I haven't live in AZ for over 40 years, but visited recently and I am considering moving to a retirement community there. I am interested in the Del Webb communities particularly. I know AZ has permitless concealed carry and I know I can transfer there, should I choose to continue working. Anyone have any info for an older guy considering this move?

No information on retirement communities in Arizona, but have some thoughts on the matter. A lot depends on whether you want to live with a group of people your age. The rules and regulations in some of these areas is too much for those that like some younger people in their lives. Some communities do not like people in their forties because they play their radio too loud, stay out too late, and drive fast. Being around younger people keeps me young. I can understand moving to Arizona though, it has a lot of attractiveness to it.

My Hometown for the last 20 years. Which community are you interested in? Del Webb has Sun City West, Sun City Grand and Sun City Festival all adjacent to Surprise. Though Festival is technically in Buckeye and is a Family Community (with schools and everything).

Depends on what you are looking for. There are several Del Webb communities ranging from the old original Sun City to brand new communities. There are over 55 as well as "family" communities. A lot also depends on were you are working. Traffic on that side of town can be a PITA. If you would be working in the east valley and commuting from Sun City, your commute will be long and frustrating.

A lot also depends on what type of lifestyle you're looking for. Some of the Del Webb communities are very large and you'll find a homogenous population of older retirees. Others are smaller with new traditional communities built up around them and the overall area is mixed.

I will say this, I absolutely dread anytime I have to drive through the older sections of Sun City. The streets are curved and circular rather than the traditional Phoenix grid. There's a lot of big old Cadillacs piloted by headless little old ladies with their left turn signal perpetually blinking. Another fun fact when I worked at Banner Boswell, I found out Sun City has the highest concentration of STD's in the state. Yep, seems like after menopause sets in, people get a lot more careless.

Arizona has a lot going for it and we enjoy living here. If you have a solid job opening here, plan your housing search around it and your commute. If you are interested in a retirement community there is no shortage of them in the Phoenix area, it doesn't have to be Del Webb.

Don't mean to sound overly negative. My mother and in laws live in Pebble Creek which is a large retirement community in Goodyear. For my in laws and their lifestyle it works out great. They take advantage of the golf course and all of the amenities the community has to offer and love it.

If you've got specific question, post up and I'll try and answer the best that I can.

ask specific questions

Actually, I'm thinking about full time retirement there. I did live and learned to drive in the old Maryvale disctrict. Grand Avenue was always a bit of a challenge. I'll keep thinking and researching and take a few trips out there. I liked what I saw, and didn't even mind the drives thru Phoenix from the airport. I currently live in Kentucky with narrow, twisting streets, people who learned to drive on tractors (and still drive like they're in a field), and the occasional surprise of someone actually signalling for a turn. I am unsure if the cats can make the transition at this time. One is 18 years old, so I don't expect he'll be around much longer. Also, I am beginning to dread the winters around here with the arthritis and all. We shall see.

Not sure of your specific requirement or interest ( I am sure you will follow up with more specifics) I moved last year from the cold oppressive state of New York to the Prescott Arizona region and love it. I am still a working professional just turned fifty but there are 55+ communities all over. I like the Prescott region compared to when I scouted and interviewed in Phoenix for much less congestion traffic and milder weather. We still have seasons ( winter is still pretty much nonexistent with a grand total of four inches of snow all season with about ten days with the day low under 40)
There is constitutional carry but obtaining the carry permit gives you reciprocity with about 35 other states, allows you to carry into establishments that serve alcohol and eliminate nics checks when buying new guns.
In Prescott region there are two indoor commercial ranges to shoot in a sportsmans club for open range shooting that hosts bullseye type matches and the Yavapai recreation league which runs some sort of action match ( uspsa idpa icore steel challenge) every weekend. About 12 guns shops in a 15 minute drive. The wife and I like we can get to everything we want ( work shooting shops eats and outdoor activities such as hiking kayaking) within a 30 minute drive.

My mother's brother left Somerset Ky and moved to Wilhoit Az due to bad arthritis. Middle of noplace in the high desert. Great climate but you have to go to Prescott for anything big and water was always scarce. The Ruger ranch was nearby.

He loved it and stayed there about 20 years until he died. I visited a couple times and we had fun riding 4 wheelers for miles w/out fences. Looks to be about 75 miles n of Surprise.

I am in Peoria, just down the street from Surprise and the Sun Cities.

Surprise and Buckeye are really growing right now and supposed to be great places to live as is the case with the Del Webb communities specifically.

I have had to opportunity to produce numerous video projects for all of the above and interview lots of happy residents.

I can also tell you that Surprise is a very short freeway hop from the Ben Avery shooting facility which will give you everything you want and then some and there are a few nice indoor ranges in the area.

I've lived in the area for almost 10 years and worked in Surprise for three years. The thing about Surprise is that it is far removed from the rest of the valley and not easy to get to other things.

