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For those of you considering a move here, I thought I would list all of the pros and cons of living here, in Arizona in general. I moved here from Ohio about 5 years ago, and live in the Phoenix area. All I can say is that this is a great place to live. It has its downsides too, so here is the list:
PROS:
1. Excellent job market. Phoenix is a young city, which did not start really developing until the mid 70's. Since then, Arizona has experienced explosive growth. I am now in the transportation industry, in a management position, and I had many different jobs to choose from when I got here. I T jobs are very plentiful around here, as well as many others. You can check out the listings on azcentral.com.
2. The weather. Sun, sun, sun. We have 330 days of sunshine per year. Winter temps range from the 70's to the 90's. Humidity is usually less than 30% year round.
3. Location. Arizona is within close proximity of many awesome destinations. You can make Las Vegas, San Diego, Puerto Penasco Mexico, the Grand Canyon, or Los Angeles into a weekend trip.
4. Outdoors. This has to be the best PRO about living in Arizona. In Phoenix, you have Camelback mountain and South mountain park, to name a few, (those two are my favorite), where you can climb mountains close to home. Sedona and Flagstaff are great as well. Sedona is like a super mini Grand Canyon. There is an awesome ATV park there, as well as Oak Creek Canyon, with camping, mountain climbing, and a very nice town. Flagstaff in winter is a great ski location. I love to explore the mountains and parks in both cities, and especially the ATV trails. There is hangliding, bungee jumping and sky-diving centers here too for the extreme outdoors type. The beautiful desert and mountain scenery you will find all over the entire state.
5. Nightlife. The Phoenix area has the best nightlife (from what Ive seen so far). There is Mill avenue in Tempe, which is full of bars, clubs, and great shops. They are always packed. I still have a map of the clubs from the Marriot hotel I stayed at the first time I visited AZ, and of the 40 or so, I still havent seen them all. Scottsdale is another great club spot. Camelback and Scottsdale road. There are many other sweet clubs around town to check out. Jenna Jameson and DMX were seen in Scottsdale recently at a grand opening of a restaurant/bar. Flagstaff also has a few interesting bars and clubs.
6. People. Most of the people here are friendly. They seem to have a good attitude all of the time. Even the one behind the counter at a busy gas station will ask you how your day is going.
7. Cleanliness. This is more Phoenix specific. It is a very nice, clean, well kept city. There are run down areas, like anywhere, but in general it is very nice.
I could go on and on, but this is getting long.
CONS:
1. Traffic. Because of the growth, Phoenix has pretty bad traffic congestion during rush hours. On the other hand, Its very easy to find your way around by the way the roads are set up.
2. Its Hot! This really doesnt bother me personally, but many people it does. You will have 3-4 months of 105+ degree heat. This is the desert.
3. Housing/Urban Sprawl. Its tough sometimes to get an apartment. There is usually a waiting list -- again, mostly in the valley. Housing prices are high in certain areas. Urban sprawl is huge right now -- build, build, build.
4. Suburbs. Arizona cities are young. Dont expect to see a huge downtown, or alot of urban history. If you want wild west history, that is plentiful. The valley especially, is just a big suburb.
5. Prepare to drive. In Phoenix, there is not much of a mass transit system here, though they are building an L train system. You can take the bus. Everything is very spread out. Gas prices are not too bad, I just visited my family back in Ohio at the beginning of July, they were only 10 cents less there.
6. Kids. Schools arent the greatest here. Check them out before you move.
Overall, I think Arizona and Phoenix is a great place to live. Before you move here, visit at least twice, so you can get a feel for the place and do some exploring. Research and plan your move... If you do decide to move here, make sure you know how far your commute will be before you rent/buy a home. It can range from 10 minutes to 2 hours, depending on your route and where you live. Drive it first. Check out the neighboorhood before moving in. There are very nice neighboorhoods here, as well as high crime areas. The more you know the better off you will be. Lastly, make sure you like the desert. It will be unlike anything you have ever seen. This is one of the things that makes AZ great.-- Ill add more later, this is getting too long for now. Plenty more pros, and a few mpre cons.
Very well done AZRider! It's a fair and balanced list, great job!
The only one I somewhat disagree with is "Suburbs" being a con. I don't think you can classify it as a pro or con. Personally, I love the suburbs. Nicely trimmed lawns, friendly neighbors (usually), and a "homey" type atmosphere. I feel comfortable in the 'burbs. Suburbs are what people make them out to be...
Other than that it's a bulls-eye list. I especially love the location of Phoenix, I have driven (numerous times) to San Diego, Las Vegas, Mexico, and Sedona for a weekend trip. It's a cheap vacation and I can go back to work Monday morning.
