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I would stay away from Phoenix. I would recommend Atlanta, Houston or Dallas. All large cities, definitely not as crazy as NYC/Chicago but growing places, with good job markets and lots of young professionals. Houston, Dallas and Atlanta all have great nightlife, not boring places by any means. Housing is very affordable in both Dallas and Houston, although it has become a bit more expensive in Atlanta over the years. They are all great places also if you want to go to graduate school, get a MBA or go into law school. They all offer decent public transportation options, although the Houston light rail system is still in its infancy. DART in Dallas is good and expanding, MARTA in Atlanta is pretty decent.
I would stay away from Phoenix. I would recommend Atlanta, Houston or Dallas. All large cities, definitely not as crazy as NYC/Chicago but growing places, with good job markets and lots of young professionals. Houston, Dallas and Atlanta all have great nightlife, not boring places by any means. Housing is very affordable in both Dallas and Houston, although it has become a bit more expensive in Atlanta over the years. They are all great places also if you want to go to graduate school, get a MBA or go into law school. They all offer decent public transportation options, although the Houston light rail system is still in its infancy. DART in Dallas is good and expanding, MARTA in Atlanta is pretty decent.
Agreed. If NYC, Boston, Chicago, et al are not to your liking living than a place like Buckhead or Midtown in Atlanta, Midtown or Montrose in Houston, and Uptown in Dallas would be good alternatives. More of a professional feel to all those cities as compared to Phoenix with, I think you will find, a better job market...at least for higher pay professional jobs. The educational opportunities are also much better in any of those cities as compared to Phoenix.
-- If comparing Phoenix to larger cities, Phoenix is closer in design to Los Angeles and Houston than to New York and Chicago.
-- The lifestyle portrayed in "Sex and the City" does not exist anywhere, even in Manhattan, except maybe for a very small elite that can afford beautiful apartments with monthly rents in excess of typical salaries.
-- It is incorrect to say that your retail and restaurant experiences would necessarily be chains if you lived in Phoenix. I do a great deal of my shopping and most of my dining out at independent places. They're plentiful in the core of the metro area; it's only the outermost newly developed suburbs that are dominated exclusively by chains.
-- I moved here at age 23, just after finishing grad school. I knew almost no one in Phoenix when I came here. Nevertheless, Phoenix has worked out very well for me since I'm here nearly two decades later with a career I like and a family. As the posts above demonstrate, however, no city is good for everyone, so do your research carefully.
If you end up in Phoenix, the best advice I can give is the following:
-- Resist the temptation to buy a house right away, even if everyone around you is doing so. By waiting a while and renting, you can save up a bigger down payment and get a nice house or condominium in a more central area. Young people in their 20s who convince themselves they need a house right away tend to end up in farthest reaches of suburbia.
-- Don't assume that your close friends will be your coworkers and your neighbors. While it's good to get to know both those groups, I've always found clubs and organizations a far more effective way to meet people who share my interests and values.
I am a 22 year old recent college graduate who is considering moving to Phoenix because from research it's a "city," growing tons and offers great career opportunities. Without much experience in a "big city." like NYC, San Fran, LA, Boston etc... I'm afraid I might have this unrealistic expectation about them. College was the best times of my life with many friends and late nights out. I anticipate that Phoenix might be a nice balance - not the fast-paced brutality of NYC, but big enough to meet young professionals like myself??
My priorities right now are being young with adult responsibilities. Yet I am single, ready to meet friends, go on dates - interested in nightlife, entertainment, social scenes. Is there anyone who has lived in a traditional big city AND Phoenix and can offer any advice between the 2 on if I'm expecting too much "Sex & The City" with NYC/Chicago?? And is Phoenix not really what I'm looking for? As of now, I'm with no familial, friend or significant other obligations (aka ALL ALONE), seeking entry-level jobs w/ a bachelors degree (income?)
Any suggestions???
Phoenix is a pleasant enough city, and it does have a young urban vibe here and there, but it's not exactly where you'd want to be if you're 22. It's a bit more designed for someone a bit older, engaged, perhaps married. The problem with Phoenix is that it's so big and sprawling - there is a downtown developing, but it's still kind of spread out, and there's few places to walk, meet, and mingle, critical if you're 22. It's a much more driving-oriented city.
