HI..There are tons of threads, but none exact, so (Phoenix: low income, sales)
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There are tons of threads, but none exact, so, I thought I would try it here. We are getting ready to retire (seems like a BUNCH of folks on the forums are) and we have pretty much nailed it down to one of two general locations.
Redmond, OR, is beautiful, clean, and has everything you would need in terms of shopping, medical, and its less than 15 miles from Bend, a city of close to 90,000.
Our other consideration, is Surprise, AZ. The reason that we are considering Surprise is the weather. I know, it gets dern tootin' hot as blazes there, but, take today, for an example....
Redmond - high 36, low in the 12 degree range.
Surprise - high 61, jow about 41 degrees.
The old saying, and it MUST be true, because it has lived so long, is that if your cold, put on more clothes, but if you're hot, wait until it cools down .... in SIX MONTHS!
So, kind folks, what do you think the timeframe for acclimation would be? And feel free to guesstimate for either town.
AND, IF YOU HAVE FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE, please reply. I think I would like AZ, but then there are other issues, like water, or possible lack thereof, living expenses, (OR has next to no tax, with the property tax being the ugly exception).
My kids have both lived in the Phoenix area. It is hot in the summer but if you are retired just get up and get things done early when it's still cool and then just stay inside with the AC if you cannot take the heat.
The winter offsets the summers for many.
This past summer was my 3rd one. I have only lived in the high desert (actually, I'm just slightly higher than that right now), not the low desert of the Tucson and Phoenix areas. I come from Wisconsin-Michigan-Minnesota area. This was the first summer that I was somewhat acclimated. That said, I love cold weather, even back home. I can adjust much faster to cold than heat. Others are the exact opposite. Which one do you think you are?
Another thought to keep in mind is the greeness, or lack thereof. I see that you are in Humboldt--I was just there this summer (Loved it! My friend is searching for a job in the area). It is so beautifully green! Everywhere! Not so much here. It is a lot more green than people give it credit for, but still very brown.
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That might be hard to gauge, as everyone will react to a climate differently. My tolerance has been decreasing and I spent most of last few summers sick. The aridity really gets to me. I spent a few weeks visiting family in a more humid climate, returned here and about a week later I called my parents, who thought I sounded sick, though I wasn't. Back to the heat: a friend of mine puts up with the heat, but never adjusted to it. When my family lived here my father adjusted, but my mother never could, my brother adjusted and like me, my sister's tolerance decreased. My grandmother's friend lived here in the '60s and had the same ailments then I do now. Anyway... in sum it's a crapshoot/enter-at-your-own-risk thing you won't know until you try.
I live in Oregon. I live on the central coast but I've spent a lot of time in Bend and Redmond.
Personally, I'm selling out here and moving to the Phoenix area for many, many reasons. I'll try to keep this short but no doubt, it will be long winded because I'm very familiar with both areas.
First of all is Redmond Oregon. If you look back on a lot of my posts on here, I knock Oregon a lot but to be honest, it doesn't work for me anymore but it really is a great place if you can handle the weather. The Bend/Redmond area is beautiful. High desert. Warm in the summers but not sizzling. Winters are COLD. It's dry on that side of the Cascade mountains so it typically doesn't feel quite as cold as it really is but cold is cold.
Redmond does get it's fair share of snow but there usually isn't more than a foot or two on the ground at any given time.
The problem I have with Oregon is that it's winter here virtually 9 month a year and then one day you wake up and it's summer weather for 2 or 3 months. Just then it's winter again. There isn't much difference between fall, winter and spring. Even though I don't care for Oregon any longer, I'll admit that the summers in Oregon can't be beat anywhere on the planet. It's just that the summers are so short.
Redmond is close to Sisters Oregon. A really cool although an admittedly touristy town. I like the countryside around those parts but again, it's kind of hard to enjoy the beautiful surroundings with so much inclement weather most of the year. If you're into winter sports, then you'd be a happy guy. Lots of skiing, hiking and plenty of place if you're into snowmobiles. Also, if you're a homebody, then I'd take Redmond over the deserts of Arizona. But, and this is a big but, if you're the outdoors type, I'd take the heat of the desert over the cold and bad weather of Oregon any day of the week.
I look at it this way. If it's too cold then yes, you are correct. Bundle up but on the flip side of that, if it's too hot, it's easy to cool off. Jump in the pool, turn on the A/C or take a cold shower. To me, it's far easier to cool off than it is to warm up but that's me.
