SperlingViews - Sierra_Vista, Arizona

All in all Sierra Vista looked to be perfect place to live despite closeness to Mexico and slightly higher property taxes. It has very low violent crime, cheap houses, amazing views, perfect weather yet seasonal changes and all the large city businesses in a smaller town. We had already reserved hotels for trip there ourselves until we discovered the dirty secret they don't want you to know. Who is they? City officials, city businesses, realtors, landlords, and residents who live in denial and need to suck others in to comfort themselves. Where did WE discover dirty secret? On United States government website and then went to families support website and onto the vast public knowledge available online. So WHAT is the dirty little secret? Childhood Leukemia ! The government admits the rate to be more than 3 times normal and this is despite negating several victims from study such as girl who was diagnosed 2 weeks after moving from there so the gov't said she doesn't count since she moved. Kinda duh duh on that one. I have made a living crunching numbers and processing statistics and the bottom line here is, if your child is born and raised in Sierra Vista they have "at least" a 1 in 200 chance of Leukemia. THAT is scary, and THAT should be told to anybody and everybody who considers moving there with children. In my opinion any realtor who does not tell someone this should be subject to license suspension and civil suit, but then I tend to believe we all should be honest too. Silly me. If you are thinking to retire there, great, it is a definite candidate for Eden. Just don't take any children there. SOME suggest the cause is a gene, but as I said I crunch numbers and statistics for a living and the gene very well may be reason to make you more vulnerable but not the cause. The gene is found in 25% of USA population and not all who have gene got sick. The other suggested cause is the very high level of tungsten found in soil, air, and water. The armchair scientists however have suggested possible causes being military fuel line that runs under city, something with military base nearby, or related to over consumption of groundwater by residents (more water is sucked from earth than nature can replenish which is primary cause of river going dry EVERY year). [read more...]

So it seems many "claim" higher taxes in Sierra Vista yet upon checking the facts don't back that up. HOWEVER, one tax that I have found to actually be higher is property tax. The odd thing is it is set by the county and I am confused as to why a $200k house in Sierra Vista has $200+ higher tax than seem priced house in other cities in the same county. Anyone know why? I have researched over 20 homes in Sierra Vista in the $170-250k range based on present listing price, sale within last 2 years, or tax appraisal value which looked accurate and all but 2 had higher property tax per $10,000 in value than other cities in same county and 2 other counties I was looking at in Arizona (Yavapai & Mohave). It is more than houses simply being appraised higher. The tax per appraised value is actually higher by about 13%.[read more...]

Sierra Vista is beautiful and there is so much natural beauty there... but the taxes are not reasonable for services provided or proportionate with other similar sized communities in the rest of the country. The property taxes and local zoning make property ownership a bit difficult there. First planning and zoning seems to have vague guidelines that change depending on who you present paperwork to. We ended up hiring a hispanic man to turn in the paperwork we had attemted to turn in 3 different times, and it passed when he presented it. That never really sat well with us. Planning and zoning hand out new building permits pretty freely, in spite of the water issues, so not much in the way of considering growth regulation seems to be going on. Roads within the city limits, and taxed as such, do not recieve any kind of maintenance. All in all, there are a lot of great people on City Council and in the community, but the taxes, and neither county or city taking on any accountabilty for what they tax us for is a bit of a downer to say the least. [read more...]

Sierra Vista has a great climate. Sitting at 4500 ft elev, it typically has temps 10-15 cooler than Tucson. It does get below freezing, but only snows 0.5-1.0" once or twice a year and melts the same day. Windy in the spring, hot and dry in the early summer, hot and humid in the late summer, fall is perfect. Extremes never last more than 6-8 weeks, so weather here is very palatable. Great for retirement if you can handle the peak of summer heat and dry conditions![read more...]

Can anyone tell me how often there are dust storms? How often does it rain in the summer? The weather forecast always indicates thunderstorms. How is the humidity in the summer? Thank you. [read more...]

I have lived in Sierra Vista for over 25 years, and I think is funny when people say that there is nothing to do.There are two movie theatres,a small mall, and several chain restaurants-Applebee's,Chili's,El Paso,Outback. There is a small indoor mall,Target,Wal-Mart,Blockbuster,Hastings,Lowes,Home Depot and many other retail stores.There is one library,small Community Center,City Park with fairly large indoor swimming pool with tube slide,wave machine and beach entrance.There are many annual events, like:Art in the Park,Cars in the Park,Oktoberfest,US Army Soldier Show,Homeshow,National Riding and Rodeo competitions,4th of July,Cinco de Mayo,small parades and Street Dance to name a few.There are shows and plays at the High School by Alma Delores Dance studio,Limelight Productions, and traveling shows.You can also go catch a football or basketball game at the high school(Go Colts!).Nearby towns are Bisbee(30min,historic,artsy, bohemian),Tombstone(15 min,gun fight shows),Douglas(45 min,Annual County Fair, Mariachis), and Nogales-Mexico(60 min,shopping).Also, a day trip could be taken to the Chiracahua Mountains(beautiful)and located in the Willcox area(75 Min), there's Apple Annie's Orchard-which features hayrides,pumpkin,& apple picking.I believe there is still horseback riding available on Ft Huachuca, and the city of SV has put in several bike paths in different neighborhoods throughout the town for riding or walking.Picnic and hiking areas include Garden Canyon(on Post), Miller Canyon, Carr Canyon and Coronado National Memorial.There are many other groups that meet and classes offered-martial arts, ballroom dance, nude painting, whatever..!Night life is what you want it to be, there are a few bars(ranging from country western to hip-hop),the Palms has a dressy Valentines and New Years dance for couples,there are comedy shows a few times a year up on post with out of town comics, there's karaoke at Famous Sam's once a week,and the happy hours at the restaurants are pretty popular.Pretty much, you make your own fun here, it's not really prefabricated for you,like metro areas.There are plenty of activities to keep any family, single, or retiree busy, if they want to something beside sit around and complain that there is nothing to do.:-)[read more...]

