Why do so many people hate phoenix/tucson and says there is no jobs (Scottsdale: fit in, student loans)

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by starla

I loved the winter,

I REALLY loved the spring.

I love the hiking and the mountains, and the desert flowers the pop up in March and April. Strangely enough I love Sky Harbor (the airport) because it's just so freaking efficient. I love getting on the freeway and having a beautiful view of mountains, and the mountains behind those mountains, and then mountains behind those mountains. I love going out to the Superstition Mountains and going to the lakes in the middle of nowhere, and paddling along until I find a little quiet cove to take a rest. I love how you can be on some random dirt road and it has the most incredible view of the most incredible canyon, and not only do you not know the name of the canyon, you didn't even know you were going to be driving through a canyon today. I love how much space there is, and how blue and clear the sky is. I love getting on a trail in the morning/evening and climbing to the top and watching the sunrise/sunset. I love that I can afford a house here, and one in a safe, clean, well-landscaped neighborhood, and even a house with a view. I love all the flowers planted along the sides of the freeways, and I love all the palm trees and cacti that get planted in medians. I love that I can drive up to Flagstaff, or Sedona, or down to Tuscon for a day trip. I love that the beach (while in Mexico) is only a few hours drive away. I love that I can see a bunch of museums for free courtesy of the Phoenix Public Library. I love swimming in the pool after the sun goes down. I love Quiktrip (that probably makes me sound trashy, but I don't care, it's a gas station/convenience store in case you're wondering). I love that ice cream cones at McDonalds are only 59 cents. I love all the fancy restaurants in Scottsdale and all the ethnic restaurants in Tempe and Chandler. I'm sure I'll find more things to love, but I've only been here about six months.

Can't wait to hear how much you're gonna LOVE the Arizona summer.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by mermaid93

Yes I am! You know what, no matter how many years we spend in the snow some of us just can't get used to it. A lot of us get seasonal depression. I dislike ATL, but I loved this winter. It was so easy on me and pleasant. I heard a lot of Chicagoans go there, I have never heard anything negative from a Chicagoan there. What things do you love?

If you like seasons, don't move here. The heat wears on some people. I love perennial sunshine and can only live in warm weather cities. I don't like any cold unless I'm skiing

[mermaid93]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

If you like seasons, don't move here. The heat wears on some people. I love perennial sunshine and can only live in warm weather cities. I don't like any cold unless I'm skiing

I dislike snow and cold as well. My life is better without it!

[Slam4444]

$10-12/hour is far from good, especially if you are supporting yourself or a family. There are jobs in Phoenix, they just are minimum wage. But that's throughout the country; it is not just a Phoenix problem.

[Cyber Surfer]

Arizona at best is a retiree and service state. I've lived in this state for 30 years and I can say with utmost certainty that if you want professional white collar jobs that are NOT in medical, law, and corporate finance look elsewhere. There might be a need for engineers or tech, but it's super rare. If you're in the northern part of AZ it's even harder. Lots of old people flock here due to the heat, quietness, (hence the stereotype that old people hate the cold) and lower COL.

I've lived in Phoenix, and most temp agencies do blow. Some will get you to rework your resume over, and over, and over, and over because they're paid to. Most can't find work for you since you're still technically at the mercy of the employer. Temp agencies are the middlemen but sadly in this economy it's the best we have unless you can network.

Lots of low wage jobs around, but between the college kids, illegals, and everyone else struggling to make ends meet it can get cutthroat. Don't settle for call center jobs either, they're awful.

[RichCapeCod]

Wife and I "snowbird" between Green Valley (twenty miles due south of Tucson) and Cape Cod. Really like living in AZ. Nice friendly folks (in my experience at any rate), beautiful countryside, live and let live attitude.

I'm not a city person (this from a guy that was born in Brooklyn NY and spent 20 years as a NYC cop...) but find Tucson a pleasant place to shop and go into for restaurants. Of course, my wife and I can travel at non-traffic intense times, so keep that in mind.

We plan on eventually selling our Cape house and moving here permanently. The only reason we haven't done so is, as others have pointed out, the summers are brutal and we'd have to get away to someplace cool anyway.

