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My husband and I are in our early 50's and are tired of the cold/snowy winters (except this winter when yesterday was 70 degrees!!) and are considering the Mesa, AZ area. After reading this forum I am disappointed in what I read. I also have allergies and was always told Arizona is the best place for people with allergies. I have a problem with dust...so now I'm wondering if this is the right place for us. We've never been to Arizona and are planning a visit this summer and have no idea what to expect. We're not looking for a city life and looking more towards a rural area but not too far away from industry/shopping/etc. We are aware that Boeing is located in Mesa and both have exposure the the Boeing product. We are looking for manufacturing companies that are not in the congested areas or major cities.
Besides this forum are there any other options for information (websites.etc). Also...what is the most popular newpaper for the Mesa area?
We'd like to know your opinions on:
Cost of Living
Cities/Towns/areas that are safe, a nice place to live and that are close to manufacturing companies.
Should we or should we NOT consider moving and why/why not.
The snake/scorpian problem...what towns/cities would have the lesser amount of them
Is the Mesa area as polluted/crime ridden/dusty as Phoenix?
Are there areas near civilization yet closer to the mountains that are not so polluted, dusty and hot in the summer?
The other option we were thinking of was Georgia and I see a lot of comparison in this forum on AZ vs GA.
Actually ANY info (positive or negative) on this area is greatly appreciated.
My husband and I are in our mid 50's and both had very bad allergies living in the pines in N. Calif. We have not had a single cold or flu bug since moving here 2 years ago. Not to say that we will never be sick again, just counting our blessings. We had a hard time adjusting to our first summer here, but have to admit, I really like the heat now. You just have to shop early and not do as much running around during the hottest time of the day. The winter here is worth the summer sweat. It is like our spring was up north. I would recommend renting and visiting the different communities before jumping into Mesa. It has some nice spots, but it is a little too congested for us. We like N. Peoria and find that it is one of the cleanest cities we have ever been to. Surprise is nice, but a drive before you hit the freeway onramp as is N. Peoria. It takes us about 18 min to get to the freeway, but the 303 loop is only 4 min away from our community. We live in Vistancia and think it is worth putting on your list. You can go to their web site. www.vistancia.com and walk along the walking trail and see the clubhouse. We are in the family side but there is an award winning adult community, Trilogy, right across the road from us. The ammenities there are awesome. They have a resort like club house called the Kiva Club with a full gym, spa, pools and a restaurant on site. The golf course is a public one that you can enjoy as well. The cost of living was a huge factor for us and we find it very affordable still. Housing here on the family side in Vistancia starts in the mid $200's with some really great resale homes on the market as well. Our HOA fees are about $75 a month. We have a number of builders building different styles of homes so there is not the bland sameness to the development. We also have an upper scale, million dollar development here as well that surrounds the mountain. The homes there are in the millions and the clubhouse is a work of art. We have had a few scorpions in the back yard but we get the pest service now and have not had any since. The only snakes we have seen have been out at the edge of the walking trail last year. The construction activity has sent them scattering.
Some of the other west valley developments, such as Buckeye and Goodyear have very affordable homes as well. They do not yet have the shopping that we are getting up here, but it will happen.
There is a publication called New Homes & Lifestyles that you can subscribe to that shows most all of the different areas and the builders. real estate website (broken link)
Good luck
Last edited by enlightenme; 01-08-2007 at 05:51 PM..
Reason: real estate website
My husband and I are in our early 50's and are tired of the cold/snowy winters (except this winter when yesterday was 70 degrees!!) and are considering the Mesa, AZ area. After reading this forum I am disappointed in what I read. . . . We're not looking for a city life and looking more towards a rural area but not too far away from industry/shopping/etc. We are aware that Boeing is located in Mesa and both have exposure the the Boeing product. We are looking for manufacturing companies that are not in the congested areas or major cities.
We'd like to know your opinions on:
Cost of Living
Cities/Towns/areas that are safe, a nice place to live and that are close to manufacturing companies.
Should we or should we NOT consider moving and why/why not.
The snake/scorpian problem...what towns/cities would have the lesser amount of them
Is the Mesa area as polluted/crime ridden/dusty as Phoenix?
