No Debbie Downers, Arizona Economy is Not Dead (Phoenix: house, landlord)

[goolsbyjazz]

Wow, reality check. :-(

[PinkElephant]

Originally Posted by AlohaFriday

It's a precarious balance. Places like North Dakota don't have much expect oil patches and $20 an hour jobs at Walmart. But places like Manhattan are now too expensive for a lot of people to consider.

The NY Times ran an interesting article about how younger (not directly out of college, maybe early 30s with some experience but not tons) were moving to OK City and Rust Best cities experiencing renaissances like those in Ohio. It's cheaper and easier to make a mark because there's not as much competition.

But early in people's careers, they have to think about social connections and the value they bring. If you move to the middle of nowhere, who are your peers? If you want to be the best in your field, you're going to suck it up and pay NYC, LA or San Fran rents because the connections you make and the companies that are headquartered there can make a huge difference in your career. So what if you have to share a room? A lot of people want to experience living in big, world-class cities and that is worth more than space to them.

A lot of times places have low cost of living precisely because there aren't job opportunities. Supply and demand. There's a reason why millions of people continue to live in LA even though its horribly expensive, the air quality sucks and traffic is abominable.

That comes into play not only with peers, but with mentors. Where are the successful people? If you're in Phoenix you don't necessarily have access to a lot of established people to learn from. Phoenix Metro is really a huge small town. It doesn't act like a big city, IMHO.

Until we get a slew of big Fortune 500s to start to develop those intricate networks and ecosystems, it will stay the same. Cheap rent comes at a price.

Where are these cheap rents? I just got laid off from a Fortune 500 company $10 an hr no raises.

News said average rent went up, ours did. I wish I knew where my neighbors moved but they all make more than me. Food and needed car repairs and I needed to leave the pleasant but dead end job.

I say I would accept admin aide work but ppl seem to think that is above me. Call center work was to keep a roof over my head. I want and need a life but have no special contacts or skills.

I love the puzzle aspect and honoring our past that comes with genealogy. Every local place I cold contacted either said "no", no reply or tried to sell me their services since I wasted their time. One job hunting class will say reinvent yourself, another will say to take fast food and another part time job to end my needs.

I'm from CA the only mentors I ever personally encountered were for professionals. I keep getting intervieed by people who say I have the same name or otherwise remind them of their ***retired grandma***. Lost my retirement in an enron type setup. Plus a bad divorce. No retirement or assets to fuss about. He's lost his health and I've relocated to Phoenix not knowing a soul.

[RJ312]

Originally Posted by AlohaFriday

That comes into play not only with peers, but with mentors. Where are the successful people? If you're in Phoenix you don't necessarily have access to a lot of established people to learn from. Phoenix Metro is really a huge small town. It doesn't act like a big city, IMHO.

Until we get a slew of big Fortune 500s to start to develop those intricate networks and ecosystems, it will stay the same. Cheap rent comes at a price.

This was a big part of the reason I moved out of Phoenix a number of years ago. The quality of jobs in Phoenix is pathetic relatively to the population size of the metro area. Too few Fortune 500 HQs in Phoenix.

[Ztonyg]

On the plus side, it looks like we're getting a Hilton Garden Inn downtown.

Source: 'Psycho' building at Central and Monroe to become Phoenix Hilton

[copyright-- don't post entire article]

[azriverfan.]

My question is: to all the people complaining, what are you going to do about it? Obviously, you are passionate about Phoenix otherwise you wouldn't be wasting your life complaining about the city on this forum if you didn't give a darn. Maybe some of you should consider starting companies or a small business and make a difference instead of complaining that we have nothing. Don't take this as an insult, take this as a challenge and make our community better.

[Angelfan760]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

My question is: to all the people complaining, what are you going to do about it? Obviously, you are passionate about Phoenix otherwise you wouldn't be wasting your life complaining about the city on this forum if you didn't give a darn. Maybe some of you should consider starting companies or a small business and make a difference instead of complaining that we have nothing. Don't take this as an insult, take this as a challenge and make our community better.

