My wife and I spent eight days in Green Valley during early December and I thought some folks would be interested in my observations of the area.

Green Valley is an unincorporated area located twenty miles or so south of Tucson (along route 19) which was created to meet the needs of retired individuals. At least one person (in most homes there) is required to be 55 years of age. There are 13 recreation centers, with seven pools and lots of amenities. All are available for guests or residents for a nominal yearly fee of around $440 dollars. My wife and I were impressed with the quality and variety of things that one can do at these facilities. Although we only looked into a couple of them, they were very well run and some of the hobbies being worked on by their participants were of very high quality. I’m thinking of their lapidary shop (they make all sorts of jewelry there~first class stuff, much better quality then you would normally find in a store and offered for sale at a nominal cost), their ceramic shop (lovely stuff being created there) and their woodworking area.

For simplicity sake I’ll continue my report using “bullets:”

Weather

Days were in the upper fifties to just touching seventy degrees. Understand, nights are very cool (cold even~as in near freezing) as the heat goes quickly once the sun is down. From around 9:30 in the morning through early evening the weather is great. Bring lots of sweaters and light jackets for layering up.

Social Activities

As mentioned earlier, there’s lots to do if one wishes. On the other hand it is a quiet area. Very little goes on after dark. If you need night life, you won’t be happy in Green Valley.

Residents

Folks come from all over either as “snow birds” or full time residents. Lots of people from the northern part of the nation; Minnesota, Montana, etc. A fair number from the northeast. I found the vast majority of people to be friendly and trusting (in two cases we bought items from vendors who did not take credit cards. They took our personal checks even though we live over 2,000 miles away!). No one seemed to be in a rush, the majority of people being retired.

Homes Available

There are no “slums” in Green Valley. You do have home prices which range from under $100,000 dollars for a “casita” (one bedroom, no view, condo like place) to upscale stand alone residences which likely go for around $1 million dollars or so. If we bought there, because we would like a view of the mountains which are to the East of Green Valley, we would have to spend around $300,000 dollars to get what we want (two bedrooms, two baths, garage, + or – 17,000 sq feet). Yearly taxes are around 10% of the cost of the home.

Restaurants

There are plenty of good ones. Here are a few we ate at and can recommend:

La Placita~At the Esperanza Mall. Mexican food of very high quality and modest cost. Good service. Ate there three times; twice for dinner and once for breakfast. Very extensive breakfast menu. Normal American fair plus some great Mexican dishes.

Donna’s Café~Located opposite La Placita in the same mall, a funky, low cost breakfast and lunch place. Nice folks, good inexpensive food.

China Vic~At the Continental Mall. A little place with good food and good service.

Trivetti’s Restaurant at the Continental Mall~Excellent food, nice friendly folks.

There were several other places that locals said we should go to (but never did due to time constraints). You will not starve in Green Valley, trust me.

Tucson Airport

Small airport, easy to get to, only twenty miles to Green Valley. We rented from Enterprise at the airport. Best prices I found in the area (although, if you leave Tucson you can find very good deals right in Green Valley I was told. Needed a car right off the plane, so that wasn’t an option), excellent no-pressure service, quick in and out. Highly recommended.

There are plenty of internet sites available with more info on the area should anyone be interested in investigating further. Hope this info was of some value.


Rich (cold and snowed in on Cape Cod)