Moving family to Flagstaff/Sedona (Phoenix, Prescott: for rent, houses, neighborhoods)

[TonyMacaroni]

I've lived in Phoenix my whole life, and I am sick of 110+ summer temps for months on end. Looking to relocate to the Flagstaff/Sedona area. But just wanting to know where the best place up there is for kids and families? We've been looking and are also thinking about Prescott but we're trying to expand our area to find the right home. We're also looking to rent for now, not to buy and Prescott doesn't seem to have too many homes for rent in what we're looking for.

We have two kids, a 5 year old and a 6 month old. We like the town we're in now (Anthem), but could use a change of people and living conditions. We live in one of those communities where the houses are nice, but there are no yards and every house is 10 feet apart from each other, our downstairs bathroom window looks right into our neighbors bedroom window, we need some space.

Basically, looking for that good old place where everyone is friendly, you can leave some bikes laying out outside and not worry about someone coming along and taking them. We're pretty laid back and relaxed. Enjoy some fishing and movies and meeting new people. When we do go fishing we always make the trip up to Prescott to do it, the lakes are much nicer there than they are down here. Just looking for suggestion and ideas and good schools for the kids.

[enigmadsm]

I'm interested to see feedback if any in this thread...i too live in Phoenix, have a family with 2 children 5 and under. We are actively searching for a house to buy right now, currently live in Norterra and have been lookin at homes in Anthem as there would be no new job search to worry about, and it still has the slightly separated/small town feel to us. We spend as much time up there as we can to get a feel for the area and people.

However, we have also spent considerable time in both Flagstaff and Prescott and have considered trying to make the move up there. I struggle with the demographics in both locations...not a huge family area in either one. The transients and halfway houses kill my perception of Prescott, and the seemingly endless posts of drunk college kids/drunks from the res along with ridiculous home prices in Flag deter me from there.

The forest, water, snow, and the smaller town squares though seem so perfect for what we want!

I hope that you are able to find a location that you are looking for. i think for my family anthem is likely as good as it will get for a little while.

[TonyMacaroni]

Anthem is nice, it's just congested kinda. I'm tired of looking outside of my bathroom window and directly into my neighbors house. You also have to watch our for wildlife. We've lived in two houses up here in Anthem and both have had scorpion problems. My parents live up here and have never seen one, but they live more towards the middle of Anthem. Let me know if you find out more info on Flag and Prescott. I'm pretty much the same as you, trying to find a spot in Prescott away from the halfway house type area, and in Flag trying to find a spot away from the drunkin madness.

[TonyMacaroni]

Also if you decide to move to Anthem, make sure your get a house on the west side of the I-17 so you have city of Phoenix water. The east side of Anthem has Epcor water and it's horrible. Huge water bills.

[Lostone1413]

If you want a big difference in Temps I'd go to Flag its higher up. Here in Cottonwood the temps aren't as much cooler then Phoenix as people would think maybe 10 degrees difference if that I'd say Flag on an average is close to 20 degrees cooler then Cottonwood and Sedona might be 5 degrees cooler then Cottonwood

[TonyMacaroni]

Yeah we're leaning much more towards Flagstaff. Are there any outside towns close to Flagstaff? We want to move there but want to avoid the whole college life as much as possible.

[enigmadsm]

Have you looked at Mountainaire and Kachina Village? Even as far south as Munds Park? All are south of Flag, in wooded areas. Seems to be more house for the money as well.

Phoenix is supposed to Annex Anthem by 2019, then the Epcor issue won't be a problem. I've pondered to deal with the high cost of water to have walkability from both schools and the community center, or pay cheaper prices on the west side and drive more. I appreciate the insight! And to get a feel of a little more elbow room I'm determined to find something in a culd-e-sac to have that larger yard (fingers crossed anyway) I showed my wife some properties in Prescott online the other day to get a feel for her opinion. I think flagstaff has a price point a little too high for us. She liked them, but didn't like the idea of starting over at new jobs and schools

[TonyMacaroni]

Thanks for the tips, I was thinking about looking at the Munds Park area, I'll check those other two as well.

[Jimarathon]

We live in southern flagstaff and really like the Ponderosa Trails and University Heights neighborhoods. Both neighborhoods have good elementary schools centrally located and your kids can play around the block without being too afraid. Both have great access to trails and parks, and shopping is very close with Bashas, Walmart and Target less than a couple miles away.

While the outposts south of Flag might be appealing, they are mostly second-home communities with a few year-round residents and few kids. It can be tricky to find the right balance between a home with other year-round residents that's also in decent shape. There's a reason housing is cheaper!