Don't Move To Flagstaff! (Cottonwood: environment, real estate, jobs)

[bstree]

Update: Flagstaff housing is on the decline by -6% or so.

[jrhartwick]

Someone mentioned Flagstaff as a Resort Town. I would disagree; it is a tourist town. It is a college town. It is a stop on Rt. 66 with close lodging to the Grand Canyon. If you work in the service industry, you can find work in Flagstaff. If you work in education, you can find a job in Flagstaff. We had to move away in 95 because we wouldn't have been able to afford to raise our children on one income while allowing me to stay home. Someday, hopefully we'll be back! Maybe we'll retire to Doney Park or Williams, We'd better buy our lot now while the prices are declining!

[grainwreck]

I'm seriously thinking of moving to Falgstaff. I was wondering where to live there, something that's less than a half hour from town, but where I could get the best possible clean air. Socrecard.org ranks Coconino county in the top 10% of counties for pollution but maybe that's becasue I-40 runs through it??

Any other environmental issues I should be aware of? I'm undergoing lead/mercury chelation for poisoning and need as clean a place as possible for a few years.

And I swore I wouldn't live in a town that didn't have a good organic meat and produce outlet like Whole Foods or Cid's in Taos.. Is this going to be a deal-breaker in Flagstaff?

And how about bike paths?

thanks! ~robin

[carecare7]

Robin,

You should know that Flagstaff does control or proscribed burns during the year which have been very bad for the respiratory health of the residents here. Instead of finding a cleaner environmental alternative, the slash piles just get burned up and the smoke hangs around for days. They do it in the cooler seasons which means the temperature inversion traps the smoke down in the city and everyone suffers. If you need clean air, Flagstaff is NOT the place because of these constant control burns.

Why do they do these? Because people here are terrified of wildfires burning their homes and the cheapest way to deal with it is to burn the undergrowth (slash piles) instead of maybe gathering it up, building a factory to mulch it up and sell it off. The factory could be a "green" one but that would cost too much so instead everyone gets sick in the fall, winter, and spring from the bad smoky air here. just thought you should know.

[DRShelton]

Flagstaff......it is truly wonderful place to live. I have no idea where some people get all of their inaccurate information. We do not have what comes to most people's mind when you hear "pollution". We do not have smog, as a matter of fact we are in some of the cleanest air around. I have lived here for nearly 17 years. I have never, ever suffered from any sort of allergies nor respiratory problems. Period. Maybe those that do should take a closer look at their problem as it would be more likely they are suffering from respiratory problems due to elevation. I am so sick of seeing some of the negative, and ignorant replies posted here. It is one reason I joined, to have the opportunity to provide more accurate, knowledgeable information.

First, it is not "proscribed" it is prescribed, learn to spell. The burns are not done as a way to eliminate slag piles, they are done to thin our forests and reduce risk of forest fires (not because of homes)in the largest stand of Ponderosa Pine in our country. And in case you have never seen this, when the forest service creates slag piles, it is advertised in the paper and news that anyone can take the wood in the piles for their home use for free. This is how the slag piles are eliminated! Slag piles if you haven't seen one yourself, are the cut wood due to thinning done by the forest service. Our forest service will tag partially dead and standing dead trees for cutting as they are fire risks. Maybe you don't recall an entire town in New Mexico the size of Flagstaff burning to the ground, I do. Burns are used to reduce the undergrowth which are fuel for fire AND it is as natural as it gets, just as a lightning strike might ignite a forest fire. It is due to this constant attention by our incredible fire department that we have not suffered catostrophic forest fires since that which burned all of Mt Elden. It has only been in the last 10 years that one is able to see tree growth on this mountain again.

It is very rare that the smoke is trapped or lying over any given area because if there is one thing Flagstaff always has, it is the wind! There are rare days without wind so how, in a mountain community and no valley near us, where it is always windy could this logically even occur? Use your brain. Build a factory? Are you an idiot? Sure, produce actual pollutants by building a factory. You might want to do a little more research, I will point you in the right direction. Try Eureka CA for the factories which are doing as you suggest. It is disgusting. Maybe you should move there and experience it first hand.

