Possible relocation w/ questions (Phoenix, Tucson: low crime, houses, neighborhoods)

[engineer1966]

Hi. I lived in Tucson briefly about 20 years ago and am considering coming back to the area this time with my wife and small dog. We are from Michigan. My main reason to relocate is to take advantage of the low humidity and to get away from our Michigan cold and summer humidity. My wife suffers from degenerative arthritis. Before I accept a job offer, I have been searching for similar arthritis sufferers on many boards but cannot seem to find any answers. My question: Moving to the Tucson area help/aid someone who has arthritis?

Another question: Is Vail or Oro Valley good places to live without the fear of crime everyday?(been reading crime states for neighborhoods).
Thanks so much!!!

[grmi66]

My folks moved here from Michigan/Ohio back in the 80's for my mother's degenerative arthritis. She's well into her 70's now and still sews and works as a tailor.

I live in (almost) Oro Valley in an unincorporated part of Pima County. Oro Valley is literally a stone's throw away from my subdivision. Moved back to Tucson from downtown Phoenix where we had to be hyper vigilant about crime & safety, too the point where it got stressful some days. Every time we heard the dog bark we wondered if someone else was rooting around our property again. Oro Valley is the polar opposite, honestly I hardly if ever even lock my doors now. The only issues I read about on NextDoor tend to be two things - first being bored high school kids rooting around unlocked cars for whatever they can find. The second is the occasional break into someone's garage, but all those complaints all happen within a block of one of the major streets. So if your house is at least 2-3 streets away from a major street and bonus points for being confusing to get to, you'll have no issues.

The other measure I use for safety is that I have no qualms about my wife going out running or walking the dogs by herself in our area. Think in the past 18 months she's had 2-3 guys make catcalls and those guys were either landscapers or construction guys that were in the area working. She feels very safe on her own both running on streets and running on desert trails by herself.

Vail utilizes the Pima County Sheriff's Department and my brother works that area on a regular basis as a deputy. It's the one beat he doesn't care for because if he needs backup the next closest deputy is often 20 minutes away. Had one incident out in Vail trying to subdue someone he was arresting who resisted arrest. Took another deputy 30 minutes to show up. But generally that area is safe, hence why they only have one or two people patrolling that area.

Some people will complain about Oro Valley traffic but where we live seems to negate that. If I need to go to Oro Valley and Oracle Road to shop I simply take one of the east/west streets and pull right into the shopping center. Rarely if ever am I driving up and down Oracle to shop.

[engineer1966]

GRMI66, thank you for the reply. I really appreciate it. Looking on the satellite image maps now for the area. What about the Oro Valley noise with the airport or the Air Force base? Trains? Again, thanks so much. My new job will be with Raytheon, south of the city.

[grmi66]

Rarely if ever do we get airplane noise, in fact when I do hear it I tend to go outside to see what it is. Got used to the constant drone of a police helicopter in Phoenix, so a nice change of pace. With trains, maybe on a cloudy day when the sound is bouncing off the clouds do I hear the occasional train whistle.

If at Raytheon, you'd be in good company around Oro Valley. Half my friends and extended family that live in OV are either current or retired Raytheon engineers. They even have an express bus that picks people up near my house and delivers them straight to the job site.

Some of the best housing bargains in my opinion are in the wide swath of unincorporated Pima County in between Oro Valley and Marana. Our subdivision is between Shannon and Thornydale. Close enough to OV for the amenities but far enough away that traffic isn't an issue.

The other upshot to this area is if you need to go to Phoenix for anything (airport, professional sporting events, concerts, IKEA, shopping or decent restaurants) you have easy access to the freeway and it's only about a 90 minute drive.

Feel free to DM if you have any specific questions. Just moved back to Tucson after being away for 25 years, so already did all the research you're currently doing.

[engineer1966]

Hi grmi66. Again, thanks. My wife and I will probably have more questions, if you dont mind, can we ask you? Thanks. Jeff

[Sno0909]

I can't speak to Tucson specifically, but I'm sure humidity is similar to Phoenix. My parents stayed with us for 5 weeks recently in Phoenix, and my dad has very bad arthritis. He said he felt like an entirely different person while he was here. Take that for what its worth.

[Bygeorge]

This is purely anecdotal. Knew an elderly couple who moved here and she had rheumatoid arthritis. In a few months she claimed to be better. Also have personal friend who has RA but who is on heavy duty meds. She and husband travel a lot. Have never heard her say she would not be gone for months at a time because the climate of Tucson helped her to feel better. Evidently though, the Tucson climate doesn’t seem to hurt anyone.

The chief complaint I hear about Vail is constancy of wind. I live on the Phoenix side of town. The chief complaint I hear from Oro Valley folks is there is no quicker way to the interstate and to the airport. I don’t live in Oro Valley myself but friends who do live there wouldn’t live anywhere else. It is an attractive area. Not surprising a house in Oro Valley will cost more than the same house elsewhere.

You might consider Green Valley as well. Commute to your job would be relatively simple. If low crime, QOL, neighborhoods are important, you’d have a lot of choices there.

I hope you are able to take your time looking and assessing. There are a lot of choices.

Best.

[engineer1966]

Hi. My wife and I will be relocating very soon and are looking at either Oro Valley or Vail. In Vail, homes seem to be cheaper. Can anyone tell me if Vail is safe? Are there any plane noises or outdoor shooting range noises?
Thanks.
Jeff

[grmi66]

Generally in Arizona if houses are cheaper, there's a reason.

Much of Vail is unincorporated and they don't have a police department. My brother is a sheriff's deputy and Vail is one of his beats. Some nights he is the only deputy within a 20-30 minute radius. One night he had a suspect out near Vail that was resisting arrest and it took the next deputy almost 25 minutes to get out to assist him. Spent all that time wrestling on the ground with the guy. But according to my brother, Vail is generally very safe and the reason why they only have 1-2 deputies on duty. But if something goes south, it may take 30 minutes for a deputy to show up for something serious. If you have a general break in or disturbing the peace call, they might not show up at all.

[grmi66]

The other minor issue with Vail is that traffic enforcement is pretty much non-existent. If you blow by my brother going 15 MPH over the speed limit, but are driving in a straight line and don't appear drunk he won't light you up. Same thing for doing a California stop at a stop sign or going through an "orange" light at an intersection.

On the flip side, Oro Valley has more cops per capita than any other city in Arizona. I've had elderly family members get pulled over for doing a granny turn into the Walgreens parking lot. Their first traffic ticket in 50 years.