Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There are a lot of threads started by people who want to move here and find jobs-and commute. Please let me explain a few things. There is nearly no mass transit. This place exploded in growth while the Republican government/voters didn't want to spend money on infrastructure. You will be either driving, like in LA, or taking a bus (we don't have them run enough to be useful) or the "light rail"-who knows when that will be done-and it only will be useful in a few areas of town.
So-if you are moving here-do not buy anything. RENT.
Even driving on a freeway or a surface street-there is a lot of traffic-which gets worse in the winters. There is a lot of pollution. There is a brown cloud over the sky-and many days we are over the pollution limits for health. If you have any breathing problems or bad allergies or are elderly-this will be a stay inside all day for you with the windows closed. We have many of them.
SO-----DO NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH A HOUSE AND THEN LOOK FOR WORK WHEREVER YOU CAN GET IT.
DO NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH A JOB-AND THEN REALIZE YOU CAN'T AFFORD THE AREA TO LIVE.
Phoenix is a huge metro area that is VERY SPREAD OUT. It will cost a small fortune in gas, (maintainance) to drive here. Wait til you get your bill for your license plates! We don't have toll booths for a reason-you will pay several hundred dollars a year for your tags and we have so many accidents here that your insurance will likely go up as well. These are things your realtor won't tell you.
Rent prior to deciding anything. Take a 6 month lease. Look close to where you work or close to where you live. Or take the bus. If there are 2 of you and your jobs are on opposite sides of town (seems to be the deal on here lately) look at a map. Find the middle area between those two jobs-now find a place. Cut your commute. Save our planet. Save your wallet. Save the brown cloud for those who have breathing problems.
Long story short (too late now):
1. rent
2. come out here in the summer to do so-you will need to know what you will be dealing with. From (plus or minus a month on each side) May to October-this year November (sometimes it starts in April) it is hot. It is very hot. It is so hot, that you will burn your hand on your steering wheel. You will learn what it means to ALWAYS have water with you. AT ALL TIMES. You will learn what a heat stroke feels like. You will get burned if you stay out in the pool all day. No more than an hour at a time for the first several weeks. You must have sunblock on at all times during this time-and I would also advise a hat too. Imagine it being over 100 degrees after the sun has already set. It is dark out. It is 10 pm and 100+ degrees. You need to know what you are getting yourself into-do not just come here in the winter-it is totally different the rest of the year. Oh, and the winters can get into the low 40s in the deserts-less in the mountains. It will snow up north-if they are lucky due to the drought we are in and have been in for over a decade. We have millions of people here, and where is the water coming from? The Colorado. How long will that last? It only rains a matter of a few inches a year here. Believe it or not, you start to pray for rain. Anything other than the sun beating down on your head. Burning your face. Sunglasses-mandatory-all day, every day.
3. find job first, then home.
4. Know your budget. Know what your license plate tags will cost-there is no grace period here. You move-you replace the old ones immediately.
5. Know the difference in price of all of your regular bills, will they go up or down?
6. Do you have kids? What schools are good?
7. Where is the most/least crime?
8. Be prepared to not like it here. It could happen. You may wish to move home or somewhere else entirely.
9. Drive very defensively. People here are bad. They will hit you.
10. Prepare to not see the color green for a long time-or rain too.
I have tried to answer questions as they have been presented in the past few days. Any others? Just reply. Aloha and mahalo.
We rented when we first moved here (10 months ago) and we extended our rent for another 6 months b'c the market is just so bad right now that the real question is "how low will they go?"
I am not working right now but I will be in school either at ASU West or Tempe and DH works way out in Tonapah area so we have a dilemma. Plus, my job after I graduate will most likely be in the east side so we are definitely torn as to where to buy a home!
There are a lot of threads started by people who want to move here and find jobs-and commute. Please let me explain a few things. There is nearly no mass transit. This place exploded in growth while the Republican government/voters didn't want to spend money on infrastructure. You will be either driving, like in LA, or taking a bus (we don't have them run enough to be useful) or the "light rail"-who knows when that will be done-and it only will be useful in a few areas of town.
So-if you are moving here-do not buy anything. RENT.
Even driving on a freeway or a surface street-there is a lot of traffic-which gets worse in the winters. There is a lot of pollution. There is a brown cloud over the sky-and many days we are over the pollution limits for health. If you have any breathing problems or bad allergies or are elderly-this will be a stay inside all day for you with the windows closed. We have many of them.
SO-----DO NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH A HOUSE AND THEN LOOK FOR WORK WHEREVER YOU CAN GET IT.
DO NOT FALL IN LOVE WITH A JOB-AND THEN REALIZE YOU CAN'T AFFORD THE AREA TO LIVE.
Phoenix is a huge metro area that is VERY SPREAD OUT. It will cost a small fortune in gas, (maintainance) to drive here. Wait til you get your bill for your license plates! We don't have toll booths for a reason-you will pay several hundred dollars a year for your tags and we have so many accidents here that your insurance will likely go up as well. These are things your realtor won't tell you.
Rent prior to deciding anything. Take a 6 month lease. Look close to where you work or close to where you live. Or take the bus. If there are 2 of you and your jobs are on opposite sides of town (seems to be the deal on here lately) look at a map. Find the middle area between those two jobs-now find a place. Cut your commute. Save our planet. Save your wallet. Save the brown cloud for those who have breathing problems.
Long story short (too late now):
1. rent
2. come out here in the summer to do so-you will need to know what you will be dealing with. From (plus or minus a month on each side) May to October-this year November (sometimes it starts in April) it is hot. It is very hot. It is so hot, that you will burn your hand on your steering wheel. You will learn what it means to ALWAYS have water with you. AT ALL TIMES. You will learn what a heat stroke feels like. You will get burned if you stay out in the pool all day. No more than an hour at a time for the first several weeks. You must have sunblock on at all times during this time-and I would also advise a hat too. Imagine it being over 100 degrees after the sun has already set. It is dark out. It is 10 pm and 100+ degrees. You need to know what you are getting yourself into-do not just come here in the winter-it is totally different the rest of the year. Oh, and the winters can get into the low 40s in the deserts-less in the mountains. It will snow up north-if they are lucky due to the drought we are in and have been in for over a decade. We have millions of people here, and where is the water coming from? The Colorado. How long will that last? It only rains a matter of a few inches a year here. Believe it or not, you start to pray for rain. Anything other than the sun beating down on your head. Burning your face. Sunglasses-mandatory-all day, every day.
3. find job first, then home.
4. Know your budget. Know what your license plate tags will cost-there is no grace period here. You move-you replace the old ones immediately.
5. Know the difference in price of all of your regular bills, will they go up or down?
6. Do you have kids? What schools are good?
7. Where is the most/least crime?
8. Be prepared to not like it here. It could happen. You may wish to move home or somewhere else entirely.
9. Drive very defensively. People here are bad. They will hit you.
10. Prepare to not see the color green for a long time-or rain too.
I have tried to answer questions as they have been presented in the past few days. Any others? Just reply. Aloha and mahalo.
I agree with 99% of this...sad how many people move out here on a shoestring to buy some $200K dream shack 50 miles from where they work...then spend $500 a month on gas...$500 a month on AC...then realize they can't afford it and yet another home hits foreclosure...renting in this huge spread out mess really is the best option until you figure it out.
I know it's hot. Was born and raised there. You are right about the steering wheels being hot to the touch. Even where I live now it gets that hot. We use sunscreens to protect the steering wheel. We are having a warm fall. Normally when Halloween hits the temps cool down. It is now close to 80 degrees outside and we have the windows open to enjoy the cool air.
The hottest I have ever been was outside of Phoenix. It was a 122 degrees F when we decided to drive home. Boy, was that a bad idea! Fortunately we had water, by the gallon, so we dranks lots of it. It was so hot we could not run the AC as the car was overheating. Never did that again. LOL!!
I joined this board to find out where the best places to live when it comes to crimes rates, etc. I don't know the best areas of town any more, I left Phoenix around 1970 and haven't been back.
We are looking at the Scottsdale area as I know crime is relatively low there. Other low crime areas would work too, if I could find out where to look.
And yes your advice is sound. Most people do NOT realize how hot Phoenix summers can be.
I get so sick of driving near downtown and experiencing the disgusting brown cloud. Somedays I don't feel well or get a headache before getting to work.
I agree wholeheartedly with what Nana wrote, however, I do know that jobs change and you may very well end up going further to work. That's unfortunate. I have had jobs all over the place, but I do have my limits. I won't work on the east side of town, but I can imagine some people finding their dream job or company on the other side of town and I wouldn't say don't take it as it's too far away. So, I believe there are exceptions.
I'm wondering what people think should be the max miles to drive to get to work? I'd have to say 10-15 miles, but of course the shorter the better. I, unfortunately, drive 20 miles, but my BF dumped his 20 miles and went down to 3!! Not only does he come home for lunch (which I know adds more miles), he also has eliminated a major stressor in his life (which I'm jealous of) TRAFFIC! He used to come home so angry and frustrated almost everyday, but not any more, it's great! If we could sell our house and move closer to my work I would do it at this point, but with this market we can't.
OK, I do agree with a lot of what you said...but I feel that moving as a whole has a lot to do with attitude. YES I did a ton of research before we moved out here, and had the opportunity to rent before we did buy. I expected the summer to be horrid. It was hot, but not unbearable. I kept my car in the garage (important.!) and I always put my sunshades in my car if it had to be left out. Luckily it only takes my husband 15-20 minutes to get to work, and he doesn't have to be at work at a certain time, so traffic is never an issue for him. All of the issues that you bring up are good ones. People HAVE to do their homework. I haven't been disappointed moving out here from a very cold climate. My only real complaint are the dust storms. They are totally 100% disgusting. Now THAT probably would have prevented me from moving here.! I am anal in the fact that I will turn my a/c off during these storms, simply for the fact that I don't want all of that dirt in my house.! Well these dust storms happen during the summer, so it's a bit toasty when I turn it off.
If you are thinking about moving here, this forum is the best place for info. This is where I found 90% of my information. Good luck to anyone.!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not worth it -
