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Sun City Arizona

Sun City Arizona

Sun City started the trend of age-restricted residential communities when it was first launched in 1960. It is located in a city of the same name, about 10 minutes outside of downtown Phoenix, and sits in an unincorporated part of Maricopa County. It is famous for laying out the groundbreaking model for successful age-restricted adult residential communities.

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When it was first revealed to the public on New Year’s Day in 1960, Sun City attracted more than 100,000 visitors on its opening day. People were overwhelmingly curious about the first age-restricted, 55 and older community in both the state of Arizona and the United States.

Today, Sun City is home to more than 27,000 single-family and attached properties, including condominiums and townhouses, which are the creations of well-known homebuilder Del Webb. The homes are designed specifically to cater to the needs and expectations of older homeowners and retirees.

 

The real estate market in Sun City comprises of resale homes only. People who want to find out what properties are for sale in this famous community can reach out to knowledgeable area real estate professionals like Carl Chapman REALTOR at West USA Realty.

 

People also continue to search out homes to buy and move into in Sun City because of the community’s affordable way of life. In fact, homeowners here enjoy remarkably low property taxes. They also pay notably low home prices, despite the exclusivity of the area, and impressively low homeowners association fees. The low cost way of life fits easily in the budgets of many retirees and older home buyers.

 

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Home buyers here also enjoy the best of quiet, suburban life while still being close to the conveniences of the big city. They are minutes from local sporting venues, cultural attractions and shopping centers.

 

In fact, because Sun City sits about 17 miles north of Phoenix, residents in the community typically have no problem driving to and from the city for a variety of services and conveniences. They can easily access medical facilities, museums and retail centers that offer some of the best shopping in the area.

 

Inside of the community of Sun City, however, homeowners will find just as many activities and amenities to keep them busy and entertained. In fact, Sun City has a slogan of being the “original fun city.”

 

The fun in the community comes in part from the plethora of activities, classes and clubs that it makes available to everyone who lives here. People who move to Sun City can usually find something to do that piques their interests and gets them out of their homes and into the community to network with and get to know their neighbors.

 

Further, Sun City offers a small town way of life that fosters close connections with people who live here. People who are newly arrived to the community often get to know their neighbors in no time. They go on to form fast friendships that last for years and enhance the enjoyment of living in this unique age-restricted community.

 

Sun City also calls itself a community of volunteers. Homeowners who live here have ample volunteer opportunities, which include cleaning up the community’s boulevards or helping with landscaping. The volunteer efforts undertaken by the community’s homeowners help keep the property taxes and HOA fees low because Sun City does not have to rely on the county to provide these services.

 

In addition to paying low property taxes and HOA fees, people who buy homes here also take advantage of the low home prices found in Sun City. In fact, the home prices range from the low $100,000s to the high $800,000s. The prices reflect the sizes and styles of the homes to which they are attached.

 

There are also dozens of different styles of homes that buyers can choose from when they look for available properties in Sun City. The first of the homes here were built in the early 1960s and naturally show their age. However, many of them are now being remodeled, so much so that they no longer feature their original floor plans. Their renovations are designed to make them more modern and appealing to today’s adult home buyer.

 

Many of the homes for sale in Sun City likewise have at least two, if not three bedrooms, and at least two to 2.5 bathrooms. They also have asphalt shingle rooftops and two-car garages. Their landscaping features primarily rocks and succulents, although some yards in Sun City have palm trees and cacti.

 

Other typical features found in homes for sale in Sun City include:

 

  • Open floor plans
  • Ceiling fans
  • Room for appliances like a side-by-side fridge and dishwasher
  • Electric ranges
  • Sliding patio doors
  • Tile floors
  • Large windows for maximum natural light
  • Vanity mirrors
  • Quartz counters
  • Screened back porches
  • Screened back porches
  • Pantries
  • Large utility rooms with counters and cabinets
  • Showers with grab bars

 

The backyards for many of the homes in Sun City are also enclosed. They also have room for fixtures like barbecues and outdoor dining sets.

