Relocating from california please help (Phoenix, Tucson: to rent, low crime, house prices)

[mzzford916]

Hello everyone, im looking to relocate to arizona with my family. Im married with 4 children. My husband and I are looking for a fresh start. We are not too familiar with arizona, we are looking for a decent area ( no ghettos ) to raise our children. We really want to buy but we are open to renting please let us know what are some good cities and what areas we should avoid.

[grmi66]

Spend a few weekends scouting the area first. Come out right now so you know what summer feels like.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by mzzford916

Hello everyone, im looking to relocate to arizona with my family. Im married with 4 children. My husband and I are looking for a fresh start. We are not too familiar with arizona, we are looking for a decent area ( no ghettos ) to raise our children. We really want to buy but we are open to renting please let us know what are some good cities and what areas we should avoid.

What kind of a budget do you have, do you need to find jobs and if so what are your work fields, do you want to be in a rural area or city, what climate is your preference?

My opinion is that Scottsdale, Gilbert, Chandler in the Phoenix area are fantastic suburbs with low crime, better public schools, etc. Oro Valley, Vail, and Marana are nice suburbs of Tucson that have similar qualities.

I agree with an earlier poster that suggested a visit during the summer so you can feel how hot it is to decide if you want to make the jump from Cali to Arizona.

[pathrunner]

Please don't call it Cali! It's not the same as "Zonie" which is a fun play on Arizona. I was a lifelong resident of California until recently, California was never called Cali until very recently. It grates the ears of most lifers.

All good questions otherwise.

I'd advise against renting. Prices are only going up. Where I live now prices have literally gone up $100K in just 8 months.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by pathrunner

Please don't call it Cali! It's not the same as "Zonie" which is a fun play on Arizona. I was a lifelong resident of California until recently, California was never called Cali until very recently. It grates the ears of most lifers.

All good questions otherwise.

I'd advise against renting. Prices are only going up. Where I live now prices have literally gone up $100K in just 8 months.

Why is calling California Cali so objectionable and why do you expect others to call something the same as what you call it? I don't mean anything negative when I say Cali which I don't think is true in many cases when people from Cali call Arizonans Zonnies. I said Cali because it's easier to type than California and everyone knows what it means (yes I know there is a city by that name in Columbia)

On the renting versus buying question, I think that just depends on the situation of the person including how sure you're going to reside in a location for a significant amount of time, financial position, expectation of house prices and rents in the future, etc. Elon Musk rents and he seems pretty intelligent.

p.s. I own a couple of houses in Phoenix so I'm fine if it keeps on rising.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

Why is calling California Cali so objectionable and why do you expect others to call something the same as what you call it? I don't mean anything negative when I say Cali which I don't think is true in many cases when people from Cali call Arizonans Zonnies. I said Cali because it's easier to type than California and everyone knows what it means (yes I know there is a city by that name in Columbia)

On the renting versus buying question, I think that just depends on the situation of the person including how sure you're going to reside in a location for a significant amount of time, financial position, expectation of house prices and rents in the future, etc. Elon Musk rents and he seems pretty intelligent.

p.s. I own a couple of houses in Phoenix so I'm fine if it keeps on rising.

It was in the mid 90's due to a Notorious BIG (a NYC rapper) lyric calling it Cali instead of California that started the whole thing

[KurtAZ]

Originally Posted by FirebirdCamaro1220

It was in the mid 90's due to a Notorious BIG (a NYC rapper) lyric calling it Cali instead of California that started the whole thing

Was that before or after LL Cool J was "Going back to Cali"?

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by KurtAZ

Was that before or after LL Cool J was "Going back to Cali"?

BIG had the same phrase, and BIG was more popular than LL ever was

[KurtAZ]

Originally Posted by mzzford916

Hello everyone, im looking to relocate to arizona with my family. Im married with 4 children. My husband and I are looking for a fresh start. We are not too familiar with arizona, we are looking for a decent area ( no ghettos ) to raise our children. We really want to buy but we are open to renting please let us know what are some good cities and what areas we should avoid.

Big state...lots of options...biggest ones, like we tell everyone

1) Area of Employment
2) Budget
3) Tolerance for Education variance (if you plan to send the kids to public schools)
4) Climate preference. AZ has anywhere from burning deserts to plains, farmland, high plains up to Tundra (top of Mt Elden). Climate varies from some of the hottest areas in the US to one of the top 3 snow belts and the largest contiguous Ponderosa Pine forests in the US.

May want to narrow down what you are looking for.

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by pathrunner

Please don't call it Cali! It's not the same as "Zonie" which is a fun play on Arizona. I was a lifelong resident of California until recently, California was never called Cali until very recently. It grates the ears of most lifers.

No offense, but this is how Californians got a reputation for being...um...sensitive. They actually dictate to others which words they can and cannot use in their hearing.

I lived in California for more than 40 years. This^ is one of the reasons we moved to Arizona. We were here two years before a friendly soul gently corrected our pronunciation of "saguaro" and "cholla". It was much appreciated.