Best of luck,

Rich

[mermaid93]

Originally Posted by Cyber Surfer

Arizona at best is a retiree and service state. I've lived in this state for 30 years and I can say with utmost certainty that if you want professional white collar jobs that are NOT in medical, law, and corporate finance look elsewhere. There might be a need for engineers or tech, but it's super rare. If you're in the northern part of AZ it's even harder. Lots of old people flock here due to the heat, quietness, (hence the stereotype that old people hate the cold) and lower COL.

I've lived in Phoenix, and most temp agencies do blow. Some will get you to rework your resume over, and over, and over, and over because they're paid to. Most can't find work for you since you're still technically at the mercy of the employer. Temp agencies are the middlemen but sadly in this economy it's the best we have unless you can network.

Lots of low wage jobs around, but between the college kids, illegals, and everyone else struggling to make ends meet it can get cutthroat. Don't settle for call center jobs either, they're awful.

I do medical billing. How is the job market in Tucson? Is the job market really that awful in AZ? What do you do?

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by mermaid93

The PHX, TUCSON area is a potiential contender as a place for my family and I to move. people that ive talked to in real life say positive things about it, but researching online people say a lot of negative things such as:
-rude people
-too hot
-boring terrain
-no jobs
theres whole threads and websites dedicated to how much people hate AZ. Yet, ATL is the opposite people hype this place up online and in person, and I've been here a year with mostly bad experiences. They complain that theres no jobs in AZ or the pay in too low for retail or warehouse, but a indeed/craigslist search shows most warehouse and entry jobs start at 10-12 hourly. Medical Billing jobs call me from AZ
and I'm not even there, yet ATL recruiters don't email back nor call after I send a million resumes. They
have hiring freezes all over the city and half of the production jobs send people home because there is no work. ATlis far worse those positions pay $8 average and expect a lot out of you during the job process. Its very lengthy and you waste a lot of time on bait staffing agencies that lie to get you in, then have nothing for you. ATL is super ghetto no matter where you go and job competition is fierce, since this is a college state. People with degrees have trouble here. I haven't had any luck in my field medical billing, wheres in Chicago I only needed to interview at one to two places before I got a job. I've never been turned down a professional job in Chicago. As far as rude people, ATL has a plethora of non-helpful and jealous people. Jobs are so scare they'll do anything to take your spot or get you out of the way to keep theirs. ATL has nothing but nightlife and that's not relevant as I am married with children.

I just want to know honest opinions of the job market and the renting houses/apartment situation out there....I don't want to go somewhere else and its ATL part2.

For the record, big fan of Phoenix based on my vacations there and as an investor with 3 houses that I rent out. My thoughts on those specific "negatives."

- rude people - Probably less than most cities of similar size. There is some aggression on the freeways but again, that can happen anywhere. Most people we encountered there were very friendly....maybe not as friendly as the southern standard but more so than where we live in the PNW.

- too hot - Well it is hot for 4-5 months. However, I look at areas as how many days is the weather so good that your want to be outside in it and enjoy being outside....in that regards Phoenix/Tucson have about the most pleasant sunny days of anywhere in the USA except for some areas of California and Hawaii.

- boring terrain - well that's a ridiculous notion. Few areas have a more diverse and beautiful terrain if you consider the mountains nearby.

- no jobs - Phoenix job market is stronger than some cities and weaker than others....at least mid pack or higher than the US average. Considering the cost of living, the pay and opportunities are better than most in my opinion.

I was focusing on Phoenix but I love Tucson, however their economy is still pretty weak. I actually prefer the climate and scenery of Tucson more than Phoenix but it is less thriving.

I also like Atlanta quite a lot but you have more crime areas to avoid there compared to Phoenix.

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by Cyber Surfer

There might be a need for engineers or tech, but it's super rare.

There's ~11,000 people that work at Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson and it's only going to be getting bigger when they expand in a few years.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Cyber Surfer

Arizona at best is a retiree and service state.... There might be a need for engineers or tech, but it's super rare.

Super rare? What field are you in? I know of companies paying big bonuses to get talent from out of state due to shortages here.

In the valley you've got Intel, Honeywell, On Semiconductor, and many others. In the most recent cyber rankings we came out really well, technology jobs are growing like crazy here.

139,439 workers were estimated to be in Arizona’s tech industry in 2016. Of that, 67,354, or 48.3 percent of the total workers, were in actual tech occupational jobs. That made Arizona No. 9 among the 50 states in tech industry employment.