ARIZONA'S YAVAPAI COUNTY

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The western branch of four-year Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, whose population of 1,000 students is expected to double by 1990, grants degrees in aeronautical engineering, computer and aeronautical science, aviation business administration, air studies, and electrical engineering. Its campus sprawls near Prescott Municipal Airport, site of the university's flight-training programs. (The airport is served by Golden Pacific Airlines, which offers commuter flights to Phoenix and Las Vegas.)

Water and water rights should be the main concerns of would-be settlers.The Prescott Unified School District has 4,800 students, five elementary schools, two junior highs, and a high school. There are also private and denominational schools in the area (including one on a 40,000-acre ranch), as well as 25 summer camps.

Teachers' salaries in Yavapai average around $22,000, and residents seem pleased with the quality of education.

Prescott's Nearby Countryside

People here ask, "Have you been out to the big trees?" They're usually referring to an area southeast of town called Grove Creek, tucked into the thick ponderosa pines that make up much of Prescott National Forest. This community features charming houses and small homesteads—with price tags of $60,000 to $70,000—located close to horseback and hiking trails. (Houses in the Prescott area generally cost $58,000 to $85,000, but I did see ads for three-bedroom, two-bath homes in the 40s.)

A number of valleys, each with its own variation in climate and atmosphere, lie within easy driving distance of Prescott. Though there are cattle ranches in all these areas and horses are a passion everywhere in Yavapai, Skull Valley (named for the bones left from a battle between two Indian tribes) to the west and Peeples Valley to the southwest are the prime ranching spreads. Prescott Valley, reached by Highway 69, the main road to Phoenix, runs to the northeast, and has many small retirement communities and mobile home parks of its own.

Follow Highway 69 to the south and, where it joins Interstate 17 at Cordes Junction, you'll see small signs directing you to Arcosanti, an experiment in energy-efficient urban architecture designed by the Italian architect Paolo Soleri and being built with the help of apprentices. This prototype of a future city combining achitecture with ecology is open to the public. Arcosanti's bakery turns out breads famous throughout the area. Most of the community's revenues (75%) come from its handcrafted bells, which cost from 12 to several thousand dollars. Arcosanti also offers workshops, conferences, and festivals, and resident musicians and guest artists teach and perform at its music center.

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