Is Sedona actually a good place to live? (Phoenix, Flagstaff: extended stay, rentals)

[travel360]

Hi. A part of me wants to move to Sedona. I've been a few times and absolutely love it. There is something about Sedona that really invigorates you. Maybe it's the air. I currently live in a suburb of NYC, and feeling..... like I need a change. I've heard though that Sedona is only good to live if you're retired and have a lot of money. Well, I'm 28 and still need to work (unfortunately lol). I've researched into the job market some. The economy seems to be mainly hospitality based. Sedona is also kind of isolated, and not easily commutable to cities for jobs. I think the nearest major cities are Phoenix and Flagstaff, and even they are not "close".

[Ted Bear]

A good place to live?


Yes, if you like staring at red rocks-- all day, every day, for as long as you live there. The scenery NEVER changes.


Yes, it is a resort/tourist area. Likely work in that industry or a support industry is where you will be.

[irman]

Live and work in a nearby big city, then visit often at any free time you have.

Some places are only good for a visit but not for a long extended stay ...

My sister lived in Sedona and it was bloody boring there after a few days.

[3STRSSN]

Agree with Ted Bear and Irmans posts.

Been living here for almost 6 years, a lot of turn over all around. This town caters to the tourists not the locals IMO. I would say it is almost a must to love the outdoors if you’re young and wanting to move here. Otherwise you could be stuck indoors staring at the red rocks all day. We go to Flagstaff every week because there is not much to do around here outside of being outdoors (at least for me).

[NDak15]

Originally Posted by travel360

Hi. A part of me wants to move to Sedona. I've been a few times and absolutely love it. There is something about Sedona that really invigorates you. Maybe it's the air. I currently live in a suburb of NYC, and feeling..... like I need a change. I've heard though that Sedona is only good to live if you're retired and have a lot of money. Well, I'm 28 and still need to work (unfortunately lol). I've researched into the job market some. The economy seems to be mainly hospitality based. Sedona is also kind of isolated, and not easily commutable to cities for jobs. I think the nearest major cities are Phoenix and Flagstaff, and even they are not "close".

I'm going to respond to this as general advice. I've never been to Sedona and am not an expert on it at all. However, I have lived in pretty destination places and can speak from experience in that regard.

Sedona invigorated you because you were on vacation. That's what vacations are for. You probably did lots of touristy activities while you were there. You weren't working and you likely didn't have a care in the world. The new scenery was exciting and novel. That's all the sign of a good vacation.

Now really imagine living there. That scenery will become just as blasé as your current scenery because you see it every day. Hospitality=minimum wage for the most part. Even if you have pretty scenery, working for minimum wage is miserable. Touristy=expensive (generally, maybe Sedona is different I don't know). Minimum wage+high cost of living=lots of stress and working long hours to make ends meet and not enjoying the things you wanted to do when you visited. Be aware too that the touristy activities will get old fast. There's a reason people in South Dakota don't go go Mount Rushmore all the time, people in Orlando aren't in Disney World every free hour, and people in San Diego aren't at the Zoo every weekend.

Any problems you have are going to follow you wherever you move.

As I mentioned, I've lived in pretty places where tourists like to go. Visiting and living there are two very different realities. I saw many people end up in the poorhouse, so to speak, because they moved and didn't realize what life was really like. They had on the rose colored glasses.

My $.02 on living in destination locations. Not claiming to be an expert on Sedona, just giving general advice.

[broncosilly]

I've been several times on vacation for viewing purposes. Thought it was me the first time so I gave it another go.
Summation?.........you darn well better have some hobbies. Oh' don't get me wrong, it's pretty. It's also pretty boring.

Like my buddy that lives in Australia. I asked him about Ayres Rock and was it worth driving the outback to see it.
He said "no..........it's a rock"

[bookspage]

This just clicked up in the sidebar for me for some reason.

Anyway, I live in an NYC suburb too and I think I dream about moving to another part of the country every single February lol. Just wanted to say to hang in there, spring is coming soon.

In the meantime, I recommend taking a winter drive to the beach. Two weeks ago we bundled up and took a drive down the shore on one of those milder days. It was wonderful! Walked on the boardwalk, ate pizza, walked down to the ocean, listened to the waves crashing for a while.

[infocyde]

I agree with the above but I will say this about Sedona-

You can have the desert living experience (sitting out on your porch at night when it is a dry 100 degrees...I actually like it, the rocks, the stucco housing, the cacti, and the desert animals) but you can still get some snow and a little variation in Winter there.

Other areas like Prescott and even Verde Valley don't have as much of the Tuscon-ee / Phoenix desert look that Sedona has.

The people I've encountered there were pretty nice. Nice just in the touristy areas but going into Walgreen's for prescriptions, people in the park, some locals just out wandering around.

For a small town BECAUSE of the tourist areas there are a lot of restaurants / shops / coffee houses which is a plus.

These are all good things in my book. But all of the above post still stand. Plus the place is expensive housing and rent wise.

I'd live there, not my first choice but I wouldn't be sad if it happened as long as I could somehow pull off a reasonably priced living deal which I think is hard to do.

Flagstaff isn't really that far away, and the 89A is a fun drive you just don't want to be caught in a Monsoon hits or when it is snowing.

If you go I'd try to be as mobile as you can be (rent, 6 month lease, not a lot of stuff) so if you decide it isn't for you you can pack it up and move on with minimal expense and disturbance.

[adventuregurl]

It's a great place to move to if you have your own way of making income (i.e. you work remotely, have your own biz etc.).

When I first came here I wanted to move here too (Sedona often calls you) but had to create my own way to make a living while I was here (it's doable if you are motivated - the world is full of many options). So many here have no idea that they won't be able to survive here on grocery store clerk pay checks.

I did create a way to make income from a business remotely so I could move here at 42 and I've loved it for many years. I often do "want for more" and the traffic has really increased so it can be a royal pain to get from A to B at times, and it's expensive. But many still love it. Personally I'd have been bored if I was in my 20's.

P.S. the other issue here is affordable rental housing, since AZ passed a state-wide law allowing short-term rentals (which Sedona banned for years) all of the rental housing has been taken over by Airbnb so it's next to impossible to find a place to live if you can't buy. Even the surrounding areas are swamped with people looking.

[Code Stemi]

Originally Posted by Ted Bear

Yes, if you like staring at red rocks-- all day, every day, for as long as you live there. The scenery NEVER changes.

As opposed to what? The scenery never changes no matter where you live. Lol