Well Said. Sometimes perspective is key in these situations. I can personally tell you that I have looking at moving to Phoenix from San Diego for the last year and a half. the inlaws have recently moved to Prescott and my wife is mentally packed.

In regards to the economy we have been carefully analyzing all our options about staying or going. If we stay here we will need to pay for private school on top of our mortgage for our $400k house ( 1500 sq ft.) in a neighborhood where schools are ranked 3 out of 10. I am pretty confident we can be in a top neighborhood with great schools for under that price in the greater phoenix area.

While considering long term job options the number of jobs in phoenix significantly out number those here. The only thing here that is in need is computer programming. All other bachelors type degree position are paying much less than pre-recession wages. Blue collar trades have been crushed by illegal labor.

The nation as a whole is still underemployed, however all we hear about in Ca. is companies moving to Phoenix and Texas which I can understand since the taxes are out of control here in CA.

In short it is not 2004 anymore, but others states are not booming like 2004 either (even Texas). I have extensive family there and the jobs are abundant but low paying. the phoenix economy is much stronger in comparison than several others that have a much higher cost of living.

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by Ztonyg

On the plus side, it looks like we're getting a Hilton Garden Inn downtown.

Source: 'Psycho' building at Central and Monroe to become Phoenix Hilton

That's the same "failure" referred to in a previous post. It's on hold because they can't get the GPLETs (tax breaks) that they want.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by new2colo

Large scale private investments in this area have failed or have yet to materialize. The Sapphire glass plant? Failure. The Pin structure that was supposed to open in downtown Phoenix by the Super Bowl. Failure. The old Hotel Monroe in downtown Phoenix that was supposed to be renovated and reopened as a hotel by the Super Bowl. Failure. The hotel that was supposed to be constructed by the Luhrs building in downtown Phoenix starting this summer. Failure. The USA Basketball development in Tempe that was supposed to start construction at least six months ago. Failure. The multi billion dollar Intel facility in Chandler that remains vacant. Failure. It's just really hard to see things in this area picking up any time soon when nearly every large scale private development proposed in the area over the past year has just been a complete miss. The only thing that is moving forward is the Marina Heights/State Farm development along the south shore of Tempe Town Lake.

I know my posts on the topic are exceedingly negative, but this idea that the Valley is in the midst of a comeback is clearly a huge farce.

Well, USA Basketball is evidently back on track to break ground in December. USA Basketball complex coming together

I don't count that crazy Pin tower, as a "failure" or "loss", either. As to the rest of it, you are right. There is a new proposal for a an apartment/shops complex at Central and Van Buren, where Central Station sits now. http://www.downtownphoenixjournal.co...-station-site/

[Wally Sconce]

Phoenix is a tourist destination which relies on a lot of tourist dollars , many of those Canadian. With the over valued US dollar you'll see a lot fewer Canadians heading to AZ. I have been spending the winter in AZ for the last 5 years , this will probably be my last and while I'm here this winter I will be spending only on the necessities. If you wonder why the RE market has gone flat there's one of the reasons right there, you would be hard pressed to find any Canadian buying property in AZ now. I'll be renting my property out starting next spring.

[Off topic]

[new2colo]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

My question is: to all the people complaining, what are you going to do about it? Obviously, you are passionate about Phoenix otherwise you wouldn't be wasting your life complaining about the city on this forum if you didn't give a darn. Maybe some of you should consider starting companies or a small business and make a difference instead of complaining that we have nothing. Don't take this as an insult, take this as a challenge and make our community better.

I believe that people who are lot happy with the current economic state are doing something about it by voting. Not everyone has the will or the resources to just drop their lives and start a company. I think many of us are making a difference by getting up and ging to work, contributing to the tax base of this state and sticking through what are clearly some rough times that the state is going through. For some of us, it might be appealing to go to where the grass is greener, but for many of us, we are invested here and are doing our part to ensure that this area moves forward.