[YAZ]

Awww heck.

It's only a 12 hour drive to polar bear country on the south end of Hudson Bay.

From Oakland county, anyway.

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by actinic

No, are you? 4 hrs in many states put you in another ... or two.

The fact remains that four hours is a few hours. And Flagstaff is only 2 hours from Phoenix.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by canudigit

I'm sure that I, for one, have not given AZ a fair shake, but honestly, I am so homesick for things like maple trees, cornfields, and lakes, and when you throw in how we don't know anyone here and spend our weekends going out to eat just for something to do, well, I. just. don't. like. it. here. Yuck!!

Actually, my hubby came home from work today in so much pain from the job that he is doing that he had a sit down with his boss who informed him that he was close to letting him go because his 50 yo body can't do the job that a 25 yo can do. Hubby told him adios, and we are headed back to Michigan in two weeks. Yay!!!! We have rental properties back home that we were unable to sell in this recession, so we do have an income, and I think that I can find something since I am an RN. We're...going...HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm glad you recognize that you didn't give AZ a fair shake, and perhaps you didn't realize what you would miss until you left, but if you knew you loved maple trees and cornfields and lakes, your move to AZ was doomed before it started. People need to learn more about what a place is like BEFORE they move, if they know it's very different from where they are.

I'm happy you are able to go back, unlike many on the AZ forum who say they can't leave (or they just won't leave) and then can't stop complaining.

Best of luck to you!

[funymann]

Originally Posted by YAZ

And ya gotta keep the beer in the shanty so it won't freeze....

I know right!

Or your boogers freeze when you breathe through your nose. Yeah..that's the greatness of the cold.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by actinic

Of course that's what you meant Try being a bit more specific next time and less dismissive of the drive time.

Hmmm.... all my life I thought a couple of hours meant about 2, a few meant 3 or 4.

4 hours is less time than it takes to drive from Detroit to Traverse City but you won't get much of a climate change in that.

[cbmsu01]

I'm going to offer a somewhat different take on the "Michigan to Arizona" theme.

I don't necessarily think that tons of people from Michigan are flocking to Arizona compared to elsewhere more than expected; I just think it's more noticed. There are a few reasons for this:

1. Lack of reciprocity. Arizona is a rapidly growing state, which means that it doesn't have much of a population base to move to other states compared to the influx it has received. While Michigan is losing people to almost every state out there, in states such as Ohio, Illinois, and New York, you have a decent number of people moving from there to Michigan as well. So the numbers from Arizona tend to be completely one-sided (like 85 out/15 in), as opposed to the 60 out/40 in you might see in some states with more stable populations.

2. It's far very far away. Michigan is more centrally located than people give credit for. Moving to Chicago isn't going to cause quite the same shock value; it's only a few hours away and trips back and forth are reasonable. Same goes for Milwaukee, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and maybe even Louisville and Pittsburgh. Even destinations that are further away, such as Minneapolis/St. Paul, St. Louis, the east coast cities (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington,) and even some of the southern cities (Nashville, Atlanta, Charlotte) are within 10-14 hours or so of Michigan by car. Moving to Arizona means airplane or else.

3. It seems to be the "opposite" of Michigan. West vs. east, south vs. north, too hot vs. too cold, too sunny vs. too dreary, etc. Most other places have some climate and location similarities to Michigan.

4. People are moving to Arizona from everywhere. Some people flock to the "hot" regions of the country, where the jobs are continually increasing and it's easy to get one. So the people in Michigan that are attracted to that type of situation are more likely to go there.

In conclusion, I don't think a lot of people are flocking to Arizona, but enough are that it gets people's attention.

[canudigit]

Originally Posted by observer53

I'm glad you recognize that you didn't give AZ a fair shake, and perhaps you didn't realize what you would miss until you left, but if you knew you loved maple trees and cornfields and lakes, your move to AZ was doomed before it started. People need to learn more about what a place is like BEFORE they move, if they know it's very different from where they are.

I'm happy you are able to go back, unlike many on the AZ forum who say they can't leave (or they just won't leave) and then can't stop complaining.

Best of luck to you!

Thank you. I think part of the problem is that when we visited here twice before deciding to move here, it was in February and April, respectively. SO much different than July and August, as we have found out the hard way. Even the trees in our neighborhood seem tired and thirsty, lol.

Ya wanna know the honest truth? I really think it was one of those "we are in SUCH a rut/midlife crisis" things for both Hubby and me. We have been married for over twenty years, have never lived anywhere but NW Ohio and SE Michigan, Hubby had been at the same job for thirty years, and I think we were just bored and assumed that the grass would be greener and a lot more fun. It didn't hurt that when we were here to visit both times we stayed in very nice hotels in Scottsdale. Now we live in Arrowhead Ranch in Glendale, and although it really is a nice, safe neighborhood, it just isn't the Hilton Scottsdale and I think that we expected too much. God bless all of you who love it here, though. There are some very nice points to living in AZ, it just isn't for us. I will not go home and bash the state when we move back to Michigan in a couple of weeks. I will simply admit that Hubby's job didn't work out, I couldn't find a job at all, and AZ just wasn't our cup of tea. I should have known. I love water way too much to stay here for long!

[Jwo85]

Pretty neat article. That also could shed some light.
Second homes: Tucson is the right size at the right price - USATODAY.com