I say to all of you with so many negative feelings and comments.... LEAVE. There will be more room for the rest of us who love living here, respect the land and tire of those who don't. If there is too much litter it comes from people who do not live here, just passing through who toss their trash (or cigarette butts to start a forest fire) out the window. SHAME on you! I present a challenge to those of you who do live here and love it as I do. Take action. Open your mouth and say something when you see this occurring. I have!

I am truly sick of people and their total diregard for others, our lands and treating both with such disrespect. Be responsible. Respect yourselves, others and especially our forest and land here.

To the person who asked about the air. There are many suitable places in and within a 30 min perimeter of Flagstaff for beauty, as well as clean air. Check with a physician and your health in regards to elevation issues. Elevation can affect each individual very diffierently. Elevation sickness can take many forms in each individual which mimic other types of illness. Such as respiratory problems, nausea, dehydration, dizziness, headaches, shortness of breath, general malaise and many more. Living at an elevation of 7000 feet is not suitable for everyone.

During spring when things begin to bloom, people with allergies have definite respiratory problems. Because of our wind, it is not uncommon to have a layer of pine pollen covering everything for days, then it's gone.

Thank you, I get infuriated with people and their ignorance some times, and my apologies to those of you in which my comments did not apply.

[carecare7]

Dr. Shelton,

As a Real Estate Agent, you have a vested interest in making Flagstaff sound good. As a long time resident and someone whose husband did medical billing for over six years here, my claim is that respiratory problems due to smoke from control burns (and yes, they DO call them "slash piles" ) are high. This claim is not based on any personal financial motive on my part. I just wanted to be a decent person and warn the poster.

To Robin, that asked about air quality, I challenge you to research by calling the local respiratory physicians and therapists and ask them yourself if the respiratory problems like bronchitis and pneumonia go way up when control burns are going on. (They do.) Find out if the wind is really as prevalent as Dr. Shelton (the local real estate agent) says it is. It is your choice to decide who is right, a real estate agent that makes a living on selling homes so he needs to make this area sound positive, or someone that has no vested interest in whether or not you move here.

I LOVE Flagstaff, but I will not sugar-coat it when someone asks about air quality. They have the right to be informed that respiratory diseases and illnesses increase dramatically during control burns, especially the ones done in cooler or cold weather. The local doctors that have been practicing before control burns became regular and frequent practice, will tell you that Flagstaff had a lot lower incidence of respiratory illnesses back then. They know because they have practiced here for so long.

[shilo0854]

Last night I was looking up foreclosures and it stated Maricopa county has over 51000 homes is some form of distress. I'm watching every day a house go up for sale. I live in Mesa.

[caliguy92832]

i met a guy who was in flagstaff for some time. he said there's no work there.

[twin.spin]

I moved to Cottonwood from WI.
It's not that there isn't any jobs, its that there isn't any jobs that the average person can get to pay for the cost of housing.

For example:
go to MSN.com \ real estate \ flagstaff
price range $0 - $300,000

The cheapest is this:

MLS ID# 123780
Single Family Property, Area: Mobile Haven, County: Coconino, Year Built: 1973, Hill/mountain view
$182,000
2 Bed, 1 Bath
675 Sq. Ft.

$182,000 for a 675 sq. Ft. house!

COMPARISON: look what @600 sq ft lake cottage gets in WI

MLS ID# 970710
Single Family Property, County: WAL, Year Built: 1930, Single story
$85,900
1 Bed,
643 Sq. Ft

Simply put, take that 643 sq ft "shack" put it in Flagstaff, somebody is making a lot of $$$,$$$. As a home builder, believe me, it didn't cost an extra $100,000 to build that house in Flagstaff in 1973.

The office manager that sold the Direct TV in Flagstaff said (tongue in cheek), people fall basically into 2 groups around Flag,
A. 2 people who own 3 houses
B. 2 people who have 3 jobs

Jobs are available but @ $9\hr is great for NAU kids, not to try afford a home.

[DRShelton]

Shilo0854,
FYI-Flagstaff is not in Maricopa County