Three Points area? (Tucson, Oro Valley, Marana: crime, new home, safe area)

[xwideopenskyx]

What are the good/bad points of living in Three Points, AZ (esp. Sierrita Mountain Road area). Would like to see comments from people who live there or are very familiar with the area. Thanks.

[LordBalfor]

Well, not all that familiar with the area, but did look at some property out there back in January and drove down many of the roads looking at lots. We looked at property along and near W Guy Str (which runs west from Sierrita Mtn Rd) and drove up along Sierrita Mtn Road into the main area of Diamond Bell Ranch. It's a very quiet area, with a mix of OK homes (some very nice once actually in DBR), some real dumps, and lots of open lots. Though it's very flat right there, the land slopes upwards very gradually as you head south, and there are mountains in all directions so the views are often very nice and you can see for miles and miles. Outside of the fairly fancy homes in DBR much of the area is rather depressed and there is not much in the way of shopping or services right nearby. There is no doubt development will eventually come to the area, but I think it may still be a ways off so there is lots of land (much of it with water and power already in place) for very reasonable prices. The downside is of course, as I mentioned, that most of the area outside of DBR is bit depressed-looking and has a reputation for being a bit rough - with illegal immigrants passing through on a regular basis (or so the stories go). I would guess that most of the folks who live there are the type that want to be left alone.

It is pretty dry there - though not nearly as dry as Marana and cholla seems to be the predominant vegitation (along with parcels of grass and some mesquite trees.

All in all we were tempted to buy there, but eventually decided to buy elsewhere.

I can post some photos of the area if you would like.

Ken

[xwideopenskyx]

Ken,

Thanks for answering my question. Yes, I would like to see some pictures of the area. If you don't mind me asking, in which area of AZ did you choose to buy your property?

[LordBalfor]

Ok, here you go -

Three Points, Arizona (Jan 2007) pictures from arizona photos on webshots

A couple of comments:

I HIGHLY recommend you open another browser window and use Mapquest of Microsoft Live, Google Earth or another such tool to take note of what areas the photos are showing so that you can get a feel for the various areas.

Note that there are some new developments off in the distance south of Ajo Highway just east of Ryan Field. They mark the furthest advancement of formal development. Beyond that point there are no large developments along the highway, but rather a few clusters of homes (mostly mobiles, mostly run-down) along the north side of Ajo Highway. We drove through some of this area - especially near the core of Three Points and didn't find much to recommend it. The roads are generally barely able to be labeled as such (rough) and the mobiles pretty run down.

The houses down in Diamond Bell Ranch proper - ie those south of Diamond Bell Ranch Road - are generally very nice indeed and well maintained. The main issue with this area (as I see it anyway) is the very real lack of shopping, medical and other basic services. There are hardly any stores or restaurants other than a few mom & pop type convenience stores and a handful of widely scattered tavern-type eateries. There is a small clinic in Three Points, but it doesn't look like it would provide other than basic care.

Along Sierrita Mtn Rd, the houses along the southern stretches looked nicer than than those further north. In general, much of the property along the road is basically undeveloped - though there was a new-looking fire station.

Ken

PS - We ended up buying land in J-6 Ranchettes just west of the Whetstone exit (which is in turn west of Benson). Much prefer that area over Three Points. Though parts of J-6 Ranchettes is not wonderful either and Mescal (which is across I-10) is rather dumpy, there is better mix of decent mobiles (mostly double-wides) and nice site-built homes there.

If you wish to see what that area looks like, you can take a look at the first few photos in this album:

Arizona (Our Property) pictures from home & garden photos on webshots

Ken

[xwideopenskyx]

Hi Ken,

Thank you so much for the pictures and your detailed response. I appreciate it. Congratulations on your new property. I'm sure you'll enjoy the cooler temperatures at that elevation. Good choice!

[mdtoaz]

For what it's worth, we're new to the area and we're getting a house built in one of the developments east of Ryan Field that Ken mentioned. It's a difficult area to describe if you're not from around here since there aren't too many major landmarks (except the casino).

Anyhow, while watching the weather channel one day, we saw Three Points on the map and thought that it looked like where we were building. We mentioned to a few people that we were getting a house in Three Points and they looked horrified. I did a Google search, and apparently (as much as you can trust the internet) that area is a major stopping point for illegals and coyotes that bring them in. Supposedly because of this, there are many bad things happening.

Like I said, it was something I found online, so it's not like you can put all your faith in it, but based on that and the reactions that we saw from different people, we now say that we're building down near the Casino del Sol (which is true - we're actually quite east of Three Points).

[LordBalfor]

You might want to take a look at the "Tucson Growth Plan" post I just created. One of the reasons we decided against Three Points is because, not only are there few services out in the area, but there is apparently no firm plan to direct any new growth out there to foster development of those services. The SW quadrant is essentially ignored in the official Tucson growth plan, so it may be quite a while before goods and services pop up in the area.

