California transplants in Phx (Phoenix, Yuma: crime, credit card, loan)
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I was born and raised in the Bay Area, went to college in LA, and I couldn't wait to get out (traffic, sprawl, housing prices, etc.). Been in AZ for almost 20 years now. I go back to CA frequently to visit family and I am convinced that CA is the worst run state in the union. The budget problems there are magnitudes worse than here and the fatal problems (CALPERS, "high speed rail" (AS IF), etc) are right over the horizon. I predict a Federal bailout of that state in 10-15 years or so.
I guess my point is, if you like California politics, you might not like it here in AZ. I am no fan of the Arpaio or Pearce types, but they drive the progressives batty. They say everybody's a racist, blah blah. (Full disclosure: I am not white.) You folks have your Maxine Waters and Jerry Brown types that similarly succeed against all logic, so that sort of illustrates the political chasm between AZ and CA.
A lot less regulation here. I go hiking with my dog on the mountain behind my house, or any mountain, without getting hassled by some association or the law. Hell, I can strap on a handgun while I'm at it. Under my shirt. With no CCW. With a 12-round magazine. BTW, when I say "mountain," you would say "big rock."
But I gotta say, Asian food is much better in CA. "Good Chinese Buffet" is a 3-way oxymoron in Phoenix.
Lived in Southern California for 32 years and I will always consider myself a Californian. I miss the beach terribly. I miss the restaurants, best mexican food is in California. I miss the weather in California.
What I don't miss: traffic, people, sprawl.
I love the Northern Arizona skies, like Montana skies. I live in the country, love the slow pace. I am reaching 60 years old, so don't know if I could take the crowds of California. Arizona, has beautiful and clean areas compared to California but I miss my ocean so so much.
I was born and raised in Phoenix but lived in the Bay Area for 15 years and have been back here for a long time.
Of course it is cheaper to live here, but in the Bay Area I was able to own two homes and find the cheaper areas to live in. The commute in one home was hectic, not as bad here. Not that hard to get around. Pay is less but the housing costs are less too.
I liked the more established lifestyle there and the more cosmopolitan feel of things. Politics is horrible here, but a lot of that comes from a historic good ole boys network that has held things back. The problems here are endemic of much of the country until corporate control of our political process ends. Many of the people who have moved here are from the rural Midwest, and are to blame for much of the political dysfunction in the state. The retirees contribute as well. The Bay Area was more educated, cosmopolitan and racially diverse, so that people like Jan Brewer, Arpaio, and their comrades would never be elected into office. The anti ethnic studies programs and racial southern strategy politics would never work there either. It was tried in the 90's in CA and changed things forever.
Being a union state as California is, is a good thing, but the key to Arizona's growth is being non union, and having minimal land use restrictions allowing for urban sprawl, which also allows for cheaper real estate prices. Many union states are having problems now, as union busting and the search for places to operate more cheaply for business, is forcing ordinary people to work for less money, and causing job declines in union states like California. Plus California over regulates things. I am liberal but too much regulation is a bad thing. Arizona is broke too just like CA.
Life here is easier depending on how one makes a living. The grass is not always greener on the other side. It works for me here because my wife and I have our own business which takes us out of town frequently, and we live with my elderly mother when home. She is not able to live on her own anymore so her home is mine. If it weren't I'd be in a different situation.
I found the additional pay earned in California to compensate for the cost of living. Owning any kind of house no matter how small or old was a bonus in CA however. Houses may be newer and cheaper here (as well as gas), but many people earn far less money. Some do better here, but unless you have a particular niche that can equate to comparable income to CA, I'd stay put. For an ordinary working person, pay scales are much lower.
I think if the political corruption in this country by conservatives and big corporation owners eventually gets blocked, Phoenix can eventually expect to become more cosmopolitan over time, and be a really good place to live, if you can handle the heat 5 months of the year.
As a Libertarian, I am not a big fan of the Arpaio types here myself. However, I do not do anything that makes me a target. I work, I do not drink and drive and I take advantage of the nature this state has to offer on weekends. I do feel the "Far Right" has a stranglehold on state politics here at this time. Arpaio is 80 someodd years old. He's a narcissist and his being sheriff is keeping him going. Look what happened to Joe Paterno after he lost his 50 year gig at Penn State. I truly hope he loses his bid for re-election but it seems unlikely at this time.
I believe the same types of people are being re-elected because of the perception that voting the other way is a "wasted vote." This state seems Libertarian in non-political ways but certainly not politically. A goofy law involves a 20 year sentence for injuring a Saguaro. I don't know. Pedophiles and Embezzlers plea for 6 months in county and harming a Saguaro gets 20 years. That is something I will never understand.
I was born and raised in Phoenix but lived in the Bay Area for 15 years and have been back here for a long time.
Of course it is cheaper to live here, but in the Bay Area I was able to own two homes and find the cheaper areas to live in. The commute in one home was hectic, not as bad here. Not that hard to get around. Pay is less but the housing costs are less too.
I liked the more established lifestyle there and the more cosmopolitan feel of things. Politics is horrible here, but a lot of that comes from a historic good ole boys network that has held things back. The problems here are endemic of much of the country until corporate control of our political process ends. Many of the people who have moved here are from the rural Midwest, and are to blame for much of the political dysfunction in the state. The retirees contribute as well. The Bay Area was more educated, cosmopolitan and racially diverse, so that people like Jan Brewer, Arpaio, and their comrades would never be elected into office. The anti ethnic studies programs and racial southern strategy politics would never work there either. It was tried in the 90's in CA and changed things forever.
