OT - possible move to Arizona? (long)

Pat wrote:
I lived in Arizona for nine years. It sucks! Everything about it sucks,
especially Phoenix and Tucson! But if you really wanna live in Arizona, a
town like Prescott or Cottonwood isn't quite as bad (or as hot or
expensive).


I've lived in the Phoenix area for 30 years and love it. I live close
to downtown Phoenix and work in north Scottsdale which is 13 miles from
my house. It's a big metropolitan area where all the cities run
together (Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Glendale, Chandler,
Gilbert, Fountain Hills, many more). Some people I work with live in
Fountain Hills. It isn't very far from north Scottsdale, it takes them
about 20-25 minutes to get to work. The traffic is pretty bad here but
nothing like Southern California. AZ is a beautiful state. Yes, it
gets hot in Phoenix in the summer but the only bad months are July,
August, and Sept. when the humidity gets higher than usual. It's
really true that the dry heat we have at this time of the year isn't
bad at all. We're located so that if you drive for an hour or a little
more, you can be in a much cooler location. We have the spectacularly
beautiful (and expensive) Sedona close by as well as many other
beautiful high country towns. Tucson is about 1.5-2 hours from various
locations here in the Valley of the Sun.

Phoenix is revitalizing the downtown area. We have an excellent
university (Arizona State) in Tempe with other campuses throughout the
Valley including downtown Phoenix. We have the symphony, many museums,
opera, theatre, galleries, clubs, lots of good restaurants, all kinds
of culture...something that was in short supply when I moved here 30
years ago. We have professional sports teams in all the major
categories (doesn't appeal to me but it does to many others), tons of
golf courses, a nice zoo. We also have a lot of crime, gangs, all the
stuff everyone seems to have now. I think you would have to ask your
brother to help you find a location where you would feel safe. I feel
totally safe in downtown Phoenix but there are some places I wouldn't
care to live. I personally dislike the whole feel of north
Scottsdale...trophy wives, conspicuous consumption, fake boobs, etc.
but South Scottsdale is okay, Tempe is nice, and, of course, much of
Phoenix. A lot of people like Mesa and the rents are a little cheaper
there but I've never cared for it. The area has a population of about
3 million and constantly growing. We have a lot of illegal aliens.

I would have to disagree with Pat. Prescott, which is up north in the
high country, is mega-expensive now and jobs are hard to find.
Prescott is much more expensive than the Valley. Cottonwood is
probably still fairly reasonable (and kinda dumpy in parts) but much of
the north is getting pricey partly because the rich people down here
have second homes up there.

Candace

Check this page for some pics of the smog situation in Phoenix:

http://www.weathersmith.com/index.html?WsSmogPics.html

I'll never forget how sore my throat always got whenever I visited that
city.

Pat wrote:

I lived in Arizona for nine years. It sucks! Everything about it sucks,
especially Phoenix and Tucson! But if you really wanna live in Arizona, a
town like Prescott or Cottonwood isn't quite as bad (or as hot or
expensive).

Much cheaper cost of living in Missouri. You can buy a very nice house here
in Ava (or almost any other small town in the Ozarks) for well under $100k.

Arizona "sucks" but Missouri is better? What have you been
smoking? Anyway, I thought I made my reasons for moving
clear. Why on EARTH would I choose Missouri when my sole
reason for moving to another state is to be near family who
already lives there? (BTW, I spent one Thanksgiving with a
friend who lived in Prescott - it SNOWS there, which is
hardly the kind of climate I want to live in!) Also, I've
no intention of BUYING a home, and want to live in a fairly
large city. (All things are relative, of course, but
compared to California, Arizona IS "much cheaper".)

wrote:


And a lot of NM is high desert, isn't it? Which would mean it wouldn't
reach the kind of temperatures that Phoenix would get. Of course, you
would get winters there, which might also not appeal.

It DEFINITELY would not "appeal"! I grew up in Minnesota,
and couldn't wait to leave those winters behind! I spent
Thanksgiving with a friend in Prescott one year, where we
were snowed in for most of the weekend. So long as there's
air-conditioning, I have no problem with really hot weather.
Los Angeles and vicinity is semi-desert, after all - and
if I'm retired, it will mean I won't HAVE to go out when
it's really hot. (Except briefly to a grocery store or
something like that.)

Pat wrote:

"Dan M" wrote


Phoenix heat is very different from California heat. I've lived almost my
whole life in southern CA (I turn 50 in October), and the only time I've
had heatstroke was in Phoenix. I get uncomfortable in CA in summer, but I
damned near die in Phoenix.


Phoenix is in a valley subject to atmospheric inversions, which means the
air gets very, very polluted and DAMP, too, because so many people are
watering lawns and trees

According to my brother, they are no longer ALLOWED to have
lawns in Phoenix! (Water is too precious, never mind the cost.)

