Prescott or Show Low? (Phoenix, Prescott Valley: houses, movies, good schools)

[TonyBalogna]

So my wife and I are planning to move to one of these two places. We have a 4 year old and a baby on the way next month. We currently live in Phoenix. I have lived here my whole life and frankly I'm kind of tired of the heat in the summers, and the lack of scenery and seasons. It would be cool to have a change for once, so we picked Prescott/Prescott Valley and Show Low mainly for a change of scenery and weather. But we can't decide which is best to live in, and to raise a family in. Job availability isn't a factor. We both have jobs where we work from home so we can move pretty much anywhere. We just want a nice place with good schools and friendly people. We take day trips to Prescott all the time and really like it. Show Low we've only been to once and liked it as well. So I was hoping someone could provide a little more insight into these places, and which might be best suited for a family. We're also not 100% locked into these two locations, if there is another place in northern AZ with cooler weather in the summer and great to raise a family I'd love to hear about it! Thanks!

[corydon]

For the 4 year old sake, I would do a real thorough check on the schools.

And imo. northern AZ gets a little depressive in the winter, everything is brown and cold.

[teddyearp]

Prescott's bigger, has more amenities and is closer to the valley in case you like all the shopping oportunities there.

Show Low/Pinetop-Lakeside would be my choice for all the above reasons.

[BuckeyeBoyDJ]

Show Low is just too isolated for me and too small townish. Visiting is cool but live there.....uh negative! Leaving the big city for a much smaller one is a BIG change and I hope you gave it a lot of thought. I know you want 4 real seasons and cooler summer weather but think about everything you're giving up as well. Big city amenities is gone, no taking your kids to Cardinals and Suns games, no malls, there's no Target in Showlow, only one grocery store (I think Safeway?), no IKEA, no Chipotle, no Fresh&Easy, no Carolina's Mexican Food, no Panda Express, no Wet N Wild, no Chucke Chesse or Amazing Jakes for your kids........do I need to continue this list? Surely you get the point. I would choose Prescott if you must leave The Valley it has 4 seasons, more amenities, great outdoors, better schools (not that that's saying much), and it's much closer to Phoenix than Show Low. Good luck on your decision!

[TonyBalogna]

Thanks! So far the only thing we would miss out of the city is Suns games. We go to them pretty often but other than that we don't really go to much else other than the movies. My wife is from a REALLY small town in Iowa so she prefers the small quiet life. And I'm too much of a homebody. Prescott is seeming like the more better choice since it has most of our favorite places to eat and things to do, as well as being only about an hour away from Phoenix. I've just read a lot about halfway houses and such in Prescott so I've been a little iffy on it.

[6.7traveler]

Did you ever make a decision? The halfway house issue in Prescott is really not that big of a deal. It is a great area. However if I was in you situation and could work from home , I would look at nutrioso , alpine and springerville/ eagar area about 30-60 minutes east and south of show low. Affordable, small town for sure but my favorite part of Arizona if neither my wife or I had to work. I don't require a lot of social interaction or shopping being an introvert. If you do these are probably not good choices.... just food for thought. Curious on what you decide.

[urbex]

I know this is an oldish thread...

anyways...even if you _think_ you'll deal OK with a change from Phoenix to small town living, I'd suggest maybe vacationing in said small town for a week or so with a focus on simulating _living_ there, not taking a pleasure vacation. There's a LOT that people don't think about when making that change, often the "little" things like being able to go get gas or grocery shopping at 10pm, or a 5 minute drive to said gas station/store. Or having all city utilities, as opposed to well water or having to have a propane tank filled on a regular basis (and the cost) Or being able to go anywhere, any time of year....I've only been to Show Low, once, years ago, for work, and it seemed like a whole lot of nothing up there (so I may be way off base, or it may have changed since then :P)

My parents went from suburbia Detroit to northern small town Michigan several years ago. They both wanted that small town experience. They were completely unaware of the MASSIVE snowfalls and longer, colder, days compared to Detroit. They didn't think about driving 45mins to the nearest grocery store, and well over an hour to the nearest "major" shopping (such as Walmart, target, best buy, etc). Farther still for stuff like malls and fancy restaurants. They had to learn the hard way that propane is a LOT more expensive than natural gas, especially so when Dad runs the tank dry in the middle of winter because he ran the propane furnace in the barn non stop for a week Its a 30 min drive to town for Dad to get stuff for his tinkering projects, but a lot of his car and motorcycle stuff either involves having it shipped in (and on time delivery and mail virtually never happens), or driving hours to Detroit. The bugs and critters are wicked compared to down state.

This is just scratching the surface, lol. Not to discourage anyone from making such a change (I'd JUMP at the chance to make a move to a place like that if my career didn't keep me tied to the big city), just saying that there's a lot of stuff that people often don't think about or consider when making such a move.

[teddyearp]

urbex, I believe Show Low has changed quite a bit since you were there last. . . .

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by teddyearp

urbex, I believe Show Low has changed quite a bit since you were there last. . . .

Not by that much. When people ask about that area, I describe it as the opposite of Phoenix.

Phoenix is hot most of the year, Show Low is cold most of the year.
Phoenix has 1.5M people, Show Low has 10K people.
Phoenix has lots of traffic. Show Low has barely any.
Phoenix has a huge freeway system. Show Low has 1 big street.
Phoenix has many job opportunities. Show Low has few.

But the one thing both Show Low and Phoenix have in common?

Both Show Low and Phoenix have huge retirement populations.
Both Show low and Phoenix have seasonal population.
One comes during the summer, the other during the winter.

[teddyearp]

While not bumper to bumper like phoenix, I wouldn't say Show Low has barely any traffic: