Getting Cold Feet About Moving To Phoenix..Please Help! (renting, to buy)

[Scottay]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

It has NEVER been 100 on Halloween anywhere in the metro area and certainly not suburban Gilbert away from the heat island - NEVER. The average high on that day is 81. The record high is 96 and that was in 1988.

I've read many of your posts Ponderosa and I know you have good knowledge of the Valley but I've experienced some very hot and unpleasant Halloweens here. I don't care what the thermometer on top of the channel 3 building downtown says, it's hotter than that.

Experiment: Take your thermometer and hold it about 4 feet above the middle of your street during a July day and see what it reads. Then later in the evening compare the reading you got to what the news said was the high.

We did this once when I was a kid and got a reading of 135F, much higher than the 110F that the news said it was.

Ad in the fact that almost all of the buildings in the valley are coated in stucco (cement and fine aggregate) which just soaks up and amplifies the heat. Again, I don't care what the National Weather Service says the temperature is. It's effectively much hotter than that.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Scottay

I've read many of your posts Ponderosa and I know you have good knowledge of the Valley but I've experienced some very hot and unpleasant Halloweens here. I don't care what the thermometer on top of the channel 3 building downtown says, it's hotter than that.

Experiment: Take your thermometer and hold it about 4 feet above the middle of your street during a July day and see what it reads. Then later in the evening compare the reading you got to what the news said was the high.

We did this once when I was a kid and got a reading of 135F, much higher than the 110F that the news said it was.

Ad in the fact that almost all of the buildings in the valley are coated in stucco (cement and fine aggregate) which just soaks up and amplifies the heat. Again, I don't care what the National Weather Service says the temperature is. It's effectively much hotter than that.

There have been a couple of nasty hot Halloweens, particularly for those who remember doing it in winter coats and stocking caps. But not 100 - at and after dusk. It just is not that bad. As for the temperature measurement, well I try not to stand in the middle of a street in July. But it is interesting. I worked in the summer outside in Tucson when I was in college and when I was younger I fished, camped, and played sports in the heat. What I learned is that what really makes it miserable is coming from the cold into the heat like we do all the time. If you get up at the campgrounds when it is cool you really do well as the day heats up (staying in the shade of course). I was at a school track meet on Saturday and we got there early and sat in the bleachers all day. It got to 100 or so, but it was not anywhere near as bad as I was fearing it would be - again because we never came out of the cold but just adjusted as the day went on.

Anyway, like I said, the weather with all its heat is the reason people want to come here and the attribute most mentioned as what they like about living here. I think we have it pretty good all in all and I am not a heat lover. I know my sister in the UP would give her eye teeth to be out of the 8 inches of snow that is predicted up there this week. Those poor people are ready for the asylum!

[WFW&P]

Originally Posted by maverick974

All I can say is WOW. I couldn't disagree with you more. I certainly mean no disrespect to you but much of what you say is just wrong.
First of all, it isn't 90 for over 7 months and it isn't over 100 for 5 months. I live in Mesa near the Mesa/Apache Junction border. Here are the 30 year averages. Statistics don't lie.
Intellicast - Apache Junction Historic Weather Averages in Arizona (85278)

Statistics don't lie but they are open for interpretation because the average temperature is not the actual high or low temperature, but a derivitive of the two. In other words if the low was 50 deg and the high was 120 that average temp for the day would be 85. Sounds pleasant until you discover it was 120 degrees that day. I also noticed in the chart the column for the record high temps in which most were set in recent years. That tells me it's not getting any cooler there.

Originally Posted by onthelake1617

We are set to accept a job and buy a house in Ahwatukee. We currently live in Seattle, our daughter will be going to college in the fall and doesn't care either way, but our 15 year old son is a high school freshman and absolutely does not want to move. I feel sick to my stomach everytime I think about telling him that we are indeed moving to Phoenix. He would attend Desert Vista High, which I have heard is a great school. Are we going to like living there? Am I wrong to move our son during high school? We moved to Seattle 3 years when he was in 6th grade because my parents live here and I grew up here, but now we have a good job to go to in Phoenix. Also if we buy a house in Ahwatukee is the value going to go up in 5 years. I'm so stressed have to make a decision now. Any thoughts? Please help.

We almost moved out there for career reasons (employment transfer) and while we don't have kids I was dead set against going. There were too many variables that couldn't be pinned down and the place did not appeal to me whatsoever.
Then again I live in the best part of the country where we have four seasons, lush green trees and rolling hills.
I would investigate this as thoroughly as you can and I don't recommend buying a house right away unless you are convinced AZ is the place for you. When you visit new area or vacation you tend not to pay much attention to the annoyances because you eventually go home; living there can be an entirely different scenario.
As for those who say it's not that hot in AZ in the summer the employer had a permanent misting station in the courtyard.

[Foreverking]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

It has NEVER been 100 on Halloween anywhere in the metro area and certainly not suburban Gilbert away from the heat island - NEVER. The average high on that day is 81. The record high is 96 and that was in 1988. You did not live here then. Over the many years I have lived here, we have found that we often leave home for T or T feeling hot and ending up bundled up in coats a couple hours later. It's a dry (and it cools off fast after sunset) kind of heat that time of year.

And it will be in the 80s next week and probably a couple more times before the late June heat sets in. It's bad enough without having to exaggerate it.

Some like the heat, some hate it, but most just soldier on through it. Survey after survey done in Phoenix finds that, far and away, the thing people mention as what they like the most about the place is ---- THE WEATHER.

I know you are a very knowledgeable person on this forum, but God as my witness, the temp on our front porch read 100 degrees. It was the signature day that convinced us that we needed a house with a pool.

[maverick974]

Originally Posted by WFW&P

Statistics don't lie but they are open for interpretation because the average temperature is not the actual high or low temperature, but a derivitive of the two. In other words if the low was 50 deg and the high was 120 that average temp for the day would be 85. Sounds pleasant until you discover it was 120 degrees that day. I also noticed in the chart the column for the record high temps in which most were set in recent years. That tells me it's not getting any cooler there.

Just to clarify..........
I'm assuming you didn't look at the link. When I said "average" temp, that is the average "high temperature" for that date for the last 30 years. Also right next to the average daily high is the record high. It's all right there. Check it out.
The average high temps and the average low temps are listed for each day as well as the record highs and lows, the monthly averages as well as rain and snow averages.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Foreverking

I know you are a very knowledgeable person on this forum, but God as my witness, the temp on our front porch read 100 degrees. It was the signature day that convinced us that we needed a house with a pool.

This is turning into yet another heat thread and heading where they all go. The message to the OP should be clear: some people can't take the heat and want to leave because of it, most just tolerate it, and some actually love it. Weather certainly affects one's enjoyment of a place, so think about it along with the other issues you have to consider. Interestingly, the original post never mentioned the weather.

[Foreverking]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

This is turning into yet another heat thread and heading where they all go. The message to the OP should be clear: some people can't take the heat and want to leave because of it, most just tolerate it, and some actually love it. Weather certainly affects one's enjoyment of a place, so think about it along with the other issues you have to consider. Interestingly, the original post never mentioned the weather.

LOL I was thinking the same thing

[AZgarden]

So, OP if you are still with us: Where are you now with your decision? To stay or go?
One thing I did want to disagree with in one of the previous posts: I Think People in AZ are VERY FRIENDLY and I disagree with whomever said they aren't. Just because everyone is from somewhere else gives you an edge to meet people and make friends. Because you will hardly ever come across a NATIVE here. Everyone seems to fit in and I think its one of the politest (sp?) cities (at least here around Chandler) I ever found. If you want more info about Chandler, send me a DM. No, I do not have kids in school here, but I know alot about the schools.

[Foreverking]

Originally Posted by PhxBarb

So, OP if you are still with us: Where are you now with your decision? To stay or go?
One thing I did want to disagree with in one of the previous posts: I Think People in AZ are VERY FRIENDLY and I disagree with whomever said they aren't. Just because everyone is from somewhere else gives you an edge to meet people and make friends. Because you will hardly ever come across a NATIVE here. Everyone seems to fit in and I think its one of the politest (sp?) cities (at least here around Chandler) I ever found. If you want more info about Chandler, send me a DM. No, I do not have kids in school here, but I know alot about the schools.

Don't worry Barb, even though I am very pro Seattle, I will say that she will find people just about anywhere in America more friendly that the natives in Seattle. I find the folks from the Midwest who transplanted here to be the most friendly. You move to Seattle to work, enjoy nature, but definitely not to get invited to the neighborhood BBQ. I live in Gilbert, work in North Phoenix and I would say that for the most part, these folks are very friendly and polite.

[Java Jolt]

Originally Posted by atler8

If you can make scouting trips to Phoenix, I'll advise you that it would not be wise to hurry so as to miss the triple-digit heat, as an earlier person here suggested. You & your family need to know exactly what you are getting into as far as the heat factor goes.
Phoenix & Seattle are not only polar opposites in climate, but culturally they feel as if they are in different countries.
And if you love living near the ocean at Puget Sound, the Valley will be another polar oposite situation.
Good luck!

I agree.

Summertime is never a good season for visiting Phoenix on vacation, but for potential newcomers it is the best time to get a taste of what they might be in for.

Some people love the heat, others hate it, and anyone who is a heat hater will not like it here no matter how dry or humid it is.