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Old 02-29-2012, 10:21 PM
 
19 posts, read 38,273 times
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My husband and I along with our two school age kids will be relocating from Albuquerque to Tucson in June. My husband is a medical resident and will be working at the UofA Alvernon clinics most of the time with some time spent working at the VA hospital. When we visited last December, I was very much drawn to the Oro Valley area because it reminded me a lot of the neighborhood we currently live in and love. My only concern however is my husband's commute. I don't want to live in the University area because I've been told to avoid TUSD and aim for either Amphi or District 16. Private school isn't an option we can afford unfortunately. Since our daughters will be in 6th and 3rd grade the idea of a K-8 school is very appealing to me so that they can stay together as this move is a lot of transition on them already. So based on that information, are we nuts for considering Oro Valley as an option? We are looking to rent a house because his training will be finished after three years. Our price range for rent is somewhere no more than $1350 per month for at least 3BDR. Lastly, when would be a good time to make a trip down there to house hunt? I was thinking early May for a lease that would begin mid June. Is this accurate?

Thanks in advance!
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Old 02-29-2012, 11:42 PM
 
Location: Oro Valley AZ.
1,024 posts, read 2,733,742 times
Reputation: 1196
Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlyT View Post
My husband and I along with our two school age kids will be relocating from Albuquerque to Tucson in June. My husband is a medical resident and will be working at the UofA Alvernon clinics most of the time with some time spent working at the VA hospital. When we visited last December, I was very much drawn to the Oro Valley area because it reminded me a lot of the neighborhood we currently live in and love. My only concern however is my husband's commute. I don't want to live in the University area because I've been told to avoid TUSD and aim for either Amphi or District 16. Private school isn't an option we can afford unfortunately. Since our daughters will be in 6th and 3rd grade the idea of a K-8 school is very appealing to me so that they can stay together as this move is a lot of transition on them already. So based on that information, are we nuts for considering Oro Valley as an option? We are looking to rent a house because his training will be finished after three years. Our price range for rent is somewhere no more than $1350 per month for at least 3BDR. Lastly, when would be a good time to make a trip down there to house hunt? I was thinking early May for a lease that would begin mid June. Is this accurate?

Thanks in advance!
The commute from Oro Valley to the Alvernon clinic would not be pleasant. Its doable, but not pleasant. I would allow 45min to an hour to get there depending on traffic. I live in Oro Valley, and my surgeon is at the UMC Alvernon clinic. (Dr Danial Latt, who will your husband be working with there?) So I am familiar with the drive. Just made an appointment yesterday to see him again! If you were able to find a place on the southern end of Oro Valley that would help with the commute. The Foothills would be ideal, but I just did a check and it only shows two listings for rent for a single family home there in that price range. Craigs list is a good source for rentals so you might want to check that out also. When you were talking about a K-8 school were you referring to Wilson in Oro Valley? If so, something else to consider, many of the schools have open enrollment so you could live outside the Wilson district and still have your children there if you can make that work with everything else in life. Early May at the latest though, nice rentals that are priced right go fast.
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Old 03-01-2012, 01:48 AM
 
19 posts, read 38,273 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RickTucsonHomes View Post
The commute from Oro Valley to the Alvernon clinic would not be pleasant. Its doable, but not pleasant. I would allow 45min to an hour to get there depending on traffic. I live in Oro Valley, and my surgeon is at the UMC Alvernon clinic. (Dr Danial Latt, who will your husband be working with there?) So I am familiar with the drive. Just made an appointment yesterday to see him again! If you were able to find a place on the southern end of Oro Valley that would help with the commute. The Foothills would be ideal, but I just did a check and it only shows two listings for rent for a single family home there in that price range. Craigs list is a good source for rentals so you might want to check that out also. When you were talking about a K-8 school were you referring to Wilson in Oro Valley? If so, something else to consider, many of the schools have open enrollment so you could live outside the Wilson district and still have your children there if you can make that work with everything else in life. Early May at the latest though, nice rentals that are priced right go fast.
Thanks for your reply. Holy Cow, 45 minutes to an hour?!?! Mapquest and Google Maps are WAY OFF then at quoting 30-33 minutes from most addresses I found in the Wilson school district.

Yep, he'll be at the eye clinic there on Alvernon, not sure who his collegues will be yet. I'm pretty sure I saw the same two homes you spotted in the foothills during my search. I also Google Mapped those to his work and those seemed to shave off about 10-15 minutes off the commute. The thing is when we drove around the foothills, I just wasn't feeling the vibe with the houses so far apart from each other and lack of shopping centers that have my kind of shopping. For example, upscale shopping has no appeal to me, because I'm more of a Wal-Mart, Target, Trader Joes, In -n- Out burger kind of gal. Is there somewhere in the Foothills that meets that criteria?

Interesting that you mention open enrollment. That has me wondering if we live close to the Alvernon Clinic, would my commuting the kids to Wilson be a nightmare? Like I mentioned the K-8 concept really appeals to us personally because that means our girls could stay together. Also, how difficult is it to obtain a transfer out of TUSD into a Amphi school?

