Red Rock Village (Phoenix, Tucson, Chandler: sales, big house, neighborhood)

[BillyBaroo]

Hello everybody! I haven't posted in awhile, but I've been lurking around here occasionally, mostly checking the political forums.

We've been living in Red Rock Village for six months now and I just wanted to share some of my experiences. First, we're very happy we moved and enjoy living out here very much. We love our big house after so many years in a small home with three young children. Our kids like living in a neighborhood with lots of other families and they have lots of new friends to play with. There's a nice feeling of a community here. Big difference after living near Speedway and Country Club where I wouldn't feel safe letting the kids walk around the block.

The biggest disadvantage is obviously the distance from any shopping or services. It's about ten miles to the nearset Circle K at Marana Road and twenty miles to Cortaro Road. It will be nice when the area around Tangerine Road gets developed. Downtown Tucson is about thirty five miles, the same distance to Casa Grande. My wife and I both work in Marana, so we just make sure we get anything we need on our way home from work. There are times when it's kind of a pain when I wish I could just make a quick trip around the corner to Walgreens or Circle K. We really have to plan most of our trips into town and make sure we don't forget anything. The good thing is that most of the drive is very fast driving on I-10. They're almost done widening it to three lanes all the way to Picacho Peak.

Two of my favorite things about living way out here is how quiet it is and the beautiful stars at night. I have a hot tub in our backyard and I love sitting in there looking at the sky. It's so peaceful and I've never seen so many stars in my life. The Milky Way is clear as can be and I almost always see shooting stars.

The school out here is good, the building is new and just opened a few months ago. The teachers are mostly young and in their first job teaching, but they seem to be doing a pretty good job. But whether or not a kid succeeds depends mostly on what happens at home. If parents aren't involved, it doesn't matter how good the teachers are. One thing we're going to have to figure out though is where the kids will go to High School. No way am I going to send them to Eloy! They'll probably go somewhere in Marana.

We just had a little bit of rain tonight and the air smells so good, one of the best things about living in the desert. But we do catch some interesting aromas around here once in a while since there's a feed lot a couple miles down the road. My youngest son asks me who passed gas and I tell him about 5,000 cows. Probably two or three times a month the wind blows just right and we get about 30 minutes of aroma therapy.

We definitely feel like we made the right decision moving here, we saved a lot of money by coming out this far. But what works for us, wouldn't work for everyone. We never have much need to travel south of Ina Road, if I had to always be commuting into Tucson, it would get old after a few months. I like the northwest side of Tucson, most everything is new. I'm sure there will continue to be a lot of growth out this way.

[michael krotchie]

Great post BillyBaroo, very informative! Do you know what the the plans are for expansion up by you guys in terms of grocery/retail/etc.?

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by michael krotchie

Great post BillyBaroo, very informative! Do you know what the the plans are for expansion up by you guys in terms of grocery/retail/etc.?

I agree, very informative post, BillyBaroo!

Come on, Michael . . . "expansion," although inevitable, will ruin all of the positives of a very serene environment.

[BillyBaroo]

I think they're hoping to get a Circle K. But that's probably a year away at least. Pulte has land set aside for retail near the entrance, near the Red Rock Bar (that's an interesting place). Sales are so much slower than what they projected though and that means "progress" will be much slower. It's still one of their better selling properties, I think the low prices have something to do with that. Last I heard, there were about 500 families living out here. They're definitely selling more of the lower priced homes in the $130,000-$180,000 range. The bigger homes are going at a much slower pace.

They also added about nine new floor models. There must be about twenty different models and each one has about three different elevations. With all the different paint combinations, it really does eliminate that "cookie-cutter" look that you get in a lot of these type developments. The lots are a nice size too so the homes aren't all squished together.

One other thing I forgot to mention that I absolutely love about living here, the proximity to Phoenix. I can get to Chandler in just one hour. I'm just about to head up there for Monday Night Football, it will take a little longer today, but on Sundays I can get to the stadium in less than two hours. Downtown Phoenix or Tempe is only an hour and a half.

GO CARDINALS!!!!!