What is Flagstaff like? (Phoenix, Prescott: condo, houses, school)

[Mr. Steve]

First of all, Austin TX is probably the cheapest and reasonible place to live in the USA. With that said, you will find Flagstaff very expensive, especially housing. Gas is high too because it has to be trucked up the mountain 142 miles from Phoenix. Everything is high in Flag, Sedona, and it darn near takes a millionaire to live in Prescott nowadays. You can expect to double your expenses moving to Flagstaff from Austin. I moved to Tampa a short while back and what a relief! AZ license plates are the highest in the country and I paid $300 a year for my Harley motorcycle. AZ property taxes are still somewhat reasonable. Cracker boxes and quick built junk homes in the Fox Glen area of Flagstaff that sold for56K back in the 80's are now over the 300K price range. Flag has its share of locals too, and a quick check of the Arizona Daily Sun (on-line) will show the staggering amounts of drunk driving arrests every night. Combine 12,000 students with the Navajo Nation just outside and a contingent of locals and you have alot of alcohol problems. Thefts are off the hook there and car insurance is very high.
Flip side, you have alot to do outside. The canyon, Sedona, Meteor Crater, Walnut Canyon are real nices hikes and visits. Have a boat? Better get in line BEFORE 8AM at Lake Powell because it gets so crowded you'll have to wait at the ramps. Thats after you drive 120 miles thru the reservation. Like geological things? Then Flagstaff is for you. It gets cold there too. Lots of snow some years and some years not so bad but snow every winter.
Have fun.........

[flagstaffgal]

That is the lastest report on cost of apartment here.

Firemen, teachers, nurses, etc are finding they cannot afford to live in Flagstaff.

I moved from RI in 2002. I live in the country club and I really cannot stand the noise. Between the trains, over a 100 a day blowing their horns at 5 crossing plus the interstate highways I am ready for the peace and quiet of back east.

When we visited I made the mistake of renting a house in Kachina Village so I didn't here the trains. I wish I had stayed in the city.

Food is very high I had sticker shock when I moved here.

I am fortunate as I am retired and income is not an issue.

There are many from Ca here. Medium price for a home here is mid $300,000's.

Gas is about $2.19 for regular.

[7turkey7]

I posted this on a different thread, but here's the copy.

Hey, just thought I'd reply to your post about Flagstaff. We moved here 3 years ago to work at W.L. Gore. It seems like almost everybody I know works at Gore or the hospital. Flagstaff is nice, but i wouldn't want to live here forever. coming from California the price of houses probably won't really surprise you. Everything here is price per sq. ft. We purchases our house 3 years ago for about $125/sq. ft. It now is worth about $200/sq. ft or so. There are lots of areas that back the forest service. Here is a MLS site that is pretty good.

www.northernarizonamls.com

It can be really, really cold here in the winter on a clear day. The snow isn't so bad. It usually doesn't last long when it snows. We came here for Utah and I think there was a whole lot more snow and it was handled better too. Snow removal here is kind of a joke.

I would think if you want to live someplace were you can ride ATVs, have a little land, and do out-of-door things, you may really like it here. There are a few bad things. If we don't get enough snow and rain in the spring they close the forests all summer. This happened last year for awhile. Also, the city has a hard time with growth, I think. The traffic in town can be really bad and the city seems to keep allowing building permits for houses, but not so much for buisness. Recently they've approved a few more big buisnesses, so it may not be too bad in a year or two.

We like it here for now, but we don't plan to stay here forever. Gore is trying to hire more and more and I think Flagstaff will just keep growing. The school system here isn't really great and we don't really want our kids going to school here.

anyway, feel free to ask questions if you want. I must say, when we came here to check it out.. we were really excited. We didn't think about things like how much the tax was, utility prices, fires, and stuff like that. We came from Utah though, not California, so you may have higher prices anyway.

Good luck.

[difrancodogz]

Glad you're in Florida Steve. Enjoy the swamp with the flies and mosquitos and alligators.

[victoriana]

Bodah - I hope with all my heart you will VISIT Flagstaff before even thinking about moving. It is a tourist-oriented area. Jobs are scarce and remember, the nearest large city full of jobs is Phoenix, and that is not a commutable distance. When we lived in Mountainaire (it will be on your map) just outside Flagstaff in early 1980's, you had to remember that certain times of year depending on snowfall, you cannot even get to Phoenix if you want to. Flag's jobs revolve around the tourism-service industry, and these are LOW paying, NAU or the government forest jobs. Back when we went to NAU, the forestry program was good but many of the grads never got to stay in Northern Arizona - there were no jobs. They usually went to the Pacific NW. Sedona is movie star prices and glitz now. WAY expensive but beauty beyond words. I think it is still the most beautiful place I've ever seen in America - it is just magical. Housing and rents are AMAZINGLY high. What the natural beauty of the place, winter skiing, and it being a University town full of students, rents do not have to be anything but HIGH and they get their prices too. (A doc my husband used to practice with lives there now and we get the local scoop. Hey, Flag is even expensive for HIM.) So good luck but be sure your finances are in good shape before anticipating a move to Flagstaff.

[joyinflag]

The unofficial motto in Flagstaff in "Poverty with a View!" We've lived here for 10 yrs, but will leave when we finally retire. Probably we'll go to Eagar/Springerville,White Mountains area in AZ. Same elevation, mountains, etc. but property is cheaper.

[MTbound]

I lived in Flagstaff from '92 to '97. I absolutely loved it, but left because we couldn't afford to stay there. I worked in a group home where all the employees were college grads making under $9. There were no jobs. Finding a place to rent was a nightmare. They had an occupancy rate of something like 98%. On the up side, I LOVED FLAGSTAFF , hiking in the canyons, Meteor Crater, the outdoor activities were endless. I loved the weather.
If I thought my family could make a go of it, we would go back to Flagstaff in a hot minute!

[sheena]

Originally Posted by bodah

Hi my husband and I are middle aged and looking at Flagstaff or Sedona as a possible retirement place. He is a professional driver and has delivered Starbuck's products to their stores for years.He hopes to find a simple delivery job like that. I am an artist and dream of living in Sedona. Now I know the quick reply is "HIGHLY PRICED". But here's the deal... we've been living in the Seattle, Wa area for about 28 years and we hate it here. The Calif crowd completely screwed this place up royal. We are gridlocked out of everything here. It certainly looks to me like Flagstaff and Sedona are reasonably priced compared to the crap we have going on here. I would rather live in a tiny one bedroom or studio with small town redrock Sedona that a 2 bedroom here in WATERLAND/MUDSVILLE USA. Our big problem is trying to get the adult kids here to get on board and move away with us. They lived here all their lives and don't know anything else. We hope that if we just make the move ourselves they will visit us and get excited about a new place.

The adult kids would probably be bored to death living in Sedona. Don't get me wrong it's beautiful but after a couple of times up there that's enough. I couldn't imagine living up there. Lots of kooky folks up there too. If you like the mystical crystal types looking for the energy and doing their weird cult things then you will enjoy it.

[Nice Nice Baby!]

People with $$ can afford to retire or vacation in Sedona, but adult kids who still need to make a living and afford their housing must be in a special bracket. In other words bring your equity. Bring your equity to Flag, too.

[BillR1]

I've lived in Flag for 8 years, and I can't WAIT to get out of here. Everything is overpriced for what you get. There's WAY too many "activists" that like to protest anything and everything. (we called them hippies when I was a kid! ) It's such a transient community that MANY folks don't feel like it's "home". Even after 8 years, we still feel like tourists.
My son graduates in a few weeks, and as soon as the house sells, we're OUTTA HERE!