Moving to Sierra Vista - safety, recommendations (Douglas, Tombstone: high crime, home)

[Schnauzerlover81]

I am looking at moving to Sierra Vista, and my biggest question is whether it is safe. My husband is concerned that it is so close to the Mexico border. I have heard that it is very safe, but I have also heard that it would be just like living in northern Mexico. Any opinions would be helpful. Also I was wondering are there any other locations that anyone recommends that are cool but also have low cost of living?

[joelaz]

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[saffordpastor]

Sierra Vista is nothing like Northern Mexico.....not even close.
In fact it is not a "border" town in any sense of the term.
It is very safe, clean, good shopping, restaurants and a wonderful climate with great scenery all around.

In my opinion one of the nicer areas of AZ.

Whoever told you it was like N Mexico is full of beans.

[jamies]

Just keep an AR handy and wear a pistol at all times. Even while sleeping and you will be fine.

NOT REALLY!

SV is as safe as anyplace and safer than most. For one thing the town is built right next to the Army Intelligence School and Brigade headquarters. So half the town is either active or retired military or works on the post, or supports it in some way.

Then there's like a million border patrol agents in the area. It's about a hour plus drive to the border from there. And there's a huge mountain range between SV and the actual border. The criminals go around to the east or west.

Now Douglas, which is right on the border about 50 miles away. I would say that area is hot, but not like it used to be.

And the "Wall" that Mexico is going to pay for will soon fix any problems.

[LordBalfor]

SV is fabulous - clean, modern, scenic, big enough to have most everything you need but small enough to avoid typical "big city" problems like high crime and terrible traffic - and with one of the very best climates in the entire nation. It's very safe - and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you.

Ken

[keninaz]

We have lived in the SV area several times. My wife was born in Tombstone.
The area is a typical military town if you have ever experienced that before.
Not much danger there unless you are up in the forested area and come across a stash of drugs left for pickup, just get away from it.
4x4 trucks can be another story. When we last lived there until about 8 years ago they had a record of SUVs being stolen from the SV area on a regular basis. They would then use them to transport illegals and drugs at night over the border. Even if they found your truck you would not want it back.
A woman and her daughter were assaulted by illegals and the keys taken to their car near our home in the Hereford area.
If you don't know the border patrol or almost any other federal agency can come on your property within 25 miles of the border to look for illegals~~that's the law. You can put them on notice not to do that however. I did just that before one of their trucks hit my guy wires to my 65' tower at night that was used for my ham radio antenna. That's all I needed was some clown driving recklessly in what he thought was open desert snagging my guy wires and bringing my structure down.
Having lived in the area for many years 3 different times I don't think the area overall has any more crime than any other town of it's size.
We just wanted to get away from the border, the heat and the winds so we moved up north.

[Deelighted]

The only unsafe area in Sierra Vista would be the area called "Fry Town." If you do a search on the forum, you'll find that area's location. Personally I've never seen the meth heads when I've driven through that area, but then again I don't live inside the city's limits.