The only way to be comfortable in the summer in Phoenix or Tucson without a
MASSIVE electric bill is to live in a rammed earth home with walls three
feet thick. I know, because a friend of mine built such homes and I've been
inside them when it was over 100 F. outside and without A/C it was still
nice and cool.

How about genuine adobe? I saw a two bedroom house in Tempe
advertised for $550 a month (only a "swamp" cooler, but
window air-conditioning in the bedroom).

Pat wrote:

Check this page for some pics of the smog situation in Phoenix:

http://www.weathersmith.com/index.html?WsSmogPics.html

I'll never forget how sore my throat always got whenever I visited that
city.

After some fifty years in Greater Los Angeles, I doubt I'd
even notice it!

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
wrote:


And a lot of NM is high desert, isn't it? Which would mean it
wouldn't reach the kind of temperatures that Phoenix would get. Of
course, you would get winters there, which might also not appeal.

It DEFINITELY would not "appeal"! I grew up in Minnesota,
and couldn't wait to leave those winters behind! I spent
Thanksgiving with a friend in Prescott one year, where we
were snowed in for most of the weekend. So long as there's
air-conditioning, I have no problem with really hot weather.
Los Angeles and vicinity is semi-desert, after all - and
if I'm retired, it will mean I won't HAVE to go out when
it's really hot. (Except briefly to a grocery store or
something like that.)

I don't think it's the same as Minnesota. It is, after all, the desert

Jill

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote
Pat wrote:

Check this page for some pics of the smog situation in Phoenix:

http://www.weathersmith.com/index.html?WsSmogPics.html

I'll never forget how sore my throat always got whenever I visited that
city.

After some fifty years in Greater Los Angeles, I doubt I'd even notice it!

That would be all the more reason I'd want to get OUT of a polluted
environment.

I've been in L.A. a few times. The air there was amazingly clean, in my
opinion, given all the horror stories I had heard about it, I expected it to
be much worse.

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote

The only way to be comfortable in the summer in Phoenix or Tucson without
a MASSIVE electric bill is to live in a rammed earth home with walls
three feet thick. I know, because a friend of mine built such homes and
I've been inside them when it was over 100 F. outside and without A/C it
was still nice and cool.

How about genuine adobe? I saw a two bedroom house in Tempe advertised
for $550 a month (only a "swamp" cooler, but window air-conditioning in
the bedroom).

A house in Tempe for $550 is probably going to be either very small or
somewhat of a dump, or both. My friends in Cottonwood lived in an adobe
home. They were at 3500' elevation and without a/c. Their place got terribly
hot in the summer. Adobe absorbs heat during the day and radiates it back
out (into the house) at night. It's perfect for the high desert. Down low
like that the walls need to be at least 2' thick for the concept to work in
summer. If you have shade, that helps immensely.

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
Christine K. wrote:
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:
snip
How close are Tucson or Phoenix to Fountain Hills? How do I
determine which are "safe" areas for an elderly woman to live alone?
I will still have my car for transportation, but as one gets older,
one is more and more reluctant to drive very far for everyday things
like groceries, so I'd like to be in an urban area, not out in the
"boonies" somewhere.


I can only help with the location - or www.mapquest.com can.
Put, for example, Scottsdale AZ into the city and state boxes and hit
Search, and you'll get a map of Scottsdale with surroundings, where
you can zoom in and out as you please. Scottsdale seems to be between
Fountain Hills and Phoenix, closer to Phoenix, actually.

You can also search for a multitude of things in the location of your
choice - Grocery stores, hospitals, vets, hairdressers, theaters,
whatever. Check the dropdown menu above the map for help.

I hope others can help you with the further details you need.

I don't know a thing about Arizona. I do have a good friend who moved
from
middle CA to New Mexico and she's loving it! So, the father of the niece
aside, you might check into the Albuquerque area instead. And no, she
doesn't have a ton of money and doesn't have the credit to buy a house.
But
she is looking for a house to rent with a patio where she can hold
cookouts;
*that* she can manage! She says it's infinitely less expensive than
anywhere in CA where she could only afford a small apartment. Now she's
looking for a house to live in rather than an apartment. She says
everything is much more affordable. Also beautiful desert views and "dry
heat" Good luck!

Jill


Well, DH and I moved here from Atlanta 23 years ago and I just love it here.
It does get hot here but not as hot as Arizona in summer and it is a dry
heat. I love having sunlight just about 365 days of the year and the 60+
mile views to the horizon. Albuquerque's population is about 600,000.
Nearby are the Sandia Mountains, Santa Fe opera, Albuquerque Natural History
Museum (includes a lot of dinosaur exhibits); Albuquerque Biopark (botanical
gardens plus aquarium), New Mexico Symphony, University of New Mexico, etc.
Southern New Mexico has Carlsbad Caverns (phenomenal).

hth,
Christine