Family with young kids possibly relocating to Kingman. (Bullhead City: rental, condo) - Arizona (AZ) - City-Data Forum

Amber O. · 03-19-2010, 12:41 PM

Hi everyone. My husband, 7-year-old, and myself are looking at the possibility of moving to Kingman from the Silicon Valley. I have read some of the posts, but alot are from 3 years ago. I'm looking for some new information. Is it really as horrible as they are implying? Is it really bad with roaches, tarantulas, scorpions, and rattle snakes? How are the school systems, medical facilities?...stuff like that. Any new info would be a great help to us.

kdog · 03-19-2010, 07:35 PM

You answers in order are no, no, good and great. FYI, I'm a 20 year Silicon Valley veteran. I've written extensively about Kingman in this forum which is all available by using the search tool.

Amber O. · 03-19-2010, 07:41 PM

Thank you for your info. Just really worried. We are originally from the small town of Great Falls, MT and living in Fremont really makes us miss the smaller town life. We do enjoy the activities, but you can only do them if you have the money. And things down here are so expensive it is far and few between when we do have it.

Any enjoyments other than cowboy bars? LOL My husband is a musician and is also looking at any bands that might be looking for a bassist.

kdog · 03-19-2010, 07:54 PM

Fleamont, huh? My condolences. We're from San Jose. The great thing about Kingman is that you can drive clear across town in the middle of rush hour in 10 minutes.

There really aren't any cowboy bars in Kingman. Maybe a biker bar, and some restaurant bars. Not a lot of nightlife really. There are some musicians in town, so it's possible he could join a band or start one. As far as enjoyments, we have many. But then again, we tend to make our own enjoyments. The kids have playdates with friends, take karate, gymnastics, girl scouts, piano, and swim. My wife and I hike and bike. We camp. I do a lot of off-road exploration and photography. To us, it's heaven. To others it's a boring desert wasteland. It really depends on yourselves and your specific wants and needs. What brings you to Kingman? Oddly enough, we came for a job.

rambrush · 03-19-2010, 08:22 PM

Ah Great Falls the military town if I am not mistaken. We have property South of Anaconda on the way to Wisdom. 8 miles down a logging road. That is remote, closest big town is Butte.
But no worries like that in Kingman sure we travel to Henderson Nv. for the major shopping and gives us a day out of town. Like Kdog mentioned we love to explore the back country and there are plenty of trails to check out.
There are snakes and scorpions but they really are not that bad in my opinion. Medical is top notch pretty good care @ KRMC.
There is a reopened bar honky tonk out my way that is called the Montana Steak House. They have a dance floor and bar setup with a restaurant. Several places hire a musician on Friday and Saturday nights to play at local establishments.

Amber O. · 03-19-2010, 10:15 PM

Thank you both for your input. Yeah, GTF is a military town. Been there since I was 3, but my husband's ex-wife married a military guy and moved his (our) oldest son to Vandenburg AFB. So we found jobs through the internet and moved down here to keep our boys as close as possible. Unfortunately we still don't get to see him as much as we hoped since he's still 4 hours away. That and we don't like the rudeness of the peoples here, let alone the taxes and high rents.

Since deciding that "sunny California" isn't really for us, we have been shopping for jobs around the western states and a facility in Kingman called for an interview. Since then, we have been trying to do as much research in the area as possible.

Amber O. · 03-25-2010, 02:22 PM

Hey there kdog, what can you tell me about good v. bad parts of Kingman to find a home? I've been checking online and it seems there are more places to rent in Bullhead City than in Kingman itself. Any good ideas?

kdog · 03-25-2010, 03:56 PM

In today's Kingman Daily Miner, there are 23 unfurnished home rental listings. You can browser them and the other categories of rental listings on line here: KDM unfurnished homes for rent

As for neighborhoods, I would stick to the Hualapai or Manzanita school districts for your kid.

Amber O. · 03-25-2010, 08:13 PM

Kdog...you're awesome! Thank you.

What do you think about Bullhead City vs. Kingman? We have been checking things out there, too.

kdog · 03-25-2010, 10:12 PM

Hey you're quite welcome.

Honestly I think you're better off raising a kid in Kingman. I don't think Bullhead has elementary schools as good as two I mentioned here in Kingman. Bullhead is also excruciatingly hot in the summer, a good 10 to 15 degrees hotter than Kingman. (That's a feature in the winter though.) You should look into activities for the kids as well. Do they have martial arts, gymnastics and dance studios in Bullhead? We've got our kids in all those things. Kingman just seems more family oriented to me. But, I've never lived in Bullhead, so those are only my impressions. Bullhead has arguably better shopping and is on the river, so you have better access for boating. Kingman has the great Mt Hualapai Park if you like camping and hiking and such. You should check out both cities and see what you think.