Moving to Prescott? Don’t Pick the Wrong Neighborhood!

If you’re moving to Prescott and don’t know the neighborhoods yet, this video will save you a lot of time and probably a few headaches. Hi, I’m Diane, the local Prescott pickle lady. And I’m Randall, her trusty sidekick. There he is. We make videos to help people who are thinking about relocating to Prescott understand what it’s really like to live here. This video is for people who are thinking about moving to Prescott, Arizona and are trying to figure out which neighborhoods actually fit their lifestyle. If you’ve already decided Prescott is on your shortlist, but you’re not sure where you could live, this is exactly for you. We’re going to walk through five of the top neighborhoods in Prescott, show you where they are on the map, and break down the type of homes, pricing, terrain, amenities, and what kind of people tend to like each one, so you can narrow down your options quickly. Make sure to stick around to the end, because we’re going to show you the one neighborhood that most of our clients end up choosing, and why. This is what Prescott looks like in Google Maps. I’m going to point out a couple of features here that you should be able to recognize. The first is Highway 89. This is pretty much the main path in. If you’re coming from I10, you’re going to come up this way. If you’re coming down from 40, you’re going to come down that way. And then the other major highway is 69. 69 takes off, eventually that joins up with 17. So if you’re coming up from Phoenix, you’re going to eventually hit 69, you’re coming this way. So it looks like a doctor’s stethoscope or something like that. This is downtown Prescott. This little green spot there, that’s right at Whiskey Row, and the courthouse, and the square, and all that. So this is downtown Prescott. The first subdivision we’re going to look at is the Ranch, and all of this is the Ranch. It’s right by Trader Joe’s. You catch Lee Boulevard and you head down here. If you’re driving from deep in here in the Ranch and you’re making your way to the square, that takes about 13 minutes. This is a great neighborhood. It’s one of the earlier neighborhoods. It’s right off of Highway 69, so it’s super close to all of the amenities. Costco, Walmart, Target, everything. But once you get inside, you would not believe- You wouldn’t believe … you’d think you’re out in the middle of nowhere- Correct … because it’s very quiet, very peaceful. And the homes are built up in the hills, so there’s a lot of winding little roads. It’s very peaceful. Lots of woods. It backs up to the Bradshaw, which is a lot of beautiful forested area. Yeah, forested area. Lots of trees and cliffs. And even hiking back there, lots of trails. Yeah. They do not have any amenities. None. They have none. Well, that’s not so. They do have tennis courts. Oh, I didn’t know that. Yeah, see, you’re wrong. Oh, well there you go. Call me, people. I’ll tell you. Yeah, don’t listen to him. Call me. But anyway, so they do have tennis courts, but although there aren’t a lot of amenities, they do have very low HOAs. Yeah. And then you’re surrounded by beautiful nature, bigger lots, a lot of space around you. Plus, you’re close to all the shopping. You can’t beat it. Yeah. Things to look out for, the HOA is notoriously restrictive. Yes. We’ve heard that a lot from people- Yes … in the Ranch. You really have to pass everything by them. Right. And they’re kind of sticklers. But that’s why they’re beautiful homes up there. Yeah. And it has a beautiful look. The other kind of negative is the driveways, because it is built into a lot of the hills and terrain. Some of the homes will have very steep driveways, so something to keep in mind. Yeah. But not all of them. Not all of them. We’ve just got to make sure that we get you one where the driveway’s not steep. Right. But they have some that are kind of doozies, so- But with steep driveways comes spectacular views. Exactly. We have a friend who lives there, and it’s astonishing. Absolutely. So it’s weighing the pros and cons of that. So what kind of people like it there? People like it who want to have peace and quiet. Yeah. They want to see wildlife. They want to see the deer in their backyard. Even occasionally they see a bear. Yeah. Not that you’d want to see that, but they’re there. They want to see the Bradshaws and enjoy all the mountain views and the forest. And so- Also, I think people who are not looking for a plug-and-play social life. Right. Either