Moving to Tucson. Please help with choosing an area to live in. (Oro Valley: apartment complex)

[pickles08]

My wife and I are moving to tucson in January and will be working at the Northwest Medical Hospital. She may work at Oro Valley Hospital. We are looking for recommendations on place to live that will have a decent commute. We would love to be able to commute on bike. Not really looking to live in the suburbs. We have no kids and are not planning on any. Ideally everything would be in easy walking or biking distance. We are both big into triathlons and so would like to be close to some locations with accessible cycling, running, and swimming areas. Any recommendations would greatly help.

Thanks

[HollyhockGarden]

Hello --
My daughter and boyfriend rent a home in zip 85741 and they love the location. The homes are a little older, about 30 years old, and the lots are a nice size, about 10,000+ sq ft. They are in the Foothills with beautiful views, yet can walk to Target, Frys, Bookmans. Michaels, and Lowes. They can also walk to the bus stop if they need to. She is within biking distance of work herself but drives due to heavy traffic on the major streets. They love their location because it is close to so many things. She says she feels like she lives in a different city now that she has graduated from UA and no longer has to frequent the midtown. They are in an unincorporated area which is in the Marana Unified School District, it is east of Thornydale between Magee and Ina. It is close to the hospitals, too. It depends what you are looking for. They prefer the "older" home with a larger lot. They drove around block by block to find a rental in this exact location. They have to pay a bit more for the location but the location is worth it. Good luck with your move and new jobs!

[Marcy1210]

You might also look in to ZIP code 85737, near Oracle and 1st Ave. There are a lot of condos and homes in that area. There is Catalina State Park. And NW Med Center is at 1551 E. Tangerine. It is in a really nice area with Oro Valley Market Place nearby, and Rooney Ranch Shopping Center. Between the two, there is a Target, Wal-Mart, Fry's Grocery, Best Buy, Home Depot, Dick's Sporting Goods, Sports Authority, Ross, Petsmart, every fast food, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, DSW, a huge cinema-plex, and so much more.

[michael krotchie]

Great suggestions from HollyhockGarden and Marcy1210. If you end up working at NW Hospital your choices for non-tract homes gets a little tighter but my vote would be the area bounded N/S by Ina and Orange Grove, and E/W by Shannon and La Canada. Nice larger homes tucked away from the street.

If you end up working at the Oro Valley location your choices become a bit more broad. Depending on how far of a bike ride you want there is some nice housing in the Tangerine/Camino de Manana area (but that's probably too far). Also just east of El Conquistador Golf Club. If you have some extra to spend take a look at the 1st/Palisades area.

Since you're familiar with triathlons you're probably aware of the enormous amount of cycling events hosted in Tucson. El Tour de Tucson includes Tangerine and Oracle road along it's routes so maybe you can use your commutes to work as practice!

Take a look at the Tucson MLS and it should help you narrow down your choices.

[azhiker]

Originally Posted by Marcy1210

You might also look in to ZIP code 85737, near Oracle and 1st Ave. There are a lot of condos and homes in that area. There is Catalina State Park. And NW Med Center is at 1551 E. Tangerine. It is in a really nice area with Oro Valley Market Place nearby, and Rooney Ranch Shopping Center. Between the two, there is a Target, Wal-Mart, Fry's Grocery, Best Buy, Home Depot, Dick's Sporting Goods, Sports Authority, Ross, Petsmart, every fast food, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, DSW, a huge cinema-plex, and so much more.

I live in 85737 (Oro Valley). It's great here. Really convenient with all the places mentioned above very nearby too. I think this area is much nicer than the NW location mentioned (a personal preference that I suspect a lot of people would share). I don't really consider Thornydale and Magee the Foothills. I call it the Northwest, but I could be wrong about that. It's pretty nice over there too, and if the job you got was by Northwest hospital, that'd be a very convenient commute.

For me, though, no matter which of the two hospitals I landed at, I'd commute from Oro Valley. Not a bad commute at all, even from OV to NW hospital, though you'd likely be driving and not biking at that distance (still less than 10 miles).

In OV, on Oracle Rd, you see cyclists out pretty much every morning, and if you're into hiking, Catalina State Park is very nearby (2 miles). To me, it's no contest between OV and the NW.

Just my .02. Good luck.

[tucsonwifey]

We just looked at an apartment complex in Oro Valley that was very nice. It is called Pusch Ridge at 9901 North Oracle Rd, zip is 85704. We liked it alot. Tons of room for two people. Large walk in closet and comes with washer and dryer as well as kitchen appliances too. And the complex is only 10 years old (IIRC). I believe there are some homes/condo's up there under the same name or similar name too. I would think anywhere in OV would be nice and convienent.