arkyan
Posts:3
 | | 04/30/2008 9:50 AM |
 Alert | Hello folks, I'm getting hitched later this summer and the future wife and I have been looking at home prices around town. Maricopa is, as you'd know, hard to beat. We came down to look at some of the homes and were pretty impressed with some of the models that we saw. We also took the drive over to Tortosa to see some homes out there. I was kind of surprised to see on this forum how low an opinion many people seem to have of the area, comparing it to a ghetto or a run-down part of town. Aside from some minor aesthetic deficiencies like landscaping issues in the commons areas and unfinished lots, the place hardly looked run-down and nasty to me. Is there something I'm missing? My fiancee and I are having a hard time figuring out what has got so many people worked up enough to diss their neighborhood so badly. Is there something more than a casual drive through on the weekend would have missed? Also, I'm curious how much time living in Tortosa adds to your commute in to town compared to the rest of Maricopa, as it is a little seperated. And I have to say, that's quite the "dip" you guys have to cope with on Honeycutt ..  | | | |
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STUDGLOVE
Posts:171
| | 04/30/2008 11:26 AM |
Alert | | It's not as bad as everyone on here says it is. You will find that with everything on this site. The majority of people commenting here are extremely oppinionated. It sucks that people let their weeds get out of control and it's terrible that our HOA is the most expensive and we have nothing to show for it. Those are about the worst things I notice. I love tortosa and have not had second thoughts about buying here. It takes me roughly 10-12 minutes to get from my house to john wayne prkwy. Much faster I'm sure than the people on the other side of the tracks that get stopped by trains. | | | |
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Pizzaking
Posts:230
| | 04/30/2008 12:08 PM |
Alert | If you decide to buy here then do your homework. Find out who your neighbors will be and if theres a bunch of rentals around you. I literally hate where I am but alot has to do with the revolving door neighbors and houses with weeds all around me. The rest is jsut being away from the city. Im a city boy (didnt figure that out till I moved here) that should have never made the jump out here but Im trying to adjust. | |
Pizzaking
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cydyinaz
Posts:39
| | 04/30/2008 12:39 PM |
Alert | We have been here for over a year and we do like it alot. It is sad about all the rentals and the weeds, but I say the majority of people take care of their property. My husband works in Phoenix and leaves about 4:30 am and it takes him about 50 minutes. Don't be discouraged by all you read, most people on here must not have much to do but complain. | | | |
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WAgirl33
Posts:13
| | 04/30/2008 3:11 PM |
Alert | Tortosa has some of the same issues that other communities have in Maricopa, yet being that we are a bit further out we are not mentioned as much around town so it seems like things are different here. We do not have shopping carts on our streets, we have less vacant homes with broken windows or boards on them, we don't have as much graffiti, and we don't have to worry about people just driving through our community to get to their own so I think our streets are less busy with 'lookers'.
I think that the housing slump has made people more vocal about their neighborhoods because everybody is trying to make sure that our community looks nice even with vacant homes, unkept properties, For Sale/Lease signs all around and dropping prices.
I commute to South Scottsdale every weekday and it takes me about 20 mins. to get from Tortosa out of Maricopa in the mornings and then it is another 20-25 mins. to get to I-10 and then another 50-75mins. to get to downtown Scottsdale. I guess if you work in Tempe/Ahwatukee/Chandler it would not be that bad.
Tortosa has some really good home prices right now. Good Luck with your search! | |
~Don't make someone a priority if they only make you an option...~ | |
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hendersona
Posts:395
| | 04/30/2008 4:07 PM |
Alert | | We love it here we are just trying to get everyone on the same page so all are happy. it takes 10-12 min to get to John Wanye Pkwy forget the dip drive over to Smith-Enke and avoid it or take Murphy to that 1st light on 347 much faster | | | |
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charann
Posts:210
| | 04/30/2008 5:47 PM |
Alert | We have been here 14 months and we do like it here. We picked tortosa because it was on the farther side of the town. The drive into Maricopa isn't bad. it's about 7 miles, takes maybe 10-15 minutes, if that.
Some people in life want to complain about everything under the blue moon. in the year we've been here, we've only seen 1 graffiti wall, which isn't bad compared to others. we're not near any grocery stores so you don't see shopping carts. No community is perfect, and anyone who really expects that is crazy, but we are happy. In fact, we've recommended our community to several friends, 2 of who are considering moving down here.
the drive into phoenix is a pain in the rear, but we knew that before we moved here. the important thing is to buy your home because you're happy. we're happy. we made the right decision. if we had to do this over again, we would still probably move down here. don't let all the negative comments deter you from coming down here. Tortosa is a great community, in my opinion. | | | |
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love@hm
Posts:486
| | 04/30/2008 11:36 PM |
Alert | We've been here for 17 months. We love everything but the HOA fees and the way the HOA/developers seem to get things done. It's quiet, we like our neighbors, etc. We just wish the HOA would provide what they say they will - AND lower the HOA fees instead of raising them. We were willing with the $70, but they raised it in Jan - and that was a bit difficult to swallow.