homebodies, or they do other things. They’re not really looking for the community to provide them with their social life. Right. So if that’s kind of you, this is a great option for you. It’s beautiful. Yeah. It’s a great neighborhood. All right, if you like the idea of newer builds and a bit more community structure, the next area might be right up your alley. This is where Granite Dells is located. You could say this is where the clubhouse is. This highway here, that’s 89A, also called Pioneer Parkway. It essentially runs parallel to 69. That’s the highway we were talking about before. When you’re in Granite Dells, you can grab Pioneer Parkway and you can head east, that’ll take you into Prescott Valley. They got a whole bunch of shops and stuff along Glasford Hill. Or you can go in town this way. Or if you want to go straight to the square, again, you can see this is the junction we looked at before, and here is downtown Prescott. So you have to make your way up, then go down 89. That takes about 15 minutes. All right, so tell us about the homes and the prices in Granite Dells. Granite Dells is great. It’s a brand-new development, maybe five to 10 years old- Yeah … with more still being developed and they’re still spreading out. Yeah. It’s very flat land, so people love that because they want to have a flat backyard if they have a lot of dogs and stuff. Yeah. But they have some views of the Dells. The prices can range from really small square footage, like in the fives, all the way up to over a million. Yeah Of course, the million dollars have more of the Dell views. Yeah. But the terrain is very simple, easy maintenance. The homes are a little closer together. Mm-hmm. You’re not going to find a lot of big lots. The higher price, you might have a little more space. Yeah, you get more of a lot the higher you go. Yeah. But the amenities, they’ve got a great clubhouse there. Mm-hmm. It’s a big community center. They have a beautiful pool. They have a couple of pickleball courts, a great big athletic center, and- They’ve just renovated. It’s gorgeous … It’s very nice. Yeah. And then they have a nice seating area where you can look out over the views- Yeah … with a fire pit and all that, and have a glass of wine. No restaurant, no golfing. Yeah. It’s very popular with Californians. They really connect with it. The other thing is they don’t have a lot of like a leader there running events for the neighborhood. Yeah, we call that a cruise director. Right. No cruise director there. No cruise director. They mostly have neighborhoods that, neighbors who run their own- Yeah. They’ll play cards, but they kind of run it themselves. Yeah. The landscaping is not very mature because it is new. It’s a brand new place. But they have done a spectacular job. In a few years, that landscaping’s going to be stunning. Yeah. And it’s very close to the Peavine Trail. Mm-hmm. So you could ride your bike down the road and get on the Peavine Trail and go right into the Dells. So if you’re a big biker or hiker or walker, that’s a lovely feature that Granite Dells has. The other good thing is it’s kind of between, it’s still a Prescott address, but you can go to the left on Pioneer Parkway and go down to Willow Creek for shopping, or you can go to the right on Pioneer Parkway down to Prescott Valley and do shopping on Glasford Hill. Yeah, you’re kind of right in the middle. So you’re right in the middle. Yeah. So you’ve got the best of both worlds- Mm-hmm … in terms of getting restaurants and some shopping. So- What kind of people like it there? Fun people. I have a lot of fun friends who live out there. Yeah. It’s beautiful, and you’re going to get the latest bells and whistles in the house, and people are very happy there when they get in there. So- I find they’re kind of bimodal. Some of them- Yeah … they just want to be left alone. Yeah. They’re out there, they’re quiet, they’re not looking for a whole lot of community involvement. And others, they do a ton of entertaining. Right. So it really kind of depends on where in the subdivision you end up washing up, because some of those neighborhoods get really, really close-knit and they’re constantly over. And very social. Right. And others, not so much. Yeah. So you kind of have to look out for that. It’s kind of the best of both worlds. Yeah. Now, if you’re looking for something a little more private, a little more elevated, literally, and a bit more exclusive, this neighborhood is worth a second look. Hassayampa Village is right down