Really, it's about the same thing in both places. You're in your heated or air conditioned home, you hop in your heated or air conditioned car and regardless of where you're going, it will usually be heated or cooled as well. The only time hot or cold comes into play is when you're outside. I'll give you an example of why I want to move to the desert. Here in Oregon, it's windy a LOT. Picture temps of about 40 degrees, pouring rain with winds of 30 to 40 mph. I need a gallon of milk so I drive to the store. Just getting from the car to the door of Safeway becomes an event and your drenched and cold when you get in there. You get your milk and just about the time you finally get a little blood pumping again, you have to make the walk from Safeway back to your car. It's miserable. In the heat, that's not a problem. Walking from your car to the doors of the store in 110 degrees isn't a problem at all. See my point? It's little things like that. They add up. Just getting gas becomes an adventure in Oregon. lol. Not to mention driving on icy roads all winter.
In Phoenix, no ice to drive on, no huricane force winds, no freezing weather typically. Again, to me, heat is easier to deal with.
Another example. I love fishing. Here in Oregon when I'm on my boat, I'm cold with no way to warm up. I guarantee you, even on a sunny day here, it's usually kind of chilly. Add a little wind and the high humidity and the cold is to the bone with no way to warm up but to leave the lake. I've fished desert lakes when the temps are far higher than 100 degrees. Hot? Yes but I take a dip in the lake and I'm good to go for another hour or two. Simple, quick and an even fun solution to the heat.
Yes, Oregon has no sales tax. It's made up in other ways. Property taxes are high among other things. Food cost more here. Also the state income tax is enourmous here. I'm guessing a similar house is going to cost more here so it all evens out. It really comes down to what you like best. Desert or mountains.
Give me a pool and a hot summer evening and I'll be a happy guy.
There are tons of threads, but none exact, so, I thought I would try it here. We are getting ready to retire (seems like a BUNCH of folks on the forums are) and we have pretty much nailed it down to one of two general locations.
Redmond, OR, is beautiful, clean, and has everything you would need in terms of shopping, medical, and its less than 15 miles from Bend, a city of close to 90,000.
Our other consideration, is Surprise, AZ. The reason that we are considering Surprise is the weather. I know, it gets dern tootin' hot as blazes there, but, take today, for an example....
Redmond - high 36, low in the 12 degree range.
Surprise - high 61, jow about 41 degrees.
The old saying, and it MUST be true, because it has lived so long, is that if your cold, put on more clothes, but if you're hot, wait until it cools down .... in SIX MONTHS!
So, kind folks, what do you think the timeframe for acclimation would be? And feel free to guesstimate for either town.
AND, IF YOU HAVE FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE, please reply. I think I would like AZ, but then there are other issues, like water, or possible lack thereof, living expenses, (OR has next to no tax, with the property tax being the ugly exception).
All things considered, what do you think?
thanks, and Happy New Year to EVERYONE!
Oregon has pretty hefty income taxes compared to AZ. OR max rate is 9% and that kicks in with under 8000 dollars taxable. AZ highest rate is around 4.5% and that does not apply until taxable income is over 150K. Property taxes are among the lowest in AZ as well. AZ gets you on sales tax and vehicle registration taxes, though. One is better off as a low income renter in OR and a high income homeowner in AZ.
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I would not base my retirement destination choice on the cost of a particular item or a few items, except for maybe Hawaii, New York City and California, the overall costs will balance out in the long haul.
I chose Tucson about twelve years ago as having the best weather plus not too big but big enough for the necessities.
Good Luck
Last edited by observer53; 01-10-2011 at 04:07 AM..
That might be hard to gauge, as everyone will react to a climate differently. My tolerance has been decreasing and I spent most of last few summers sick. The aridity really gets to me. I spent a few weeks visiting family in a more humid climate, returned here and about a week later I called my parents, who thought I sounded sick, though I wasn't. Back to the heat: a friend of mine puts up with the heat, but never adjusted to it. When my family lived here my father adjusted, but my mother never could, my brother adjusted and like me, my sister's tolerance decreased. My grandmother's friend lived here in the '60s and had the same ailments then I do now. Anyway... in sum it's a crapshoot/enter-at-your-own-risk thing you won't know until you try.
I understand completely. I had moved back to Texas, near Austin, at Lake Travis, in the mid '70's. It took me a YEAR to get used to the humidity. Same as living along the gulf coast. We both have lung stuff that would probably do better in a drier area. The avg humidity here is the 80's, ALL THE TIME. We also get about 36-40 inches of rain, annum. I think that some folks can enjoy that Seattle-like morbid never-ceasing gloom, but not me. The ONLY reason that I would be interested in the AZ location as opposed to the OR spot, is that the winter in Redmond is much colder than we are used to. I tried to google, but didn't really know what to look for-acclimation to heat, dry vs acclimation to cold, damp.
