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I need to know all I can about this little town there really isn't much to read in the search.
I have been looking for somewhere to live that is warm. I looked in to Altus, OK. Truth or Consequences, NM and now I found Benson. So far what I read about it, it looks promising. The crime is low, the schools are good, cheap housing, and I like the quaintness of a small town.
My hubby and I want to move over the summer and we have four kids all under 13, what I would like to know is, even though the stats are low, is it a safe town? Are the schools as good as the stats? (any parents input would be great) Is the town clean or run down? What kind of stores do they have? I know there is a Wal-Mart, I would be transferring to it. How are the jobs there for a blue collar worker? (machinery, warehouse) We would be renting at first, are there any realtor's that may be able to secure us a place before we get there? We could pay 2 or 3 months in advance pending on how much the rent is.
I couldn't find to many pictures of the town itself I would love to see some if anyone has any, it would be greatly appreciated.
I'm trying to plan a weekend in late May to go out there but I would like some feed back about the town before I buy a plane ticket, might save my money if it isn't worth it.
LordBalfor I know you bought some land around that area, but what do you know of the town itself? Any and all info I can get would be tremendously appreciated
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:
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.
We live in Altus, OK and I just wondered how this town came up on your radar as a place to consider. We would never in a million years moved here if my husband wasn't transferred here for his job.
We are leaving here and moving to the Phoenix area not that my husband has retired.
We live in Altus, OK and I just wondered how this town came up on your radar as a place to consider. We would never in a million years moved here if my husband wasn't transferred here for his job.
We are leaving here and moving to the Phoenix area not that my husband has retired.
I was asking mekitcat because she mentions Altus as one of the places she has looked at to move. I was curious as to how she ran across Altus. It is definitely a little town on the prairie and it is not among the top 1000 places that I would ever have considered.
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:
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
Thanks for your reply I'm glad to hear that it isn't run down. The plainness I could live with. So far so good, it looks as though I might just get them plane tickets yet!
I like the picture's that you posted, nice landscape shots. You can see the mountains I like that idea after living in flat IL all my life I can't wait!!
We live in Altus, OK and I just wondered how this town came up on your radar as a place to consider. We would never in a million years moved here if my husband wasn't transferred here for his job.
We are leaving here and moving to the Phoenix area not that my husband has retired.
altus2006
Well to make a long story short, when my husband and I decided we wanted to move somewhere warmer, Oklahoma came up because it is closer to where we are now (IL) and I started with a google map and looked for towns, then I searched the net to see what towns had Wal-Marts. Looked up the data here on City-Data did a check on the schools which had good ratings. And it seemed nice enough of a small town which is what we want... but that was a short lived thought, I personally wanted to go more West. T or C sounded good until I heard the stories about the town and so I searched again this time in AZ and came up with Benson.
Thanks for your reply I'm glad to hear that it isn't run down. The plainness I could live with. So far so good, it looks as though I might just get them plane tickets yet!
I like the picture's that you posted, nice landscape shots. You can see the mountains I like that idea after living in flat IL all my life I can't wait!!
Thanks again Cathy
You're welcome.
Any other questions, feel free to ask. I assume you've already seen the other photos I've place on this site as well as the Webshots pictures. If not, let me know and I'll direct you to them. Take note that although the landscape in the photos looks flat, you are really looking downhill (though it's a very gentle slope as I mentioned) and the mountains in the distance look much closer in reality. This is an area of Arizona known as the Sky Islands - called that because of the many small mountain ranges scattered about in more or less every direction. The Whetstones are very close to Benson, as are the Rincons and Little Rincon. Other mountain ranges are (as shown) further to the east across the San Padro Valley.
As I've mentioned before on this site, I really love SE Arizona. It's pretty undiscovered really, quite pretty, relatively green (at least at certain times of the year) and has reasonable property prices - best of all though is the climate. If you settle in an area at 3,500 feet or above (as Benson is) it seems to me you can have the advantage of pretty mild winters without being completely fried in the summer.
You're welcome.
Any other questions, feel free to ask. I assume you've already seen the other photos I've place on this site as well as the Webshots pictures. If not, let me know and I'll direct you to them. Take note that although the landscape in the photos looks flat, you are really looking downhill (though it's a very gentle slope as I mentioned) and the mountains in the distance look much closer in reality. This is an area of Arizona known as the Sky Islands - called that because of the many small mountain ranges scattered about in more or less every direction. The Whetstones are very close to Benson, as are the Rincons and Little Rincon. Other mountain ranges are (as shown) further to the east across the San Padro Valley.
As I've mentioned before on this site, I really love SE Arizona. It's pretty undiscovered really, quite pretty, relatively green (at least at certain times of the year) and has reasonable property prices - best of all though is the climate. If you settle in an area at 3,500 feet or above (as Benson is) it seems to me you can have the advantage of pretty mild winters without being completely fried in the summer.