here. You can see this is where Capital Canyon is. That’s essentially inside Hassayampa Village. If you’re making your way to the square, here’s the square. Here’s the junction we mentioned before, and this is Sheldon coming in. So if you’re going from Hassayampa, you would come up, you’d catch Gurley all the way into the square. That takes about eight minutes. This is a beautiful subdivision. Beautiful, beautiful area. Now this is, in my mind, this is like old style, old school Prescott. Right. When you think- Like, this is- … of a mountain town- Yeah … you think of a home in this type of neighborhood. Yeah. It is very close to downtown, maybe 10 minutes down the road from the square. Prices range, they have condos, they have beautiful townhomes, all the way up to huge, huge beautiful homes. Yeah. So really, from the fives all the way to well over two million. Yeah. The terrain is spectacular. Yeah. You’re in hills, you have some winding roads, and you get up there, and a lot of trees and boulders. Boulders. A lot of boulders. Yeah, a lot of boulders. It’s really quite beautiful. Most of the neighborhoods off of the street, off of Hassayampa are totally gated. Yes. So when you come in, if you’re interested in there, we’ll get you in and we’ll go check everything out. You do not have to belong to a club there. It’s up to you. There- But there is a very nice club there … there is a very nice club. Yes. You don’t have to join. In fact, a lot of people- That’s right … from outside the Hassayampa area will join, it’s called Capital Canyon- Right. Capital Canyon … will join Capital Canyon. And it’s right there in the center of- Yeah … Hassayampa, although it’s not a requirement to join it if you live there. But beautiful golf course. Yeah, beautiful, beautiful golf course. People love to play it. They have a great restaurant. They have a great pro shop. They have an athletic center and a small pool and I think they were getting some pickleball. They might already have them. But it’s quite nice. So if you’re not a joiner and you’re not interested in something like that, you don’t have to join Capital Canyon. Without Capital Canyon- You will have no amenities … you will have no amenities. Just incredible- Yeah … views. Yeah. A beautiful home and, yeah, peace and quiet. Yeah. Walking is very popular there. People walk- Mm-hmm … since it’s all gated and it’s all so beautiful, a lot of people- Mm-hmm … do a lot of walking. You’ll see them doing that. Absolutely. Things to look out for, extra elevation. Yep. It’s a little higher- Yes … when you go into Hassayampa Village. It’s a little higher, and that will affect the weather a little bit. Mm-hmm. So you have a little bit more snow. A little more standing snow. Yeah, and a little more of it- Mm-hmm … because of all of the twists and turns and the trees and the shade. Right. It’ll stick there a little bit longer. Now, it will be plowed. Yes. But just so you know Like any area that has terrain, watch out for crazy driveways. Yep. Yeah. You’re going to have some more steep driveways, not all of them, but that’s the price you pay when you’re up in the hills and you see all these spectacular views. Yeah. You got to be up, people. You can’t be low to get that. Yeah. You got to be up. You got to be high. And so they’ll have all of that, and it’s just gorgeous. All right, so what kind of people like it there? I find the people who buy in there are… They love luxury. A lot of the homes can be two to three stories with elevators- Mm-hmm … because they’ve taken that into consideration with the- Yeah … the building into the terrain. So this is more people who love luxury. They want peace and quiet. They want stunning views. But perhaps they really like to play good golf, and they want to have a restaurant. Yeah. They’ll join Capital Canyon. Yeah. So I find a lot of retired professionals, doctors, lawyers- Yeah. Yeah … judges, they tend to go into this neighborhood. Yeah. They like it. Yeah. It’s considered a prestigious- That’s right. Yeah. We’re not there. Great. I believe that’s right. Homes, a lot of the older homes have sort of a rustic elegance to them- Yeah … kind of a Western feel to them. Yeah. Some of the newer homes are looking more modern and farmhousish. Right. So that’s kind of- There’s a mixture in there … like a mixture. Mm-hmm. Yeah, it used to be almost exclusively kind of the- Yeah … Western elegant thing. Lots of wooden poles in the houses and- But a lot of the new construction is sort of modern- Yes … sort