Former Denver Residents, please help. (Phoenix, Flagstaff: apartments, house, scorpions)

[Rockies4]

Can former Denver residents please describe what it is like living in Phoenix. If you could, would you stay in Phoenix or move back to Denver. I have been living in Denver for 13 years and feel a need for change. The winters get longer every year that you age. Freezing in the morning going to work and freezing in the evening coming home. Cost of living is becoming very expensive (housing and apartments). Traffic is horrendous every day.

[esiebert7625]

I moved from Arvada to Phoenix just over a year ago, I knew what it was like though because my family moved down here over 20 years ago and I came to visit a lot.

Climate: I sure don't miss shoveling or driving in snowy weather. The summers here are like the winters in CO in the way that you tend to stay indoors and once you get through it the rest of the year is great. It can get a bit cold in Dec./Jan. here, down to the 30's for a low but daytime temps are pleasant and I have yet to wear long pants here. If miss cold/snow you can always drive up to Flagstaff and experince it.

Traffic: I work from home so can't comment too much on that, I don't miss the I-25 traffic one bit though. Fom the few times I've driven in rush hour here it doesn't seem too bad and its not worse then Denver. The valley is pretty big though so it really depends what where you would be commuting to/from.

Cost of living: Overall its a lot more expensive for me here, having a much bigger house though probably has a lot to do with it. My electric bill gets close to $500 in the summer, but it offsets because I don't really need much heating or cooling in the milder months. Seems like I need a man for everything down here, lawn man, pool man, pest man, weed man, etc. I've heard though that the overall cost of living is less here especially with housing.

Pests: Didn't have much too worry about in CO, here you have all sorts of things that can bite or sting you such as snakes, scorpions, spiders, coyotes. While I haven't seen any snakes, I've seen tons of scorpions but thats primarily because of my location next to the desert. In many areas of they valley its not that bad.

Food: We have Fry's and Safeway here, Fry's is a Kroger Store just like King Soopers but you can actually by any type of booze you want there. Since the grocery stores sell full liquour selections you don't see many liquor stores. The food selection doesn't seem to be as good though as CO and there are a few specific items I have a hard time finding here.

Things to do: Doesn't seem to be much of a downtown area like LoDo and 16th St. Mall but you can still find plenty of things to do if you look. There are a lot of cool themed places here and since there are so many high end resorts here that you can check out as well, they have great rates and promotions during the off season.

Overall I'm happy here and while I miss a few things I wouldn't consider moving back.