MOVING TO AZ-PROS and COND (Phoenix, Tucson: appointed, apartment, low crime)

[arizona_chic]

i am 26 years old, single, and an adventure-seeking woman who is sick of the fast rush of city life. (haha it sounds like i'm trying to find someone )

i've been wanting to move to arizona for quite some time now from my apartment in NY. Frankly, I don't realy know much about arizona. I realy want to settle in a nice town price range of 100-200 thousand (home-wise). I would like a place an hour or so from a good shopping area.

I am also a travel agent so I was wondering where there could be an opening for me (job-wise). I want an area that..

-has very friendly people, neighbors that will ring the doorbel andstop and say hello
-beautiful views from my porch
- a dog friendly area (I have a cockapoo and a lab)
-a low crime area
-a good mountain to rock climb, hike, horseback ride, bike ride-i love those kinds of things

i have heard a lot about how amazing mohave county is-can you all tell me a little bit more?

any other areas that might intrest me?

also---how is the wildlife there? I do kind of have a fear of tarantulas (are they around there?)

please tell all you know

[Steve-o]

Make sure you visit in the summer before you come, its long and its brutally hot (although there is no humidity, its still majorly uncomfortable). And make sure you have a job lined up first, thats the most important thing.

As for a town, Surprise sounds like it should fit your bill, and youll be definitely close to shopping. Tempe, Chandler, Gilberts, Mesa will also fit your bill Id imagine, but the traffic there is alot worse than in Surprise.

Neighbors that will ring the bell and say hi? Might be hard to find, in any area actually. LOL Thats more a small-town Midwest thing than it is a big-city SW thing, just my opinion.

There are plenty mountain areas to hike, thats my FAVE thing about PHX. The McDowell range is great, the PHX Mountain Preserve is nice. Make sure to try Mummy Mountain and Camelback as well. An easy trail is Pinnacle Peak in N. Scottsdale/Carefree. Great views from there!

Coming from NYC, youll be disappointed in PHX. The downtown sucks and is as boring as anything Ive ever encountered. The best things to do down there is take in a D-backs or Suns game. If youre into hockey, the jobring arena in Glendale is pretty cool I guess, too bad the team sucks. ;-) Im a hawks fan, sorry! LOL

Mohave County was gorgeous, so is Cochise. Make sure to visit Tombstone along the way...

Wildlife? Hmmm, just my thing. Not to scare you, but be prepared for scorpions, snakes, tarantulas, black widows, mountain lions, etc. The only scorpion to worry about is the AZ bark scorpion (Centruroides exilicaudai if you want to Google it). Tarantulas have bad bites, but are harmless. Theyre just big lumbering beasts that are quite well-behaved. Leave em alone, youll only see the males wandering for females. PHX has alot, but Tucson has ALOT more. Black widows (Latrodectus hesperus) are VERY common in AZ, just keep an eye out for em. Never hike/bike alone in mountain lion country, theyve been spotted out there and will not hesitate to attack you, people are killed every year by lions out west. Just use some common sense, check your clothes, etc and you should be fine. Just dont let your guard down...

[MaimounaKande]

I am just reading this thread, and I'm a little intimidated...not sure I want to post here considering the lashings...but I will.

Back to the original poster's question....I want to suggest looking at Tucson. It depends on what you want--Phoenix is much larger than Tucson and has a very different "feel." Some people love one and hate the other. I personally do not like Phoenix or the surrounding suburbs for a variety of reasons (sprawl, traffic, etc) but I love Tucson. Lots of mountains...we'd take our kids hiking every weekend in one of the MANY places for it in and around Tucson..

In fairness, Tucson is NOT the place for nightlife or even for great restaurants imo. I think Phoenix is better in that department, which is why it really depends on what you're looking for. Phoenix is also about 10 degrees hotter than Tucson, although I love heat, so although I can tell the difference, it doesn't bother me. Another pro of Phoenix is its proximity to Flagstaff, Sedona, etc. We drove up there quite a bit from Tucson, but it's quite a haul from Tucson and pretty easy from Phoenix. Great weekend spots.

Bottom line is that it depends on the feel you're looking for, and what's important. You can hike from Phoenix, but you don't have the options you have in Tucson, and from many places in Phoenix its a drive. In Tucson, mountains are all around, and in many areas you can be there in 5 minutes. But again...if good restaurants and nightlife and good shopping are your thing, Phoenix may be the better bet.

Tarantulas...yes. But really, they won't bother you once you're here...now scopions....they are more of a problem (although less so in Phoenix than in more "deserty" areas of Tucson)..

Hope I don't get torn apart....it's just my opinion!!

[irwin]

Anyway...back to the original question.

