Escape from New York to AZ- Help picking area to start search (Phoenix: rental car, sale)

[QueenstoLI]

My wife and I are lifelong New Yorkers that can retire in 2 years (we will be pensioners) and will be young early 50s. We have 2 kids a 20 year old and 16 year old.

We despise New York.. the traffic, taxes, cost of living weather and people have taken its toll on us over the years and we can't wait to leave and do not want our children to establish roots in New York Metro otherwise they will end up like us scraping by or living in our basement until they are 30..

Arizona is on top of our list. I visited Arizona 10 years ago and really liked it. This is what's most important to us:

House price 500k - 700k with a pool in a quiet safe area 2700 - 3500 Sq Ft.

House located near descent hiking nature

We want to be located no more than 1 hour outside of a city with good restaurants shopping etc.

Located in an area where kids can commute but get a job and have some opportunities in the near future 5 years from now.

We are relatively conservative for New York we really don't to be around "Wokesters" and it is part of the reason we also want out of New York.

Any suggested areas to start our search would be great.

Thanks

[gsm113]

Originally Posted by QueenstoLI

My wife and I are lifelong New Yorkers that can retire in 2 years (we will be pensioners) and will be young early 50s. We have 2 kids a 20 year old and 16 year old.

We despise New York.. the traffic, taxes, cost of living weather and people have taken its toll on us over the years and we can't wait to leave and do not want our children to establish roots in New York Metro otherwise they will end up like us scraping by or living in our basement until they are 30..

Arizona is on top of our list. I visited Arizona 10 years ago and really liked it. This is what's most important to us:

House price 500k - 700k with a pool in a quiet safe area 2700 - 3500 Sq Ft.

House located near descent hiking nature

We want to be located no more than 1 hour outside of a city with good restaurants shopping etc.

Located in an area where kids can commute but get a job and have some opportunities in the near future 5 years from now.

We are relatively conservative for New York we really don't to be around "Wokesters" and it is part of the reason we also want out of New York.

Any suggested areas to start our search would be great.

Thanks

With a 1 hour driving distance you can reach almost any point in the phoenix area from anywhere. I suggest narrowing it a bit by starting with some characteristics of each town/suburb that appeal to you. Zillow or Redfin will tell you where to find houses meeting your criteria there.

To get you started, Tempe, Chandler, and Scottsdale are all good places for job growth, restaurants, and shopping. North Scottsdale has some really good hiking. I don't think we have anything close to neighborhoods with wokesters on the level of NYC.

[grmi66]

I'd add Anthem to the list. Puts you within 45 minutes of Phoenix, surrounded by great hiking, generally conservative and best of all puts you within 90 minutes of places like Flagstaff to escape the summer heat.

Just never utter the words "Back in NY........", nothing makes folks from Arizona more ticked off than hearing that. Remember 30 years ago in college getting yelled at over the phone because the store I worked at wouldn't take a credit card over the phone and deliver a sale item from our weekly circular. Tried to explain to the woman that she had called Target, but I got a 5 minute tirade about how everything was better in NY.

[Ex New Yorker]

Originally Posted by grmi66

I'd add Anthem to the list. Puts you within 45 minutes of Phoenix, surrounded by great hiking, generally conservative and best of all puts you within 90 minutes of places like Flagstaff to escape the summer heat.

Just never utter the words "Back in NY........", nothing makes folks from Arizona more ticked off than hearing that. Remember 30 years ago in college getting yelled at over the phone because the store I worked at wouldn't take a credit card over the phone and deliver a sale item from our weekly circular. Tried to explain to the woman that she had called Target, but I got a 5 minute tirade about how everything was better in NY.

You'd never hear that from me. My wife and I love it out here, every aspect of it. I don't miss New York at all. If I had the choice of where to be born and raised it would be right here in Arizona.

[Ex New Yorker]

Originally Posted by QueenstoLI

My wife and I are lifelong New Yorkers that can retire in 2 years (we will be pensioners) and will be young early 50s. We have 2 kids a 20 year old and 16 year old.

We despise New York.. the traffic, taxes, cost of living weather and people have taken its toll on us over the years and we can't wait to leave and do not want our children to establish roots in New York Metro otherwise they will end up like us scraping by or living in our basement until they are 30..

Arizona is on top of our list. I visited Arizona 10 years ago and really liked it. This is what's most important to us:

House price 500k - 700k with a pool in a quiet safe area 2700 - 3500 Sq Ft.

House located near descent hiking nature

We want to be located no more than 1 hour outside of a city with good restaurants shopping etc.

Located in an area where kids can commute but get a job and have some opportunities in the near future 5 years from now.

We are relatively conservative for New York we really don't to be around "Wokesters" and it is part of the reason we also want out of New York.

Any suggested areas to start our search would be great.

