Houses (Phoenix: jobs, school, cost of living)

[johnnnybandfreak]

Can you get a house under 150k in Arizona anymore?

[bluesstringer]

$150K..?

Well, that should get you either a run down house in the Barrios, or a real nice 4 man tent somewhere waaaaaaaay out in the desert.

Otherwise, $150K will pay for about one half of a nice house.

My wife and I have been here for a little over 3 years and we are in the process of packing and moving to someplace better than this state.

We are not sure where we are going but for the following reasons, we choose to leave...

1. EVERYTHING is expensive here.
2. A small, modest house starts around $200k.
3. Crime here is unbelieveably bad.
4. People are extremely rude.
5. It's VERY hard to meet decent people and/or make friends.
6. Most of the restaruants (especially fast food) are filthy.
7. English seems to be a secondary language here and we have not been hired for certain jobs because we are not bi-lingual.
8. The salaries here are very low / below average.

I could probably triple this list, but this should give you a general idea of why we HATE it here.

If you don't live here now and don't HAVE to move here, I wouldn't recommend it.

To be honest, I wouldn't recommend moving here to my worst enemy.

I'm sorry to say that, because the Valley is indeed a beautiful place and for me, the weather is as close to perfect as it gets.

Perfect weather just isn't enough for us to live here and be miserable.

It's really sad, because I lived here in the late 70's and early 80's and this place was as close to Heaven as it could get.

Crime, gang violence, low wages, high cost of living, REEEAAAALLLLY bad traffic and over population has taken the beauty out of this part (The Valley) of Arizona.

This is only MY opinion and you know what they say about opinions...

If I were in the market to buy a $150K house, Arizona would be really low on my list of places to look.

I hope this helps and I apologize if I offended any of the FEW good people who were born here.

Best wishes to you and good luck.

R.H. aka "Bluesstringer"

[Lehi]

Originally Posted by bluesstringer

I apologize if I offended any of the FEW good people who were born here.

This Arizona native isn't offended in the least, in fact I agree with a lot of what you said. In particular I have to differ with you on the following item.

Originally Posted by bluesstringer

I wouldn't recommend moving here to my worst enemy.

I would. >:-)

[SpeedyAZ]

1. EVERYTHING is expensive here.
2. A small, modest house starts around $200k.
3. Crime here is unbelieveably bad.
4. People are extremely rude.
5. It's VERY hard to meet decent people and/or make friends.
6. Most of the restaruants (especially fast food) are filthy.
7. English seems to be a secondary language here and we have not been hired for certain jobs because we are not bi-lingual.
8. The salaries here are very low / below average.

1) True
2) Fairly True depending on area
3) Depends where you live
4) I guess you hang with a bad crowd
5) Never had that happen, I see it easy to mak friends around here
6) Where do you eat?
7) Most areas like to have bi-lingual employees, not just Phoenix
8) I don't know where you work

[Nicole]

I don't think it's that bad here, things are pretty expensive but so are many other states. As long as you live in a good area I think everything is fine, there's very little crime, usually lots of nice places (to eat and shop), and usually a lot of nice people. But no, you can't get a nice house in a nice area for under 150k, sorry

[bluesstringer]

Lehi,

You know, I think I have to agree with you...(LOL)

I'm not into bashing the Valley. I loved it here when I lived here in the late 70's and early 80's and was sincerely hoping to love it here now.

The actual problem is, unless someone has a butt-load of money (I don't), they are forced to live near and where the less desireable people live.

It deeply saddens me and breaks my heart to have to be considering moving to some place else.

The Valley has everything that I love. On the opposite side of the coin, it has TOO many things that I don't love.

If there was a magic button to push to stop all of the killing, then the Valley would be the absolute perfect place to live.

I am very aware that unfortunately, such a magic button doesn't exist anywhere in this world.

Phoenix is beautiful. I just don't want to be shot in the head sitting at a stoplight.

You are fortunate to be a native, have family and friends here and be able to enjoy the Valley, the way it should be. I only wish (dream) that I could.

Take care.

R.H. aka "Bluesstringer".

[Lehi]

Originally Posted by bluesstringer

Lehi,
You know, I think I have to agree with you...(LOL)

Ok, now you have me confused. You must have misunderstood something. If you have read some of my other replies on other threads you would see that I agree with you and no longer like it here either. I _would_ recommend moving here to my worst enemy though (if he didn't live here already).

Originally Posted by bluesstringer

If there was a magic button to push to stop all of the killing, then the Valley would be the absolute perfect place to live.

I sure have to disagree with you there. Even that wouldn't make this the absolute perfect place to live. Too many things have changed over the years and not for the better.

Originally Posted by bluesstringer

You are fortunate to be a native, have family and friends here and be able to enjoy the Valley, the way it should be.

I don't enjoy the Valley - at all. Eleven more torturous years and I'm outta here.

[a1m1700]

Originally Posted by bluesstringer

$150K..?

Well, that should get you either a run down house in the Barrios, or a real nice 4 man tent somewhere waaaaaaaay out in the desert.

Otherwise, $150K will pay for about one half of a nice house.

My wife and I have been here for a little over 3 years and we are in the process of packing and moving to someplace better than this state.

We are not sure where we are going but for the following reasons, we choose to leave...

1. EVERYTHING is expensive here.
2. A small, modest house starts around $200k.
3. Crime here is unbelieveably bad.
4. People are extremely rude.
5. It's VERY hard to meet decent people and/or make friends.
6. Most of the restaruants (especially fast food) are filthy.
7. English seems to be a secondary language here and we have not been hired for certain jobs because we are not bi-lingual.
8. The salaries here are very low / below average.

I could probably triple this list, but this should give you a general idea of why we HATE it here.

If you don't live here now and don't HAVE to move here, I wouldn't recommend it.

To be honest, I wouldn't recommend moving here to my worst enemy.

I'm sorry to say that, because the Valley is indeed a beautiful place and for me, the weather is as close to perfect as it gets.

Perfect weather just isn't enough for us to live here and be miserable.

It's really sad, because I lived here in the late 70's and early 80's and this place was as close to Heaven as it could get.

Crime, gang violence, low wages, high cost of living, REEEAAAALLLLY bad traffic and over population has taken the beauty out of this part (The Valley) of Arizona.

This is only MY opinion and you know what they say about opinions...

If I were in the market to buy a $150K house, Arizona would be really low on my list of places to look.

I hope this helps and I apologize if I offended any of the FEW good people who were born here.

Best wishes to you and good luck.

R.H. aka "Bluesstringer"

I sooo agree with you. I loved it here for many years. It's time to go now and I will miss what it used to be. I'm headed to NC. I know it won't be perfect but it should be a nice change. Hopefully it will be a good few years before it becomes like AZ.

Where are you headed?

[johnnnybandfreak]

Eh Guys,
Thank you for all the infos...
johnnybandfreak

[Nea1]

No matter where you go there is crime. i live in NC just outside of Raleigh, everyday it is someone was killed in a driveby, corruption within the police department, some guy attacking women in a park, people murdered in there dorm rooms. gangs here are getting bad, two neighbors had there houses broken into and we are suppose to be in the good area. My sons old school, had cops posted there everyday and everyday there were arrests, mostly drug and gang related, I really dont think there is anyway to escape it and believe or not it isnt cheap to live here either, ALOT of taxes. Someone found out we are taxed more that NY!!!