Verrado

A few years ago we discovered an amazing place in the West Valley of the Phoenix area. The city has lots of well-known suburbs like Scottsdale and Tempe, home of Arizona State, but the west side is largely undeveloped when compared to the east.  The University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale was built and became the new home of the Arizona Cardinals and this year's Superbowl, but not much has been heard about the West Valley beyond that. Many new communities are popping up out there, but Verrado was the one for us.

Just 25 miles west of downtown Phoenix and nestled in the foothills of the White Tank Mountains and the nearly 30,000 acre White Tank Mountain Regional Park, Verrado's theme is small-town America - homes with front porches, a large percentage with garages behind the homes, and every home built within two blocks of a neighborhood park.  It has a traditional main street with a market, pharmacy, bank, coffee shop, restaurant, wine bar, smoothie shop, etc. within walking distance of many homes.  We were fortunate enough to find a place just two blocks away from downtown as well as the health club and pool and just another block or two down from the Raven Golf Club and Verrado Grille (another restaurant). There are almost 40 different clubs of every kind to keep people active and involved, and festivals and other events are a monthly occurrence, including the annual Founder's Day and Experia celebrations with major bands headlining.

Check out the Verrado site for more pictures and info.