Flagstaff - what side of town to move to? (Phoenix: real estate, HOA)

[travellover123]

My husband and I are planning on moving to Flagstaff within the next 6 months. We are very interested in two properties on different sides of town, and was hoping some locals could give us some information. We're a recently married couple, young 30s, no kids, but plan to have kids in a few years. Work is not an issue as we'll be working from home, so our only need to go to the downtown area is for groceries and yoga (we're both avid yogis). We want 5 or more acres, and plan to buy land and put a low cost mobile home on it until we save up enough money to build. Our budget for the land only is max $150k. Off grid is fine. We prefer no HOA as we have chickens and are interested in other animals down the road.

The first area we're looking at is Kendrick Park Estates, about 20-25 minutes up 180. We love this due to price, acreage, views, and location (not too far from downtown and close to the Snow Bowl). Our concern is the winters, as that area sits at 8000 feet, 1000 feet above downtown Flagstaff. How windy does it get there? How bad is the snow? How long does the bad snow last? How cold does it get? How often do they close down 180? What is the community like in that area? Is that a good area to raise kids?

The second area is in east Flagstaff, about 15 minutes off Leupp Road. It's further from downtown, about 45 min, and the roads are pretty rough (5 miles of dirt roads), but the views are incredible (the lot is on the side of a hill). How's the weather on that side of town? How's the community? Is that a good place to raise kids?

Thanks for any input y'all can provide!

[travellover123]

Any locals out there have some advice? Please?!

[JGMotorsport64]

I envy you. That's all I have sorry. But this sounds like the life.


-Phoenix Resident

[observer53]

You have to give it some time. Not all the people who post in the Flagstaff forum live there, and the ones that do aren't necessarily looking at the forum daily.


I would suggest, as far as the "raising kids" part, (or even the "community" part- you've seen both places, how close, and how numerous, are the neighbors?) that it's not the same in either of those places as it is in a densely populated neighborhood. They'd probably both be fine for that, by the time the kids are old enough to want to be playing with friends, there may be more people nearby.

[travellover123]

Thanks everyone so far! Sounds like either would be a good choice. If anyone else has any other info, I'm open!

[blindjesse]

Kendrick Park is colder and snowier than any place in town. Some years they don't close 180 at all, some years many times, but rarely for long. The closure gate is on the north side of Kendrick Park (usually), so you would still be able to get to town (if you dare). Note also there was a big fire on Kendrick this year, so the view may be a bit different than what you're seeing in the real estate photos, depending when they were taken.

I don't know how far out Leupp road you are looking, but it goes from mixed pinyon-juniper near Townsend-Winona road to grassland near the reservation. I would be concerned about building the house on the side of a hill for two reasons - a lot of the cinder hills are just that - piles of cinders and may be unstable, and it get's REALLY windy east of town in the spring. Other than that it's warmer out there then it is in town.


If you're looking to save $$ on land I would also consider the Parks / Spring Valley area. It's a little less isolated than either of those you mentioned.