I was thinking early May only because it seemed most rentals were on an "available now" or end of the month status, so I figured trying to get a lease that begins in mid June might be tough. Do you think end of April would serve us better?
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Old 03-01-2012, 08:22 AM
 
Location: Oro Valley AZ.
1,024 posts, read 2,733,742 times
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45 min to an hour is probably your worst case scenario durring rush hour and depending on where you live in Oro Valley. Like I mentioned living more towards the southern end of Oro Valley will help that a lot. Commute wise what you want to look at is the quickest route down to River Rd. Taking River Road east curves around into Alvernon then you go straight south to the clinic. That will be your quickest route to work. You should contact Wilson to find what the open enrollment policy is and time frame for next school year. You might be able to find something along the Ina Rd corridor that would be a happy median for both school and work. You might also check in the 85704 zip code, that covers the southern part of Oro Valley, into an area called Casas Adobe all the way down to the River Rd. area.
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Old 03-01-2012, 08:32 AM
 
101 posts, read 246,579 times
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I know you have your heart set on the Oro Valley area but if one of your main concerns are schools for your children, I wouldn't rule out the Vail area. The Vail school District has the best schools in the state. My daughter goes to Sycamore Elementary and LOVES it, the middle school is also on the same campus.

Just an idea for you if you want to look into other options.

Good Luck to you and your family in your search!
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Old 03-01-2012, 01:10 PM
 
Location: Colorado - Oh, yeah!
833 posts, read 1,704,132 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenmar1024 View Post
I know you have your heart set on the Oro Valley area but if one of your main concerns are schools for your children, I wouldn't rule out the Vail area. The Vail school District has the best schools in the state. My daughter goes to Sycamore Elementary and LOVES it, the middle school is also on the same campus.

Just an idea for you if you want to look into other options.

Good Luck to you and your family in your search!
This was going to be my advice as well - Look at Rita Ranch or the Vail area. Rita Ranch is a little closer to shopping and dining options. I have daughters in the schools and they are, indeed, great. They are not K-8 though.

Commute to Alvernon & Broadway is just over 30 minutes and the VA would be about 20. Both commutes would be MUCH less nerve-racking than from Oro Valley, especially the Alvernon one. Time aside, I would hate life if I had to make that drive every day.

Also, I know you will only be around for 3 years, but I would look at buying. Right now a 1200-1400 square foot house (3BR/2BA) is renting for $1000 plus. You can buy something similar for about $130,000 or less (some of them MUCH less) and save a couple hundred a month. Just a thought...

One final thought - life on the NW side of town is very different than the SE side. The NW has a lot more shopping, dining and other fun stuff, but the traffic is horrendous, especially along Ina and Oracle. The SE side has less to offer, but traffic is much better and most of the shopping you would mentioned is available, it is just a couple of miles further away.
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Old 03-02-2012, 08:24 AM
 
Location: Arizona
3,610 posts, read 1,198,055 times
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Last time I was there, Vail didn't have much of anything for shopping and infrastructure. Is that still the case? On the other hand, Oro Valley seems to have caught up with the times.
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Old 03-02-2012, 11:42 AM
 
Location: Colorado - Oh, yeah!
833 posts, read 1,704,132 times
Reputation: 1034
Quote:
Originally Posted by tumamoc View Post
Last time I was there, Vail didn't have much of anything for shopping and infrastructure. Is that still the case? On the other hand, Oro Valley seems to have caught up with the times.
Vail still doesn't have much. Vail is really just an area, it isn't incorporated.

With the housing bust the promised Safeway never got built, but there is a Walgreen's, a couple of restaurants, gas station/convenience store, a Dairy Queen and... well unless you count a golf course, that's about it.

10 minutes away in Rita Ranch you have a lot more options. Two grocery stores, a handful of restaurants (4 Asian, 2 Mexican, 2 fast food, 4 pizza, 1 bagel shop, 2 Subways) - quality varies, but at least they are there. There are a couple of medical complexes (we are heavy on the dentists), an urgent care, 3 or 4 banks/credit unions Ten minutes up the road there is a Target Greatlands, Bed Bath & Beyond, Office Depot, etc.

The nearest mall is 20 minutes away if you need more.

Oro Valley (and the NW side as a whole) does have more to offer, but for the OP I don't think it is as convenient.
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Old 03-10-2012, 02:12 AM
 
19 posts, read 38,273 times
Reputation: 25
So we were supposed to close on the sale of our home on Monday and move to our temp place tomorrow. Just found out a couple hours ago there's been a snag with our buyers final loan approval so our closing date will have to be postponed.

Kids and hubby are both off from school/work for a week, and since our closing/moving plans have been blown, I decided we're going to take an impromptu trip to Tucson tomorrow. The kids will get to see what Tucson looks like and I can escape my frustration with this house sale for a couple days. I figure we can also do a couple test drives to get a feel for the reality of the commute from Oro Valley to the hubby's work.

Questions:
1) Anyone think it's too soon to begin a house hunt for a rental starting in June?

2) Any recommendations of places to take the kiddos? We'll be there from Sunday-Wednesday (11-14). Any special events happening? Our daughters are 7 and 10.
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Old 03-10-2012, 08:44 AM
 
Location: outer space
484 posts, read 966,434 times
Reputation: 393
2) Desert Museum, Mt. Lemmon
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