It's official (Phoenix, Tucson, Catalina Foothills: rent, home, neighborhoods)

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by erinszoo

You guys are so funny!

He will be working by the airport. So I guess we should look for places other than the foothills huh? We have only ever lived in the metro Detroit area, so we have no idea what rural would even be like? We really love the mountains though, and are loving the foothills homes we have seen! I guess I better check out Vail too.

Actually, erinszoo . . . there are some direct routes (Campbell and First Avenue for example) to the airport area from the Northwest and North Central parts of Tucson which shouldn't be too bad. I believe East / West commutes are the worst.

On a positive note . . . there are lots of "worse commute" areas than the airport.

[galove]

We just moved to Oro Valley in June and my husband has a 45 min commute to the airport area. The schools are great and we really love our location. We have all the everyday amenities within a few minutes AND have fabulous views! We love it here. We had temporary housing for a few months in the foothills and liked it there also. We also liked the Civano/Sierra Morado neighborhood (Vail Schools) on the East side which would be a breeze for commuting to the airport area. Good luck!

[Marcy1210]

Originally Posted by Bummer

Actually, erinszoo . . . there are some direct routes (Campbell and First Avenue for example) to the airport area from the Northwest and North Central parts of Tucson which shouldn't be too bad. I believe East / West commutes are the worst.

On a positive note . . . there are lots of "worse commute" areas than the airport.

I agree. Campbell is pretty much a straight drive down to the airport with a few really stupid confusing "bear right" turns , but, it's only about 15-20 minutes from River and Campbell to the airport. It's really not a bad drive. And, if you go NW to Marana or Oro Valley, add about another 10-15 minutes. It's really not bad going N-S. It's really bad going E-W.

JMHO

[Chorizo]

Originally Posted by Marcy1210

I agree. Campbell is pretty much a straight drive down to the airport with a few really stupid confusing "bear right" turns , but, it's only about 15-20 minutes from River and Campbell to the airport. It's really not a bad drive. And, if you go NW to Marana or Oro Valley, add about another 10-15 minutes. It's really not bad going N-S. It's really bad going E-W.

JMHO

I'll agree with this too, I did not think about the straight shot down Campbell Ave.

[erinszoo]

Ok, can someone give me some school districts to look into then? Vail, Oro Valley, I don't want him all frustrated when he gets home from work, but I don't want to be all ghetto living since we are moving away from ghetto here in metro Detroit already.

[Chorizo]

In my opinion: Vail is good, Catalina Foothills is okay, Marana is good, don't know about Oro Valley.

Edit to add: "good" and "okay" are in terms of, better then any of the other public systems in the area.

[erinszoo]

He will be working on Palo Verde at Raytheon. Does that cut drive time from the foothills?

Is Ampitheather (oro valley) school district better than Foothills?

[Carolina2Tucson]

We just found an area in Oro Valley, that has a great public school system (Amphitheatre) and it takes me 30-40 mins to get to work at Raytheon. There are many private schools that are top notch as well, and there are lots of development going on and is close to malls and restaurants. As previously mentioned, we have views of mountains in the front (Pushe ridge) and views in the rear of the house (Tortolita). With the new Ritz Carlton development going on, several have referred to this area as the "Scottsdale of Tucson".

We looked at Vail and Rancho Saharita (East and South of Tucson), and just were not impressed with the development...no daycares, low progress in schools, nothing to do, 40 more mins from Pheonix than Oro Valley..etc

Check out Great Schools - Public and Private School Ratings, Reviews and Parent Community for views of schools.

Also, if you're relocating with Cartus like I am, they have a very good school and neighborhood comparison tool by zip code.

[frogandtoad]

If you look the schools up, you'll see Catalina Foothills is far and away the best. No idea where anyone who says it's "OK" is getting their info!

Oro Valley is good, but no where near as good as the Foothills.

Vail is not as good as Oro Valley.

Marana has some bad and some mediocre and some decent schools but overall, not great scores at all.

This is all based on test scores. We lived in Oro Valley and intentionally avoided the Foothills b/c there is HUGE snob/sense of entitlement stuff going on there. I had a number of friends w/kids in the Foothills district who pulled them out and sent them private in middle or high school b/c of all the drugs, the money being waved around. Of course there are drugs everywhere but it's worse some places than others. Lots of rich kids w/disposable money..

Anyway, my point is that the best test scores may or may not mean it's the best school for YOU. It wasn't for me, it is for others. Just look into them and consider what factors are most important to you.

ps--no way would I commute from Oro Valley to the airport every day but that's just me!

[frogandtoad]

[quote=

Is Ampitheather (oro valley) school district better than Foothills?[/QUOTE]

Not by test scores. Yes by who your kids will be hanging out with/influenced by (in my opinion).