New home search around Valencia help

My wife and I are considering moving from Dallas, Texas to Spain. Our first place to explore was south of Valencia, the town of Altea. Where I just spent 38 days this past March-April Protected content a house hunting trip. We have been looking for nearly a year now from a long distance, and we went to Spain to meet with an agent who showed us a few houses. We liked Altea for some reasons; we dislike the area for the following: It lacks the authentic local flavor, too touristy, heavy traffic in and out of town, I was not impressed with the housing stock as most houses tend to be retrofitted for leasing to vacationers. It is mostly a Bed & Breakfast community, and most of the more desirable neighborhoods sit with vacant houses most of the years, not what we wanted as we search for places in Spain to relocate. I hear that Jávea is much of the same and I am put off by that. Now, we are extending our search to Valencia we found a website called FoundValencia.com that appears to be very informative. But I do want to hear from Expats personal experiences as supposed to some website testimonials. I would like to find out where the best places to search around Valencia are? What has been the expats' experiences in moving abroad and dealing with real estate agents? I was not impressed at all with real estate agencies in Altea at all. FoundValencia points out to areas like La Cañada, La Eliana; I would also like to hear from sectors such as El Puig. We are big city people, and although we are looking for a more comfortable lifestyle, we can't help ourselves to remain close to big city comfort, amenities and would love a sense of community. We are a couple in that just turned sixty. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated Lionel