My wife and I recently visited Sierra Vista to evaluate it as a possible retirement site. What initially interested me was some climate analysis I did to try to find the best climate that would be nearly snow-free in winter but not too hot in the summer. I think this city has about the best climate you can find except for expensive coastal areas which are moderated by the ocean. There is a lot we like about SV: small enough to avoid traffic, crowding, and other big city problems but big enough to have essential services and stores. We saw that the town appeared prosperous and growing but the cost of living and housing struck us as low. We really found only one drawback - it is remote and isolated and there isn't alot of interest around the area apart from the outdoors and nature themes. Our family does not live nearby and the distance to a popular airport is a drawback. However, if we were from the Phoenix area, SV would be attractive as a place to retire and escape the extreme heat. If you love the out-of-doors and being a long haul from family is not a concern, (and if you are open to adjusting to the arid surroundings) SV has a lot to offer.[read more...]

Am interested in feedback concerning the quality of life, property taxes, crime, etc, in Sierra Vista. Am considering relocating there. thanks all.[read more...]

Town management put in a new rent tax on apartment rents. Low income folks will take a huge hit. Best thing folks can do is vote the rascals out who did this. Very sad.[read more...]

Since I posted my last comment about taxes in Sierra Vista, I see the SV town council is going to raise taxes again. Last tax increase was 3 years ago. I re-calculated the savings on my next new car purchase. Looks like I will save about $600 - give or take a few dollars, by making the car purchase in Benson. And by the way, does the SV town council really believe that landlords will absorb the new "rental tax"? Certainly the tax will be passed on to renters....low income tenants included. So much for "affordable housing" in Sierra Vista. When the new "rental tax" is added to the already high rental rates, Benson looks like a more viable housing alternative than living in SV. Especially when one considers that the new mall will be only 20 minutes up the road and the airport is 30 minutes away.[read more...]

Yes I did. Last vehicle I purchased cost me $ 435 less in sales tax because I purchased in Benson as opposed to Sierra Vista. Hey buddy....do your own homework...but then maybe you just like to pay taxes. http://www.modelcitytaxcode.org/City_profiles/benson.htm [read more...]

Great place to live.[read more...]

SV sales tax: 1.6% Benson sales tax: 2.5% SV property tax lower than Benson's SV Hotel bed tax lower than Benson's Fire/EMS provided by career department in SV Benson has volunteer fire department and private (for-profit) EMS Good riddance to you! Our average IQ shot up when you left![read more...]

To the person who complained about SV's taxes and moved to Benson: Sierra Vista charges 1.6% sales tax to Benson's 2.5%. Property tax is lower in Sierra Vista, as is the bed tax on hotel rooms. City services in SV include a modern Police Department and career fire department that provides emergency medical services, as opposed to volunteer firefighters in Benson, with EMS provided by a private (for-profit) company. Good riddings [sic] ?? Good riddance to you! We have enough imbeciles![read more...]

The high cost of homes places them out of reach for the average family. The cost of rentals is also very high.[read more...]

I moved to Benson ( 30 miles north ) 3 years ago after the council raised taxes. Glad I did. They're gonna raise them again. Previous posts are right on. Taxes are out of proportion to other cost of living. Wonder what they're doing with all the $.[read more...]

Moved to Benson ( 30 miles north) 3 years ago when SV raised its taxes. Glad I left. They're talking about raising them again. Good riddings. Not my problem anymore.[read more...]

You can tell that it's a military town - everything is overpriced! After living in a beautiful large 1 bed apartment in the Midwest that was only $300/month rent plus utils, we were "lucky" to find an apartment here in SV (that's 1/2 the size, without a bedroom) for $415 plus utils. It's almost impossible to find a job if you aren't a military contractor, and/or if you aren't fluent in Spanish. It's terribly boring, with nothing to do unless you drive 1.5 hours to Tucson. Overall, it's ugly, boring, and overpriced, and I don't recommend living in SV unless you HAVE to!![read more...]

The overall is quite high fees taxes are out of porportation for the services rendered. Therte seems to no middle class economy everything from license plates for a auto to high property tax with very little services provided form police or fire. example $ 250.00 to license a 1500 cc 1996 mototcycle is a little out of line. Drug usage quite high in the adult community people can't pass drug test.[read more...]