Let's talk about the town of MARICOPA! (Phoenix, Gilbert: city hall, new home)

[newfuture]

Anyone know anything about this up and coming town?

Thanks so much!!

[AksarbeN]

This is a link to the topic that has some good information!

https://www.city-data.com/forum/arizo...light=maricopa

There are several posts that will give you the good side and some the bad side.

The biggest problem with the city of Maricopa is that it's 20-30 minutes away from I-10 and that is another 45-60 minutes away from Phoenix. If you live in Maricopa city you need to work there. Traffic is very bad most every day during rush hours. The highway floods whenever it rains and that the only road into and out of the city at this time. The other routes take you to Casa Grande or to the far west side of the southwest Phoenix area.

[JeepGirl118]

Aside from it being a bedroom community - and that it has virtually next to nothing in it? Sincerely, not much to say about Maricopa. Lets put it this way - I own a couple cleaning services and I am constantly getting calls from Maricopa residents because they have difficulty finding any house cleaners that will take the drive out there - and they do not want to pay the $30+ travel fees from Phoenix services. I had my company go out there for a couple houses 2 years ago during the Christmas season because I felt bad that these families could not get anyone to go to them- I have never before seen so much dust inside a home in my life. The dust that can accumulate in a home here in the Valley is bad enough- but nothing like I had seen in Maricopa. The people that I met there seemed friendly enough - it's just way out there and I felt so far away from "actual civilization." I felt homesick both times in the 4 hours I was there. Silly, but true. It's not "far-far" - but you *feel* far. I guess it may be for some people - but not for me.

[Ponderosa]

It's not that bad. I was out there just last week. There are grocery stores, banks, hardware stores, gas stations, all brand new and new commercial construction everywhere. There are many new subdivisions there and wide, new roads and traffic lights. It looks like anywhere else around here - maybe better. If you haven't been there in two years, you have no idea what is going on there as it looks like just about everything there was built in the last couple years. There is a big waste water treatment plant being built to serve 6000 homes on Papago Rd. Maricopa is going to grow like mad over the next several years, in spite of its out-there location. BTW, I went from Goodyear to Maricopa in 1 hr 10 minutes. Same time going back.

[vegaspilgrim]

Also, take a look at this thread-- I posted a couple of pictures there that I took recently: https://www.city-data.com/forum/phoen...el-dorado.html

The main access road into Maricopa, AZ-347 sucks. It's a 4 lane divided highway, but its extremely beat up, cars go too fast, and, no joke, each time I've been out there I've seen at least 2 or 3 cars pulled over on the side of the road with flat tires. About 15 miles down the road, you roll into Maricopa-- without much fanfare. They have modern traffic lights, but no street signs. In terms of shopping, there is a Frys, a Bashas, and an Ace Hardware. They have every fast food place you could ever want, except for McD's, strangely. The town is definitely coming along, I noticed they have a lot of dentists, but no hospital/emergency care. It's so new that the city hall meets out of a trailor.

The ONLY reason to live there, the ONLY thing exciting about it, is that you can buy a brand new home for an amazing price (by Arizona standards). I guess that's what the American dream is all about... being played out today in Maricopa-- your quintessential Arizona boomtown. In terms of subdivisions, I think Cobblestone Farms, by Fulton Homes, the northernmost part of town, is the best. There's another nice one just north of the Ak Chin casino called Alterra-- but if you live there you'll have to drive through the dumpy "downtown" and past the active railroad tracks for every single trip you make out of your house.

I also took a look at their local newspaper. Pinal county might be growing like crazy, but they still have a rural, out-of-date mindset. They are light years behind Maricopa County when it comes to urban planning. Substandard roads, utilities, parks and cultural facilities. Personally, I think you'd be better off living in Avondale, Surprise or (the incorporated parts) of Queen Creek than anything in Pinal County. What ever you do... don't move to the Hunt Hwy area under ANY circumstances!

[Ponderosa]

I remember when Gilbert, now touted as such a wonderful place to live, looked just like that, except it didn't have a four-lane road, a grocery, a traffic light, or a downtown - just a ramshackle building with a deck out front for city hall.

I agree with you about Pinal county government vs. Maricopa county. They seem to be after the quick tax revenue at the expense of good development practices. I would say the same thing about Buckeye too.

[irwin]

Yea let's talk about Maricopa...more sprawl, more strip malls, more track homes, more bulldozing the desert, more pollution, more greenhouse gases, more highways.

[Andre5140]

Originally Posted by irwin

Yea let's talk about Maricopa...more sprawl, more strip malls, more track homes, more bulldozing the desert, more pollution, more greenhouse gases, more highways.

Can't stop progress!

[valerie123]

It seems like a really nice town. It will grow. It is so wierd the post about the cleaning company since I know several people that live in the town and do cleaning. Great home prices and still has that small town feel.

[CodyW]

You know, its kind of sad when a metropolitan area gets so large, you can honestly say you've never set foot within a suburb. lol

Yeah. I've NEVER been to Maricopa, nor Gilbert or Queen Creek. That said, it seems like there are good values to be had down there, for the time being. I'm sure that won't last long, though.