clarifying. I'm prolly confusing Vistancia with some other MPC, as we looked at it right when it was in its infancy back in 2003/2004. I thought maybe there was a big power sub-station or something with large above-ground towers on the main drag into the community, but I'm prolly confusing it with another one.

Originally Posted by Great Joy

Vistancia has under-ground power lines, which I'm glad about because I think above-ground are an eyesore too. I'm happy that the developer took that into consideration when they built the community. There are some above-ground power lines outside the community and south of it, that don't impact any of our beautiful mountain views.

[StillLookingToo]

For new Anthem construction, in addition to Arroyo Grand which is out there, Pulte is filling in with some new construction on land near the old Parkside model homes right in the middle of Anthem.