OT - possible move to Arizona? (long)

Christine Burel wrote:
"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

I went to Carlsbad Caverns when I was a kid! You're right, phenomenal! I
still remember some sort of natural (musical) organ formation in the
caverns. Gosh, I must have been 7 years old. Dad took us on a vacation
from southern CA before he shipped off to Vietnam for his first tour.

Jill

wrote:
Candace wrote:

I realize my posts are apparently being ignored because I'm not
one of your little clique but I'll continue to post anyway

Hey Candace, I hear ya! It can get kind of cliquey here. We don't flame
each other, but sometimes certain people do get ignored, for what reason
I don't know. I sometimes feel that way myself. (Not always.)

I know I've been reading rpca for years and occasionally posting
but I mainly post in the "evil" rpchb. I don't know why I would
necessarily be plonked in rpca, though, because I don't recall stirring
up any trouble. I think I'm just ignored, not plonked. It does seem,
though, that in this particular thread I am the only one who actually
lives in Phoenix so I would think that would interest at least the
original poster but, hey, maybe not. Maybe she only wants to hear from
people she "knows." Too bad none of them seem to live in AZ. Thank
you for acknowledging my existence, tho.

That's unfortunate, though. Desert landscaping might not go with that
type of architecture, but it seems to me that neither the architecture
nor the grass goes with the climate! I personally love desert landscaping,
love cactus and other succulents and drought-resistant plants in general.
I saw some beautiful desert landscapes in Tucson years ago, when I spent
some time there.

That is true and I actually have conflicted feelings about it,
regarding the water use. In general, I consider myself someone who
respects the environment but, on the other hand, I don't want to kill
off my many trees and bushes that require water. Some of them have
been here for over 50 years, too. A few houses in this neighborhood,
very few, have remodeled and put new facades on their homes so that
they look more traditionally southwest and then they have switched to
desert landscaping. But not many around here. And, to do that,
requires putting plastic down and pre-emergent and all that stuff which
hardly seems "natural" either. No one is totally natural...if they do
the desert landscaping, they have the rocks in their yard and that has
to have plastic underneath. Yuk.

Another thing (of interest to very few, I'm sure) that many of the
older neighborhoods have here is irrigation...where your yard gets
flooded on a regular basis through an underground system of pipes and
ditches. For some reason, the houses across the street from us are all
set up for irrigation but there is a tiny patch of us who don't have
it. Irrigated lawns are very lush and green and it is quite a bit
cheaper than watering your lawn on your own. As long as irrigation
stays available (and it's built into the infrastructure in the old
neighborhoods), I doubt if people will feel compelled to go with desert
landscaping.

Candace

Pat wrote:

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote


plan to get rid of some of my furniture.) I'm just getting ideas of
what's available. Nevertheless, when I go to an internet rental site
search page, leave "minimum" blank and only key in the maximium I feel I
can afford, quite a few apartments in the Phoenix area come up with only
$400, $425 and $450 rent.


What you're probably seeing in those search results is the price of the
"move-in special" deal, or studio apts. in big complexes, or small apts. in
ratty sections of town.

Well, Craig's List has been pretty realistic about
apartments here (where I was able to go look at them), so I
have to assume it is elsewhere, too. Since the
landords/owners write their own posts, they may use a little
"poetic license", but when they include pictures, you can
get a fair idea.


I'm trying to give you a realistic idea. When I was looking for a place in
the Phoenix area in '89, I had a very hard time finding anything affordable
and bigger than a studio outside of the slum areas. The cheapest thing was a
trailer in a mobile home park for $350. Mind you that was almost 18 years
ago.... I highly doubt that prices have not at least doubled since then.

Perhaps my expectations aren't as high as yours? I can't
believe that ALL the apartments listed at reasonable rents
are in bad areas, but of course when the time to move comes
closer, I will take a preliminary trip there to see for
myself what's available. I would never rent an apartment
sight unseen (unless one of my family had seen it and
assured me it was acceptable).

Pat wrote:

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote


when I go to an internet rental site search page,
leave "minimum" blank and only key in the maximium
I feel I can afford, quite a few apartments in the Phoenix area come up
with
only $400, $425 and $450 rent.


If you find something under $500 it is either going to be a studio in a
complex or something in a ratty neighborhood.

Did you remember to use "cats allowed" as one of your search criteria? That
will narrow the choices..

Well, since I specify "one bedroom", the studio apartments
don't come up (although when I don't, some 2-bedrooms show
up at reasonable rents, too). And of COURSE I check the box
for cats! Is it possible the Phoenix area suffered a
recession since you were there in 1989? A friend who lived
in Lancaster CA had an experience like that. When she
bought her house, she was over the moon, because her
mortgage was well below the assessed value of the property.
Several years later, when she wanted to sell it, she owed
more than the property was worth on the market then.

Candace wrote:

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:

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


I realize my posts are apparently being ignored because I'm not one of
your little clique but I'll continue to post anyway since I do live in
Phoenix and actual information *might* be more accurate than hearsay
from 15 years ago by one of your members.

Actually, yours was the only post I considered helpful
enough to file for future reference! I wasn't ignoring you,
honest - I just planned to reply off-line. (Christine's
post referring me to mapquest didn't need to be filed, since
she was reminding me of something I knew but had overlooked.)

Your brother is incorrect.
I have a lawn in Phoenix. New houses generally have desert
landscaping, as they should, because this is a desert, after all, but
older homes often have lawns because I guess back when they were built
that was the norm.

I think that was probably what he meant - and of course his
townhouse in Fountain Hills is among the newer construction.
(Like I said, he's not hurting for money - but my
financial situation is different.)

I really do appreciate your input, Candace - But rather than
reply to all the points you raise here, I'll e-mail you
later in the week. (I assume your e-mail address is correct.)

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:

Actually, yours was the only post I considered helpful
enough to file for future reference! I wasn't ignoring you,
honest - I just planned to reply off-line.

Oh, okay, never mind then

I really do appreciate your input, Candace - But rather than
reply to all the points you raise here, I'll e-mail you
later in the week. (I assume your e-mail address is correct.)

Yes, it is, and that's fine for you to email me.

Candace

I suppose it would depend on other things though. I've heard about the
Minnesota winters, but imagine the ones in Arizona are more likely to be
"brisk" rather than "bite you in the butt frigid."

Blessed be,
BAha

"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.)

On 2006-05-29, EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) penned:


Your brother is incorrect.
I have a lawn in Phoenix. New houses generally have desert
landscaping, as they should, because this is a desert, after all,
but older homes often have lawns because I guess back when they
were built that was the norm.

Just to add to this, my in-laws have about an acre and most of it is
grass. They also have several citrus trees that suck up the water
like crazy.

(That being said, I have to think that something will need to change
about the city's water consumption eventually -- they just don't get
enough rainfall to sustain this.)

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 2006-05-28, penned:

That's unfortunate, though. Desert landscaping might not go with
that type of architecture, but it seems to me that neither the
architecture nor the grass goes with the climate! I personally love
desert landscaping, love cactus and other succulents and
drought-resistant plants in general. I saw some beautiful desert
landscapes in Tucson years ago, when I spent some time there.

I have wondered about doing xeriscaping instead of our lawn (Colorado
is also high desert, with plenty of water issues). Someone told me,
though, that the grass somehow cools the house and that without the
grass, my house would be much harder to cool. (Not sure about the
science behind this or even if it's accurate.)

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca