I'm considering moving to Arizona for retirement.

[asiliveandbreathe]

29. We moved to the NE Mesa AZ area about 24 years ago..Red Mountain

to be exact..(from Mass, I was on a transfer /co)..many of my peers made the suggestion to look North of Guadalupe RD..dairy farms galore..so settled 10-12 miles North (of Guadalupe) at Power and Thomas..is the last community before heading out to the Salt River and the Indian Rez.. 20-25 minutes East from Sky Harbor Airport..,we have the RT202 wrap around - very convenient..further East is Gold Canyon, now that is very nice, but a hike from Phoenix..

I was just reading about the area near the Gateway Airport, which is about ten miles south of us - ..huge growth but need to be careful of promises (shopping, and restaurants, and now looks like warehouses and eminent domain) made by developers..they are expanding RT 24 and is causing much consternation ..not to be negative, just informative..Prescott..I only visit during Art Festival week-end..Tempe is lovely as well..of course they have ASU..

I do worry about the water situation, the heat is, well, its Arizona..(an hour drive North to Payson, not only beautiful, but cooler) but, we love our little neighborhood..we moved from Red Mountain south 3 miles to a small golf course community...and built our forever home in '06..I didn't know what an HOA was until I moved to AZ..very important to check HOA costs..if you can get a copy of the communities CC&Rs..btw..hard to find a community w/o an HOA..but there are some..APS (I believe they serve West of Phoenix), and SRP Electric Co's..SRP has been as good to us as can be, with 120 degrees at times..

West of Phoenix you have lovely communities, Goodyear, Avondale area..my son and DIL bought a home in Goodyear 5 year ago..is a newer community, young families - they are both teachers..the growth, however, west of Phoenix is huge..traffic on I10 is obnoxious..East or West..the 202 has completed all the way around to West I10..which is a good thing..but along with expanded highway you have ever increasing traffic and development..wishing you well in your search..