Yet Another Moving to AZ post ( sorry) (Phoenix, Tucson: condo, houses)

[ArizonaDreaming67]

We are moving from Westchester County NY to somewhere in AZ lol, how is that for specific.

We have been looking on Zillow ( because it makes sense to look for an area your are going to spend the rest of your life on a internet website that sells housesLOL) Phoenix, Glendale and Casa Grande. Yes we have been to Phoenix visiting friends and seeing if we could actually survive the heat, LOVE AZ, just don't really know where to settle.

We have a house budget of between 150-200k and need to avoid HOA's because I swear after living in a condo I am going to go ballistic if one more soccer Mom tells me what I can and cant do with the home I PAID for.

Anything anybody can tell us about Glendale and Casa Grande would be great, we want the good the bad and the ugly.

Also we have a 15 month BlueTick Coonhound I would like to know of good places that he can get out and stretch his legs. Right now I have a state park that if we take the back way on the weekdays he can run of lead for 8 miles. I have researched and AZ is pretty strict about off leash, but I also know that dog folks know of the secret places LOL.

Dog parks are not my favorite, the dog is great the owner really needs some training LOL.

Thanks in advance
Gem

[keninaz]

I don't know what you like. Some like heat and some don't. I thought about Phoenix at one point but the idea of 100° temps by 9 in the morning during the summers did not appeal to us.
Some like larger areas and night life while others prefer rural living. Of course larger areas tend to come with more crime.
Are you going to be retired or need a job? Rural and semi rural areas can be tough to get a job in AZ depending on what you do.

AZ has main population areas in the lower valleys of course (Tucson/Phoenix) and they are much like any other big towns with traffic and all that goes with it.
But it has many rural and semi rural areas and mountainous areas where the temperatures are much cooler and you have 4 seasons.

[i'm not a cookie]

I don't know much about Glendale, only time I went there was for the Arizona Cardinals game, they have a pretty cool old town also. If I can give you any advise, Please look into cities in the east valley also. Nothing wrong with Glendale but I would highly consider some east valley cities such as Fountain hills, Chandler, Tempe, Gilbert, and even scottsdale(you can find stuff here in scottsdale for 200k).