What do YOU like abou living in the Phoenix area? (Tucson: 2010, homes)

[Ponderosa]

Leaving family behind is tougher than a lot of people think it will be. You don't miss em till they're gone. I ended up building a family of my own in Arizona and AZ is what I think of now when I think of "home".

[Keehome]

Ponderosa, how did you do that? Geez, I do not want to make this another topic inside of what this thread is about...........

[maverick974]

Actually I'm taking my family along. My brother helps me take care of my 82 year old mother and they are buying a house and I'll buy a house for my daughter and myself.
Luckily, having family close isn't a problem.
Also, here in Oregon, since I live so far out in the sticks and some uncommon events, I have few friends here but I'm hoping to make many friends in Arizona. With my wife and older boys grown and gone, I'm looking forward to making new friends and starting life anew in many ways. New friends, new area, new things to do and see. I think it will be an adventure.

[Keehome]

Even one family member can make a huge difference in how you can feel here. My husband travels (which is what brought us here) and there are not any kids in the house. I just feel like AZ is so big.....so vast.........

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Keehome

Ponderosa, how did you do that? Geez, I do not want to make this another topic inside of what this thread is about...........

The old fashioned way, got married (twice ) and had some kids. They were born in AZ.

[ivanabacowboy]

Having a support system is definitely a bonus! Glad to hear you are bringing your brother and mother as well. One of the reasons I jumped on the chance to move to Phoenix (voluntary job relocation) was my immediate "family" that is left was already here except my older sister who is trying to get here as soon as she finds a job-but who is in Vegas so it is a pretty convenient trip I can make on a "whim" on a Saturday morning if I so desire for the weekend. She really wanted Phoenix rather than Vegas, but found a job in Vegas first. And the day she arrived she started counting down the time until she could leave and come to Phoenix (ie her job paid her relocation and she was committed to a 2 year stint or she would have to reimburse them about $100K-ouch).

If anyone knows of any Chief Nursing Officer positions open in the valley hospitals, my older sister would be here in a heartbeat. ;-)

I live just a couple miles from my younger sister-I am a couple blocks north of Kierland, and she is a couple blocks west of Kierland. She has been here about 20 years or so. My niece (older sis's daughter) used to live about 6 miles away at Via de Ventura & Hayden, but shacked up with her boyfriend in Ahwatukee a few months ago.

I had been here to visit a few times before relocating. I knew my priorities: live near my sister and have an easy commute to work that didn't require the freeway. Since I pretty well already knew the neighborhood, my "house hunting" trip my employer paid for took all of about...a couple hours lol! I already knew which complexes I was interested in, and just had to schedule a walk through to really check them out before making a decision. So I used most of the trip for visiting, sight-seeing and relaxing lol!

[NJ2AZSusan]

Originally Posted by Keehome

I moved here last July from Virginia, and I am still having a hard time adjusting to living on the West coast. It is a daily struggle. I guess mostly because of family and friends being back on the east coast. But I really enjoyed the great weather this winter, and there is nothing like an Arizona sunset. We got a ranger to go out on trails with, and the desert is beautiful when you get back 20-30 miles on the trails. I think I would feel better if I had some family here though. I am not sure how long it will take, if at all, to feel like this is "home".

Keehome,
I moved here from New Jersey and knew NO ONE. We had no family here for 3 years until one by one family started moving out. Now we have lots but I never expected that to happen and when we first moved I would have been happy for ANY relative, even a third cousin! It's true the hardest part was missing them all, in addition to getting used to everything new, though I always did like it here.
Anyway, now I write a column for people who have "transplanted" like you have. It might help you to see you're not alone, and hopefully even give you a laugh:
Transplants To Phoenix Examiner
Hang in there!
Susan

[robbieaz62]

what I like about living in the Phoenix area:

1. Year 'round motorcycle riding season
2. No snow to deal with or car windows to scrape
3. Very few rain days
4. It's a casual and laid back atmosphere
5. More conservative than liberal
6. Cost of living is reasonable

[Keehome]

thanks Susan, and everyone else with your stories. I know family will not move here. They all have steady jobs and kids. I have to figure out how to make this work for me. And I will............

[lbroshar]

We just moved to chandler and I love it! I feel like its the in the middle of all the placed I love or need to go. I would highly recommend CHANDLER. We moved here from out of town and had to buy a UHUAL TRUCK for all of our furniture it was going to be way too much money to try and rent one. The people here in AZ are so helpful we wouldnt have known that we could buy a truck and save hundreds of dollars. I had someone email me on something like this and let me know. So needless to say I am very happy with deciding to move to AZ we have been here over a year now.