Horse lifestyle in Prescott (Flagstaff, Prescott Valley: sex offender, crime rate, mobile home)

[Mountainman2020]

We just got into Colorado. We're going to try it out for a year. We drove over 5,000 miles this last month checking places out. From Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Idaho and Colorado. On top of like I said over 200 hours of research. From weather, crime, natural disasters, taxes, wildlife, scenery, access to amenities and airports and so much more. It was really fun. We printed out a map and slowly started crossing off each state.

We were originally going to land in the Fort Collins, Loveland area (Fort Collins is a great town). But northern Colorado Springs and Castle Rock area (black forest area) has great scenery and Castle Rock is a very low crime and clean town (growing fast). So we're in the black forest area right now.

We absolutely love it. But the weather is extremely bi-polar. I know everyone claims their area has bi-polar weather. But the Colorado front range truly defines it. In the teens and snowing one day and then 70 and sunny the next. Also at around 60 inches a snow annually, it pushes our tolerance limits for snow.

Basically we're going to move around for the next 3-5 years and then pick the winner.

We have looked absolutely everywhere and Prescott area and northern California (Plus Colorado) are all that's left. We're hoping it's not California because.. well.. it's California (high taxes, low freedom). But if it fits the bill on everything else we'd pay the price (no where will be 100% perfect).

Does anyone have experience with Camp Verde? Love the green in the valley.

Thanks for all the great info showtime!

[Woody01]

Originally Posted by Mountainman2020

We have looked absolutely everywhere and Prescott area and northern California (Plus Colorado) are all that's left. We're hoping it's not California because.. well.. it's California (high taxes, low freedom). But if it fits the bill on everything else we'd pay the price (no where will be 100% perfect).

It will come down to how much those two things matter to you. a) COL....CA is incredibly high...b) Politics....CA is absolutely unbearable for a conservative.
IF you're a rich liberal, go for it though, you'll love it...
Colorado is also flipped to blue, so if you're even considering those two states you must be a lib or moderate I'd assume.....

[Mountainman2020]

COL isn't a problem if the place is right. I just stay away from politics, all though I completely get it'll directly impact a person based off policies and state, local governments etc. I have my preferences of course but we're country people and just keep to ourselves for the most part.

That being said we're actually independent. But lean towards conservative policy and principles.

Arizona and Colorado are much more appealing to us regarding things on the state level. Laws, rights, taxes etc.

[mrshowtime3]

Originally Posted by Mountainman2020

We just got into Colorado. We're going to try it out for a year. We drove over 5,000 miles this last month checking places out. From Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Idaho and Colorado. On top of like I said over 200 hours of research. From weather, crime, natural disasters, taxes, wildlife, scenery, access to amenities and airports and so much more. It was really fun. We printed out a map and slowly started crossing off each state.

We were originally going to land in the Fort Collins, Loveland area (Fort Collins is a great town). But northern Colorado Springs and Castle Rock area (black forest area) has great scenery and Castle Rock is a very low crime and clean town (growing fast). So we're in the black forest area right now.

We absolutely love it. But the weather is extremely bi-polar. I know everyone claims their area has bi-polar weather. But the Colorado front range truly defines it. In the teens and snowing one day and then 70 and sunny the next. Also at around 60 inches a snow annually, it pushes our tolerance limits for snow.

Basically we're going to move around for the next 3-5 years and then pick the winner.

We have looked absolutely everywhere and Prescott area and northern California (Plus Colorado) are all that's left. We're hoping it's not California because.. well.. it's California (high taxes, low freedom). But if it fits the bill on everything else we'd pay the price (no where will be 100% perfect).

Does anyone have experience with Camp Verde? Love the green in the valley.

Thanks for all the great info showtime!

Sounds kinda like what we may end up doing. But figuring out moving so often money wise is a trick for us. I wish more places were like Lake Havasu. They have so many short to long term all inclusive home rentals there furnished and everything. Just perfect. But I havent been able to find too many places with that besides on Airbnb which isnt nearly as cheap.

I will be very curious to see how CO goes for you. For sure the kind of area Id be looking for. I dont like very large populations. In fact this Prescott area is a little too much for us. Especially since the population just keeps growing with all the development.

Camp Verde isnt very nice IMO as far as living there goes. Kind of a little nothing spot. Great mountain views on the highway around there tho. Actually probably the junkiest nastiest area ive come across around here is right by there in Lake Montezuma/Rimrock. Out of Africa zoo is fantastic tho. If you come through be sure to check it out.

