"Community spirit" and awesome schools-Oro Valley? Northern Suburbs? Downtown? (Tucson: cul-de-sac, townhouse)

[MMit]

Hello and thanks in advance for your help.
We may be moving to Tucson (work near airport). (or Seattle (work in Kent) or McKinney TX (work in Greenville) - quite a variety, right?) We know very little about Tucson though we are not strangers to moving.

Here's what we think we are looking for in a town/suburb:
Fantastic public schools - high achieving students, no budgeting cuts or issues, etc.
Safe area with a sense of community - ideally one with a main street or town center, town library, town pool, perhaps just one high school. We've found that too many choices/decentralization leads to a lack of common experience which we find lonely. Also, a community that finds its center/social network almost entirely through religion (i.e. mostly church or synagogue friends) might be hard for us since we don't attend.
People who are open to new things (& new people!) - We like ethnic foods (Indian food-yum!) and gourmet dining, wine tastings, reading, travel, hiking, taking classes, art, etc. and are hoping to access these within a 15 minute drive or so and hope to find folks in our neighborhood who like these things too. Friendliness is also important to us.
Our budget for a home $550 MAX, but we would be so happy to pay less. We've done townhouse/patio homes before and don't need a single-family home.

A bit more about us: We are an inter-racial couple (Asian/Caucasian) with two children (3rd grade and preschool aged). The 3rd grader is unusually creative and a high-achiever who plays celtic harp and ice skates. The preschooler does lots of kiddie activities. We're socially liberal, but consider ourselves middle of the scale politically (and have little interest in politics anyway!) We're a bit eclectic. We value experiences and interesting nice people most. We aren't so into "stuff" (like brand names, fancy cars, etc.).

If anyone has any thoughts on neighborhoods/suburbs/subdivisions in Tucson that might fit some or all of the above considering commute time to where our work place (near airport) will be, we'd be ever so grateful to hear from you. We hear that Oro Valley and Northern Foothills might be good matches. Someone else recommended downtown in the "historic district" provided we could find a good school. (Private school is an option though we prefer public.) Thank you again.

[carlcockatoo]

https://www.city-data.com/forum/tucso...l#post37134278

You're a bit different from the other people I directed that at though so I'll add a bit more:

Oro Valley is definitely not for you. It is safe, but that is the only requirement it meets. It's sprawled out, segregated, without a real sense of community, and is not socially liberal.

Honestly based on your criteria I'd say downtown fits best, but at the same time I don't want to recomend it because gentrification. >_>

I can recommend west central side again, and the east side as well.

[MMit]

Thanks so much for the very informative posting links, Carlcockatoo. You are right - Oro Valley does not sound like a good match for us. I know exactly what you mean by "sterile" and always am amazed by the paranoia I find in the suburbs. It seems both unhealthy and unneccessary - these little kids living in very safe areas yet practically jailed by parents who won't let them run around and play in the neighborhood because they are so worried something might happen to them. Of course, when the streets don't link up (all cul-de-sacs) it's kind of hard to get a neighborhood feel unless you have a particularly community oriented subdivision. Even then, it can still feel like its own cage. Anyway, thanks for your help!