 

People who own homes in Sun City likewise have access to a host of shared community amenities. These amenities come courtesy of the Sun City Homeowners Association, which governs much of the community’s overall daily life.

 

All homeowners who live in Sun City are members of the HOA. They pay quarterly dues that range from $88 to $205, depending on the size and location of their homes in the community.

 

The HOA in Sun City comprises of a board of directors. The board of directors consists of nine elected members, all of whom are 55 years of age or older. The elections for the board of directors are staggered, with three board members being elected to serve three-year terms each year.

 

The board holds meetings every month that are open to the homeowners in Sun City. The meetings are used to discuss community issues, such as the upkeep and repair of shared amenities. The board of directors also meets to decide how to use the funds that the HOA receives from homeowner dues.

 

Homeowners who are unable to attend the meetings can find the minutes from them on the HOA’s website. The website for the Sun City HOA is also the place where homeowners in the community can find answers to the most frequently asked questions about living in Sun City.

 

Some of the questions that new homeowners often have include how to find and access shared amenities in Sun City. They can find out information about how to reserve facilities like the clubhouse for celebrations. They can also find out the guidelines for having extended guests, including their children and grandchildren, in their homes.

 

The HOA website outlines where exactly the shared amenities in Sun City are located and what days and hours that they are available to community homeowners. Many of the amenities are located in the clubhouses and recreational centers found throughout Sun City. These facilities include the:

 

  • Bell Recreation Center
  • Fairway Recreation Center
  • Grand Center
  • Lakeview Recreation Center
  • Marinette Recreation Center
  • Mountain View Recreation Center
  • Oakmont Recreation Center
  • Sundial Recreation Center

 

These facilities house community amenities like:

 

  • Saltwater outdoor pools
  • Indoor swimming, lap, exercise and walking pools
  • Pickleball courts
  • Fitness centers
  • Half court basketball courts
  • Tennis courts
  • Rubberized walking tracks
  • Billiards rooms
  • Social halls
  • Racquetball courts

 

Most of the recreation centers also house county and HOA offices and make available onsite cafes and restaurants.

 

Sun City also has its own outdoor amphitheater, which sits on 9.1 acres of land and shares space with the community’s softball fields. The amphitheater is a no smoking facility. It is where numerous concerts, live performances and community events are held each year.

 

Other community amenities located throughout Sun City include:

 

  • A no-leash dog park
  • Eight public and three private golf courses
  • 11 shopping centers
  • 30 churches and one synagogue
  • Studios for arts and crafts, stained glass making, ceramics and lapidary
  • Woodworking shops
  • Two community libraries
  • Lawn bowling areas
  • Hiking, biking and walking trails

 

There are also hundreds of acres of green spaces in Sun City that are dedicated to the community’s public parks and picnic areas. Sun City residents likewise have access to two nearby lakes for fishing and boating.

 

Sun City residents with children likewise have access to several nearby public schools, all of which function as part of the Peoria Unified School District, which is headquartered in nearby Glendale. It has an enrollment of close to 38,000 students. Despite its relatively large student body size, it has a student-to-teacher ratio of 20:1, just slightly higher than the national average of 16:1.

 

The Peoria Unified School District ranks high in the state for its overall quality of education. It is ranked as the sixth best out of a total of 115 school districts in the state of Arizona. It likewise is ranked 10th for having the best quality of teachers and third in the state for the best student athletic programs.

 

This district likewise has a graduation rate of 95 percent, which is 10 percent higher than the national high school graduation rate of 85 percent. Students who take the ACT college admissions test receive an average score of 24 percent, beating the national ACT test score average of 20.6.

 

Further, state standardized test scores for the Peoria Unified School District show that 48 percent of its students are proficient in reading. Around 52 percent of the students in the district meet the proficiency standards for mathematics.

 

 

The elementary schools in the district that are closest to Sun City include Apache Elementary School, Desert Harbor Elementary School and Parkridge Elementary School, all of which serve kindergarten through eighth grade students. The public high schools include Sunrise Mountain High School, Centennial High School and Peoria High School, which have enrollments that average around 1500 students.