Information on Polacca, Az please! (Phoenix, Tucson: to rent, houses, utilities)

[southernbuckeye]

Might be getting a job in Polacca. Would be moving from North Carolina.
Could anyone please give me information about the area? Very little on the internet since it is Hopi Indian area. Housing, stores, utilities, weather, etc? Is the area friendly to newcomers? Are hospital employees welcome? If I take the job and move, should I have a 4-wheeler? Thank you!

[KarmaPhx]

Originally Posted by southernbuckeye

Might be getting a job in Polacca. Would be moving from North Carolina.
Could anyone please give me information about the area? Very little on the internet since it is Hopi Indian area. Housing, stores, utilities, weather, etc? Is the area friendly to newcomers? Are hospital employees welcome? If I take the job and move, should I have a 4-wheeler? Thank you!

I have lived here most of my life, and I never heard of Polacca. I looked it up online, it appears to be a really small town, and it's in Navajo county, so I believe you must be registered to a tribe to live on the land, but I am not 100% sure.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

Boy, talk about culture shock and a different climate. You are moving from a very green state, with southern ways (my DD lives in NC) to a very hot, dry state. Western states are very different. I've lived in both and it's different.

[observer53]

Karma, the OP did ask about WEATHER. So I'd be careful about the "off topic". And, it's going to be different than where they live now in lots of ways, maybe some they haven't even thought about.

I assume you are going to be working for the hospital on the Hopi reservation? I would hope that the hospital could give you some information about housing and utilities. It is a very remote area, high desert (so cooler than the area around Phoenix or Tucson-- it's below freezing there as we speak, and it does snow there). Because it's remote, significant shopping is going to be at quite a distance. Looking at Google maps, regular grocery stores are 25 or 40 miles away, depending on the direction you go. You can get a better idea of the geography and do "search nearby" functions on Google maps.

I have not visited the area; hopefully someone who has can give you more information about the people there and the style of living for non-tribal members. I would think that hospital employees from off the reservation would be a fairly common occurrence.

[kdog]

Aside from Observer53's research, I see there are 1100 people living there in around 300 homes. So this is not really a town as much as it is a village. Population is 2.85% white, or 31 white people if you do the math.

I see the Hopi Health Care Center, which I assume is where you'd work, has 15 beds. More of a clinic than a hospital. Keep in mind there are a lot of addiction and general health problems on Indian reservations, so I imagine they do a brisk business.

I can't say definitively whether the Indians would be welcoming to a new white person moving to town. I've traveled through some of the much larger Indian towns like Tuba City and Kayenta several times recently, and they're a bit scary to me. I get a strange vibe from the locals when I stop for gas, and go inside to get some ice or supplies and many times there are drunks hanging around. And remember, these are much larger towns than Polacca. In any town you're going to find good people and bad, however, I'm not optimistic on the ratio you're likely to find there.

Weatherwise, at an altitude of 6,000' you're looking at some pretty harsh weather in the winter. It's 26 degrees there as I type this.

I live in Kingman which is a relatively small town (26,000 in the city, 50,000 including suburbs), and many people find it challenging to live in a town this small. Of course, compared to Polacca, this is New York City. I think the kind of white person who could thrive in a place like that would be extremely rare. I envision it more as a peace core kind of project than a standard relocation. I'd doubt you would want to stay long. It goes without saying that you'd really want to visit the town before you commit to anything there.

[stuckinNH]

Originally Posted by kdog

Aside from Observer53's research, I see there are 1100 people living there in around 300 homes. So this is not really a town as much as it is a village. Population is 2.85% white, or 31 white people if you do the math.

I see the Hopi Health Care Center, which I assume is where you'd work, has 15 beds. More of a clinic than a hospital. Keep in mind there are a lot of addiction and general health problems on Indian reservations, so I imagine they do a brisk business.

I can't say definitively whether the Indians would be welcoming to a new white person moving to town. I've traveled through some of the much larger Indian towns like Tuba City and Kayenta several times recently, and they're a bit scary to me. I get a strange vibe from the locals when I stop for gas, and go inside to get some ice or supplies and many times there are drunks hanging around. And remember, these are much larger towns than Polacca. In any town you're going to find good people and bad, however, I'm not optimistic on the ratio you're likely to find there.

Weatherwise, at an altitude of 6,000' you're looking at some pretty harsh weather in the winter. It's 26 degrees there as I type this.

I live in Kingman which is a relatively small town (26,000 in the city, 50,000 including suburbs), and many people find it challenging to live in a town this small. Of course, compared to Polacca, this is New York City. I think the kind of white person who could thrive in a place like that would be extremely rare. I envision it more as a peace core kind of project than a standard relocation. I'd doubt you would want to stay long. It goes without saying that you'd really want to visit the town before you commit to anything there.

Talking about Indian reservations.....Are there any In Kingman? I was looking at houses to rent and it said mohave..Is that on an Indian reservation....?

[observer53]

Mohave is the name of the COUNTY in which Kingman is located, and there may be a street by that name, either of which would explain why the word "Mohave" appears in the listing. Kingman has no Indian reservation "in" it or particularly nearby

[kdog]

Originally Posted by stuckinNH

Talking about Indian reservations.....Are there any In Kingman? I was looking at houses to rent and it said mohave..Is that on an Indian reservation....?

No part of Kingman is on the reservation. The Hualapai Nation Indian Reservation however, starts about 30 miles from Kingman going east on Rt66, and runs all the way to Seligman which is about 90 miles away. It also runs north to the Grand Canyon.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by kdog

No part of Kingman is on the reservation. The Hualapai Nation Indian Reservation however, starts about 30 miles from Kingman going east on Rt66, and runs all the way to Seligman which is about 90 miles away. It also runs north to the Grand Canyon.

I knew there was one in the general region, wasn't sure how far out. Thanks, as always!

[MZBEA]

I assume you are white so correct me if I am wrong. If I were an Indian I don't think I would want you working on the rez. I would much rather have another Indian professional working there. Just my take on it.

However, you may fair better in Tucson or even Flagstaff for medical jobs.