We spent a week in OR at the place we are looking. I think that I need to get a week in at the AZ location, just to see if it even fits. If it does, then I remain seeking response to the question of heat vs cold. I just really don't know. What I DO KNOW, is that I finally got old enough that my brain keeps on writing checks that my body can't cash. This is a SERIOUS affair, because we only have enough to make ONE SHOT, so when we deside, thats where we will most probably live and die, unless we hit a jackpot, or the north pole slips down to the south, hurling us into deep space, in which case it won't matter.
(Pssst. It migh seem that we are not really focused, but I can suure you we are. We are looking into taxes, earthquake zones, flood zones, alluvial descents, water tables and purity, and about everything we can remember to peek at. And, FYI, a MAIN draw, is sadly, the economy. We have enough to pay cash for a low-proced home, which amazingly are coming online often.
Go to Realtor . com, and in the search, pul 3 bd, 2 ba 10 years or less, between $55000 and 85000. Look at THIS GREAT HOME...been on the market 455 days, and asking $86000. Someone with all cash, can probably own this for $80000, with the seller paying closing costs. I mean, a 4 year old 1900 sq ft home with all amenities, ASKING price $85,500. What next! We can almost make that home tomorrow, and be in the swing soon.
A little more checking on the effects of real dry heat. I have bronchial junk. and my pulmonologist has indicate that he though dryer would be better. I HATE having to make these kinds of decisions, but I'm starting to think that it can't be much more of a "BUYERS MRKT". Whats your take?
I live in Oregon. I live on the central coast but I've spent a lot of time in Bend and Redmond.
Give me a pool and a hot summer evening and I'll be a happy guy.
Hey maverick...
Thanks for the report. I like it when folks take the space needed to complete a thought. Works for me!
Did you LIVE in Bend/Redmond? From my weather-tracking, and internet watching, I see that a surely noticeable difference exists, in that Bend is damper, colder, wetter, while Redmond is icy-er windier and drier. All of that translates (at least to me) that Bend would be less of a pick than Redmond for my wants and needs. So, I thought I would ask if you were sending first hand knowledge re Redmond, etc.
My wife is just putting the kibosh on the AZ desert, with reasons that are valid, at least some of the time. Her first concern is the heat, and the dustier climate. A close second, is her distaste for the political climate and actions that have been showing up recently in the media. Not to mix politics and religion in public discourse, I regret to some extent that I understand her worries, and might concur on some level. Her second concern, and more important in my eyes, is the water supply for the Surprise, and other outskirts of the greater Phoenix area. Looks like some day in the future, finding drinking water might be more difficult in Ax than Or.
All thinks being equal, I imagine we could be closing an escrow in the Redmond area, rather than the Surprise area. I will keep looking at my accu-weather, and weatherbug, and the wondergroud to see if its just my imagination, or is it REALLY A LOT DIFFERENT than the North Coast where we now live.
Another way to frame this whole enchilada is, having lived for over 10 years in the Humboldt/NorthCoast area, and being used to the chilly/damp winters, (which pretty much blend into both spring and fall) - was that you said two seasons, summer season for 3 months, and then the OTHER season, which lasts 9 months? lol
Now, heres a capper-
Where in the lower 48 could I find the perfect mix city? Take the day by day temp from Surprise and Redmond, and add them, then divide by 2, and the same for the rainfall, the heat index, the etc. etc. etc?
So if it was 120 in a summer Surprise day, and 70 in Redmond, where is the magic town where it is 95? And like that, on and on?
As I've said on multiple occasions, heat is a nuisance, cold changes your entire lifestyle. You don't shovel heat. You don't worry about your car sliding off the road in heat. You don't drive 10 mph slower in heat. You don't miss flights at the airport to heat. Your child's school is not cancelled due to heat. You don't salt the driveway to heat. You don't have to de-summerize your vehicles. You don't scrape your windshield in the summer. You don't put your car on heating blocks in the summer. It doesn't take you 30 minutes to dress your babies and toddlers in the summer because you aren't putting layers of clothes on them. When you leave for work in the morning, it doesn't get hotter. When you return from from work in the evening, it doesn't get hotter. In the winter, you can't have barbeques and pool parties at 8 PM like you can in the summer here.
The summers are annoying here but relative to winters, I'll take extreme heat over extreme cold any day. And I don't think the heat is that bad. Most of us miss the worst of the heat because we are working indoors during that time since most of us work from 8-5 PM...the worst of the heat. In winters, it's the opposite, you are working when the weather is at it's best and experience it's worst moments driving to work in the morning and coming home in the evening when the sun goes down. In the summers, you can drive 2 hours and experience cooler weather in Flagstaff, Sedona and other parts of the state. In a cold weather city, you can't drive 2 hours and experience 80 degree temperatures for the weekend.
Last edited by azriverfan.; 01-10-2011 at 05:51 AM..
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thanks for the candid review
