Sun City (original) versus Sun City West

Why did you (or will you) choose Sun City over Sun City West? What do you perceive as the major differences?

 

Bigger house for less money. Walk to shopping. Recreation fees are less. More recreation centers. Sun City West also was our second choice. We looked in both areas before we purchased.

 

Emily is right on several accounts, primary being a great question and you can't go wrong with either community. I think there are some things they do better, and some that make it less attractive. In the end, it comes down to personal taste and preference. I've said before, we looked closely in SCW and almost bought there in 1999, but the internal strife was something i found unattractive.

Oddly enough, out of the infighting came what i would consider a more effective self-governance formula. Their TORCH program is all about teaching residents how and why the community works. For years they have been grooming future leaders to fill in the gaps of all phases of volunteers for the numerous organizations within their infrastructure. I much prefer their open meetings where residents know first hand what is happening. And they run an interactive blog on their website.

I am also impressed with some of their new clubs: Radio club with their own station; a beer brewing club and obviously their antique car club is eons ahead of ours. They also do a better job with their foundations, but that's more because DEVCO set them up with their own buildings and far more financial assistance.

With all of that said, there's some downside. Let me say i get over to Sun City West a fair amount during the lawn bowling season. I absolutely hate their ingress/egress into the walls. Their streets are more narrow than ours (land costs were becoming an issue even in the 80's) which is truly problematic for those of us who love driving a golf car rather than a car.Finally, i dislike the busyness of their main rec center. It is the hub of their activity and frankly there is just too much going on in one concentrated area.

Their homes are clearly newer, so if you don't want to remodel to get a fresher look, you can find it in SCW more readily than you can in Sun City. We do have more options in types of home styles, and we are lower priced than SCW. They still have single pay rec fees, so if you are living alone, you may find it more "fair." Though, their single fee is almost on par with our per lot rate, so if you are a couple, SC is a better buy.

All in all, both are great communities with lots of similarities. Virtually everything that came after us changed in nature to what i call single entity governance. The Rec boards became the end-all-be-all with most of the the supporting organizations going away. In Sun City West, PORA enforces their CC$R's, but only to a point. If an owner refuses to comply, my understanding is it falls under the jurisdiction of the RCSCW to adjudicate it.

Personally i tell people to look closely at both and try and get a feel which one fits you better.

 

We looked at Sun City and Sun City West. We are not there yet, but decided on the original for a few reasons.
- SCW has Dysart school district... hard to know which homes are in it and which are not(aka: higher taxes for some homes). For Sun City there are no school districts.
- Larger single family home lots in the original.
- We both like the newer homes in SCW, but they are smaller and typically cost more.
- Rec center fees are double.
- Easier access to pretty much everything in the original.
- We spent some time driving through and visiting both and we liked both communities. It is hard to put it into words, but Sun City just has a better feel for what we wanted.

 

Another consideration -- SC and SCW are made up of retirees from most states in the US and parts of Canada. Yet I wouldn't call them melting-pots... these seniors seem to have little tolerance for viewpoints which differ from their own. Maybe that's prevalent everywhere these days -- I've been here to long to know for sure, but it wasn't true where I lived before moving to AZ. Politically the SC and SCW communities both tend toward the far-right, as does AZ in general. There was significant support for the Tea Party in SC. And while there are a lot more minorities living in the SC's than when I moved here, there aren't a lot more minorities active in the clubs from my experience. So, if you have a mindset that is more neutral or liberal or tolerant you MAY need to consider if you will be at ease in SC's culture.

 

Arriving back to Sun City after a hectic vacation makes you go "Ahhhhhhh....". We checked out both Sun City West and Grand but preferred all the benefits of the original Sun City.

 

They voluntarily adopted many of the Title 33 aspects of governance which quelled any legal efforts to get them there. Not sure if they abide by it in total or simply as a means to better governance.

 

Sun City
Price, Price, Price!!!!
People, People, People!!
Location, Location, Location!!
Amenities, Amenities, Amenities!!