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Norm,
I'm curious - you said you would consider Prescott but you're also looking at NM. Is there some reason Prescott doesn't fit the bill as much as you'd like? I'm just curious because we are researching the same areas to move to, though we aren't retired (I wish!). Anyway, I'm wondering if you learned something about Prescott that I haven't learned yet. We also want a place with a mild climate and low humidity. There are many other things we're looking for but I won't list them here. Anyway, we visited Prescott last August and loved the climate. Our concerns there are that it's a small town area and most employment is centered around retail or health care. We enjoy a larger city quite a bit so we have reservations about moving to such a small place, even though it's supposedly growing quickly.
Thanks for any info.! Maybe we can share information since we're both researching the same areas.
Jennifer
Check out the AZ forum here and see what they are saying about Prescott. It seems that traffic is becoming a problem there. when we were there two years ago there was very little in the way of heavy traffic. Because of the popularity and fast growth there housing prices have zoomed. Six months after we looked at a house there the price on it went from $175,000 to $250,000. The health care in the area is excellent. We felt the area met all of our needs except that it is brown and not green there which cramps my wife's desire to garden.
I am checking out NM as well as SC as I don't want to limit myself to one place and I would really prefer to be on the east coast if I can find a place that meets our needs.
If you have any other questions you can PM me here.
A neighbor owns property in Prescott and had intended to retire there. However, this is the word about Prescott:
The locals are very exclusionary to the point of making it known to newcomers that they are NOT welcome.
We also know another person who moved to Prescott with his young family and who moved back to San Jose after 2 years in Prescott. Same widespread local attitude encountered. Prescott people do not want change: they do not want employers other than the basic ones you stated.
Interestingly, this area in AZ consistently votes to support illegal immigration. Apparently, they are assuming that these "newcomers" just won't move to Prescott.
Instead of Prescott, I would rec Northern San Diego County such as Escondido or Julian.
~Cali-girl
We are used to neighbors that keep to themselves as the same things is common where we have lived for the last 6 years. I would imagine with the influx of retiress and other newcomers in Prescott it won't be hard to meet people. There are many towns around Prescott so when I say Prescott I am refering to the area.
I think just about anyplace in CA is too overpriced for us. I was in Orange Cty a few months back and also in San Diego and I found the house prices ridiculous and this is from someone that lives in a very overpriced area of NY.
I know people that live in Prescott or own property there and the love it. different strokes for different folks.
Las Cruces has been ranked as one of the top places to retire in the U.S. over the past few years.The weather is perfect and El Paso is 45 mins away and also so is Juarez,Mexico. for a bigger city Albuquerque is another perfect place, the summers are great mid 90's and the winters are mild,nothing like back east, we average maybe 6 inches a year of snow and 8 inches of rain.This winter is unlike anything we've ever seen in Albq. with 24 inches in December,that was a record. Albq. has the deserts to the west and mountains to the east, oh and also the perfect summer nights.
Norm - I would echo that Albuquerque would be an option for you.
Albuquerque has four distinct seasons - there is a winter - however, it is much more mild than most destinations north.
Average temps in Albuquerque roughly are:
WINTER: 50 High / 25 Low *(Yes, you'll see there is quite a temperature variation in that daytimes typically are relatively warm and sunny...golf is a year-round sport in ABQ...however, after the sun sets in Dec/Jan, you'll cool off typically quite significantly into the wee hours of darkness)
FALL and SPRING: low-70s High / 40s Low
SUMMER: low-to-mid-90s High / 60s Low
*City is a desert region and averages 8.5 inches of rainfall per year, and 7-to-11 inches of snowfall per year (typically any snowfall that falls melts within 24-hours...this bizarre year the exception).
Now, I should state that in reference to the quote regarding Las Cruces' weather, I would state that Las Cruces has an extremely favorable climate. Personally, as much as I enjoy Albuquerque's climate, I even more prefer LC's...they are typically 8-to-10 degrees warmer - in general - than ABQ in the winter, but only a few degrees hotter in the summer - one can compare the year-round averages on the Weather Channel (www.weather.com) (broken link).
While Cali-girl is right in the sense that compared to SoCal, Las Cruces isn't "temperate" (LC has four distinct seasons as well), frankly, compared to SoCal, most places wouldn't be considered temperate. However, some folks do enjoy some seasonal variations in having four distinct seasons, and not have temps consistently in the 60-to-80 range year-round. Surely, in comparison to a vast majority of the nation - including NY - Albuquerque and/or Las Cruces would fit the bill mightily for moderate weather.
(I would suggest looking anywhere from Albuquerque to the south of the state - not northern places like Santa Fe or Taos, which are much less temperate - and anywhere at 5500 feet of elevation or lower.)