Ken
I have looked at so many pictures searching for any info on Benson so I can't say for sure if I seen them or not so if you don't mind I would like to see them.
How did you happen to come across getting your land? Do you know a realtor that you can maybe refer me to? I seen this http://www.longrealtybenson.com/prop_man.htm (broken link) and this maybe who I will contact. Don't know just yet though.
And I found that link to the paper awhile ago that's how I learned the rent was cheap. Thanks for it though.
And so far although I haven't been there but from what I learned and read about I can see myself really enjoying living there. I know a lot of people say you should visit first because it isn't for everybody (heat wise) I always had a cold intolerance, I sleep with a big thick blanket year round, I wear jackets in summer lol So bring on the heat!!!
I have looked at so many pictures searching for any info on Benson so I can't say for sure if I seen them or not so if you don't mind I would like to see them.
How did you happen to come across getting your land? Do you know a realtor that you can maybe refer me to? I seen this http://www.longrealtybenson.com/prop_man.htm and this maybe who I will contact. Don't know just yet though.
And I found that link to the paper awhile ago that's how I learned the rent was cheap. Thanks for it though.
And so far although I haven't been there but from what I learned and read about I can see myself really enjoying living there. I know a lot of people say you should visit first because it isn't for everybody (heat wise) I always had a cold intolerance, I sleep with a big thick blanket year round, I wear jackets in summer lol So bring on the heat!!!
Ok then, here's the links to a couple of my albums. The first is a general Arizona album. Photos of SE Arizona begin at the end of page 6. It is open to the general public
This next album is not generally open to the public since I've listed it as private - not because of any "secret" information but rather because it contains photos that are not of much interest to the general public (lots of whom view my collection of travel albums (up to well over 4 millions views overall)). You can therefor ONLY reach the album with this direct link rather than from my public web page of travel albums. However, under your specific circumstances you may find it of some value. The first few pages are pictures of J-6 Ranchettes (10 minutes west of Benson) where we own land, then there are a few shots of the area just west of Tucson (Picture Rocks etc), then a return (on page 3) to some shots of some very cheap lots (suitable really only for mobile homes) about 10 minute north of Benson near the base of the Little Rincon Mountains. On page 4 there are some pictures of Sunsites (a retiree oriented community quite a ways east of Benson (too far to commute in my opinion)). The final 5 photos are of Marana, an up and coming town NW or Tucson.
Finally, here's a link my album of shots of the Three Points area SW of Tucson. It's not near where you'll be working, so it's not where you should be looking, but you may find the photos of interest simply to give you a bit more of a feel for the general look of another part of SW Arizona.
Note that ALL of the shots in the 2nd and 3rd albums were taken in January of last year. The vast majority of the shots in the first album were taken in late July or early August of last year.
I worked with a very good realtor out of Tucson (where we were based during out property-search trip). Found the property we bought on his website (more or less - it's a long story). He did a good job and we're VERy happy with him. He's a tall, burly Italian-American guy originally from Boston and comes across as a dapper mob guy and ladies man, but the fact is he was terrific and I would have not problem recommending him. He busted his bu** for us on what was clearly going to be a very small commission. He's based in Tucson so he's not really a Benson expert and I'm not sure how much business he does out there, but I would certainly recommend him if you are interested (send me a private message for a link to his website). One of the things we REALLY liked about him was that when we first began working with him he told us that when we finally settle on some property and have made up our mind to buy it, he was going to suddenly turn around and try and talk us out of it. He said he would do this so he could point out the drawbacks (which ANY peice of property has) and make sure that we had really thought it out before we buy. True to his word, he did EXACTLY that - and thus made sure that we really understood the land we were buying (both the good AND the bad points). We LOVE the guy.
Regarding heat - as I have mentioned, we chose SW Arizona specifically because we didn't want an absolute furnace. Here's a website you might find of use:
It's the link to a private weather station (part of the Wunderground.com network of such weather stations set up on private computers). This one happens to be in the J-6 Ranchettes development where we bought land. It's at about 4,200 feet or so - at the crest of the ridge just upslope of Benson (which is at 3,500 feet or so). It has weather stats for almost every hour of almost every day for the last 4 years. You can look at the data for any date range (even the full 4 years) and even download it into Excel for analyzation (which is what I do). Note that from that site you can find MANY other private weather stations for the area (and elsewhere).
Whereever you settle in the area (assuming you do) remember - PAY attention to the elevation. For every 1,000 feet in elevation gain you can typically expect 3-4 degree temperature decrease, so for example down at the bottom of the San Pedro valley it will be warmer than up near the top of the ridge at Mescal/J-6. Benson will be in between.
Any other questions, feel free to ask. If I know the answer, I'll offer it up.
Ken
Last edited by LordBalfor; 04-17-2008 at 12:13 PM..
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