A few general questions about living in Flagstaff (Sedona: real estate, how much)

[MtDreamer16]

Afternoon! We're researching the potential of relocating to Flagstaff, possibly next Spring or Summer, and I have a few general questions. If anyone has thoughts or opinions to share it would be much appreciated.


Things we aren't concerned about:

• We don't have to worry about schools (no kids).
• We're very comfortable with the weather, having driven in snow and mountains for some time, so that's not a concern either (have appropriate vehicles and tires, and live in the mountains now).
• And we both work remotely for our companies already, so a job isn't a concern either.

What I'm curious about is the following:

• Do homes in Flagstaff commonly have basements? I've tried using the filters on realtor dot com but results are dependent on the realtor clicking the right buttons. Some come up, but mostly you have to look at each individual house.
• Are there lots of locations around, day-trip type of distance, for hikes, bike riding, or scenic drives? We're pretty into photography, so scenery (for lack of a better word) is high on our list.
• Where would you recommend someone go and spend time to get a feel for living in Flagstaff? We may spend the last week in September there, and would like to get the best overall perspective of living in the city while we're there, rather than all touristy stuff.

Thanks in advance for any information! I have been reading threads and other sites, but would love the opinions of locals.

[infocyde]

Disclaimer: I actually live North of Flagstaff, but I think I can answer some of this.

- Basements: Hard to find, not a lot of builders build basements in houses in AZ. Something to do with the soil. Might be able to find something but requiring a basement will narrow your selection down significantly.

- Day Trips and Hiking: All over. Grand Canyon area to the North West, Sedona to the South West, all sorts of forest and hiking. Mountain biking is fairly big around Flagstaff as well.

- I think living in Flagstaff is essentially the "touristy stuff". The city is actually pretty small, if you want to do shopping you have to come into downtown where the students, the locals, the tourist, the travels taking a break off the I-40, all mingle. Living outside of downtown I guess is just what kind of half hour drive you want to get into town. I'd get a hotel in the middle of Flagstaff, and drive around during peek traffic hours. People complain about traffic, and it is slow going at peak times, but again Flagstaff is pretty small so even moving slowly you are through most of the rush hour pretty quickly compared to bigger cities. If you want more of a rustic vibe I guess look up a bed and breakfast in the surrounding area and come into town each day.

One note of caution. Jobs in Flagstaff that pay anything are fairly hard to come by. Make sure your telecommute jobs are fairly solid before taking a leap. I'm in a similar boat and that one issue has kept me from buying...the what if.

Good luck.

[goolsbyjazz]

Originally Posted by MtDreamer16

Afternoon! We're researching the potential of relocating to Flagstaff, possibly next Spring or Summer, and I have a few general questions. If anyone has thoughts or opinions to share it would be much appreciated.


Things we aren't concerned about:

• We don't have to worry about schools (no kids).
• We're very comfortable with the weather, having driven in snow and mountains for some time, so that's not a concern either (have appropriate vehicles and tires, and live in the mountains now).
• And we both work remotely for our companies already, so a job isn't a concern either.

What I'm curious about is the following:

• Do homes in Flagstaff commonly have basements? I've tried using the filters on realtor dot com but results are dependent on the realtor clicking the right buttons. Some come up, but mostly you have to look at each individual house.
• Are there lots of locations around, day-trip type of distance, for hikes, bike riding, or scenic drives? We're pretty into photography, so scenery (for lack of a better word) is high on our list.
• Where would you recommend someone go and spend time to get a feel for living in Flagstaff? We may spend the last week in September there, and would like to get the best overall perspective of living in the city while we're there, rather than all touristy stuff.

Thanks in advance for any information! I have been reading threads and other sites, but would love the opinions of locals.

Salt Lake City, from what I've read and been told, is on the rise?! I am curious as to why you would want to leave that for Flagstaff?

[MtDreamer16]

Originally Posted by goolsbyjazz

Salt Lake City, from what I've read and been told, is on the rise?! I am curious as to why you would want to leave that for Flagstaff?

SLC is growing, you're right. Two main reasons, among others, are air quality and cultural challenges (for lack of a better phrase). The inversions in winter have caused health issues for me, and we also have days (sometimes weeks) of significantly bad air quality in summer. Neither of these two main reasons will ever change, which is what we've come to realize.

[goolsbyjazz]

Originally Posted by MtDreamer16

SLC is growing, you're right. Two main reasons, among others, are air quality and cultural challenges (for lack of a better phrase). The inversions in winter have caused health issues for me, and we also have days (sometimes weeks) of significantly bad air quality in summer. Neither of these two main reasons will ever change, which is what we've come to realize.

Gotcha! I did hear about the inversions and "cultural challenges" but I thought Salt Lake was more diverse? Saw pics of those inversions and they look pretty nasty.

[Sedona Joe]

There aren't many cultural challenges in Flag!

[Slater]

With all the students here, Flagstaff may be a bit more Liberal than the typical Arizona city. But there's also the gun enthusiast crowd along with the cowboys, so a reasonable variety.

[MtDreamer16]

Thanks to everyone that has replied so far! We'll look into a hotel in town. Traffic won't bother us. One of the perks of working remotely is not having to commute in any kind of rush hour, and being able to run an errand in the middle of the day if we want.

Any thoughts on specific restaurants to try? Something locals love rather than chains maybe?

Anything else we should visit for local flavor or feel?

[thedirtman]

I can't seem to say enough about how much Flagstaff seems to like pizza. I recommend going to Fratelli's pizza and ordering the Flagstaff pizza. It's vegetarian, but you can ask for grilled chicken with it, if you like.

So, how do you get to know a small city quickly? I would start at the library. You can talk to someone at the chamber of commerce, or someone in real estate on your visit. Those people can make specific recommendations based on your interest.

Flagstaff won an award from Travel in Leisure magazine for the best small city a couple years ago. You can spend a year exploring the trails, and then there more trails in Sedona, Grand Canyon, and the Verde Valley.

[5thgenSF]

are you a facebooker? i ask because there is a woman i follow on the outskirts of flagstaff. fascinating pictures and topics all about terrain and weather and bugs and what happens each season. she covers the gamut even though the main topic on her page is animals. she has a vast array of those too and gives the most interesting details about every species! her page is called helplacatnoir (misspelled but she inherited the page.) https://www.facebook.com/Help-La-Cha...1808051547727/

her pictures alone are worth seeing!

also i haven't house hunted in ages but i gather that is a little more "sophisticated" than realtor.com.