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Retire to Surprise...it is where we call home

Retire to Surprise...we did in 2004...and you wouldn't expect a website owner to say anything bad about his hometown would you?

I will not disappoint you in that regard, we are very happy we've chosen Surprise. With a population over 100,000 people, a lot of folks agree with me as well.

The growth of Surprise has been truly amazing...from a census figure of 38,000 in 2000, to an estimated 78,000 2007... Surprise been one of the fastest-growing cities in Arizona.

How Surprise got its name

In 1938, the city was founded by a Flora Statler...she was quite a pessimist, the original 2 acres had one gas station and two houses...she said, "I would be surprised if anyone moves out here".

Until 2010, it was thought that the name Surprise, came from Mrs. Statlers husband, who was from Surprise, Nebraska. He was a local politician.

Yes I get comments, when I give my address over the phone...Surprise Surprise.

Sun City Grand

The community we live in, is called Sun City Grand, it was started in the late 1990s, by Del Webb... it is 5 miles the original Sun City the Del Webb developed in the 1960s.

This is one of the four golf courses, that the 20,000 residents, have to choose from... There are 9800 homes, 100% of capacity, in Sun City Grand..

Some of the other amenities of Sun City Grand, include two large community centers with huge gyms, pools (indoor and outdoor), tennis courts, pickle ball, bocce and lawn bowling.

If all the above activities sounds a little too strenuous...not to worry, you have lots of other activities to choose from at Sun City Grand.

The lady at the left, is enjoying the facilities set aside for pottery...don't know a pottery wheel from a Ferris wheel?...not a problem, there are regular classes for beginners.

For those that choose to be less active, there are also computer labs, a very popular activity...stained glass studios...art studios..a large billiard roomcard rooms, libraries, and ongoing education classes on a variety of subjects.

Available to all are stunning sunsets

Sun City grand sunset courtesy of Dr. Eugene Willis

Retire to Surprise it's still affordable

How much this is lifestyle cost? The golf averages out to $25-$30 a round...the community homeowners association fees, are $1100 a year... Property taxes for a 2300 square foot home are a little over $2000 a year.

This is best Arizona retirement living in a country club atmosphere without the country club prices.

Retire to Surprise, Arizona

Here is the official city of Surprise website

SBI!