If you are looking to get out of the city and a totally different lifestyle, Arizona might be your place. I think what Arizona may be lacking, following your criteria, is the small town feel. Anything around Phoenix does not have a small town feel. Phoenix isn't really a city, but it is sprawling and basically a big suburb. So, I don't think you will find the small town friendly feel anywhere around the Phoenix metro area.

I would look in Northern AZ. It is really pretty up there and the climate is much more agreeable. The towns are smaller up there and you might be able to find what you are looking for. The biggest problem could be finding a job up there. But if you can find a job, it may be for you.

Good luck.

[arizona_chic]

okay, to start with- please stop fighting! i started this post just trying to find out about arizona and the people posting here-one in particuar is giving me a wrong immage. steve-o thank u in the beginning for the facts on the wildlife, i looked it all up and it helped me see better what's there.

i love the heat-i really do. but i have very fair skin- my doctor did say that if i were to move to arizona i would have to lightly go out until my skin tanned and then apply a lot of sunscreen, but that's basically common sense

about phoenix, i am not intrested in city life- exactly why i'm moving out of ny a small town would be very nice, i started looking into the northern area too-but tucson looks gorgeous as well

oy vey-tarantulas. i guess i can cope if i try to stay clear of them-thing that really scares me is mountain lions? i didn't think they were in arizona! guess i would have to travel with a group of people on my mountain adventures

i am planning to come and see arizona in the summer, make sure i can take the heat...but yea.

anymore pro's and con's? and please stop fighting-i don't want this to get out of hand.

[irwin]

Originally Posted by city_life

okay, to start with- please stop fighting! i started this post just trying to find out about arizona and the people posting here-one in particuar is giving me a wrong immage. steve-o thank u in the beginning for the facts on the wildlife, i looked it all up and it helped me see better what's there.

i love the heat-i really do. but i have very fair skin- my doctor did say that if i were to move to arizona i would have to lightly go out until my skin tanned and then apply a lot of sunscreen, but that's basically common sense

about phoenix, i am not intrested in city life- exactly why i'm moving out of ny a small town would be very nice, i started looking into the northern area too-but tucson looks gorgeous as well

oy vey-tarantulas. i guess i can cope if i try to stay clear of them-thing that really scares me is mountain lions? i didn't think they were in arizona! guess i would have to travel with a group of people on my mountain adventures

i am planning to come and see arizona in the summer, make sure i can take the heat...but yea.

anymore pro's and con's? and please stop fighting-i don't want this to get out of hand.

Tucson may be a happy medium and if you don't mind the heat then that negative about Tucson would be off the table. I haven't really spent much time down there but what little I know is generally a more liberal town than Phoenix which tends to be very conservative, especially when compared to other major metro areas.

One other point is that smaller towns out here are not like the small towns you get back East. As a general rule you are not going to get the type of small towns you get in Upstate or New England. They generally are not as quaint and some of them are really just gas stations and fast food joints on the highway. Some of them are also mining towns, so almost 100% of the town works for a mining company. Not all of the smaller towns are like that of course, but I would say the majority.

[Ponderosa]

Sorry about the off-topic "fight". It was my fault. I have deleted all the off-topic stuff.

[aj661]

city_life,

For small towns down south, check into Oracle. It's off State Route 77 on the north (opposite) side of the Catalina mountains from Tucson. The Biosphere is just a few miles off the highway on the way from Tucson if you're interested in that. A little further up the road is San Manuel, which is still a mining town but I understand developers are moving in. If you're going to Tucson it should be worth the drive. Along the way you can check out Oro Valley (pricey) and the community of Catalina. They get a little snow some winters, but not bad.

[arizona_chic]

i'll check into those cities you mentioned aj661

ponderosa, no worry- thank you for deleting the messages off-topic

[aj661]

Oops, forgot one other bit of info: If you are into SERIOUS rock climbing, just above Superior AZ there are some wicked looking mountains. I had 'contact' with many climbers on their way to and from there outside Apache Junction. (I don't know exactly where the climbers went, but I do believe it's between milepost 228 and 230 on US 60.

If you want to make a real adventure out of it, when you leave Tucson, you'll go north on SR 77, through the towns I mentioned before. You'll pass through Mammoth (the turnoff to Aravaipa Canyon is on the way too), then when you reach the town of Winkleman, hang a left onto SR177. That will take you past Hayden and Kearny. You'll hit US 60 in Superior, turn right and you're there. After that, come back west on US60. If you want to go into the Phoenix metro area via Apache Junction, Mesa, etc., keep driving west. If you want to go back to Tucson, drive west to milepost 212, also known as Florence Junction. Get off US 60 and drive south on SR79. It will take you through Florence and back to Tucson.

Have Fun!!!