Living in Queen Creek, Arizona ~ Best Phoenix Suburb
Hi Everyone I'm Alejandra Paladino your local Arizona real estate agent. If this is your first time on my website and you want to know about moving to Arizona to living in Arizona make sure you check out all my socials.
Arizona has experienced so much growth in population over the last few years. This is especially true of Queen Creek which has had the highest population and housing growth in all of the state!
I've seen this firsthand as my family and I moved to QC in 2018. Even though traffic has increased a lot I still absolutely love living here.
Something we love about living in QC is the people. Everyone here seems so friendly and eager to help one another. That’s a big change from California. What I've noticed is that people here make the effort to get to know their neighbors. It seems that most the people that live here are families or retired people. The median household income is $104,161 which is much higher than the national average.
Another great thing about Queen Creek is the schools. QC School District has really improved over the years and has some top rated schools. My son goes to Jack Barnes Elementary which is one of the top rated public elementary schools in the district.
In addition, there are amazing free charter schools such as Benjamin Franklin. There are 3 private schools in QC that are also popular.
If we look at the map you can see how large and spread out QC is. At the north end we see Bell Bank Park this is a huge 320 acre sports complex that just opened in January of 2022.
The park hosts the Legacy Sports teams for kids & adults plus serves as a venue for other events & concerts! There's an indoor fitness center, and a delicious restaurant called The Goat. My family and I have eaten here many times as my son is on the Arsenal Soccer Club team that trains and plays at the park. Many times after practice we've enjoyed dinner at the Goat.
Something amazing is that this sports complex is THE LARGEST SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT FACILITY IN NORTH AMERICA. Yes you heard that right! So as you can imagine most sports are played here such as baseball, soccer, volleyball, basketball, pickleball, tennis and more!
What I really love is that most of the sports fields are actually turf instead of grass so they are in amazing condition! When you're there you feel like you're at a professional sports field. My son has been loving playing soccer there. It’s so nice having such a large sports complex nearby. Especially since there are so many kids that play sports here in Queen Creek.
Going down Ellsworth Road we can see the following shopping has recently been added and is being built. Costco is a big one that many of us local residents are waiting for. It is currently being built and will be ready for opening hopefully by end of 2022.
An Aldi grocery store has been built which is a discount grocery store that's great for quick shopping trips and affordable produce.
There's a drizzle donut right by Aldi which is a unique donut shop that has all kinds of donuts available.
In the same area is a Dutch Brothers Coffee shop. This is a very popular drive through coffee place in Arizona. Their coffees are more like milkshakes! Super delicious and offer you all kinds of options. But if you want a regular coffee I believe you can still get one of those.. but why be boring!
Heading further south down Ellsworth we get to QC Marketplace. This is an outdoor shopping center that has many popular stores, restaurants and movie theaters. The big box retailers like Target, Petco, Trader Joes & Sprouts.
Some of the popular places that my family and I like to enjoy are Barrio Queen for a good sit down Mexican dinner. If you go on a Saturday night they have a live band. This is actually my son's favorite restaurant to go to.
For fast food there are several popular options like Chick Fil A, Chipotle and Panera, but my family and I love In & Out for a quick meal that's satisfying. Honestly we are probably there once a week!
They are starting to build a Dave & Busters which will bring fun for everyone. This is definitely something we need especially during the summer heat! We do have a Fat Cats down the street but every time my family and I go it has been so busy that it's challenging to get in and play bowling and the arcade games aren't always working properly. I'm hoping they get those issues figured out.
But I will say the movie theater at Fat Cats is really nice they have reclinable seats and when you order food at the concession stand they will actually deliver them to your seats! That is very nice & convenient!
On Friday nights at QC marketplace there is Queen Creek Feastival, a variety of food trucks with all kinds of food. It's great to go there and enjoy a meal especially on a Friday when most of us don't feel like cooking. Often times there's a live singer there and vendors selling other types of goods. One lady used to be a teacher and has all these incredible learning games that my son really enjoys playing. We really love going as it's a great way to support local businesses and have an opportunity to try different types of food. I recently had the opportunity to try some delicious donuts that were made by these kid entrepreneurs. They are 2 siblings only 12 & 11 years old! I love supporting local businesses especially kid entrepreneurs.
On Saturdays there is the QC Family market. Local farms and vendors sell their goods there. It's a great place to get some yummy baked goods. I love going and getting local honey. Nothing beats the taste of local honey!
But this market is only open during the fall beginning in October and goes through Spring. Basically avoiding the hot summer months.
One of the reasons my family and I love living in Queen Creek so much, is all the local parks in the area. There are community parks and most neighborhoods have several parks within them as well.
A popular park nearby is Mansell Carter park it's a local public park that has all kinds of activities for everyone both kids & adults. If your kid plays a local sport they often practice or play there. When my son played recreational soccer his practices and games were there.
There's an incredible huge playground that the kids love to play on. When it's warm, you'll see the splash pad is full of kids. There is a huge lake where you can actually fish at!
Queen Creek is known for it's newer nicer houses. I've met many people that were thinking of moving to Gilbert or were living in Gilbert and instead moved to Queen Creek. They mentioned that the houses in Gilbert are older and not as modern and the overall lots tend to be smaller.
