Ryan, thank you for sharing! I'm an Arizona native, and have been longing to get back to the Southwest.
This is exciting. My partner and I are definitely interested in this idea.
Northern Arizona is where it's at as far as I'm concerned, but cost of land around Flagstaff can be quite costly. Flagstaff is a fantastic town! Really progressive, it has it's own special flavor. It is a full service town, growing at a rapid rate. Lots of great live music, cultural events, exciting college town energy, great restaurants... I hear Williams is getting more interesting as well. I haven't been to Valle except to pass through to the canyon, is that where that bizarre Flinstone place is?
I need to do some more research and look into the websites and info you have posted, but I wanted to reach out to let you know that two permies are excited about this prospect!
Thanks
Jackie