Thanks

If you're looking for less traffic and a quiet place to live that's about an hour's drive from Phoenix you might want to look into Wickenburg. Actually it's about an hour and 15 minutes drive into downtown Phoenix. Phoenix and it's metro area are pretty congested. You might also want to look into Casa Grande it's about a 45 minute drive into downtown Phoenix. You should visit these places in the middle of the summer as it gets pretty hot within that entire area. Some people may not be able to deal with that for 4 or 5 months out of the year. During the winter it's an absolute paradise.

We're in north central Arizona at about 5,500 ft. in elevation. We have four mild seasons. We personally know people who have moved up here from "the valley" (Phoenix metro area). They moved up here mainly because of the heat. Phoenix is kind of a heat island as the sun heats up all of that concrete and buildings making it worse. At least that's what we've been told from the people that we know. A lot of them were thanking God they got out of "the valley".

Of course there's not as many employment opportunities where we live. We work from home so that was never an issue for us. We also live in a semi rural area in one of the most Conservative counties in Arizona so we fit right in. That was an important factor for us. We used to live in the New York metro area (Westchester County) that for us was a little too congested. If you're from Queens I don't know how you could deal with all of that?

I can't stand big cities, I always did and always will. I like peace, quiet and wide open spaces a love for the Great American Southwest and found it right here in Arizona.

[teddyearp]

Arizona is a vast state with all kinds of different climates. You will not find any kind of 'downtown' (or shopping) like you have in NYC, not at all close. As mentioned here, you really must come and visit, preferably in the summer as most folks do tend to migrate to 'the valley' (Phoenix metro area) and the summers are brutal. If you still would like the four seasons type feel, there are a couple of area of the state that will fit your bill, one of them is the Prescott (here we go, pronounced Preskit) area.


But at least a week or two visit with a rental car would be ideal.

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by teddyearp

Arizona is a vast state with all kinds of different climates. You will not find any kind of 'downtown' (or shopping) like you have in NYC, not at all close.

I think Scottsdale has the best shopping in the Phoenix metro. Kierland* and Scottsdale Fashion Square have many luxury brands. Both are very popular here.

*Yes, I know it's actually in Phoenix.

As mentioned here, you really must come and visit, preferably in the summer as most folks do tend to migrate to 'the valley' (Phoenix metro area) and the summers are brutal.

Last summer's heat set records. And it got me thinking about buying a summer place to escape the inferno here.

[jnojr]

Check out the East Valley. We had a lot of similar issues/concerns, we settled in Chandler, and we love it here.

[Ex New Yorker]

Originally Posted by teddyearp

Arizona is a vast state with all kinds of different climates. You will not find any kind of 'downtown' (or shopping) like you have in NYC, not at all close. As mentioned here, you really must come and visit, preferably in the summer as most folks do tend to migrate to 'the valley' (Phoenix metro area) and the summers are brutal. If you still would like the four seasons type feel, there are a couple of area of the state that will fit your bill, one of them is the Prescott (here we go, pronounced Preskit) area.


But at least a week or two visit with a rental car would be ideal.

If that ain't the truth!!

My wife and I both love the Sonoran Desert it's our favorite place in all of Arizona. That's saying a lot as there are so many awesome places throughout the state. The Sonoran Desert screams ARIZONA and is iconic for the state. There's no other place like it on the face of the earth. If it was not for the intense summer heat we'd both love to live in the middle of it. But we're only an hours drive away and have spent a lot of our free time out there. We can leave our house in the morning spend the day there and be home for dinner.

The hottest we've ever experienced was 113 in Wikieup, it was like walking into an oven. I don't know if I could deal with that for at least 3 months out of the year and another two months in the upper 90's low 100's?

We live in the high country of Arizona at about 5,500 ft. in elevation. We have relatively 4 mild seasons. But even here the sun is pretty strong. If it's 50 during the winter it feels about 10 maybe 15 degrees warmer. When we get snow it melts pretty fast. During the summer we're in the 90's and it feels a lot warmer when you're out in the sun but in the shade it doesn't feel like you're in the 90's. At night it goes down into the 60's low 70's. In New York when you're in the 90's you sweat like a pig whether you're in the sun or shade. At night you're in the mid 80's and still sweating like a pig. Then you'd get eaten alive by mosquitoes unless you take a bath in insect repellant.

As far as shopping goes that was never an issue for us. We're close enough to stores that sell our everyday needs and there are plenty of great gun stores. Gun stores were far and few between in New York. We were never one's to spend our days just wandering around stores. We'd rather be out hiking in the desert or on our neighborhood trails. I also have antique cars that I can use practically year round. The car culture is pretty big here too.

[WK91]

If you were to choose the Phoenix area, I’d look at these two areas.

West of Phoenix- I consider Verrado the best area west of Phoenix.

East of Phoenix- I’d choose NW Scottsdale, way out by the airport (not Sky Harbor) and even beyond the 101 and all the way to Fountain Hills.

I’m just saying, the summer is no joke. You need to have an exit plan for that part of the year. June through September in the Phoenix area is no way to live. October through May, it’s pretty much Heaven on earth.