I do like the Cottonwood area and if moving from here would be my first choice. Sedona is beautiful but pricey and full of tourists.
I haven't yet investigated Cottonwood. But, I will.
I toured Arizona 2-3 years ago with and eye toward relocating. Already knew to avoid Phoenix and Tuscon due to the heat, (same reason to avoid Texas (btw). I gotta keep the Wife happy and she detests heat (SF raised).
My focus then was on Payson and spent a week checking the area. We used the next week to check out Sedona, and then briefly Prescott.
Sedona is pretty touristy (and expensive), so the vibe is "everyone is a transient". Oddly no one seems to really take ownership and pride for the very beautiful area. They also had a flash flood that went right through town. Which no one seemed to know how to deal with, (or care).
If people show their true nature under bad conditions, the people in Sedona did not make any sort of favorable impression during that event, even the emergency crews.
When we got to Prescott, we were sorry we couldn't spend the same amount of time we used to evaluate the Payson area. The worst we could say about it was that it didn't have a California bay area climate. But, that was to be expected, really.
More later. I need to go finish the shop roof renovation.
