Is there a drug problem in Payson ? (Mesa, Prescott: hotel, home)
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There is a serious drug problem ( meth ) in Payson and the surrounding areas. This drug has taken over here ( and everywhere ) like an epidemic. The majority of the kids in high school are wannabe cowboys/cowgirls and both use skoal. Pretty disgusting actually. I'd have to bet that any place you work at up here you will see or hear of someone being let go for drug problems probably once a month. Two at the outside. It's taken a strong foothold here. Sad.
The job market is V-E-R-Y limited unless you have a real estate license. In that case they have an office every 100 feet and probably 1 office for each 10 residents that live up here. The major players for the job market are Safeway, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, and the Indian Casino. Arizona is a right to work state and the wages are lower than most everywhere else. If you work for the Casino you have no rights as afforded by the federal government and can be let go/replaced at any time for no reason other than one of their friends wants your job. Have seen it done. Or a new manager comes in from out of state and brought all of his emplyees from there with him. Bye.
Benefits and extremely hard to come by. Most places would rather hire twice as many workers part time. No benefits and lower wages.
The area is an older and retirement based community. This in and of itself is not always a bad thing. There are some good people up here. There are also a lot of good older people up here that should have been stopped from driving 20 years ago. Your drivers license is good till you are 65. No renewal required till then. The roads are pocked with wreaths and signs in memory of those drivers that have lost their lives by accident or simply falling asleep and driving off the roads. You can't go 1/4 mile in any direction without observing one.
Right now the city of Payson is trying to reinvent itself and prop up it's image. The city and surrounding area had received a lot of bad press recently in the news and on TV. I guess it's easier to invent a nifty new slogan for the city than it is to actually repair the things that are giving the city the bad light. Hey..what do i know?
There are some good things about the area but in my opinion not enough to warrant moving up here. Come here for a vacation maybe. Beautiful in the spring and summer. Lots of rain starting around July 4th and lasting thru August and into September. Get snow in the winter and not uncommon for roads to be shut down for a while. Phoenix and reality about an hour and a half away south. Flagstaff about the same north.
Best advise... Come for a visit. Look around. Talk to people. Make your own choice. Hotels are reasonable in the summer and the weather beautiful when it's not raining.
I have another post concerning job availability in Payson. I'd also like to know if there is alot of drug use in Payson. A couple years ago I moved to a small town in N. Cali & found out that most everyone there was either un-employed or collected disability (even tho they didn't seem to need it!) and drug use, especially Meth was VERY prevalent! I know drugs are everywhere but I swear this city had more Meth users p/capita than I'd seen in LA or the suburbs of Chicago where I lived for years !!!! Please give me your input as I'd rather not live in a drug (Meth) town .. thanks !
it looks like there is a drug problem on every block in america..........have it here to in ny.
There is a serious drug problem ( meth ) in Payson and the surrounding areas. This drug has taken over here ( and everywhere ) like an epidemic. The majority of the kids in high school are wannabe cowboys/cowgirls and both use skoal. Pretty disgusting actually. I'd have to bet that any place you work at up here you will see or hear of someone being let go for drug problems probably once a month. Two at the outside. It's taken a strong foothold here. Sad.
The job market is V-E-R-Y limited unless you have a real estate license. Arizona is a right to work state and the wages are lower than most everywhere else.
The area is an older and retirement based community. This in and of itself is not always a bad thing. There are some good people up here. There are also a lot of good older people up here that should have been stopped from driving 20 years ago. Your drivers license is good till you are 65. No renewal required till then. The roads are pocked with wreaths and signs in memory of those drivers that have lost their lives by accident or simply falling asleep and driving off the roads. You can't go 1/4 mile in any direction without observing one.
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Amazingly flawlessly perfect post!!! I am smiling from 1,500 miles away from that bozo nightmare of a town!
"There are also a lot of good older people up here that should have been stopped from driving 20 years ago."
Ok, fair enough, but I wonder how many of the total accidents & injuries are caused by 16 to 25 year old drivers. There's a reason that young drivers have higher insurance rates.
"There are also a lot of good older people up here that should have been stopped from driving 20 years ago."
Ok, fair enough, but I wonder how many of the total accidents & injuries are caused by 16 to 25 year old drivers. There's a reason that young drivers have higher insurance rates.
