Life in Lake Havasu City (Phoenix, Kingman: Home Depot, income, living in)

[Ponderosa]

You will be baked alive boating on Havasu in the summer. You have to trailer and loading, unloading, putting on the covers, etc gives you a splitting headache in the summer heat. It's torture. Only drunken Californians (and there are many of them around) are able to tolerate that heat and sun out there. In winter the water is cold and the fish don't bite and the north wind howls down the Colorado making waves a couple feet high. Not my favorite boating venue.

[cloudstomper01]

The hospital is gross and just very bad. I took my son in for a reaction to a shot once and there was a bloody near-unconscious elderly man there that should have already been seen. We were there 5 hours before his family finally threatened the staff and took him to Bullhead. We had come in at 6 pm and finally got out at 3 am. I might add, there were only about 3 other people in the ER.

The lake is nasty, my son refuses to go into it anymore since he nearly ran head first into a huge log (cr@p)one day. It is so warm during the summer that it's nauseating. The routy Californians act like 10 year olds. Oh, and as for snowbird season, all the stores turn the entire first half of the parking lots into handicapped, the stores are always busy unless you do what I do and shop really early or late at night.

I've never homeschooled my children until I moved here, the schools are horrible, the staff is horrible and they don't care for parents or childrens concerns.

Don't pay attention to the crime rate on this or other sites from 2004-2005ish as a rule of thumb for the crime here now. In the past 3 years there have been more murders then I can remember, and those are the ones they tell you about.

I won't even get into the weather, that's another thread entirely. I'll just say that I miss the rain so much. It rains only at night, or for 15 minutes and that's only a few times a year, unless you get a monsoon and even those fly by fast. And yes, I am moving in the next few months... lol

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by cloudstomper01

The hospital is gross and just very bad. I took my son in for a reaction to a shot once and there was a bloody near-unconscious elderly man there that should have already been seen. We were there 5 hours before his family finally threatened the staff and took him to Bullhead. We had come in at 6 pm and finally got out at 3 am. I might add, there were only about 3 other people in the ER.

I have heard horror stories about HRMC as well------sad because years ago that was a wonderful hospital.

The lake is nasty, my son refuses to go into it anymore since he nearly ran head first into a huge log (cr@p)one day. It is so warm during the summer that it's nauseating. The routy Californians act like 10 year olds. Oh, and as for snowbird season, all the stores turn the entire first half of the parking lots into handicapped, the stores are always busy unless you do what I do and shop really early or late at night.

No joke re: rowdies, etc. ad nauseam.

I've never homeschooled my children until I moved here, the schools are horrible, the staff is horrible and they don't care for parents or childrens concerns.

Again, 20 years ago, the education in LHC was very good factoring in the small population back the. Lots of retired well educated people apparently were tutoring the kids from what I was told.

Don't pay attention to the crime rate on this or other sites from 2004-2005ish as a rule of thumb for the crime here now. In the past 3 years there have been more murders then I can remember, and those are the ones they tell you about.

That does not surprise me at all------the difference between LHC and Bullhead is that the latter place is honest about itself.

I won't even get into the weather, that's another thread entirely. I'll just say that I miss the rain so much. It rains only at night, or for 15 minutes and that's only a few times a year, unless you get a monsoon and even those fly by fast. And yes, I am moving in the next few months... lol

I hated the summers (but still better than dealing with snow/ice).

What really pissed and saddened me about LHC between 1989-2002 was the place went from quirky and eclectic to 'plastic' BS.. Relatively low wages but housing was dirt cheap. The tipping point was around 2001 I believe. I lived there in early 2000 (place was still OK), then returned in 2002 (LHC went to hell)

More and more of the 'Bohemian' types are heading up to Kingman of all places-------it has improved in inverse proportion to LHC's deterioration.

[CamaroGuy]

That's really sad to hear. I visited LH every year from 1995 to 2000 and enjoyed it soo much. It had such a quintness about it.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by CamaroGuy

That's really sad to hear. I visited LH every year from 1995 to 2000 and enjoyed it soo much. It had such a quintness about it.

Year 2000 I can definitely vouch for: LHC had an 'aloha' vibe about it.......but it died when the @#$%^& money came flooding in forcing housing costs up yet basically freezing wages.

I was also in the LHC area in 1989 and it was really neat then......laid back but some 'big city' amenities factoring in the 25K population

[CamaroGuy]

That English pub in the village was soo nice too. Very sad to hear of its closing.:-(

[vfrpilot]

I would not consider it now. But we left in '90 after 20 years. We thought it was bad then. It was nice in the 70's when you could have most of the lake to yourself on weekdays. Now it's too busy and crowded for us. The weather is extreme in the summer, but I was younger and enjoyed it most of the time. We have heard from teacher friends that the schools have suffered from overcrowding and under funding. If you don't have a pool, you and your kids will live indoors for at least 3 months.
I would visit for a few days during the summer to see if the heat is too much for you. It seems everyone has different tolerance levels.

That English pub in the village was soo nice too. Very sad to hear of its closing.:-(

Sad- My father-in-law was the first manager there. I think he got fired for messing around with some waitresses. He doesn't like to talk about it.

[CamaroGuy]

I remember the last time I visited the pub they had a microbrewery there. The food was also good there too!

What a tragedy. Well at least Papa Leone's pizza is still there.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by CamaroGuy

I remember the last time I visited the pub they had a microbrewery there. The food was also good there too!

What a tragedy. Well at least Papa Leone's pizza is still there.

Another 'tipping point' was when LHC started getting away from the funky 'British influence' and sold its soul to 'Satan' AKA the drunken loser party animals.

[CamaroGuy]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

Another 'tipping point' was when LHC started getting away from the funky 'British influence' and sold its soul to 'Satan' AKA the drunken loser party animals.

When I first visited there in 1995 I loved it soo! It was like a British version of Solvang, CA. Hopefully LHC can become Britaniaized again!