What's not to like about Prescott? (Phoenix, Prescott Valley: mortgage, broker, new home)

[Yggdrasil]

I have been on contract in Europe for 4 years now and I am looking forward to moving back to the good ole US next year.

I have lived in the Pacific Northwest, California, and Florida and only visited Arizona a few times. I did not care for Phoenix mutch..

Tucson was too hot....and it reminded me of Iraq with all the continuous border patrols running on the highways to the south.

However, once I started traveling north, from Lordsburg New Mexico up through highway 180 and doing a loop down highway 191 I started to appreciate the southwest a whole lot more. It would suit me fine to live in those areas but with a family being close to either good private schools or charter schools is important to me. Particulary a school with an IBO program.

Therefore, Prescott seems to be a happy medium. Although there is no IBO program there yet.

How is the quality of education and sports at the magnet school in Prescott Valley? Bradshaw Mountain I think it is called. The Humboldt school district has rather poor graduation rates according to Publicschoolreview.com (76% percent) this is well below state averages. That factor alone combined with the meth problems seems to point to mutch larger underlying problems in the city.....

I plan to live off the grid. Are wells common?

What will I pay for 100 acres within 30 minutes of Prescott, PV, or other surrounding cities with quality schools? 500,000 to 1,000,000 or more?

What are the laws in the county on shooting firearms on your own land? In the back country can I open carry a pistol? How is varmit hunting there?

I plan to start a small company there with 10 to 15 employees. How is the labor market in terms of finding qualified engineers? Are there firms there that employ mechanical and electrical engineers? What incentives does Prescott or the county give to new business?

How serious are the meth problems? It seems drugs are always prevelant in this pop up communities. People think they can build cracker jack houses in a gated community and then all of a sudden they have found eden..It seems people foget that houses do not a community make. Knowing your neighbors, looking after one another, and making the cost too high for wolves to prey on the sheep are key.

Thanks,

Yggdrasil

[Heidik]

I hear some saying not alot of good jobs and low pay and others stating good economy and growth.

Does anyone know what an Administrative Assistant or Executive Assistant would pay? What large companies are in this area and who the largest employers?

[thedfly]

Originally Posted by Pettrix

Being that you are from Denver, Prescott is nowhere near as cold as Denver would be, right?

It seems that Prescott gets the fronts from the cold north (Flagstaff) and hot south (Phoenix) and the two fronts collide causing this wind. I see businesses with flags and those things get torn to shreds pretty fast out here. The windiest times of year are spring and fall. The summers get windy also when you get the monsoons from July-September.

We are in Prescott, nestled in the ponderosas, and we don't really get a lot of wind. We get some nice breezes, which has been wonderful coming from Phoenix where the air just hangs for the most part. Occasionally during storms we get the normal gusts and it might knock one of my lightweight patio chairs over. But, it really depends on the location. Chino Valley, Prescott Valley, tend to get more wind..areas without the established trees that are more plains and field-like. I've heard complaints about the wind in Prescott Country Club (Dewey) from many of the residents. But maybe it's because it interferes with their golf?

[BriansPerspective]

Originally Posted by thedfly

I've heard complaints about the wind in Prescott Country Club (Dewey) from many of the residents. But maybe it's because it interferes with their golf?

We live in the Prescott Country Club (PCC). The wind varies like most areas and is strongest on the hilltops and in exposed areas. Right now the wind is calm, but 10-20 mph gusts are not uncommon. I would say that the average day has a 2-3 mph breeze blowing. According to a PCC resident's weather meter, last year's average wind speed was 2mph with the highest gust at 27.5 mph. Average gusts tend to be 10-20 mph. The wind seldom keeps golfers away except in the winter when the wind added to the temperature can keep even the most phsychotic golfers at home cleaning their clubs.

[BriansPerspective]

Originally Posted by thedfly

I've heard complaints about the wind in Prescott Country Club (Dewey) from many of the residents. But maybe it's because it interferes with their golf?

By the way, technically, PCC is not in the city of Dewey-Humboldt. PCC uses a Dewey mailing address, but it is actually in unincorporated Yavapai County. Similarly, the Quailwood subdivision, across Highway 69, is in the city of Prescott Valley, but uses a Dewey mailing address. Oddly enough, even the Dewey post office resides with the city boundaries of Prescott Valley

Dewey-Humboldt incorporated so that Prescott Valley would not swallow them up. Prescott Valley was annexing all of the commercial land bordering Highway 69 for future tax revenue. The towns of Dewey and Humbodlt saw this happening and created a referendum to incorporate and stop Prescott Valley from annexing more land.

[esselcue]

...and I am planning to leave when I retire but that's because I HAVE lived here for so long. It has grown and changed so much, it's not the pretty, little valley it once was. Ask folks who have lived here even longer and they will say that I never saw Prescott at its best either. Probably true! My main complaint is the Prescott Valley area, which is now all strip malls and California-like housing developments where you can jump from roof top to roof top. Very sad and unsightly and traffic is incredible. Chino Valley, while it has grown, has kept its rural feel with much less density and no Wal-Marts or Home Depots.

Still, Prescott itself is a beautiful town with so much history and so many great things to do and see. The schools are decent throughout the area, the weather is perfect and the way of life is much calmer than Phoenix or any other city. If you can find work, I highly recommend it to young families.

[LBear]

Originally Posted by esselcue

...and I am planning to leave when I retire but that's because I HAVE lived here for so long. It has grown and changed so much, it's not the pretty, little valley it once was. Ask folks who have lived here even longer and they will say that I never saw Prescott at its best either. Probably true! My main complaint is the Prescott Valley area, which is now all strip malls and California-like housing developments where you can jump from roof top to roof top. Very sad and unsightly and traffic is incredible. Chino Valley, while it has grown, has kept its rural feel with much less density and no Wal-Marts or Home Depots.

. If you can find work, I highly recommend it to young families.

Here's more cookie-cutter houses coming....

CLICK HERE!

[esselcue]

Exactly what I was talking about. Too much greed, too many tract houses on tiny lots in the PV area...and now it seems they are going to ruin Dewey, too? Very sad...but probably inevitable.

[BriansPerspective]

You can look at it another way - smaller homes on smaller lots cost less money, so lower income familes can afford to live there. The land in the article referenced above is within Prescott Valley city limits. Quailwood is also in Prescott Valley and has some of the lowest priced, newest homes in the area. If higher density housing is not allowed, then lower income families cannot afford to live near where they work.

Dewey will not be "ruined" in the near future, because: 1) there are no single parcels large enough to build a viable subdivision (with the exception of the Young's Farm parcel); 2) the vast majority of zoning is for 1.6 acre or larger parcels per house; and 3) the residents and town council have made it clear that they have no desire to allow high denisty development.

[AnnoDomini]

I certainly wouldn't recommend Prescott to anyone. After 28 years in the military and traveling all over the world. I decided to settle in Prescott ten years ago. And now, I am selling my house at a $150,000 loss just so I can get out from under it and leave the area. Expensive, crowded, a far too full of itself.

Prescott does it's very best to promote the "America's hometown" image. But really, there is very little here to offer.

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