Family needs advice soon... (Phoenix, Tucson: housing, travel, income)

[galove]

My husband is considering a job offer in Tucson.

The job is located in the airport area.

We are looking to spend $275-$325 on a home-suggestions on neighborhoods?
Property tax info?

We have a middle school aged child and an one in elementary-good schools & safety are top priority

Are the malls, movie theaters, skating rinks, bowling alleys, & such clean and safe for kids? When they are old enough, will I feel comfortable leaving them at the mall to shop or dropping them off at a movie?

The kids are active in swimming and travel softball. Are there good programs?

Will my husband need to be concerned commuting to and from work? I've heard that area is not the safest. During daylight hours is it ok?

We are prepared for the heat. Are there any other weather issues we need to be aware of? Dust storms? Tornadoes?

Thanks for your help!

[galove]

I'm reading a lot of negative comments about the schools, but nothing specific. What is bad specifically? Low quality Teachers? Violence? Drugs? Class size?

[michael krotchie]

Hi galove,

I'm off to an appt but I thought I'd put together a quick post from past posts I've made and then come back later to elaborate.

Here is a link to an annual Tucson weather chart (temp/precip/wind).

Couple tourist areas of attraction:
Sabino Canyon or the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum to get a feel for how lovely our environment is.

Old Tucson Studios would also be a fun trip with the family. If you're looking for some night-life a nostalgic trip to the newly renovated Fox Tucson Theatre might be an option or maybe a show at the University of Arizona's Centennial Hall.

Here are some of the malls in Tucson for shopping:
Foothills Mall
La Encatada
Tucson Mall
Park Place Mall
El Con Mall

Tucson has many good schools, here are a few links from the Arizona Dept. of Education (ADE) to help you take a look.

Highly Performing Schools
Excelling Schools

Here is some school information to help with your children.

Amphi School District
Catalina Foothills School District
Flowing Wells Unified School District
Marana Unified School District
Sahuarita Unified School District
Sunnyside Unified School District
Tanque Verde Unified School District
Tucson Unified School District
Vail School District

As for housing costs it will really depend where in town you want to live. Take a look at the Tucson Multiple Listing Service website (Tucson MLS) and you should be able to get a good idea for house prices. With your husband working near the airport he is right near the freeway so you can live up NW all the way to Marana (where I live), which would be about a 25min commute, all the way SE to Vail.

Hope this helps!

[galove]

Anyone??????

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by galove

Anyone??????

Well, these very general topics can be discussed only so many times. That's why archives are available and searchable. If you have any specific question, you're more than welcome to ask.

[galove]

Originally Posted by galove

I'm reading a lot of negative comments about the schools, but nothing specific. What is bad specifically? Low quality Teachers? Violence? Drugs? Class size?

I think these are pretty specific questions that I've not seen answers to in other posts. I hear that the schools are horrible, but WHAT is horrible? Is it violence, curriculum, teachers, drugs???

I'm concerned about not having a challenging curriculum--AP courses, second languages, etc. I'm also wondering if schools in the Marana or Vail Districts experience crime and drug issues. I understand it is in all schools, but is it a real concern in those districts?

Thanks for all your input.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by galove

I think these are pretty specific questions that I've not seen answers to in other posts. I hear that the schools are horrible, but WHAT is horrible? Is it violence, curriculum, teachers, drugs???

I'm concerned about not having a challenging curriculum--AP courses, second languages, etc. I'm also wondering if schools in the Marana or Vail Districts experience crime and drug issues. I understand it is in all schools, but is it a real concern in those districts?

Thanks for all your input.

I don't have children, so my opinion is only based on what I've heard from people and what I've read, but it seems to jive with the ratings on numerous sites (Michael posted them already). To be honest, I'm really glad I don't have any first-hand experience with schools in this country. They all look like prisons to me (at least at this time).

The general rule of thumb "you get what you pay for" applies in Tucson just like anywhere else. Sad or not (some don't find it sad), the schools are better in the more affluent areas. The school districts considered the best in Tucson are Catalina Foothills and Vail (that's one of the reasons I bought a house in the Vail district even though schools don't really matter to me). I think Tanque Verde is decent as well, even though I recall reading about drug problems at Sabino High very recently. Some people like the schools in Oro Valley. I'd imagine they're good. The problem is that they fall under a substandard district - Amphitheater. It may not matter in their particular case. I have no way of knowing, but other posters have mentioned they're happy with them.

Some time ago I posted (it was on the Phoenix forum, though) an income map of Tucson. I was just curious to see if their income map overlaps big time with the crime map as it does in Tucson. Naturally, it will overlap with the school-quality map as well. That's the way it is...

Oh, yeah... the teachers... Again the same rule... They're not paid well in AZ, so many who could find better-paying jobs leave the profession, meaning the remainder is not necessarily the cream of the crop unless they're very dedicated people who are willing and/or able to afford to teach regardless of the pay because they simply love it.

Good luck with your decision!

[RBChallenger]

Take my opinion for what its worth (not much too most, most likely). I work in the airport area as well and am looking to have children soon. We have made Vail our choice, it takes about 30 minutes to get to work but the commute is quite easy, theres not really much traffic on the freeway from that direction in the morning, majority of the traffic comes from up north. Vail has pretty good school districts including paperless schools and the like that are ranked quite highly. Cienaga has a better atheletic program than Empire(the paperless school) high school wise. You can also score yourself a really nice house in a quite low crime area there as well. For 275-300 you can even find yourself in a gated community right next to the Rancho Del Lago golf course if thats your thing.

The only downside that I can come up with is the vicinity to town itself... Vail is basically a suburb these days. There is ALOT of shopping going in and around the area so that should not be a concern much longer. All with 15-20 minutes you have Safeway, Walgreens, the largest Fry's in souther Arizona, Checker Auto, restaurants etc etc... not to mention the fact that the Passes Of Tucson Mall is going in down there. The choice is of course yours, but for my money I choose Vail.

[michael krotchie]

For a bit more info on what RBChallenger mentioned: Passages of Tucson

[galove]

Thank you all. We'll be visiting next weekend and this should help us know where to focus.