tucson or phoenix? moving to az.... (Payson, Pine: vacation, wages, jobs)

[peaseblossom]

Hi! My family and I are moving to Arizona...because we love the weather! We really don't like the "city" and don't live lots of populated areas. We are kinda stuck thou, because we are in the construction industry and that forces you to be where lots of ppl are. So....what area is better...tucson or phoenix??

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by peaseblossom

Hi! My family and I are moving to Arizona...because we love the weather! We really don't like the "city" and don't live lots of populated areas. We are kinda stuck thou, because we are in the construction industry and that forces you to be where lots of ppl are. So....what area is better...tucson or phoenix??

Supposing your premise to be true*, the Valley of the Sun, i.e. "Phoenix" has the most construction going on and the most room to grow. Tucson is hemmed in by mountains and federally-owned land. On the other hand, Phoenix is rather overbuilt at present. There is a huge amount of unsold inventory in the RE market and many builders have been laying off workers. Tucson isn't that much better. But really, you should be thinking about how well you can compete in the local market you'll be in. Spanish language skills, are rather important in the Arizona construction industry, for example. Also realize you'll be competing with workers who don't necessarily expect standard wages. If you're not a citizen of the U.S., you don't grumble about the pay when offered work.

*Personally, I don't think that supposition is true. You're not "stuck" being in big metro areas -- you can go wherever building is happening. A couple of years ago, I was working construction jobs in a town of 5,000 and had more job offers than I could take. It's how much a community is growing and how saturated the job market is that makes the difference. Over the next 30 years there will be a lot of homes that will get built for retirees. A lot of those retirees are leaving the bigger cities and looking for better livability in less crowded areas. There is also a lot of construction going on farther north in Yavapai and Coconino counties.

[peaseblossom]

Absolutley right! I agree with you.....we, however are not worried about the "cheap labor" as we are the employer. We are aware that we need to learn spanish, and think this would be a good thing to teach our daughter as well. A lot of ppl on these threads talk about no culture in Phoenix, but I think the Spanish influence alone is something you can't get living in the PNW. The population on Tucson is considerably less, and from what I have read instead of mowing over the desert, the keep the desert influence in the plan layout of the city. We were kinda hoping we would see construction happening in that area. We are coming down for a visit in a week.....hopefully we find what were looking for!1

[Ponderosa]

There is plenty of construction going on in Tucson, too. They are mowing over the desert there too. And there the desert is so much nicer than around Phoenix. As Steve points out, there is building going on everywhere. There are several smaller outfits in Payson, Pine that build customs for people in the AZ high country. I see the crews all over at my vacation cabin area and English is the primary language on the job site, still. If I had your skills I would be exploring the possibilities to set up shop in Payson or some other smaller AZ town where retirees and the wealthy are buidling and compete for the custom business.

[AZPROPERTIES4U]

I think Phoenix is Definetly the better of the two. There is still plenty of oppurtunity even as the builders are discounting there inventory. Right now the economy in Phoenix is still one of the strongest in the Country.. Most of the investors are leaving and going to Texas which is a good thing if your thinking about buying in phoenix.