Maybe check into the Cottonwood/Cornville/Clarkdale area. I don't know it well enough to say check this road or that road for a nice area. Temps will go past 100 in the summer. Winter temps are very good tho. Ive predicted before that I view this area as the next growth spot in AZ. Its location is pretty nice while offering great winter temps. I believe a home investment there would be more likely to be a good investment. Can't say the same for Prescott area.

You might want to check out Payson, AZ as well.

What ruled Utah out for you? I haven't visited yet but it was a place we talked about.

[Mountainman2020]

You're definitely right about the money moving wise. We're very fortunate and grateful to work from home (mostly). We're also what you call "minimalists". All of our stuff fits in the back of my truck and our SUV. It's right but it works. We like to be nimble which definitely helps when moving around. One of these furnished rentals sounds appealing to us as well.

Colorado seems very hard to beat. Everything from things on the state level, from the scenery, the people and crime and access to outdoors but yet lots of amenities bigger cities and towns have to offer. People say it's the new California, I agree with them half way.. I believe the winters weed a lot of them out. Something about the cold in my opinion helps people be more nice to each other (look at Canada). Also helps with the bugs as well.

We don't like big populations either, but yet we don't want to be a small town in Wyoming hours away from a bigger town/city. Our ideal set up and something that is actually a must for us is being in a smaller town (10-70k) people and then having a larger town/city within 2 hours. That way things like airports and medical are close.

I'd really advise checking out Spearfish SD. We loved this place and is in our top 5 in the US. The deal breaker for us was that the main hub Rapid City is kind of a dump. We just felt to isolated out there. It's a long way from any bigger city.

Payson was off our list because it seems just a bit to small for how far out it was from anything of bigger population, and most of the surroundings seem to be national forest. Making getting land kind of touch. We did like it though. And we'll probably drive through it on our way to Prescott just to look around.

In regards to Utah:

Utah made our top 5 states. The problem with it was it just doesn't beat Colorado, so no reason to take a downgrade. Specifically, Salt Lake City is a very high crime city, the mid and northern parts of Utah (along the mountain range) get colder in the winter with not as much annual sunshine, the scenery is great, but not like Colorado.

Also, not a big deal but there are lots of lots of Mormons. And I hear some towns can be cliquish. Those are the main ones I can think of for the reason why why didn't pick Utah.

With one exception, Cedar City UT. This place made our top 10. But we just decided it was to much for isolation. We may revisit it when we're around Prescott again. Make sure we didn't miss anything.

It's been fun finding the perfect place for us, down to a couple. Prescott may be the winner, we'll see!

[Mountainman2020]

Do you have experience on the east coast? What's it like? And any idea where you'll be off to once you take off from PA?

[Hschlick84]

Have you checked out the western slope area in CO? Montrose, Grand Junction or Delta? Great small cities, nice views of the Rockies and are fairly red politically.

[mrshowtime3]

Originally Posted by Mountainman2020

Do you have experience on the east coast? What's it like? And any idea where you'll be off to once you take off from PA?

Yea i grew up in central PA and lived there all my life til coming out here. we drive a promaster van out here with our stuff and then i coverted it when we got to Havasu to sell. Finding the furnished spots was great.

Nowhere worth living out east in my view. Some nice spots in like North Carolina but I doubt id stay longterm. I love the west now.

What we are looking for sounds really similar. We like being 1.5-2 hours from a city to go to concerts and stuff. We went to Phoenix like 3 times for concerts. Real easy trip down from Dewey. When we went through CO we stayed in colorado springs a few days and drove up to Denver area. Such an amazing area.

Checking the boxes AND finding good winters is nearly impossible. We thought about trying full time RVing for a couple years to check out places and see how that goes.

Hopefully you like Prescott. You can tell from my past posts that I ended up not caring for it. But im just one guy.

[Mountainman2020]

If you can mention a place that I haven't checked out I'd be very surprised lol.

We really like the Colorado Western slope actually and it scored high on our list. Beautiful scenery and winters aren't as near as bad as the front range. Our main problem with this whole region is that it's not close to large towns or cities. Making us feel isolated (similar to spearfish SD). The crime is also not the best, GJ, Delta etc. Fruita isn't bad and we looked at that option. If you reference niche, most of the places around there get 3 1/2 stars which is a red flag as well.

I use weatherspark, and comparing clear days from GJ to Prescott is a huge difference. Even the front range is better.

I am really convinced that Prescott has the nicest weather in the USA if one is looking for at least some snow.

[Mountainman2020]

The RV life would be awesome for a year or 2. I'd suggest doing months of research to get a game plan. Figure out the hot spots for your interest. You could spend decades looking around the US.