If you're looking for a city to go out and walk and meet people, what you want is probably more along the lines of a Chicago, which has the big city lifestyle without the excessive drive of New York or Boston. Chicago's a great city to be single. It's not that you'd be unhappy in Phoenix, but it just doesn't have that lifestyle that, say, Chicago could offer you.
By the way, no city - not even Manhattan - truly has that "Sex and the City" vibe, unless you're incredibly rich, have an excessive amount of free time, and look like Sarah Jessica Parker.
all very good points. silverbear, i like the positive experience bc of my family in the area... it's probably where i want to start out at such a young/inexperienced age. im consdiering getting my feet wet with a support system in the area... and then once i get comfortable with life outside of college - then move to chicago (i.e.)
I would not recommend moving to Phoenix. My fiancee and I moved to Phoenix 14 months ago from San Diego. Well, I was born and raised in San Diego, did my time in the army, went back to San Diego where I met my fiancee who was born in Texas, raised just outside Detroit, MI, did her time in the Marine Corp. and was Stationed in San Diego which is how we met.
Mainly moved out here since we both got out of the military and the whole "Get a great job with your training from the military" didn't do a darn thing and was really, a huge waste of time. She did wiring and I was a Helicopter repairer and we couldn't find any jobs at all and none would take military training for me getting a job working on helicopters, so looked into going to an aviation school and none of them would take any military training either. So it was a huge waste of time, should of just went to College instead.
Anyways, we moved to Phoenix, well, Glendale, we're right on the border of Glendale, Avondale, and Phoenix, Fiancee works in Glendale and I work in Phoenix. We came out here because the cost of living was not as high as in San Diego and it's about a 5 1/2 hour drive.
Well...are the jobs out here? Sure are, the pay isn't great, at least with no college degree, of course the cost of living is lower too.
Also Arizona is a odd state where the employer can fire you for any reason they want, they dont have to tell you the reason and you really can't do a darn thing about it.
Most of the people here are rude. Most locals who have lived here forever don't really like people who moved here from out of State and to be honest I can think of only one person who was born and raised here that I can have a friendly conversation with. The only people I get along with are the people who moved here from out of state. Most people who were born and raised here have had a negative additude towards people who moved here.
Traffic sucks. At least on the west side of Phoenix there is like, the 10, and the 101, tahts about it, so if you need to go just about anywhere else it's a long drive through city streets. I drive from 99th Ave to 25th Ave and its about 15 miles and takes about 30 minutes. If I stick to the freeway (101 to 17) if its in the morning or evening traffic is horrible and takes about 45 minutes and is between about 25 to 30 miles one way, 10 to 15 miles more. It takes about the same time, or a bit faster going that way when it's not peak traffic time but then again, is saving 5 minutes really worth an extra 10 to 15 miles one way? I don't think so. Also the 101 has like three lanes, thats it, and in this state most semi-trucks and heavy construction trucks drive in any of those three lanes they feel like.
No one knows how to merge in this state either. Maybe its because a lot of people from different states all move here and drive bad, the way everyone in there home state does, getting all taht together isn't a good idea.
At least on the west side there is A LOT of construction and most of the time, at least a few days before they actually start work they'll put up cones and block of that part of the road and just leave it tehre so it makes traffic worse when no work is going on. Once they do start work most of the time they are real slow about it. Forget having to drive down a road like Glendale or Camelback anywhere past like 99th Ave, the next cross roads are far and inbetween and with constuction that can pop up anywhere they LOVE to block cars from turing right, or left, and do it for a few cross streets down, so if you want to say, go down 107th but can't turn right, your next best chance MIGHT be about 125th. NOT COOL!
If you can't deal with the heat then don't move here. And DON'T get qwest, they keep costing more and more, we got a basic phone plan costing $15 a month, they raised it to $30 for some reason, not to mention there is about $10 in landline phone taxes so thats about $40. We never use our home phone but we can't get rid of it otherwise we can't have internet.