Nearby is a nice QC Neighborhood called Montelena. The neighborhood is made up of 400 homes. They have larger sized homes that sit on quarter acre lots. Prices range from 650k to 1.5 million. Average sized house is 3000 square feet but I've seen some that are 6000 square feet. So if you are looking for a beautiful spacious house on a good sized lot this community is for you!
Another unique neighborhood in QC is Pegasus Airpark, it's a gated community that is masterfully designed for people that love aviation. It offers the comfort & peacefulness of the country with the convenience of the city! There are million-dollar mountain views in all directions and allows the residents at Pegasus Airpark the ultimate in luxury aviation living. This community is filled with upscale custom homes on minimum one acre lots with easy freeway access, near shopping, riding paths, close by to a state-of-the-art equestrian center and recreation area. Aviation amenities include a runway for aircraft up to 12,500 lbs (including jets), 24 hour card lock fuel service, separate condominium hangars for rent & sale & tie downs.
I've seen homes range from 1.3 - 3 million and sizes are from 3300 sq feet to 5000. What's great is the homes are custom built so they are each uniquely different.
There is an incredible neighborhood in QC called Encanterra. It's a gorgeous gated community that has an area that is 55+ and another area that is all ages. When you drive through the gates you immediately feel like your on vacation somewhere else. It has beautiful palm trees and a gorgeous golf course. There is a large club house with a restaurant that is open to the public. My husband and I went there for valentine's this year and their steaks were some of the best we have ever had. And that says a lot as my husband knows his steaks! I love visiting there as truly is breath taking. I can only imagine for everyone that lives there. They get to enjoy those beautiful sites daily.
Homes range from $450,000 to over 1 million and vary in size from 2 -3 bedroom houses in the active community and single family 3 bedroom or larger houses in the all ages community.
Every time I visit the community it feels so vibrant. I love seeing people enjoying the resort like amenities. There are several pools one is the main one by the outdoor bar & restaurant so you can swim up and order drinks and food. There's a lap pool and there's another pool that is in the 55+ areal If you want to feel like you live in a resort this community is for you!!
Another popular community in Queen Creek is Harvest it's a large master planned neighborhood that is close to the Olive Mill and Schnepf Farms. There is a variety of different builders there and homes range from $450,000 to over 1 million. There are brand new houses being built plus a few resale houses are available. The size of the houses are from 1500 square feet . I love the community amenities that are available to everyone that live here. There's a great public pool and the playground has a unique design that looks like a lot of fun for the kids!
A premier master-planned community in the Queen Creek area is Barney Farms. What's unique about it is that they have built a a deep water lake that will allow fun activities for the residents such as kayaking and fishing. Plus they have volleyball, pickleball, zip lines, extensive walking trails throughout the 400 acre community plus lots of neighborhood parks.
In QC we have some incredible restaurant experiences. That stand out from the usual restaurants.
A nearby restaurant that is unique experience is San Tan Flat, it's actually in San Tan Valley. It's an American restaurant known for having cookouts in its outdoor seating area. You feel like you're sitting outside by a campfire with friends enjoying a good meal. We have been before and really enjoyed sitting outside, enjoying our meal while listening to live music. It was really cute to see my son dancing and enjoying the music. I highly recommend you go especially once we have cooler evenings which is usually in the fall
Another popular and unique local restaurant is the QC Olive Mill. Its located at the base of the San Tan Mountains in Queen Creek, AZ.
What's unique about this place is that its a working olive mill that you can come visit, take a tour of to learn all about olive oil and even learn how to properly taste olive oil without bread.
What I love most is that you can enjoy A delicious meal with family and friends outside amongst all the olive trees. You should really see this place at night time with all the lights on. It's absolutely breathtaking & makes for a wonderful date night or family outing.
My family and I love coming here. Just recently we came for Valentine's day during Sunday brunch. The food was delicious and there was a live singer for us enjoy while we we ate our meal. Sunday's is the best day to come for brunch as that is when they have live music to enjoy.
The restaurant has delicious, Italian inspired meals that use local and garden-sourced ingredients.
They also have a gourmet marketplace where you can shop for locally made olive oils, Balsamic vinegars, olives and other local treasures. And there is an in-house coffee roastery, called Superstition Coffee, you will taste some of the freshest coffee you've ever had.
With plenty to taste, discover and enjoy, Queen Creek Olive Mill is a unique place that you must experience!
A local farm that my family loves visiting is Schnepf Farms, this a local QC farm where you can come and pick fresh produce year round.
What’s really fun are the events they have throughout the year.
During October there’s fun fall activities. A Pumpkin patch where you can pick your own pumpkin, A corn maze, hay rides and they have spooky train ride that the kids love riding at night.
During Christmas the farm looks like Winter wonderland. It's all Xmas themed with Christmas lights strung throughout the farm. There’s a Santa’s workshop. Plus, there's an incredible train ride that's lit with lights and the lights dance to the music that is all done by the World of Illumination.
Queen Creek is such a family oriented town filled with friendly people. I hope you have enjoyed learning about living in QC and some fun things to do when you're in the area.
If you are curious to explore QC or other areas in AZ please reach out.
My team and I are getting so many people calling who are relocating here and we absolutely love it! If you are thinking about moving or relocating here make sure you give us a call, send us a text or send an email which ever way you want to reach out. We are happy to help you!