Are there areas near civilization yet closer to the mountains that are not so polluted, dusty and hot in the summer?
Hi Cindy - not quite sure what you mean by not wanting to be in a city. Mesa, Peoria, Surprise, etc are all part of the Phoenix metro area. Some of these "suburbs" used to be towns, but the growth has pretty much consumed them into the metro area. Lots of jobs down in the Phoenix area. Weather is really, really hot (100-115) for 6 months out of the year. But winter is great.
Some other options for smaller towns (50,000 - 100,000) might be Prescott, Flagstaff, or Kingman. Kingman is not as hot in the summer as Phoenix, although I think it's over 100-105 quite frequently in the summer. (anybody from Kingman, please correct me if that's not right) Flagstaff is a college town in the mountains (about 7,000 ft. elev) with pop. of about 80,000. There are some jobs there, but the cost of living is probably about the highest in the state. Winters can be pretty chilly with daytime highs in the 30's, 40's. There's skiing (that is if we get enough snow) about 15 miles outside of town. Summer highs are in the 70's/80's.
Then there's Prescott/Prescott Valley/Chino Valley. About 80-90 miles from Phoenxi (believe it or not, but there's quite a few people who commute down there for work) Elev 5,000 ft, pop. about 85,000 (if you combine the 3 towns). Pretty much your regular shopping (1 mall, several discount stores, Costco, etc.) Jobs are not plentiful, by any means, esp manufacturing. You mentioned Boeing. Lockheed-Martin just moved a main division here, but I think it's more administrative. Housing costs are about the same as the Phoenix metro area right now. One thing you probably would enjoy is our weather--we've got more vegetation up here (pines, grassland, junipers) so it usually doesn't get dusty. The forest service has been doing controlled burns in the national forest areas the past several years. Don't know whether we can expect that every year or not (I'd think they'd have the excess brush pretty much burned off by now ) but I know the smoke does bother people with allergies if they're burning close to town and it settles in. Summer temps in the 80's/90's (once in a while it might hit 100). Winter temps in the 40's/50's with an occasional snow that melts during the day. Extended spring/fall with temps in the 60's/70's. Biggest drawback here in Prescott is lack of good-paying jobs.
Hope this info helps as far as some possibilities if you don't want "city". There's also Tucson and Yuma. I don't know much about that area, except Yuma gets hotter than Phoenix, I think. Tucson is a nice city. I'm not sure about it's population - maybe 500,000 - 750,000? Don't know what the job market is like there.
AZ is no longer a good place to come if you have allergies...especially dust related problems. My youngest son has developed allergy induced asthma because of the dust and terrible pollution. I have a friend that just left here in Mesa to go to Connecticut...and she couldn't wait to get to a more family oriented place...but it really depends what you are looking for. Just do not come here because you think it will help allergies....too many foreign plants,dirt,pollution for that...come because you think you love the environment and the place. Best of luck! Cin
We're not looking for a city life and looking more towards a rural area but not too far away from industry/shopping/etc.
I get the impression that you think of Mesa as a small, rural town. It is neither -- very much part of the big-city Phoenix suburbia.
I doubt you're going to find any small town in Arizona with a significant amount of industry. It's a very urbanized state -- Phoenix metro and Tucson metro are where all the people and industry are.
Cindy 854- REALLY think about your decision. Come out to visit as much as you can during different seasons. AZ is growing so much, in MY OPINION, it's becoming unliveable. Mesa is no different. East-east WAY out East Mesa might be different -think Apache Junction maybe. That area is still quite but it may only be a matter of time. We are one of the hardest hit areas w/illegal alien problems, and they have found many "drop houses" all over Mesa, Phx, etc. Doesn't CT rank way up there on liveability? Not sure if I'd want to make the move. Again, come visit -lots. Good luck.
tfox and gabygirl are right on with their advice. Don't be fooled into thinking that separate dots on the map represent disjunct cities. Like many urban areas out west, city planners have historically discouraged multi-story buildings in order to preserve the wide-open views. The result is mega-s-p-r-a-w-l...urban counties. Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale, Chandler, Glendale, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills, Peoria, Gilbert...it's all "Phoenix". Folks out here call it "the Valley" but the point is it's just one unified urban center. It's kind of like saying you're thinking you're going to go live in the Bronx because you don't want to put up with the urban hassles of New York City.