I've read the Three Points article mentioned above (at least I think it's the same article) and it's paints the place in a pretty poor light. The interesting thing is, I found lots of secondary references to the same news article but very little independent confirmation of the facts about the area. It seems to me that much of the negativity out there regarding crime and illegals passing through the area may well have originated in the one article (which is a couple of years old now). Not saying that Three Points is all that great, just pointing out that it MAY not be quite as bad as the article made it sound (not saying that is the case, just saying that is a possibility) since I can't seem to find other articles that independently confirm Three Points plight. This is the article I'd found late last year:

Tucson Weekly : Currents : The Saga of Three Points

In any event, anyone thinking of buying there really needs to do some research and spend a bit of time in the area before making that commitment. It's quite possible that Three Points could be a good LONG TERM investment. Certainly land prices are pretty inexpensive - even for lots where there is power, phone and WATER available for hookup - so there may come a time when folks look back and kick themselves for not buying when it was so cheap. All it would really take is for the development SE of Ryan Field to continue SW a few more miles for the population to grow enough to attract new shopping and other such services. With an official directed growth plan to force the issue, that's not likely to come anytime soon, but I do think growth will eventually creep out in that direction anyway - I'm just not sure how soon. As I mentioned, Diamond Bell Ranch has some very nice homes indeed. I always consider it a good sign when I can look down on the area with Google Earth or a similar tool and see lots of swimming pools - which the nicer areas of Diamond Bell Ranch (specifically south of Diamond Bell Ranch Road) has. I think that the Diamond Bell Ranch development has the potential of one day being a very nice place - but so far it's just not been able to live up to it's promise so I'd have to say that in many respects it's (so far) a more or less "failed" development. Quite a shame actually.

Ken

[xwideopenskyx]

Originally Posted by LordBalfor

You might want to take a look at the "Tucson Growth Plan" post I just created. One of the reasons we decided against Three Points is because, not only are there few services out in the area, but there is apparently no firm plan to direct any new growth out there to foster development of those services. The SW quadrant is essentially ignored in the official Tucson growth plan, so it may be quite a while before goods and services pop up in the area.

I've read the Three Points article mentioned above (at least I think it's the same article) and it's paints the place in a pretty poor light. The interesting thing is, I found lots of secondary references to the same news article but very little independent confirmation of the facts about the area. It seems to me that much of the negativity out there regarding crime and illegals passing through the area may well have originated in the one article (which is a couple of years old now). Not saying that Three Points is all that great, just pointing out that it MAY not be quite as bad as the article made it sound (not saying that is the case, just saying that is a possibility) since I can't seem to find other articles that independently confirm Three Points plight. This is the article I'd found late last year:

Tucson Weekly : Currents : The Saga of Three Points

In any event, anyone thinking of buying there really needs to do some research and spend a bit of time in the area before making that commitment. It's quite possible that Three Points could be a good LONG TERM investment. Certainly land prices are pretty inexpensive - even for lots where there is power, phone and WATER available for hookup - so there may come a time when folks look back and kick themselves for not buying when it was so cheap. All it would really take is for the development SE of Ryan Field to continue SW a few more miles for the population to grow enough to attract new shopping and other such services. With an official directed growth plan to force the issue, that's not likely to come anytime soon, but I do think growth will eventually creep out in that direction anyway - I'm just not sure how soon. As I mentioned, Diamond Bell Ranch has some very nice homes indeed. I always consider it a good sign when I can look down on the area with Google Earth or a similar tool and see lots of swimming pools - which the nicer areas of Diamond Bell Ranch (specifically south of Diamond Bell Ranch Road) has. I think that the Diamond Bell Ranch development has the potential of one day being a very nice place - but so far it's just not been able to live up to it's promise so I'd have to say that in many respects it's (so far) a more or less "failed" development. Quite a shame actually.

Ken

Ken,

The Tucson Growth plan doesn't show the new developments along Valencia Rd. They are almost up to where Valencia Rd ends at Ajo Way (Rt 86) by Ryan Airfield. They have built many homes there since your last visit. There is a plan to put up a Walmart plus retail and restaurant space at Ajo (86) and Kinney Rd. They have also built a Family Dollar store in Three Points....LOL..thought you might get a chuckle out of that one. Just an FYI, it appears that the southwest side may not grow at the same rate as other areas of Tucson but there is some activity going on.

mdtoaz,

It's interesting that for such a bad reputation, Three Points rarely makes the local news. I hate to burst your bubble, but the Casino del Sol area's illegal immigrant and drug trafficking issues are just as visible. There is plenty of Border Patrol activity all over the place. Driving by, I saw that they are building plenty of nice looking new homes and I've also noticed some tagging (graffiti) on subdivision walls. None of these new developments are secured or gated so they are just as exposed to crime as the undesirable mobiles in the Three Points area. Back east, if an area looks nice and is kept up, it generally means it's a relatively safe area (a good neighborhood). Out here, I have discovered that you can't judge a book by the cover. Outside of maybe Oro Valley and the Foothills areas of Tucson we are all exposed to the local immigration issues and crime, more or less. From where I come from (Cleveland,OH) Tucson with all of it's issues is still a safer place to live.

[mdtoaz]

I'm definitely amazed by the graffiti around here. I'm from the Baltimore suburbs, and you pretty much only see graffiti in questionable areas or places you definitely don't want to be.
Here, it seems like an after-school activity. It's a shame, since a lot of the bridges and overpasses have pretty mosaics, etc. Graffiti's a pet peeve of mine, so that's been the hardest thing to get used to out here.

Also, I realize you're not going to avoid all drug/illegal issues in any area. You asked for information and I gave you my experience, which is quite limited, which is why I basically told you to also take it with a grain of salt.

[retiredtwo]

I live in a development called Diamond Bell Ranch which is south of three points and I absolutely love it out here. Its quiet, peaceful, safe and beautiful scenery. Yes, it takes 20 - 30 min. to get into town but its worth it. Nice homes, reasonable prices all on 1 ac lots, leave your yard on horse or four wheel and ride forever. We have two stores, gas stations, food, hardware etc. all within three miles. It all depends on what you like.