If you live in a big apartment complex see if you can get something like Cox Cable instead of Direct TV, sure the weather usually doesn't get bad to often but a lot of times they put the Dishes on the side of peoples decks so all someone have to do is bump it and you don't ahve TV.
Good luck getting service on weekends. We were gone the whole day on a friday, got home about 4:30 and realised our TV wasn't working, we called to get them to cehck it out and they said someone will be by monday. I had to call about 10 times before I finally got a guy who told me they have compaines contracted to fix these problems and gave me there direct number. So I called and they said they'd be out the next day, sure it wasn't that night but at least they were coming the enxt morning, and they did.
So, in my opinion.
My fiancee and I both being 23...
Bad traffic. Freeway setup sucks. Way to much road construction which is fine but it's very slow moving, I understand it gets real hot out there but they are being paid more then us who were in the military and we worked a lot faster then that in the heat! Stay hydrated and you're good to go. Rude people, mainly locals who hate so many out of state people moving in and a lot of out of state people pissed off that they moved here (like me). The heat! And at least for me, a pool IS NOT the same as the ocean and I'm use to being able to go to the ocean any time I want and I have not gotten over that and i've been here 14 months. Also a lot of local arizona people LOVE to dress like surfers and crap and think there all that because they are going to a pool, its like, dude, you don't have to lie to kick it! Whats worse is sure it gets real hot but there isn't anything to do out here! Lets see, lots of resturant and fast food chains, movie theaters, thats about it. Sure there is NHL Hockey, NFL Football, MLB Baseball, and NBA Basketball but just about all of that can cost a lot of money and if you aren't amking a lot of money, which its tough to do out here you can't go to those to often. Sure the wages are worse, but the cost of living is lower but the prices for those pro sporting events are the same prices you're going to pay in the higher costing city like San Diego. and are just as tough to decent tickets too, must be because this state sucks and there is nothing else to do. I mean, if you got a day off and dont want to sit inside all day where are going to go where you can spend very little to no money and stay all day? Lets see..you can sit in all the sand and dirt, or you can go to a pool with everyone else, or you can go sit in a park.
I would not recommend living here if you are young, single or not! There just is NOT a lot to do and just about everything is going to be a long drive or short in milage, fairly long in traffic time.
This is a good place for older people who like the heat and dont go out a lot except to resturants or movies, other then that its not great.
I hear good things about scottsdale but also hear it cost a good amount of money to live there and if your going to be paying a lot of money, why have it be in a place likt Phoenix??
Other posters have given you some good info. If you are looking for a smaller town atmosphere, but with the advantages of the 'city' - have you looked at Portland, OR? Their public transportation is great, there are alot of young people there, and supposedly lots of opportunities for recent graduates. The housing is a little on the steep side, but I'm sure you'll be renting for a few years wherever you end up, so I wouldn't worry about the cost of a house right now. I've never been to Chicago, but I have a friend who spent her early 20's there not too long ago, and she loved it! I love NYC, but just to visit - not to live (cost prohibitive). LA is gonna be way to big for you, I think. They are doing alot of 'lofts' in downtown Phoenix, and in Tempe and in Glendale by the stadium, and I know that alot of younger people are moving here for that type of living. The job market here strictly depends upon what your field is. If it's anything medical - no sweat. If it's tech - good market, but try to live close to where you work or you'll be driving for way too long. Remember that when people refer to "Phoenix" most of them aren't talking about the City of Phoenix proper, but are including all the towns and cities surrounding Phoenix - the entire Valley. And each town or city has their own set of good features/bad features. It's just too big here to narrow down a certain area for you without knowing what your field is, what your likes/dislikes are, and so on. Best of luck in your search for the best place to start your career!
No one can make generalizations about Phoenix. It is as diverse as they come.
I moved here from Chicago back in 1978 and still love it.
We have a big city feel downtown, small town feel in Rio Verde and Carefree, college feel in Tempe and some serious nightlife in Tempe and South Scottsdale.
I am a young college grad who moved out here from NY, and I think it's a blast! Don't listen to the people on this board.. come check it out for yourself.
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