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Pizzaking
Posts:230
| | 05/01/2008 6:23 AM |
Alert | | As far as the drive time Im averaging 45-50 mins from Tortosa to Downtown Phoenix (Central and Thomas). Totosa to downtown Maricopa is nuttin. 10 Mins tops. I should note that these are non/light rush hour times. | |
Pizzaking
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CatMan
Posts:24
| | 05/01/2008 9:07 AM |
Alert | | We've been here over 2 years, and were the third house to be occupied in the entire Tortosa subdivision. I admit being so far from everything can be a trial at times. We've gotten used to shop by making a day of it, and hit all the places we don't have here in one shot. I think most of the people that trash-talk Tortosa have rarely (if ever) been out here, and use it to make themselves feel better about where they live. I hear about all the "youth" problems in Rancho and other areas of town, the graffiti issues and other stuff too. Lets face it, population brings problems, and maybe that's one of the reasons it is so quiet out here after dark. We don't have the traffic to deal with, kids hanging around the stores and being kids, and all that kind of stuff going on. I'll take the peace over the "hustle and bustle" any day. Because we're detached from "town", I think some of people consider Tortosa like the proverbial red-headed stepchild, and like was mentioned, it sucks that we pay so much for an association with no ammenities, but I like Tortosa. | |
I thought it was great that I seemed to be getting more patience with age...turns out I just don't give a darn. | |
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grizzle
Posts:36
| | 05/01/2008 3:50 PM |
Alert | | In a few months we will have been in Tortosa for 2 years. We love it here. Like everyone else, we hate the HOA's high fees and lack of ammenities. Plus the weeds are annoying. Besides that we've got no complaints. Having two brand new schools in the neighborhood is also a plus! You couldn't pay me enough to move back to Baseline and Alma School where we lived before. Much more peaceful out here. | | | |
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TortosaGuy
Posts:691
| | 05/01/2008 5:01 PM |
Alert | | my wife and i love it out here too....as some others have said it takes about 10-12 minutes to get to downtown maricopa which is fine with me...its nice and quiet...plenty of stars to see since our community was designed with fewer street lights...weve been here since late february 2007 and aside from my 120 mile commute to work its a great community...we hope you choose tortosa and love it as we do | |
*formerly known as inyrfce2*
Senior Member
Posts: 797
Joined: Dec 2006 | |
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Pizzaking
Posts:230
| | 05/05/2008 8:19 AM |
Alert | | One of the things that has kept me sane on my commute is Sirius radio. Now that Ive got my talk radio I almost look forward to the drive. Just a suggestion to those that dread the drive. | |
Pizzaking
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scrapmom2boys
Posts:45
| | 05/05/2008 8:32 AM |
Alert | | We have lived in Maricopa for a little over 1 yr. We are located in Glennwilde in the Centex homes. And we LOVE it here. Our Neighbors are great. We are close enough to down town Maricopa but not to close for the shopping carts or grafitti. We have descent HOA Fees and are one of the FEW communities with a pool (2 in fact). My hubby works in PHX off 44th and Indian School and leaves at about 4:30 am and 3 pm and it takes him 40-50 minutes to get to and from work. If we had to make the decision all over again We would still move here! | |
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"Life is just a scrapbook waiting for us to put it on acid free paper" | |
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LeonPotter
Posts:506
| | 05/05/2008 9:39 AM |
Alert | Posted By scrapmom2boys on 05/05/2008 8:32 AM
We have lived in Maricopa for a little over 1 yr. We are located in Glennwilde in the Centex homes. And we LOVE it here. Our Neighbors are great. We are close enough to down town Maricopa but not to close for the shopping carts or grafitti. We have descent HOA Fees and are one of the FEW communities with a pool (2 in fact). My hubby works in PHX off 44th and Indian School and leaves at about 4:30 am and 3 pm and it takes him 40-50 minutes to get to and from work. If we had to make the decision all over again We would still move here!
I live in the Villages and I'm happy with everything here. But, Glennwilde looks like a nice community, too. For me, Pacana Park and Glennwilde's own soccer field/park/pool area are the upshot.
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My answer is "NO" to Q#5 and Q#1.
Proverbs 22:7
The rich ruleth over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender. | |
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mw
Posts:121
| | 05/11/2008 9:56 PM |
Alert | | we love tortosa. we moved out this way so that we wouldn't have to deal with the train at all. it takes my hubby about 50 mins to get to phoenix. i'm a stay at home mom, so it all works out. we love that (if and when) walmart gets here, we will be fairly close but won't have all of the traffic. our thought about maricopa was this, "we drove this far (to get into maricopa) what's another 9 minutes to make us happy w/a great home?!" we bought a shea home and couldn't be happier with the customer service or workmanship. and our neighbors are great! good luck! | |
this time i want a smart president! | |
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CleanuptheCopa
Posts:77
| | 05/12/2008 11:47 AM |
Alert | Arkyan,
We have our problems out here like everyone else does. Most of the posts that are negative here are out of frustration with our HOA and developer and really only a way for many of us to vent and solicit ideas on how we can improve our community. There are some bad neighbors, sure, there are some unkept houses, true, but you will find that everywhere anyway, but overall we do not regret buying here (2 years ago). | | | |
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