As a native of Phx, I see several things that I don't agree with.
The weather in the winter is a bit cooler and ranging in the 50's to 70's. I DO wear a jacket somedays in the winter.
I have never found this city THAT friendly. Geez, just look at the way people drive and cut each other off. YES, there are some friendly people here, don't get me wrong, but I have found it be a very snotty and disrespectful city.
I have spent 10 years living in apts and have NEVER seen a waiting list.
Other than that, I do like what you wrote about driving your route to work to see how far it is. But, especially do it during the rush. Driving a long distance to work just plain sucks!!
I do believe it's not a bad place to live 6 months out of the year, when the weather is perfect. I just don't really get why people are moving to a desert with this much heat. I know, cheap housing (not anymore), work, and such, but unless I was the type that LOVES the heat this much I would not decide to move here knowing how hot it gets. It's an oven!!
I am looking for somewhere to go that is a bit cooler, like Denver.
Hello!
I have never found this city THAT friendly. Geez, just look at the way people drive and cut each other off. YES, there are some friendly people here, don't get me wrong, but I have found it be a very snotty and disrespectful city.
I have spent 10 years living in apts and have NEVER seen a waiting list.
I am looking for somewhere to go that is a bit cooler, like Denver.
Most I have run into have been friendly. Im not saying everyone is. I have ran into my share of *******s.
Maybe it was the apartment complex? When I first moved here, the first place I tried to move in Scottsdale into told me that there was a 60 day waiting list. Another in Mesa had a 30 day waiting list. Then the third one, back in Scottsdale, had no waiting list -- maybe just a coincidence...
Denver is definately cooler. I think I would like it there in the summer, but other than that, too cold for me. I would like to vacation there, but Ill keep the desert heat.
As a native of Phx, I see several things that I don't agree with.
The weather in the winter is a bit cooler and ranging in the 50's to 70's. I DO wear a jacket somedays in the winter.
I have never found this city THAT friendly. Geez, just look at the way people drive and cut each other off. YES, there are some friendly people here, don't get me wrong, but I have found it be a very snotty and disrespectful city.
I have spent 10 years living in apts and have NEVER seen a waiting list.
Other than that, I do like what you wrote about driving your route to work to see how far it is. But, especially do it during the rush. Driving a long distance to work just plain sucks!!
I do believe it's not a bad place to live 6 months out of the year, when the weather is perfect. I just don't really get why people are moving to a desert with this much heat. I know, cheap housing (not anymore), work, and such, but unless I was the type that LOVES the heat this much I would not decide to move here knowing how hot it gets. It's an oven!!
I am looking for somewhere to go that is a bit cooler, like Denver.
Just found this forum, and should probably read more before posting, but I can't resist, so here goes:
We have been vacationing in AZ off and on for nearly 20 years. My new girlfriend (now my wife of 19 years) was planning a trip to Sedona and wanted a companion, so offered to pay the freight for me to tag along. (My only previous experience had been to drive thru on the way to San Diego in the early 70s.) We stayed in Phoenix and drove to Sedona on day trips a couple of times. What gorgeous country!
I don't remember when we first started talking about moving to AZ, but it seems like we fell in love the first time and haven't thought about anything else since. We've been researching a move for maybe ten years, visiting towns and cities all over the state, but knowing that the valley was out. Not just too hot, but too big, too smoggy and too complicated. Flagstaff was not considered, either, once again being too big, but also too much like home (Minneapolis) winter-wise. OK, no place is as cold as Minnesota in the winter, but we were looking for that happy medium, so we looked to the high country.
We visited Prescott, and loved it. We looked for homes, and found that Prescott is pretty much full. No place to build, existing homes going up, up, up as people come in and keep bidding them up. The alternative, moving out of town to the high desert, was not as desirable was living in the pines. So, we looked to Payson.
Smaller and just as friendly as Prescott, Payson was my choice. We looked a homes again and found them to be within our range for the most part, but there was something intangible that just didn't click. My spouse said we had to keep looking.
Last May. '06, we camped for two weeks at Fool Hollow State Park in Show Low. We drove around to the various small communities in the area, marvelling at how much it looked like the pine forests of northern Minnesota. The weather was fantastic. We checked housing and found lots and existing housing within our price range. One problem was that we were on a fact-finding tour, ostensibly to identify a town to look at, maybe to move next year, or the year after. We talked to realtors and locals and heard the same thing over and over: If you wait, the good stuff will be gone, and the bad stuff will cost twice as much.
