Sedona...a place to avoid (Phoenix, Cottonwood: amusement parks, condos, camping)

[rich67]

Originally Posted by motuorg

if California is so beautiful why would you leave it to go to Sedona anyway?

Same reason all you New Yorkers move down to Florida, then proceed to tell us how wonderful it was in New York.

[motuorg]

Originally Posted by rich67

Same reason all you New Yorkers move down to Florida, then proceed to tell us how wonderful it was in New York.

Not sure I understand the logic there. Anywa, I'm a New Yorker and would never move to Florida - God's waiting room...the foyer of heaven

[poolgirl51]

Originally Posted by motuorg

It was well articulated. I just wonder why GoodbyeCalif. is Goodbye Calif. Did she leave Calif. for similar reasons that I had articulated about Sedona? Maybe, maybe not.

Anyway, there is something I now call the Mesa effect. I know someone who left Long island because he couldn't deal with the overgrowth. So years ago he move to Mesa. He tells me t is now like Long island....strip malls, super stores, traffic..etc.

The beauty of Sedona is its death knell. It draws the herd. Yes there are plenty of open spaces still left there...but less and less. i saw very little growth there from '86 to '91, alot more from '91 -'93, and a great amount from 2005 to 2008. Growth is not linear. It proceeds slowly at first and then really accelerates. GoodbyeCalif. seems like she and others as residents are trying curtail runaway growth. That is a good thing. Let's hope they succeed.

Heck, almost all of us in Sedona moved from somewhere else and not always to get away from a place we did not like. We moved from Florida not because we did not like it there but because Sedona now fits our needs in ways that Florida could not. We love to hike and we wanted four relatively mild seasons. Sedona's growth will now be curtailed by a failing national and global economy as well as by the fact that it is surrounded by National Forest. There are things I don't like here but the good far outweighs the bad. No place is perfect. If Sedona does not appeal to you then you are under no obligation to return.

[GoodbyeCalifornia]

Well for one, I am a "he" not a "she" but that really doesn't change my thoughts on the subject. But as to why I came to Sedona, I came here to pursue a job opportunity. I could have stayed in California had I wished to but having spent my entire life there, I was ready to experience something new.

Coming from California, I know too well the danger of unchecked growth as I saw it alter so much of the state. But much of that can be blamed on the indifference of government and residents to what was happening. At least in Sedona, the city and residents work hand in hand to keep growth to a minimum because they know what they want and don't want here. Last year the city turned down an application by a developer to build another large scale resort. The feeling was that what is already in place is adequate to meet visitor's needs. Even the construction of single family homes has decreased dramatically. What also helps is that privately owned land is nearly exhausted so the estimate is that whatever growth potential is left in Sedona will be at an end in 10 years time.

Sedona will never be what it once was, but it isn't a lost cause either. My best advice to people is to ignore even avoid the tacky tourist stores in Uptown and enjoy the rest of what the area has to offer. The are more then enough places that you can go that will let you enjoy the beauty of Sedona without feeling like you never left home.

[motuorg]

Thanks for this post...I have learned alot i didn't know. Also sorry about the He and She assumption...dumb.

[ArizonaBear]

It is all good: both of you; GoodbyeCalifornia as well as motuorg, dropped the rhetoric down

[hollywoodaz]

Sedona has a whopping 20-22K residents. WOW, how can such a small town be painted as a city on steriods? 4 million visitors a year...HELLO, some of you live in cities with that many people YEAR ROUND!

If you took a moment to get off the main road, you will find it is still a beautiful place to call home with plenty of wildeness everywhere. True, it should of been a national park, but dont blame area residents and city planners. Blame congress for that. In actuality, the city planners have done a marvelous job with the growth they have had to contend with. FYI, about 85% of ALL land in Arizona is publicly owned by the State or the FED...most of the land in the entire state is unavailable for development.

And, Yes there are crackpots here, just like anywhere else....but I would rather live amongst a few stinky throwbacks, than gang members.

I am sure if each of you thought long and hard about where you live or where you grew up, you will come to the conclusion that EVERYWHERE has been "ruined"...and every generation will feel that way about the area in which they live or have visited in the past. Welcome to the real world, your children need a home too, hence, building occurs.

[ZonyPony]

"And, Yes there are crackpots here, just like anywhere else....but I would rather live amongst a few stinky throwbacks, than gang members...

...I am sure if each of you thought long and hard about where you live or where you grew up, you will come to the conclusion that EVERYWHERE has been "ruined"...and every generation will feel that way about the area in which they live or have visited in the past. Welcome to the real world, your children need a home too, hence, building occurs."


So then, by your EVERYWHERE logic, even wonderful Sedona will eventually have "gang members" as well. Then where will you go and live - above the Arctic Circle?

[rich67]

Originally Posted by motuorg

Not sure I understand the logic there. Anywa, I'm a New Yorker and would never move to Florida - God's waiting room...the foyer of heaven

My Florida-esque humor is wasted on you! LOL...
Nah, FLorida does suck- except for the beaches, that's the only thing it has going for it. for sure. That's why I lurk here- I have to scope out my future residing location. Just 12 years to go and counting.

[twiggy]

Wow, I haven't been there for so long, I really need to go up and take a look. I know I enjoyed Oak Creek canyon a lot, I hope it hasn't changed much.