Is it crowded in AZ???? (Phoenix: vacation, suburbs, move)

[sheena]

[quote=dirtdigger;697503]

Originally Posted by saguarodave

Can you further explain what you mean. Planning on a move in a few months...

Basically hot and dry with cactus.

[nikorock28]

Traffic in Phoenix is not nearly as bad as it is Los Angeles.

[arizonahayes]

I just moved back to Arizona (SE Gilbert - right next to Queen Creek) from NoVA about two years ago. It's a completely different world out here, but I know I love it. Lot's of people hate the heat, but I look forward to summers here because the population goes down and we can take advantage of the lakes and river, or head down to the ocean. Queen creek is farmland turning into suburbia - think South Stafford County or West Centreville/Haymarket. If you have to commute into Phoenix it is a long drive, especially since they haven't widened the roads/installed stoplights to get the throughput up. Those issues are being resolved, but will still take a few more years. I'm not big on malls/walmarts - there are crowds on the weekends, but other than christmas it's fine, not nearly as hectic as NoVa. Really, you need to move here to find out if it is for you. 6 out of 10 people who move here stay. You'll hear about how unfriendly communities can be, but it's what you make of it. One of my neighbors complained about that - then moved back to chicago. On the other hand I hang out with several of my neighbors all the time, never saw those two at any of our block parties, or BBQ's one of my best friends out here was my next door neighbor when I met him.

[chionactis]

Oh, how I personally dislike this part of Arizona! I lived in Tucson 1998-1999 and I enjoyed it, but I have only been back there once since and from what I hear, it is changing with all of the development that is occuring along the I-10.
I have lived in the East Valley since 2000 and we are MOVING OUT! We are going back east, to CT, where there is water, green trees, green grass, meadows, fresh air...Today it was a few degrees over 100 and I HATE it. I cannot breathe in this air. Thing is, this is nothing compared to how hot it is going to become over the next few months into October.
My brother lives in Stafford, VA and he does not like it there. He is smart though - he would much rather live there than say, where I am living right now!
If you really want to come to AZ, I suggest northern AZ like Flagstaff because at least you have seasons. I don't know how crowded it is up there or if it is becoming that way.
To me, AZ is going to be a wonderful place to visit in the future, but never will I ever agree to live here again (Tucson 1998-1999 to Houston, TX 1999-2000 to Bennington, VT 2000 to Gilbert, AZ 2000 - present....all my husband's doing).

[exlexisnexis]

There is so much land here it is unbelievable,if you look at a map of arizona and New York just remember there are 8 million people in New York City and only 6 million in the whole state of Arizona

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by exlexisnexis

There is so much land here it is unbelievable,if you look at a map of arizona and New York just remember there are 8 million people in New York City and only 6 million in the whole state of Arizona

Good point. And the 6 million are crowded into a handful of cities on a tiny fraction of the land. As is true in all the western states, there are vast expanses of unpopulated public lands at the doorstep of the cities. The cities are crowded (all cities are by definition) but the state is mostly empty, wide-open spaces. Gotta love it if you are an outdoors person.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by chionactis

Oh, how I personally dislike this part of Arizona! I lived in Tucson 1998-1999 and I enjoyed it, but I have only been back there once since and from what I hear, it is changing with all of the development that is occuring along the I-10.
I have lived in the East Valley since 2000 and we are MOVING OUT! We are going back east, to CT, where there is water, green trees, green grass, meadows, fresh air...Today it was a few degrees over 100 and I HATE it. I cannot breathe in this air. Thing is, this is nothing compared to how hot it is going to become over the next few months into October.
My brother lives in Stafford, VA and he does not like it there. He is smart though - he would much rather live there than say, where I am living right now!
If you really want to come to AZ, I suggest northern AZ like Flagstaff because at least you have seasons. I don't know how crowded it is up there or if it is becoming that way.
To me, AZ is going to be a wonderful place to visit in the future, but never will I ever agree to live here again (Tucson 1998-1999 to Houston, TX 1999-2000 to Bennington, VT 2000 to Gilbert, AZ 2000 - present....all my husband's doing).

You know for the last 5-6 years my husband had been saying he couldn't breathe in that air either and begged me to think of moving to a different place. I just thought he was tiring of the desert. I never had a problem personally with the air quality and being able to breathe.

[azloafer]

I have lived in AZ for the past 21 years. I don't know what VA is like so I'll compare AZ to CA. CA is what I would call crowded. Compared to CA, AZ is not crowded. Everything is relative. People who have lived in AZ all their lives and do not travel much can not make a real accurate comparison. I have travelled all over AZ and CA and I would pick CA for its weather, but AZ for everything else. Just my personal opinon.

[Livewire]

I think its eventually going to be crowded if people keep moving out here for our real estate. Maricopa has turned into another Awahtukee and just a few years ago it was nothing more than a couple of convenience stations and a feed store.

[Magnum Mike]

The Phoenix area has seen more growth in the past 10 years than any other time in our history, but even with all of that growth, it's still good to know that we can be in the middle of downtown Phoenix, then 20-30 minutes later on I-17, we can be out in the middle of nowhere.

Speaking of I-17, the only thing I'm upset about is poor planning by the ADOT. Let's see, typically when a new community is built, roads are also built to accomodate the increased traffic, not when Anthem was built, and the several new subdivisions that were built along SR-74. The only roads that can get you in and out of town are I-17, Cave Creek to the east and 99th Ave to the west! I do feel sorry for the people who live in Anthem and have to drive into and out of Phoenix on I-17 to go to work.