Please help Paint an Accurate Picture of Your Beautiful Area!

[paradiseca]

Banks will lend on the manufactured homes providing they have a foundation under them. A lot of the homes went into foreclosure in that area in the past 4 years. A lot of the homes were picked up pretty cheaply like around $10,000-$50,000 by cash buyers. I saw one seller who was offering his manufactured home on a 30 year contract. For rental take a look on Craigslist and check off cats and dogs and manufactured homes.

tucson apts/housing for rent - craigslist

[Windwalker2]

There are nice areas south of Ajo Highway, especially west of Kinney Rd. Nice meaning big lots, dark skies, nice views and cleaner air, not Foothills type HOA cookie cutter housing.

[teak123]

Thanks, Windwalker2! I will look into that area....what you describe is the kind of "nice" we're looking for!

[Windwalker2]

Originally Posted by teak123

Thanks, Windwalker2! I will look into that area....what you describe is the kind of "nice" we're looking for!

If it's not too far for you, you may want to drive out to Sierrita Mountain Rd and head south. There are various streets running off of there - Scotland, Hilltop and even go up and head west on Diamond Bell Ranch Rd. You can see where the housing clusters on a map, like the ones in the big yellow books of Tucson area maps.

[JGMotorsport64]

Teak,

I might be a week late on this but here's the real deal on Tucson.

It's barely different than most other cities of its size in the 1-2 million person bracket for Metro.
The areas where it punches above its weight are in:
Natural beauty
Nightlife
The University of Arizona
Downtown has really come alive and has made some significant strides
If you're an engineer than you are in luck for high paying work
No shortage of really cool bungalows, territorial housing and craftsman-style homes
Wide open spaces and silence as well as bustling foot traffic near west University and Downtown

Where it punches below its weight are:
Roads-both pothole issues as well as poor grid design making driving difficult and often aggravating
High-end amentities (you'll be in Phoenix for certain things)
Poverty
An excessively large homeless population (and they are at every street corner, underpass etc.)
Ineptitude by public officials for decades, State, County & City

I live in midtown and have for the last five years, and while I will admit it surely hasn't been perfect, the lifestyle in Tucson is something that I really enjoy. We live near the Rillito Loop and can safely walk to a grocery store, over 11 restaurants and over 20 stores in less than 15 minutes.

As for meth, crime and the like. Here's a secret about Arizona and drugs, they are everywhere and involved in everything you might not see them but we are an enormous distribution hub for illegal drug trafficking as well as human trafficking. Recruiters for these traffickers like to find the most unassuming white and wealthy appearing students from the University and pay them to drive people, arms and drugs from city to city for large sums of money, it's unfortunate but it's reality. In Tucson as a whole you aren't going to find an abundance of meth-labs like in the midwest where there are mom and pop bathtup meth cook ups, in Arizona its cheaper to have it imported with the trafficking that comes from Mexico so the incentive to cook doesn't exist, you'll see that the meth lab seizures in AZ have dropped significantly in the last 10 years, meth is still here but isn't being cooked in bathtubs anymore. Smugglers and traffickers prefer to purchase 'drop-houses' where they put their items, but they really like those anonymous stucco houses near the I10 in Phoenix and to an extent in Pinal County.

I don't want to deter you but this is the low down on Tucson, its got a lot of organized crime and most if it is a blip in the radar if you aren't involved. You will see that crime stats are high in AZ, but generally if you're smart you won't experience it. It's very organized and often isn't random (save for petty crimes).

[teak123]

Thanks, JGMotorsport64 for your response.

I'm still checking back to look for responses.
I'm sorry to hear about the excessive amount of drugs. We don't live too far out of Chicago and we have plenty around here, but I guess the difference is this area isn't an "enormous distribution hub". And I haven't heard anything at all about human trafficking around here.

I know trouble can be found everywhere, but I just don't want to move my kids somewhere considered "unsafe". We're looking at the Marana and Picture Rocks areas, so we wouldn't be in Tucson proper. I'm sure crime varies in different areas, and it's really hard to decide if you feel comfortable in a place from across the country! We do plan to rent short term so we can get a feel for a place before we buy it.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by teak123

Thanks, JGMotorsport64 for your response.

I'm still checking back to look for responses.
I'm sorry to hear about the excessive amount of drugs. We don't live too far out of Chicago and we have plenty around here, but I guess the difference is this area isn't an "enormous distribution hub". And I haven't heard anything at all about human trafficking around here.

I know trouble can be found everywhere, but I just don't want to move my kids somewhere considered "unsafe". We're looking at the Marana and Picture Rocks areas, so we wouldn't be in Tucson proper. I'm sure crime varies in different areas, and it's really hard to decide if you feel comfortable in a place from across the country! We do plan to rent short term so we can get a feel for a place before we buy it.

But in reality Teak, I've lived in AZ for 20 years and have only been the victim of a car break-in in Phoenix.

In fact, crime and drugs don't really affect my opinion of AZ, its a byproduct of location and placement of freeways more than a byproduct of AZ itself, unless your peddling drugs you and your kids will be fine

My biggest issue with Tucson & AZ is water. I love AZ but am concerned about water in the next 50 or so years. That would be my biggest consideration.