When you read the newspaper or listen to the radio up here all you hear about are elder on elder accidents. I can honestly say that if you drive around and look at the people in the cars you will very rarely see any drivers under 25. I'd have to guess 1 car out of 80. Most younger use quads to get around ( legal to drive them on the roads up here with plate and half ride theirs on the streets or shoulder without ). The V-A-S-T majority of people up here are older and retired with no children at home. I'm 51, and would love to place the blame on the younger generation...trust me...but I can't. It's my age and older. When I came here I was required to carry UNDERINSURED insurance because most of the elder up here carry no insurance at all or extremely limited. Arizona this year did away with that after numerous legal challenges. I've NEVER had an accident and have not had a ticket in over 30 years. Insurance in Arizona is 1.5 times the amount of neighboring states. There is a reason for that. It's called the elderly...and the not insured elderly.
And the drug problem up here is the same. Kids are doing it only because it is available from the 30 YO plus dealers. The median age up here is between 50 and 52. Not a whole lot of kids and what is up here is getting hooked on drugs from us old folks ( me NOT included! ). The problem with the kids is their is not a lot to do for them up here. This whole general area is set up to catering to the elder and retired.
Another problem with the area is the towns are a by product of travelers passing thru on their way from Phoenix to Flagstaff and visa versa. The main drag runs right thru town. Get a lot of less than desirables stopping by for a week-end "party" and also the casino draws a lot of the elder from the neighboring areas the day they get their Social Security checks. The median age for the casino guests is probably 62-65. And the casino is always packed. They even run bus shuttles to pick up people and take them home right to their front door. Those shuttles without a doubt save even more accidents.
Payson and the outlying towns are a retirement/tourist community. These towns would dry up without one or the other.
"I'm 51, and would love to place the blame on the younger generation...trust me...but I can't. It's my age and older."
Hey '51', got more years on my 'tires' than you, and I'm not happy about it. Don't misunderstand. I'm not down on young people. Wish I was young again, and I'm not a 'Payson person' and I don't know the specifics of that town (only go up there once in a while from CV), but nationally auto insurance for younger drivers are higher for a reason. Insurance rates are adjusted in part by claims & statistical data of risk. I'm sure there are areas dominated by senior drivers which will result in higher rates of claims, and those drivers will have their insurance rates adjusted upward in that area. Nationally though, senior drivers have lower rates than the youngest drivers based on their lower rate of claims. I agree that some senior's should not be behind the wheel. Seniors typically have reduced reaction times, and often take prescription medications that can undermine safe driving, and youthful driver's take more risks, have less driving experience, and have higher incidences of driving while drinking. Taking away any of a senior's independence is a tough nut. The senior, the senior's family, social welfare/senior agencies, and DMV/law enforcement officials must put their heads together to decide what's best for everyone's welfare. BTW, is it fair that ATV/Motorbike operators wheel around without helmets? In an accident their lack of a certified helmet exacerbates the incidences of serious injury which drives up everyones insurance rates. Can a truck/car operator drive without seat belts? I find this hypocrisy. Fairness dictates that all operators should be required to use available safety gear. Why should we pay higher insurance rates because some people like to feel the wind in their hair, or feel the freedom of being 'unrestrained' by seat belts? Lobby groups exercise tremendous influence. Ever try going up against AARP or the 'no helmet' motorcycle lobby's?
Prescott suffers from a meth problem also. Instead of recognizing and doing something about it, the politicians keep everyone in the dark. The reason? $$$
Bad press only slows down all the growth they are trying to keep going. The retirees in this area are completely oblivious as to the problem. They think all is well in Prescott. Payson, like Prescott, suffers from the same problem. A lot of growth within the past couple of years from SoCals and they want to keep it growing.
Payson like Prescott, has NO real job market. Only if you are a Realtor or Contractor will you find a job with decent pay. These towns were NOT built correctly in regards to good job/business infrastructure. They just built thousands of homes, jacked the prices as the SoCals came in, then sat back and counted the money. Now we have crime rates going up, serious water issues, low paying jobs. Prescott & Payson are identical. Payson could be described as what Prescott was 3-5 years ago...
Just when you think you have all the reasons to move to this wonderful area and someone brings another good reason. This should keep my prescription costs down what with all the copays and fees charged on my medciaid. Thanks for the heads up, now where do I get in contact with the people on here who seem to know where all the drugs are at? It's got to be cheaper than the pharmacy. Hah!
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What was your former CA town?
