Prescott job opening (Prescott Valley, Chino Valley: condo, home, to buy)

[landsharkviki]

I currently live in Grand Junction, CO. I am an avid cyclist. I bought a beautiful home kind of before the market jumped. I am tired of the redneck, bike haters that live here. My near death run in last week, is the final straw. Also, St. Mary's is not all it was sold to be. Once they get you here, the honeymoon is over. There are no other viable alternatives in town, so they treat you that way. I love the great outdoors, Prescott has a job opening and I just submitted the application today. Is is possible to buy a home for around $200K or less? In a non-meth part of town. All small rural towns have meth problems, face it. I work in the med. field, No, I am not a RN, don't make that kind of $$$. I am a Surg. tech. the cheaper alternative to the nursing shortage. Any suggestions of great outdoor type towns?? Love the heat, don't care for the cold, but like the mountain type communities, road as well as mt bikeing are my passions. I am single, don't need the night life
All suggestions helpful. Thinking about Kerrville, Texas also. hmmm........

[JayKayEm]

I doubt you'll find a home in Prescott for $200,000... housing is expensive here! You would have to look in the towns further away like Chino Valley or Prescott Valley. But if you live there, biking to work is out of the question, there are no bike lanes, traffic is horrific during rush hour and bicyles are not liked on the road... trust me, I know from experience! And those towns are dusty, windy and flat as a plate. If you only bicycle for fun on the weekends you can go out of town to ride or go into the mountain forests. There is a bicycling club in town... you see them on the roads going out of town on the weekends.

JayKayEm

[Gretchen B]

We call it the "tri-cities" (Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley). All the towns are within 10 miles of each other, and it's pretty hard to tell where Prescott ends and Prescott Valley starts.

As was mentioned, Prescott home prices are much higher than PV or CV. You can get new construction in either for $200k. Won't be a huge home (about 1200+/- sf). Actually quite a selection between $200k-$220k.

I think you'd really like our area. Weather is pretty similar to GJ, except we don't get as hot in the summer. Winter we get a few snows from Dec - Feb that usually melt within the day. Lots of hiking/bike trails around, too.

There's the new hospital in PV. Any chance you'd be there? Otherwise biking from PV to Prescott wouldn't be very feasible. About the only thing in Prescott in your price range would be either a condo or a mfg'd home.

I think our area would definitely be worth looking into. I don't know anything about Kerrville, but I would assume housing in Texas would be much cheaper.

[bb5745]

Wow Landshark, we should be pooling our resources. I am looking at relocating and my choices have been narrowed down to Prescott and Kerrville/Boerne/hill country TX. How ironic.

I am also an outdoorsy type (and casual cyclist) which plays a big part in my decision. Leaning towards AZ for hiking and cooler climate. Leaning towards TX for more water/rivers for kayaking/rafting. AZ for more scenic cycling. AZ for more centralized scenic camping opportunities....

I can't speak to the general attitude towards cyclists though. I used to live in Austin, and consequently spent a lot of time in hill country and know there are some beautiful places to cycle in the area. Jump over the Texas forum and you'll find a recent thread on cycling in the Boerne area, I believe. Never cycled in AZ, as I've only visited a handful of times, but the scenery of AZ clearly beats TX for dramatic views and landscapes...

I know that you can get a whole lot more for your money in Kerrville area than Prescott.

You love the heat, don't care for the cold, then TX might be better for you, however, Grand Junction and Prescott probably have similar climate patterns being at mountain elevation, so you might know what you're getting in to. They don't get the cold in the winter in Kerrville area like the mountain climate of Prescott/GJ and have more humid summers.

Just a question: have you been to Kerrville? I visited earlier this summer for the first time in about 5 years and honestly was very dissapointed. It seems to have gone downhill. The downtown was like a ghost town - most businesses were closed, and it seemed like the city wasn't doing much to rejuvinate the town. My impression of Prescott after several visits was that there was much more going on culturally - nice restaurants, art galleries, a few bars with live music, etc... You might want to check out Boerne, TX if you're considering Kerrville. There seems to be more of the things I listed above, going on in Boerne than Kerrville. I'm not single, and don't need the 'night life' like you mentioned, but want to live in a vibrant area where there's some options for fun!

Send me a PM if you have more questions or want more info....