The city not county. Anyone have the scoop on this place. I am buying a house and would like a tour before I even visit (my wife says it is nice). This is all I got.
No information from me but I looked at that site. They list grocery stores on John Wayne Parkway. Can't be too bad of a place if they honor the Duke
Try some of these: http://www.maricopachamber.com/ http://phoenix.about.com/od/govtcity/ss/Maricopa.htm http://www.answers.com/topic/maricopa-arizona
New housing costs in Arizona are typically low compared to other parts of the country, so it's very attractive. But I haven't found the cost of living to be much cheaper than other areas. It's a great place to live if you like the heat and low humidity. You'll probably miss green grass, trees, and rain, however. Maricopa is a burgeoning community... tons of new houses, small strip-malls/shopping centers, etc. The area looks nice when you drive through (which I did a little over a year ago)... all new, and southwest looking. There are some potential downsides... There is lots of construction... roads, housing developments, shopping centers, etc. Maricopa was traditionally a farming/Indian reservation dominated area... I don't know where the dollars for all the new infrastructure is coming from and where they will get enough water to supply the amount of growth they're experiencing. When I moved to AZ my new house had ridiculously low taxes (compared to NJ where I was moving from) because the land was considered "agricultural"... once houses went up, however, the taxes jumped dramatically when the property was reclassified to "residential"... and they continued to escalate as the city I lived in then tried to "catch up" with the infrastructure needs. I guess that happens most everywhere, so just make sure you're prepared for it. Arizona is pretty famous for boom/bust real estate... the last big bust was in the mid 80's... builders went bankrupt, housing developments were abandoned half completed, etc. Recently an increasing number of developments in the greater Phoenix area are currently in deep trouble because of the housing and economy crisis, but I don't specifically know anything about the builders in the Maricopa area. For example, Buckey, Az (west of Phoenix) is worrying about having to file for bankruptcy since they annexed a huge amount of territory that builders announced they were going to build many thousands of homes on... the city committed to build a lot of infrastructure (eg, sewer, water, garbage, roads, etc.) for the builders who have since gone bankrupt or announced they've scaled back/canceled their plans to build in that area. I could conceive of the Maricopa area having a similar problem if the economy continues to erode. BTW, the Maricopa area is adjacent to hundreds of acres of cattle feed lots and dairies, so when the wind is right there's no defense against the smell. It doesn't affect the entire area, but I can attest to the fact it affects some. So unless these feed lots have moved out in the past year or so, I'd investigate that aspect carefully. The Indian reservations to the north and south have a strong influence on the area. There isn't any industry in the area so most people are employed in farming, the services sector, or they drive 40-60 miles to work in Phoenix. Traffic congestion during rush hour could get severe I'd suspect, so you might want to check that out if it's important to you. If you need any special medical care you will likely have to go to either Phoenix or Tuscon, but I expect that Family doctors and dentists would be available locally.
