Illinois to Phoenix (Tucson, Buckeye: how much, home, buy)

[bawhalen88]

I will be moving from Illinois to Phoenix next month. I have several questions regarding living in Arizona.

1. Is window tinting a necessity? How much does it cost?
2. Do vehicles wear down faster in the constant heat?
3. Is traffic every backed up in rush hour traffic? If so, what areas are the worst?

[BuckeyeBoyDJ]

1. I personally think window tinting is necessary and you could get it done for less than a 100 bucks
2. It really depends on what kind of car you have and how often it's left in the constant heat for. If you have a garage then of course that's better than parking outside but I wouldn't say vehicles wear down faster in the constant heat. If your car is only outdoors when you go run errands then you park it in your garage when you return home then it's really nothing to lose sleep over. It's no different than the affect an Illinois winter can have on a car.
3. If you're coming from the Chicago area then our traffic isn't nearly as bad because we have half the population in the metro area. But to answer your question yes rush hour is a bear for the most part. From the burbs most traffic is headed towards Phoenix (downtown&central phx) in the am and away from Phoenix in the pm. The worst areas for congestion is the I-10, I-17, Loop 101, and the 60. If you could avoid taking any freeway to and from work that would be best since all of our freeways are heavily utilized like any other city.

[bawhalen88]

Any ideas of costs for tinting car windows?

[ajchambers13]

Probably for less than 100 like Buckeyeboy said... but as for traffic coming from Chicago it should be a breeze. Especially since Phoenix was ranked 55 out of the 63 largest metro areas in North America for congestion (especially considering it's going against cities less than 1/4 its size!) as rated by tomtom traffic index.

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by bawhalen88

3. Is traffic every backed up in rush hour traffic? If so, what areas are the worst?

The worst bottlenecks that I am aware of are the morning on I-10 from the south/east heading into downtown Phoenix, and in the afternoon westbound on the 202 heading towards downtown, extending onto I-10 through the tunnel (between 7th St and 7th Ave.) There are others, I am sure. I agree that things are not as bad as Chicago traffic but if your commute here involves one of these bottlenecks, it's still painful.

[libbyjo]

The 101 is pretty much bumper to bumper during rush hour also. How bad rush hour is just depends on where you are traveling to/from. Do you know where you will be working yet?

[kell490]

I find it strange that so many from Illinois move to Phoenix so many states out west. No complaints that you want to move here but I always wonder why Phoenix. I have heard the term Phoenix is a suburb of Chicago I guess because of the extreme cold people want the other heat.

[ghdana]

Originally Posted by kell490

I find it strange that so many from Illinois move to Phoenix so many states out west. No complaints that you want to move here but I always wonder why Phoenix. I have heard the term Phoenix is a suburb of Chicago I guess because of the extreme cold people want the other heat.

One of Illinois largest employers is giving employees the option to move to Phoenix from a small city. A lot of people want the sun and to live in a large city.

[8to32characters]

Originally Posted by kell490

I find it strange that so many from Illinois move to Phoenix so many states out west. No complaints that you want to move here but I always wonder why Phoenix. I have heard the term Phoenix is a suburb of Chicago I guess because of the extreme cold people want the other heat.

Just be thankful it's Illinois and not New York.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by kell490

I find it strange that so many from Illinois move to Phoenix so many states out west. No complaints that you want to move here but I always wonder why Phoenix. I have heard the term Phoenix is a suburb of Chicago I guess because of the extreme cold people want the other heat.

1) A lot of Chicagoans head to Phoenix for the Cactus League and decide to stay for at least part of the year. Many I know sell their home in Chicagoland, buy in Phoenix and keep their cottage in Wisconsin for the summer months.

2) Taxes.

3) While the governments in both states well, leaves a lot to be desired, the politicians' cut in Arizona is far less.

4) You can generally find nearly everything in Phoenix that you can find in Chicago. That is less true of Tucson. The traffic may be bad in Phoenix but Chicago is worse.

5) Among my friends, a lot of their children go to ASU if they do not go to Big Ten schools. I do not know if ASU does a lot of recruiting in the north or if the students want the warm weather. I cannot think of another school in the West that draws from Chicagoland as well.