of a modernist approach. Mm-hmm. So which one of these neighborhoods sounds the most like you and why? We’d like to hear from you. All right, next let’s take a look at something very different. This next area has a strong community feel, resort-style living, but it also comes with some trade-offs you need to understand. Talking Rock is the subdivision that is the furthest from the square. On this map, Talking Rock is about right here. You can tell this is the Outer Loop Road. There’s not a whole lot of infrastructure out there to get to a grocery store. You go down, Outer Loop Road into Chino Valley. Takes about 25 minutes to get there. Here’s the square. Here’s the junction that we keep talking about. There’s the turn from Sheldon onto Montezuma. So the square is about right here. You’ve got to make your way up Montezuma, then Iron Springs. You catch Williamson Valley Road and then take it all the way up to Talking Rock. Takes about 30 minutes. All right, tell me about Talking Rock. Talking Rock is spectacular. To me, it’s like living in a resort. It is living in a resort. So it is. Yeah, it is. It is resort living. 100%. Yeah. It’s very flat terrain out there. Mm-hmm. You’ll see some… The biggest views out there are Granite Mountain and things like that. Most of it you’ll have some rock, a lot of scrub pine, alligator… What do you call- Juniper … juniper. Alligator juniper. Not a lot of pine trees. So this is not like forested pine tree area. No. It’ll just be like- Yeah … scattered scrub pine kind of areas with some rocks in there. Not big boulders. Yeah. A few. But it’s mostly flat, so a lot of people love that because you can get a nice spread out- Yeah … single-level home. Lots are big. Lots are big. The lots are big, so you have lots of space between you and others, lots of three-car garages. The amenities are spectacular. Yes. And you have to join the club. Yeah. And you have to join- It is mandatory. Yes. You have to have a social membership- Yeah … which is, I think, 30 to 40,000. Subject to change. Subject to change- Yeah … so don’t quote me on that. Yeah. But if you go out there, you will pay that social membership. You have no choice. But my gosh, what they offer you. Yeah. Amazing golf. They have hiking trails. They have bocce ball, a dog park, a garden, a communal- Community garden center. Yeah. Tennis courts, a pool. They even have their own coffee shop. Yeah. They have a great restaurant, a ton of social… I mean, the list goes on and on. So the people who move out there, they like being in a resort, and they like spending their time there. They’re avid golfers. They want to golf every day. Yeah. They love- The bocce ball, just to double down on the bocce ball thing. Oh, yeah. The bocce ball thing- Oh … has gotten huge out there. Amazing. Yeah. A lot of people, they’ve kind of graduated from tennis to pickleball. Pickleball, people get injured playing pickleball, so now bocce ball is starting to trend. It’s coming up. Yeah. Talking Rock has put bocce ball on the map. I think they have a kitchen. Right. They have a pizza kitchen out there, so people hang out. It’s become a real thing, so. So some of the negatives are it is far out of town. It’s far from town. So if you need a… Say you’ve run out of milk, well, and it’s 8:00 at night, you’re going to be having like a 20 to 30-minute ride to the- Yeah … closest grocery store. Now, well- You’ve got nothing close by … for milk, you might, for milk, there’s a few- A golf sta- A golf station, a gas station- A gas station … convenience store not too far. So you could run over- But also … and get that. And also in the- Yeah … in the club itself, they’ve started keeping things like that. Like if you’re out and- In the coffee shop. In the coffee shop, so you don’t- But to do real groceries or go to the hardware store or Costco or- Target … Target, Trader Joe’s- You’re going to… Or the doctors … any of those. Or the doctors. You will have to plan out your day. Yeah, you really have to plan ahead. But it’s not a bad drive. It’s a beautiful drive. Yeah, it’s not a bad drive. But you just plan out your day, and you go from place to place, and then you go home back to your- And chances are you will be retired, so- Yeah … it’s not hard to do. You go back to your beautiful resort living- Yeah … and your beautiful home because the homes out there are stunning. Yeah. And they are going to be a little bit pricier out there, for sure. I would say maybe sevens all the way up to well over two