The mythological quest for the quiet, safe, clean bucolic bedroom community that is just over the hill from the metro area that offers economic opportunity and cultural ammenities is just that...a best-of-both-worlds myth. Sadly, it really is true that you can't have your cake and eat it too.
Using a CT area example, the Phoenix area is very similar to the NYC area in that it goes on forever. So to ask if Mesa is similar to Phoenix is like asking if Brooklyn is like NYC - they're pretty much just connected.
As for allergies, I don't know anyone who doesn't have allergies here. I lived in VA most of my life and thought my allergies and asthma would get better here. Nope. Actually they're worse b/c the dust is terrible, especially during monsoon in the summer. I don't keep my windows open for most of they year b/c it's either too hot, too dusty, or both. So if your allergies are a concern for you, I'd spend time here in the summer during monsoon to see if the dust causes you any problems.
That said, AZ has a lot of positives. No snow!! That's huge!! And, depending on where you live in CT, it's likely that you can find a lot more house here for your money then you can there. I know that real estate is crazy expensive in many parts of CT. Also, people here are very friendly - I've found they're much friendlier here then on the east coast. And many areas are new and pretty, which I like though I know some people like the variations on the east coast. As for Mesa, I'm personally not a fan - I think there are nicer areas to live. But it depends a lot on where you're working. Figure that out first, before you decide where you'll live b/c you don't want to have to commute across the valley.
Many, many people think that AZ is a great place to live. We've enjoyed it a lot since we've been here. It's completely different from CT though and I'd recommend a couple visits out here during different times of the year before you make your decision.
We were looking at the Mesa area because of Boeing and thought where there are Boeings' there are also many smaller manufacturing companies that support them. If Phoenix is like NYC and Mesa is like Brooklyn that is NOT for us. We were thinking of looking to live east of Mesa and commute to Mesa. But if that means tons of traffic and highways...not for us. (I currently live 3 miles from work and my husband 7 and both of us go against the heavy traffic flow and away from the congestion of our Mesa ((Hartford)). We realize that we'll never be so lucky with our commute anywhere else but if there's no snow....then a longer commute won't be as bad as long as it's not a congested commute. We want to make a move to a place where we can find work without a horrible commute and due to our jobs we have to find a place where there are the jobs then make a decision. We dont' have jobs that are in high demand and don't want to make a mistake
Connecticut is a VERY expensive state to live..high cost of living...high taxes....high everything...Hot/humid summers and (usually) cold/snow winters......yes the pay scale is probaly higher too but unless you're in the higher paying jobs, it's hard to make ends meet...We are living a comfortable life here in CT but we're thinking into the future.....
Does this area have a small amount of manufacturing compannies or are there numerous manufacturing companies?
Are there any areas east of Mesa that are close to manufaturing without the congestion?
We are planning a visit during the summer but like as much info as possible before we go...
These websites are great...thank you all for your postings!!
We realize that we'll never be so lucky with our commute anywhere else but if there's no snow....then a longer commute won't be as bad as long as it's not a congested commute. We want to make a move to a place where we can find work without a horrible commute and due to our jobs we have to find a place where there are the jobs then make a decision. We don’t' have jobs that are in high demand and don't want to make a mistake.
If you don’t have jobs that are in high demand why do you believe that you can find some here in this area? Have you looked into what the pay scale is here for your type of employment yet? You may want to check on buying the Arizona Republic newspaper at one your bookstores back there and read through the classified ads. You may find some information that could really help before making a move. Also you might find some pricing on homes, condos, or apartments that are for rent or buying. Please keep in mind that our lower priced housing reflects our lower pay scales in wages!
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City Life vs Mtn Living
) but I know the smoke does bother people with allergies if they're burning close to town and it settles in. Summer temps in the 80's/90's (once in a while it might hit 100). Winter temps in the 40's/50's with an occasional snow that melts during the day. Extended spring/fall with temps in the 60's/70's. 
Biggest drawback here in Prescott is lack of good-paying jobs. 
