Oro Valley is a rapidly growing community with much to offer! The little town just North of Tucson has beautiful mountain views of Pusch Ridge of the Catalina Mountains. A quiet home-town appeal, yet full of life and fun things to do!
Not so long ago anything North of First St. was dirt. Lots of dirt! As a kid, I regularly became car sick during the “dirt road” trip (Tangerine Rd) to Breakers water park. In high school (Go Dorados!), some of the kids would bonfire (no, no, not me, of course!) on the very street that I currently live on in Rancho Vistoso! Wild, huh?
After my husband and I first moved in, a friend came to visit and she actually pointed opposite direction from which we were turning and said:
“Hey, isn’t that where we used to party?”
Ha! Me? Party? No…but you? Perhaps!
Yes, my dear friend, that’s the exact venue…now dressed beautifully with 1/2 million to million dollar homes…is where we “partied”.
I was no saint, but I didn’t turn loose on the city til well after high school! Now, I am not only a Dorado, but a Wildcat and Wildcats do NOT have the same reputation as those crazy Devils from Pheonix…okay, now I’m just being silly.
Never fear dear reader, my parents raised me well and pulled in the reigns faster than I could get out a WOOP WOOP and for the record, tangent I know, but “party” to us was definitely not what “party” to the high school kids is now. That’s for certain!
Back on track. There are so many neat things Oro Valley has to offer. We now have a beautiful movie theater, some wonderful locally owned restraunts, childrens boutiques, and really fun shopping venues like World Market-(Cost Plus), Ulta (coolest beauty products store EVER!), and DSW shoes.
For the guys (I know, I’ve been a little heavy on the girls stuff…although, my daughter says that some of the boys at school wear “guy-liner”…hmmm. Anyhoo, all with in a 4 minute radius (is there such a thing as a radius for minutes? Probably not.) Dicks, Sports Authority, Big 5 and…drum roll…HOME DEPOT AND CHILES…WOOOOH! BTW, On any given Friday night I am sure I have seen at least 50% of Oro Valley at Chile’s and while I am not a huge fan of chain restaraunts, I have become a huge fan of Chile’s restaraunt over the past year and a half! Why you ask? Because…thanks to the growth and thriving progress of Oro Valley, Oro Valley is now home to several highly competitive Youth Club Sports teams as well as a few really strong recreational youth sports leagues. My 11 year old is on one of these teams and we, as a team, frequent Chile’s on a regular basis. What I love most is the variety of the menu. Lets face it, kids are picky, thus large menus rock!
So, that’s just the tip of the iceburg as far as growth and venues go. In addition, the community is beautiful. It’s like a big “small town”. Lots of community functions such as farmers market every weekend, fourth of July processions at the big River front park every year, library book sales, holiday parades, 1/2 marathons, mountian bike trails and of course the Tour de Tucson speeds right through for all to see!
So, where should one live in Oro Valley? That, my friends, will be covered in my next post on Oro Valley, but I can say that where you hang your hat is really going to depend on what your life-style comfort zone is and what your price point is. With that, I say farewell and do promise to cover some of my favorite Oro Valley spots soon!