Benson

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by mekitcat

I couldn't hear that clip all that well so I did a search and youtube has a video of him singing it.
YouTube - Joe Bethancourt - Benson Arizona
its a catchy lil tune!


Cathy

Yes indeed.

I LIKE IT!!!

Ken

[LordBalfor]

Mekitcat -

One thing you should be aware of when considering small towns anywhere in the west is that AS A GENERAL RULE small towns in the West (and this definitely includes in Arizona) tend to be a lot less pretty and charming than your average small town back East (especially in places like New England for example). In part, this has to do with the architecture. Most small towns back East are of an older vintage than those in the West and often feature more interesting and beautiful homes and buildings. In addition, many towns back East are built around public Commons or Squares, and this is far less common in small towns in the West - which were often mining towns and sometimes sprang up very quickly and with no discernable plan. Such towns were built in a much more utilitarian manner than those back East.

Now there are exceptions to the rule - towns that have become tourist destinations for example. Such towns are usually very beautiful indeed, but they are generally the exception rather than the rule in my experience.

Ken

[troymom]

mekitcat -
Like your family - none of us drink...BUT we are currently going thru an episode with our 18 year old (already been accepted to West Point!) who has a bad habit of choosing stupid friends...got caught about 6 weeks ago with a "stupid" friend who was drinking and our son had obviously drank a beer or so too - he was driving, got a "kiddie DUI" and had to go to court etc...for an extremely intelligent kid - he can be extremely stupid...ya know? He got "asked to leave" the Christian school he'd attended all his life 2 months short of graduation and now attends the local public high school...ALL THAT TO SAY - never underestimate the power of stupid decisions being made in peer groups!
Hopefully that never happens again or to your family...but you can see how that particular issue is Near and Dear to our hearts...maybe not "dear"...

[gemstone1]

Benson is a one horse town, and the poor old horse has two broken legs. One main street, with many shuttered store fronts. Other than exploring the desert, there is absolutely nothing there for a growing family. Do not relocate without first visiting the area.

Regards
Gemstone

[rkimball123]

How far is Benson from the Rincon Mts.?

Originally Posted by LordBalfor

Mekitcat -

I'd love to be able to tell you I have some photos of the town itself, but alas I didn't take any.

I can however give you my general impresssions.

There is essentially 1 main street with most of the retail along one side and the other side being the RR tracks and train station. It is not dumpy, but neither does it have any real charm. It could really be improved by planting some trees along the main street and maybe playing up a western motif by putting in covered wooden sidewalks or whatever, but alas it has none of those. The result is that the town looks rather "bare bones". It's not ugly or run down really, but in all honesty has no charm at all. It's simply a town.

The good news is that there is a sufficient collection of basic stores. There is a Safeway, a video rental store, several mom&pop type restaurants as well as some chain eateries (Dennys & some fast food joints). The Walmart is a great addition - it's pretty good sized, with a substantial food dept etc (all stuff you probably already know). There is a bowling alley - but in truth I don't know if it's open or not. There is a small park and apparently a small golf course (not been to it myself). There is also at least one RV camp (again, kind of basic from the looks of it) and one or two small hotels. There is also a small hospital and a manufactured home dealership.

Two minutes up the road is Whetstone, where there are a couple more hotels, an enormous gas station, a couple of fast food joints, and a very small (one building, but new and modern) secondary campus for Cochise College (limited cirirculum).

Both Benson and Whetstone are on the downward slope of a long, gentle ridge that looks down over the San Padro Valley and the views to the east are pretty striking indeed and it seems as if you can see FOREVER in that direction. I'll attach a couple of shots - both taken from the area down near Karchner Caverns near Whetstone. The first looks across the valley to the NE (towards Benson) and the second one across the valley to the SE (looking towards the Tombstone/Bisbee area). None of the towns mentioned are visible however in either shot.

Whetstone has some new developments going in (originally there were 20,000 permits for new homes, but the largest builder (responsible for 12,000 of those) has pulled out due to the housing slowdown. At the time Home Depot and Walgreens were looking at putting in stores in the area but that's probably on hold as well for now.

Over the long term however, Benson will no doubt grow considerably. The 20 miles or so between the I-10/highway 83 junction near Vail and the J-6 Mescal exit (5 minutes west of Benson) is state land that cannot be developed, so major development (which is considerable in Vail) will leapfrog out to the Benson area next 9as it has already started to do).

Can't tell you about the job market, but would expect it to be limited as the town is pretty small (under 5,000, with maybe another 10,000 in the general area). However Tucson is "relatively" close (40 minute drive to downtown) as is Sierra Vista (nearly 50,000 people, and a bit over 30 minutes away).

Here the link for the local Benson paper's website:

San Pedro Valley News-Sun | Benson, Arizona

Overall I'm very happy with our choice. The land we have is nice, the weather is perfect (though we are about 2-3 cooler than Benson itself), the location is very convenient with easy access to both Tucson and Sierra Vista, and Benson - while not a exactly a charming town - seems to have most of what we need, with promise of a lot more to come.

Ken

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by rkimball123

How far is Benson from the Rincon Mts.?

I' don't know - maybe 10-15 miles. They are clearly visible from Benson.

Ken