Have you considered Pebble Creek in Goodyear? Right off the I-10 and has easy access to the rest of the valley.

Surprise is really nice but I would not want to live there. Too far removed and the traffic is a mess on Bell Road where everything is located.

We much prefer Goodyear.

Be advised that Phoenix is now the 5th largest city in the US, so commuter traffic will be a royal PITA.

Were I to move from Tucson to the PHX area, I would pick a suburban area a bit removed from Phoenix, but with easy access to shopping.

IMO, I would avoid living in a 55+ residential area.

quote:

Originally posted by captain127:
Yavapai recreation league which runs some sort of action match ( uspsa idpa icore steel challenge) every weekend.

Great club, with 14 pistol bays, two rifle ranges, and authentic IDPA, USPSA, iCORE, SASS, Steel Challenge, as well as informal rimfire, matches at least once per month. They favor USPSA, so you can shoot 4 USPSA "club" matches every month. The others, once/month. 13 miles south of Prescott, very near Wilhoit AZ. During the summer, we get a lot of top shooters from the PHX area (due to cooler weather). Some of those guys are incredible, like Nils Jonasson (sp?), currently #1 Single Stack and Limited. At the most recent rated match, he won overall shooting SS, vs several Grand Master Open shooters.
 
 

when I relocated here from New England two years ago I chose Tucson rather than Phoenix - better air quality, lower population, less traffic, easier to get to wilderness areas

consider looking a bit farther south

I would think twice or maybe three times before making a commitment of moving here. 40yrs ago this was a great place but with the quick growth and unlimited urban sprawl the Phoenix Valley area has become a nightmare. Traffic is terrible and the sprawl has made this area a hell in terms of temperature heat sink due to over building. I left here in 1973 and came back in 2003 due to elderly parents still here and recovering from a divorce. Parents are gone and divorce is recovered from. Wages here are on the low side. I lost $5/hour doing what I do when I moved here from Washington state and I still have not made that up even with all of the raises I got over the years. As a retired military member, the state also taxes the shit out of my retirement. I only get a $2000 deduction off of my military retirement. The temperature down here is like living in hell for 8 months out of the year. I'm looking at Wyoming,Montana or Idaho when I finally retire. The only thing this state has going for it is that it is a free state and I am forever greatfull for that.

Lots of good info here, thanks all.

I'm talking about an 18 month to 2 year time frame for full retirement and moving to a warmer climate. Much of the information you all have presented is of great value. I will investigate Prescott and Goodyear.

I'm probably going to take a series of trips that direction before making a decision.

There's a lot of appeal to a 55+ community for a old "get off my lawn" type like me.

My current home is beautiful and we have enjoyed it for the last couple of decades, but it's a huge corner lot and we only enter about half the rooms to clean now. We've been getting rid of the junk, and I find rooms being emptied. Far too many stairs as well.

Back to drinkin' and thinkin'.

What about water? Are any of you that live in Arizona concerned about water availability in the future? We were down there last month and absolutely loved it. The outside temperature was 95 but it felt like 75. We intend to go back when it's at it's worst (July Aug?) and see how we like it then. But I am concerned about water.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
consider looking a bit farther south

Or north. Not Prescott (at least for us), just too much traffic and higher house/land prices. Consider Wickenburg, 50 miles from Surprise, 1,000 ft higher in elevation, so some relief on the summer temps. We average about 7-10 degrees cooler than the valley. Wickenburg has an excellent health care environment, with a comprehensive primary care clinic, and a hospital with a full range of diagnostic and outpatient surgical services. When I suffered a perforated colon, they were able to do the necessary scans to diagnose it, and get me down to Banner Boswell for prompt surgery. There is a large "horse" community here, from roping to trail riding, and lots of places to do both. Also golf. We don't do either, just relax with our dogs on our 6 acre lot. 45 minutes to Surprise, for big box stores and specialist doctor's appointments.
 

I guess it is a matter of perspective but having moved from the northeast I do not find prescott area traffic bad at all. Pretty much every place I need to get to is a 20 minute drive except the shooting ranges at chino valley (30 min) and Yavapai rec league about 35 min.
On days off I often have a to do list of stopping at different stores ( groceries hardware gun shop wal mart) stopping at the pro box to grab mail and hitting the Prescott Valley indoor range for some shooting. Including an hour at the range my total time for the trip start to finish will be 2 hours and change

Are you limited to AZ?

If not, Lady Lake FL, The Villages is a big retirement hot spot, I remember when it was starting out, and it's eclipsed anything I thought it would.

They have a lot to do, car shows 8 or 9 golf courses, homes from single lot line to mega mansions, dining, downtown square for events, and of course our gun laws are quite favorable..

Then again, it gets humid, but thats what ac is for, grab a golf cart, load up the wife and cruise the area for wed night cocktails LOL

https://www.thevillages.com/