Is it crowded in AZ???? (Phoenix, Tucson: house, find a job, buy)

[soliver0012]

Like I said before I am thinking about relocating to possibly Queen Creek or somewhere relatively close to the Phoenix area. Just wondering if it's crowded??? I'm in VA now and I wake up at 6 in the morning to go to the local Wal-mart b/c I can stand the crowds. How is it if I want to go to the mall on the weekend or drive in to Phoenix??? Is it hell???

I've recently discovered this forum and I must say before i discovered it and went thru it I wasa tad excited about goin to AZ but there is a mix of diff. vast opnions and now I am really nervous!!!

I am a young 25 y/o female, engaged with 3 dogs and 3 kitties. My fiance and I don't plan to have kids and we're kind of just the hang out type, sometimes go to a bar type. We live around Northern VA so we want to get away from all the craziness here. Give me some good advice pleaseee....

[Ponderosa]

You are not going to escape congestion coming to Phoenix or Tucson, that's for sure. It's wall-to-wall people, cars, traffic etc in those place. Flagstaff and Prescott are a little better, but still pretty crowded. The advantage of AZ over VA is that here the people are all packed into the cities and a few towns and most of the state is public land - national forests, parks, monuments, state lands etc - that you can escape to. But don't come here thinking the cities offer wide-open spaces, because they are the same as cities anywhere else.

You sound like me except I go to Walmart at 4am because it is too crowded by 6! I think you will hate it here if you need a lack of crowds and congestion to be happy. The stores in Prescott and such are even worse than Phoenix as the shopping options are more limited. There is a Walmart about every two miles in west Phoenix metro now, where only one will serve an entire mid-size town area. Move to Wyoming or North Dakota!

[soliver0012]

That's too funny. I told my fiance' that I wanted to go to either of those places b/c I always think of space and ranches and i've always wanted a little ranch. He's more of a city person. Though I wonder what the jobs are even like out there. I sort of live out in the middle of nowhere now in a nice house on 4 acres. It's peaceful but you have to drive far to do anything and sometimes i get bored. I guess it's a win/loose situation and i'm ready for a change now.

[irwin]

Originally Posted by soliver0012

I am a young 25 y/o female, engaged with 3 dogs and 3 kitties. My fiance and I don't plan to have kids and we're kind of just the hang out type, sometimes go to a bar type. We live around Northern VA so we want to get away from all the craziness here. Give me some good advice pleaseee....

I moved out here from Washington about two years ago. I actually lived in Court House in Arlington, just off Wilson.

Compared to where I was, it is must worse out here in Phoenix. Part of the reason is the traffic; about what you run into in Tysons or other areas of Fairfax Co. It's terrible. At least in DC I was able to avoid the headache by taking Metro or walking somewhere. You can't do that out here. There are really no other options.

[sablebaby]

Well, you won't find any open spaces, except for the desert. Our homes are sitting very close together, with small yards. I think you are thinking of movies of AZ ranches. It's not like that out here (well, it used to be in the 50's).

And just as the other two said, it is very crowded out here!!!

[Ponderosa]

There are plenty of places in the state where you can live and not see anyone if you don't want to. There are 40+ acres parcels available all over the northern part of the state (around Seligman, for example). You have to live off the grid, use solar or wind for power and haul your own water. There are a lot of people out here living that way and enjoying it. You have no idea how often I have considered it myself! The congestion here just wears you down after a while. But it takes a special kind of person to like that life. The problem with AZ is there are not a lot of GOOD choices between living like sardines in a sauna and living in isolation off the grid.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by soliver0012

That's too funny. I told my fiance' that I wanted to go to either of those places b/c I always think of space and ranches and i've always wanted a little ranch. He's more of a city person. Though I wonder what the jobs are even like out there. I sort of live out in the middle of nowhere now in a nice house on 4 acres. It's peaceful but you have to drive far to do anything and sometimes i get bored. I guess it's a win/loose situation and i'm ready for a change now.

That sounds like a nice place and something that would be very hard to duplicate out here. As for jobs, that is the positive side of Phoenix. There are jobs, jobs and more jobs. The economy is on high here and has been for decades. The growth fuels the economy which fuels the growth and bigger and bigger we get.

[MAB]

Originally Posted by sablebaby

Well, you won't find any open spaces, except for the desert. Our homes are sitting very close together, with small yards. I think you are thinking of movies of AZ ranches. It's not like that out here (well, it used to be in the 50's).

And just as the other two said, it is very crowded out here!!!

she was asking about AZ n general,not just the phoenix metro area.

Theres plenty of places in AZ where she can buy 2 acres and still live somewhat close to a city.
It really depends on what she like,what they do for a living and flexibility.

As you might remember,I live in Yuma and while it is growing,theres plenty of nice places where you can own lots of land,and not be in the middle of the desert.

BTW,I just came back from the phoenix area(visited a friend in queen creek) Ill tell you,it is nice out there,but traffic kills all the fun.
Ill stick with my dusty,little town called Yuma,and leave the traffic to you guys.

[sablebaby]

Originally Posted by soliver0012

Like I said before I am thinking about relocating to possibly Queen Creek or somewhere relatively close to the Phoenix area. Just wondering if it's crowded??? I'm in VA now and I wake up at 6 in the morning to go to the local Wal-mart b/c I can stand the crowds. How is it if I want to go to the mall on the weekend or drive in to Phoenix??? Is it hell???

Yes, she was asking about Phx areas and not AZ in general.

[irwin]

If she actually wanted to move to Yuma....god help her.

My advice...if you want a small town feel, don't come West. With all the public lands, there really are not that many small towns. The exceptions are Boulder, some of the central Cali coast towns, maybe a few towns on the coastal Pac NW.\. The rest of the West is concentrated in sprawling cities with poor public transit. If you want a small town feel and a good life, move to New England (Vermont, Maine, etc). Hard to find a job up there, but if you're lucky enough to to find one, they are great places with EXCELLENT schools. I would never raise a kid in Arizona.