Metro Phoenix’s farthest western suburb is a mix of small town and new developments. The northern part of the city has high-end homes with a historic feel. A retirement community is located around a new urban center. The southern side of Buckeye is known for its farms and historic downtown. The city stretches up and around the White Tank Mountains. There’s lots of land for future development here.
Interstate 10 runs through Buckeye and has been widened around the city’s exits. The new Loop 303 runs just west of Buckeye, giving residents easier access to the north Valley.
Lower Buckeye is the original Buckeye. It’s located south of I-10. This area has some newer, more-affordable developments near the freeway. Farther south, most of the homes are older and located around the rustic downtown.
Verrado is the northern and newer part of Buckeye. Verrado started the area’s growth. The well-planned community is at the base of the White Tank Mountains. There you will find new homes with a historic feel and a new downtown.
Buckeye’s neighborhoods are split by I-10. The southern side of the city has more-affordable, older homes often with carports and citrus streets. On the north side of Buckeye, you’ll find new houses with big porches near parks. The southern side has many longtime residents. The northern side is drawing homebuyers from other parts of the Valley and across the country who want a small-town community in the desert.
The Verrado area is the newest part of Buckeye. Home prices are higher and houses are bigger. The neighborhood draws families and, more recently, more Baby Boomers to its new retirement community Victory.
West of the White Tanks, a few large developments are underway or are planned.
Lower Buckeye is made of mostly more affordable new and older homes though there are some large farm estates still owned by longtime residents in this area.
Investors flocked to new Buckeye developments during the boom and then drove up foreclosures during the crash, but the area’s housing market has stabilized, with prices and sales climbing.
Home prices are more affordable in lower Buckeye, where the median price is about $75,000 to $100,000 less than in the Verrado area. New home sales account for almost one-third of all sales in Verrado.
Expect a small-town feel with a range of housing and incomes. Community events are popular and frequent. New homes can be found in central Buckeye, bisected by I-10. Smaller, older homes and farms are the norm in Lower Buckeye. High-end homes are in Verrado. More new development, including office and warehouse space to draw more employers is expected. The White Tank Mountains offer great views and hiking. Plus the recent widening of the freeway makes for an easier commute.
Ground has been broken on Skyline Regional Park, next to many of the area’s neighborhoods. It will include more than 8,500 acres with trails and facilities to support hiking, mountain biking, running and more. Nearby is White Tank Mountain Regional Park with more than 26 miles of developed trails, camping facilities, petroglyph sites and a lot of desert wildlife. There are 33 more miles of trails at nearby Estrella Mountain Regional Park.
Two of every five residents is Hispanic, helping make the Buckeye area one of the Valley’s most diverse. The much newer Verrado neighborhood (85396) is wealthier and better educated than Lower Buckeye (85326). Homeownership is strong in both areas.
Buckeye is larger than Phoenix, with more than 600 square miles of municipal planning area. While at build-out, the city could have more than 1 million residents, much of that 600 square miles is not developed. The city has about 60,000 residents now.
Buckeye maintains six parks with playing fields, ballparks, swimming pools and a community recreation and senior center. The city has two libraries open every day but Sunday. They are the Buckeye Public Library Downtown and Coyote Branch.
Until relatively recently, Buckeye was a town. But leaders believed it was important for Buckeye to become a city. And it did on Jan. 1, 2014.
The city is now actively recruiting businesses, industry and new residents ranging from first-time homebuyers to those seeking million-dollar homes. It has plenty of room to grow, and leaders say it has plenty of water available.
The Buckeye Municipal Airport is growing with the city’s population. It is attracting more commercial and recreational aircraft. And the airport offers flight training as well as sky diving.