There seemed to be three basic reason for this. One, that Californians were coming in flush with cash from their ridiculously inflated housing market; two, folks from the valley were buying land for summer homes, and three, investors and speculators were gobbling up everything they could find, hoping to get rich in a couple of years. They scared us, and so we took the plunge. We got a lot just a little less than 2 acres about eight miles out of Show Low, and we just ordered the house yesterday. We should be in it by Nov. 1, about the same time the temps start to hit zero in Minneapolis. It's a hectic time for us now, but we are looking forward with eager anticipation to enjoying our retirement in a climate that seems to have a little of everything except extremes.
We have been vacationing in AZ off and on for nearly 20 years. My new girlfriend (now my wife of 19 years) was planning a trip to Sedona and wanted a companion, so offered to pay the freight for me to tag along. (My only previous experience had been to drive thru on the way to San Diego in the early 70s.) We stayed in Phoenix and drove to Sedona on day trips a couple of times. What gorgeous country!
I don't remember when we first started talking about moving to AZ, but it seems like we fell in love the first time and haven't thought about anything else since. We've been researching a move for maybe ten years, visiting towns and cities all over the state, but knowing that the valley was out.
We visited Prescott, and loved it. We looked for homes, and found that Prescott is pretty much full. No place to build, existing homes going up, up, up as people come in and keep bidding them up. The alternative, moving out of town to the high desert, was not as desirable was living in the pines. So, we looked to Payson.
Last May. '06, we camped for two weeks at Fool Hollow State Park in Show Low. We drove around to the various small communities in the area, marvelling at how much it looked like the pine forests of northern Minnesota. The weather was fantastic.
There seemed to be three basic reason for this. One, that Californians were coming in flush with cash from their ridiculously inflated housing market; two, folks from the valley were buying land for summer homes, and three, investors and speculators were gobbling up everything they could find, hoping to get rich in a couple of years. They scared us, and so we took the plunge. We got a lot just a little less than 2 acres about eight miles out of Show Low, and we just ordered the house yesterday. We should be in it by Nov. 1, about the same time the temps start to hit zero in Minneapolis. It's a hectic time for us now, but we are looking forward with eager anticipation to enjoying our retirement in a climate that seems to have a little of everything except extremes.
I can hardly wait.
It sounds like you will love it here. I do, been here 5 years and counting.
I too come from the "snow belt" and do not miss the winters there one bit. Fifty degrees for me is now considered "cold"> up from 10 degrees or so.
The outdoors is definately my favourite part. I get up to the high country as much as possible. Although I like the valley, I would love to be able to move into the high country someday. Employment prohibits that right now.
I think it's really hard to say Phoenix in general because so many areas are completely different from each other. It's too large to generalize.
The summer is HOT HOT HOT! You had better like heat. Most people go from their air conditioned house to their air conditioned car to an air conditioned place of work or an air conditioned mall in the summer. There is no DRY HEAT in the months of July and August!I have lived here for 20 years and am planning on retiring in a cooler climate; something at 5 or 6 thousand feet. Upper Arizona is too costly. I am looking in New Mexico because of the lower cost of living.
Last edited by azloafer; 09-21-2006 at 10:46 AM..
Reason: Grammer
The summer is HOT HOT HOT! You had better like heat. Most people go from their air conditioned house to their air conditioned car to an air conditioned place of work or an air conditioned mall in the summer. There is no DRY HEAT in the months of July and August!I have lived here for 20 years and am planning on retiring in a cooler climate; something at 5 or 6 thousand feet. Upper Arizona is too costly. I am looking in New Mexico because of the lower cost of living.
No doubt its hot, but its what you make it. Like I just said in another thread with this subject, when I start feeling the heat, a weekend trip to Flag or San Diego makes me forget all about it.
Ill take this heat anyday over the weather back east. At least I dont have to scrape several inches of ice off of my car just to get in it, nor do I have to shovel 40 tons of snow out of my driveway. Also, back east the deep freeze lasts usually 6 or 7 months of the year, when our heat is only 4 months.
Again, weather shouldn't be a determining factor in a move. With most, as myself, it ranks high, but sometimes you have to make small trades. For example, Ill take 105 over 10 any frickin day.
Phoenix is hot and there is no getting around that. It is hot for a lot longer than 4 months. I was watching the Weather Channel last night and they are predicting 99 toward the end of next week. It's almost Oct and it's still getting near 100. That is HOT to the extreme.
That being said, the winters here are nice and warm. I do think it is funny to see people wearing jackets when it is 60 degrees outside though. I wear shorts. There is no reason to have a jacket here unless you are going to the mountains up north.
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! It's a fair and balanced list, great job! 
AZ native
One Thing Is The Same All Over The Valley!