million. Oh, yeah. Really, there’s some really, really- Well over … luxurious homes out there. Yeah. Yeah. And I would say if you are the kind of person who wants to be off the beaten path, away from any traffic at all- Mm-hmm … nice and quiet, dark, dark skies, and you actually like the idea of not being close to all the infrastructure and everything because that’s the way you want it, then Talking Rock’s where you want to be. It’s beautiful. Yeah. It’s astonishing. Yeah. It is truly like living the good life- Yeah … all the time. If you don’t want to be that remote, I would tell you if that seems like a negative to you, then- Probably you want to get something closer in. Right. But the people who want that, that’s the place to go. And they love it. And they’ve become very close- Yeah … because it’s like their own little community out there. Yeah. So it’s a really nice close-knit little community. Yeah. For sure. If you’re finding this information helpful, we’d really appreciate it if you would take a moment to like this video, as it helps us. Yeah, absolutely. And if you want to make sure you get all of our new videos as soon as they come out of the chute, subscribe and then- Subscribe, people … you won’t miss out on any of the Prescott Scoop, and it’s free. Stuff coming out. We could charge. Yeah. We could charge. We don’t. We don’t. It’s absolutely free. You don’t want to miss it, so subscribe. If you know someone who should watch this video, share it with them. Chances are you do. Don’t forget about it. Send it to them now. Yep. All right, so now let’s talk about the neighborhood that more of our clients end up choosing than any other, and there’s a reason for that. There is. Prescott Lakes is easy to find because it’s close to the lakes. Here we have Willow Lake right here, and we have Watson Lake right here. Prescott Lakes is kind of between the two lakes right here. This road is Prescott Lakes Parkway. It kind of splits between 89 and 69. So it’s got good access to all the stuff on 69. Also has good access to Willow Creek, where they have a lot of commercial stuff there. Here’s the junction, and this is where the square is to go from Prescott Lakes into town. Takes about 10 minutes. All right, so this is the section we mentioned earlier, the one neighborhood that usually rises to the top for people relocating here, and that’s Prescott Lakes. Yes. So we ourselves live in Prescott Lakes. We moved here about 10 years ago. So we’re not unbiased. Yeah, we’re not unbiased. We love it here. It’s just great. You have all kinds of homes and price points. You can buy a condo from the threes. You can buy a luxury home well over two million. Yeah. All kinds of homes. Just to kind of orient you there, Prescott Lakes is the subdivision. Within Prescott Lakes, there are about a dozen different neighborhoods. Correct. And then depending on the neighborhood, kind of dictates the price point- Price point … of a home, and maybe a little bit more than that. There’s Astoria, which is really designed as a lock and leave. Mm-hmm. It’s gated. Very small lots. The houses tend to be kind of close together. Tight, and a little cookie cutter. A little, yeah. It has a Victorian feel to it. Right. If you’re looking for some place that you can lock and leave and not a lot of upkeep, Astoria would be a great choice for you. The Cottages would be another. Yeah. Single level homes in The Cottages. Yeah. Also gated. Better price point. Some of them have to be updated a little bit, but some have been updated and are very nice. Yeah. We have townhouses. There’s a neighborhood- Yeah … of townhouses. There’s a neighborhood of condos. And then you get into the big time. There’s The Estates- That’s right … which is kind of the premier neighborhood with all the 3,000 square foot homes- Beautiful … all on the golf course. With astonishing views. Yeah. There’s Parkside, which is also a very high-end neighborhood. With big lots. Big lots. You have a lot of space. And everything in between. Everything in between. So chances are there’s a neighborhood that works for you. Part- In the right price point for what you need, too. In the right price point. Part of the reason why it’s popular is it works for a lot of different price points. And then there’s the club. Yeah. So the other good thing about Prescott Lakes, we’re only eight minutes from downtown. Yes. So people love that. Yes. Super close to downtown, super close to all the amenities. Yeah. We’re between Willow Creek and 69. Yeah. So you can just shoot