Being a union state as California is, is a good thing, but the key to Arizona's growth is being non union, and having minimal land use restrictions allowing for urban sprawl, which also allows for cheaper real estate prices. Many union states are having problems now, as union busting and the search for places to operate more cheaply for business, is forcing ordinary people to work for less money, and causing job declines in union states like California. Plus California over regulates things. I am liberal but too much regulation is a bad thing. Arizona is broke too just like CA.
Life here is easier depending on how one makes a living. The grass is not always greener on the other side. It works for me here because my wife and I have our own business which takes us out of town frequently, and we live with my elderly mother when home. She is not able to live on her own anymore so her home is mine. If it weren't I'd be in a different situation.
I found the additional pay earned in California to compensate for the cost of living. Owning any kind of house no matter how small or old was a bonus in CA however. Houses may be newer and cheaper here (as well as gas), but many people earn far less money. Some do better here, but unless you have a particular niche that can equate to comparable income to CA, I'd stay put. For an ordinary working person, pay scales are much lower.
I think if the political corruption in this country by conservatives and big corporation owners eventually gets blocked, Phoenix can eventually expect to become more cosmopolitan over time, and be a really good place to live, if you can handle the heat 5 months of the year.
"Arizona is broke too just like CA."
States with highest debt per person(CA in top 10 at # 7 with $2,362 per person):
Hmmmm....so you're saying the Phoenix area is less educated than San Francisco? Based on your conclusion on this topic, you may be surprised that it appears we have a great deal of sharp/hard-working/successful people here:
Hmmmm....so you're saying the Phoenix area is less educated than San Francisco? Based on your conclusion on this topic, you may be surprised that it appears we have a great deal of sharp/hard-working/successful people here:
I have read the surveys of wealth in the Phoenix metro area. Paradise Valley came in #25 on the list of highest per capita income in the country.
Many wealthy people have part time homes in the Paradise Valley and Scottsdale areas here.
When I say the San Francisco Bay area, that is a 9 county area of over 7 million people that includes San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose. The individual cities are all part of a metro area just as the Phoenix metro area is a combination of various contiguous cities. The San Francisco Peninsula which extends into the Silicon Valley area is home to thousands of single digit millionaires, and I just read that info recently. That is due to the high tech industry.
There is much more high end shopping in the Bay and more residents are high end consumers. that is what I mean by more cosmopolitan as compared to the more suburban ordinary lifestyle of the Phoenix area with Scottsdale and the Biltmore areas being an exception. And there are 25 Whole Foods stores there where here we have only 5. Whole Foods looks to operate in areas where there are many college educated residents. People are more health conscious in the Bay, and it is just an older and more established area.
The Phoenix metro area is home to about 4.5 million people, and there are very few native born people. I am one of the few. Most people who live here are transplants. This used to be strictly a service economy with a few aerospace companies such as Motorola, Air Research, and Goodyear here plus Armour Dial headquarters and Ping golf clubs were here.
In the 90's new corporate entities came to the scene, but the pay structures are much lower than corporate headquarters in established older areas such as Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles and The Bay Area.
When I refer to the state being broke, I am not talking about personal indebtedness. I am talking about the state government. Many states are plagued with shortfalls in revenue after the disasterous presidency of George Bush.Massive layoffs have created a shortfall in government revenue here just like in California and numerous other states. Many government workers have lost jobs here too. That is why our sales tax rose by 1% and we have a 2% food tax. Our sales tax rates here are amongst the highest in the country.
This state was too reliant on real estate and is overbuilt. In time hopefully all will balance out.
Hmmmm....so you're saying the Phoenix area is less educated than San Francisco? Based on your conclusion on this topic, you may be surprised that it appears we have a great deal of sharp/hard-working/successful people here:
As you can see, Maricopa county is #4 on most millionaire households nationwide. I don't see San Francisco on the list.
I think many of your other points are highly-debatable/tend to generalize but they are just your opinions of course.
? There are 4 California counties listed. 2 before Maricopa even gets mentioned. And don't kid yourself, the state of Arizona is broke. Not as bad off as California but broke is broke.
San Francisco is considered a world class city. Phoenix is not.
? There are 4 California counties listed. 2 before Maricopa even gets mentioned. And don't kid yourself, the state of Arizona is broke. Not as bad off as California but broke is broke.
San Francisco is considered a world class city. Phoenix is not.
Been to San Fran far too many times for conventions and I think it has long ago lots its bling bling and is a second class city now. Sorry just my personal observation and some things are hard to overlook when you are scraping human waste off your expensive shoes. I love Phoenix however vanilla it is. Just my personal pick, Phoenix AZ over SF CA. Yes AZ is broke, but we will work our way out of it just like CA would or could if they got their ducks in a row and stopped spending too much money.
Been to San Fran far too many times for conventions and I think it has long ago lots its bling bling and is a second class city now. Sorry just my personal observation and some things are hard to overlook when you are scraping human waste off your expensive shoes. I love Phoenix however vanilla it is. Just my personal pick, Phoenix AZ over SF CA. Yes AZ is broke, but we will work our way out of it just like CA would or could if they got their ducks in a row and stopped spending too much money.
I picked Phoenix over Los Angeles and don't regret it. But I can also see more desirable locations in California. San Diego, Santa Barbara, Paso Robles, and Malibu are places that come to mind.
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- Thank you, SteveK64 --- for using facts, as opposed to allowing rampant, liberal generalization to rule these posts ... 