We are used to neighbors that keep to themselves as the same things is common where we have lived for the last 6 years. I would imagine with the influx of retiress and other newcomers in Prescott it won't be hard to meet people. There are many towns around Prescott so when I say Prescott I am refering to the area.
I think just about anyplace in CA is too overpriced for us. I was in Orange Cty a few months back and also in San Diego and I found the house prices ridiculous and this is from someone that lives in a very overpriced area of NY.
I know people that live in Prescott or own property there and the love it. different strokes for different folks.
Yes, I am with you on overpriced CA homes. $500k gets a buyer a crackhouse. The entire State needs to have a real estate price correction, imo.
And if you decide to go for Prescott - more power to you.
If you enjoy Prescott's climate, you should REALLY check out Albuquerque, NM! They have very, very similar climates...Albuquerque is a bit hotter in the summer than Prescott on average, a hare cooler in winter (although not by much) than Prescott; Albuquerque is a hare sunnier. They really though are extremely close - you should check it out - if you like Prescott you'd love the weather in ABQ!:
A neighbor owns property in Prescott and had intended to retire there. However, this is the word about Prescott:
The locals are very exclusionary to the point of making it known to newcomers that they are NOT welcome.
We also know another person who moved to Prescott with his young family and who moved back to San Jose after 2 years in Prescott. Same widespread local attitude encountered. Prescott people do not want change: they do not want employers other than the basic ones you stated.
Interestingly, this area in AZ consistently votes to support illegal immigration. Apparently, they are assuming that these "newcomers" just won't move to Prescott.
Instead of Prescott, I would rec Northern San Diego County such as Escondido or Julian.
~Cali-girl
Hi Cali-girl,
Thanks for your post. The attitude you've described in Prescott is one of my major concerns. I don't want to go through all the trouble and cost of moving there, full of hope of finding a new home, etc. only to realize the community in general is so exclusive and well, just plain rude to newcomers.
It's interesting you suggest northern San Diego county. We visited there as well and have lots of friends in the SoCal area. We would LOVE to live there. Actually, it's our ultimate goal. It's just so darn expensive! We were considering Temecula too, even though it gets warmer there in the summer. The real estate is better priced, though still quite high in general (getting better lately). If it weren't for real estate costs there, our decision would be very easy.
So... Considering CA isn't too likely without running such a big rat race just to pay a house note, we're looking for other western cities that can offer the great climate, things to do for families and (this might be setting the bar too high) hopefully a place with good public schools so we can save for kids' college rather than paying through the nose for private elementary/secondary schooling. Do you know of any places that fit this description?
We're researching the Albuquerque area right now. I've heard the schools aren't good. Any info on that? Also, where is Sandia Heights (SH) in relation to Sandia Peak? SH is in the list of 100 Best Places to Raise a Family. But if it's way up the mountain where there would be tons of snow to deal with, we'll have to pass.
Any knowledge/information from others is welcome as well. We're really on a mission to find our new home. Thanks!
Check out the AZ forum here and see what they are saying about Prescott. It seems that traffic is becoming a problem there. when we were there two years ago there was very little in the way of heavy traffic. Because of the popularity and fast growth there housing prices have zoomed. Six months after we looked at a house there the price on it went from $175,000 to $250,000. The health care in the area is excellent. We felt the area met all of our needs except that it is brown and not green there which cramps my wife's desire to garden.
I am checking out NM as well as SC as I don't want to limit myself to one place and I would really prefer to be on the east coast if I can find a place that meets our needs.
If you have any other questions you can PM me here.
Hi Norm,
I've been reading the AZ forum regularly. I have read the posts about the 'problems' in Prescott. I'm just not sure how biased they are. Maybe it's that "exclusionery" attitude Cali-girl mentioned. I think the posts are very negative and seem to say "stay away." It's not encouraging to me. I just think everything is relative though. Bad traffic to them may be a breeze for me, coming from a place with 450K+ population without a good public transit system and with an infrastructure that's about 20 years behind at any given time. (i.e., traffic is really bad here!) Anyway, we still have concerns about Prescott... We're not sure where we're going. We're researching ABQ now. We have small children so we have to worry about schools as well. The climate sounds *perfect* in ABQ. We're just not sure about everything else. We haven't visited yet.
What I suggest you do is visit any place that you are considering moving to. When my wife retires we intend to sell our house and put our things in storage and then spend a month in each city we are considering retiring to and in that way we will see first hand if the areas suits our needs.
One more thing if you go to City Data's home site you can research any city or town in the country or just do a Google search on the place.
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Prescott v. Albuquerque