down and get to any place pretty much within 10 minutes. Yeah. The other good thing is the club itself is just fantastic. You do have to join the club. There are mandatory club dues, but you’re not required, if you’re not a golfer, you do not have to buy into the golf. That’s separate. Yeah. The golfing is kind of the next step up, and joining a golf club is more expensive. You don’t have to do the golf if you don’t want to. That’s right. One of the nice features is if you’re not a golf member, you still get to play golf once a month. That’s right. So if you have people coming in and you want to take them out to play golf, you can. That’s an option available to you. You can. You can do the driving range, you can do the putting greens. Right. And you can get out at least once a month, so that’s nice. So it’s mandatory club dues are… I mean, what you get for that is amazing. You get a huge athletic workout center with all kinds of equipment that they’re regularly updating. You get an exercise classroom where they offer 30 different exercise classes. Yeah. And that’s included in the club dues. Yeah, yoga, Pilates. Oh, absolutely. We’ve got water aerobics. We’ve got all kinds of stuff. They have Aquacise. Yeah. And so yeah, they have a huge outdoor pool with swim lanes in the summer. That’s where they do Aquacise. Yeah. There’s a small indoor pool. There’s a spa. Pickleball is huge there. Yeah. Lots of pickleball courts, tennis courts. Now we just built two bocce courts. Yeah, bocce courts. We’ve opened up a new outdoor cafe, so when you’re playing bocce ball or pickleball, you can sit outside by the pool and enjoy a cocktail or something. Yeah. But the most important thing is we have a huge clubhouse also with a restaurant. And at the restaurant, there’s always something social going on. Yeah. We have a lot of music that comes. They’ll have parties on the terrace with live bands and buffet dinners and So a lot of people who move here, and all of Prescott, are not usually from here. So at least at the lakes, if you join any of these events and you put yourself out there, you’re going to meet other people just like you- Yeah … who are not from here. So it’s very easy to meet friends quickly, and we’ve made many friends who are really like family. Yeah. And we all look out for each other- Yeah … and take care of each other, which is quite nice. Yeah. So because we don’t golf, we appreciated that it was not required for us- That’s great … to have to pay into it. I’m not going to golf. Yeah, so we can’t say enough good things- Yeah … about the clubs within the club, a hiking club, a book club, a women’s club, bridge. The list goes on and on and on. So, you know- It’s definitely a plug-and-play social situation. It is, definitely, and lots of good areas, too. Yeah, terrain is mostly flat. They do have some areas that are kind of hilly, stem wall construction and that kind of thing. From time to time, we’ll have a driveway that’s weird, but for the most part, we don’t here. We don’t, no. Yeah. And some homes have some beautiful views. It just depends. Yeah. But most of them have beautiful yards, so it’s just a great little place. Some neighborhoods are gated, some are not. So we like it. At this point, you’re probably thinking, “I want to check out some homes in the areas that are actually available right now.” This is exactly why we’ve created picklealerts.com. This system allows you to see homes that match your specific neighborhood’s price range and preferences. So instead of guessing, you can actually see what your options look like in real time. Mm-hmm. It bridges the gap between liking a neighborhood and actually finding the right home inside of it. Mm-hmm. To get started, go to picklealerts.com or use the QR code provided here or find the link in the description. So we’ve noticed that a lot of our clients are especially interested in checking out higher-end homes here in Prescott. If that’s you, we have another video for you. It’s called “Fancy Homes in Prescott, Arizona, Selling Like Hotcakes.” Click the thumbnail on your screen to watch it now. Also know there are many other neighborhoods. These are just kind of the top ones that we find people tend to gravitate to. Yeah. There’s plenty of others out there. Give you a good idea of what’s available. Absolutely. Yeah, there are plenty of others we’ll help you with. Yes. But this gives you a good idea. In the meantime, we hope you found our video informative and fun, and we hope to see you next time. Bye. Bye.