Never been there... may want to move and buy a house...best and worst part (Phoenix: photo radar, transplants)

[firsttimeowner]

Please tell me 5 things you love about living in az..........and what area you live in and 5 things you hate about az. and again if its specific to your location or all of Az.

I see some great deals on big new homes with pools but.............its it just too hot to be worth living there and are those homes in good or bad areas.


where is safe and has good schools.

please advise.

Thanks
Debbie

[ivanabacowboy]

Hi!

Love
1) Weather
2) Sun
3) Convenience (so many things nearby, shopping, restaurants, resorts, golf etc)
4) Cleanliness
5) Desert landscaping

Hate
1) Nothing. ;-0

I live in the areas known as Kierland or Desert Ridge. My ZIP is 85054 (Phoenix). Nearby also very nice zip codes are 85254 (Scottsdale), 85050 (Phoenix), 85260 (Scottsdale), 85255 (Scottsdale).

No one would know if the home you are looking at is in a good or bad area unless you provide an address or intersection which they are near. As to whether a particular home has been maintained and is in good structural condition and so forth is a different story, which you would only know from a visit/inspection.

However I caution: as a general rule, if it seems to ridiculously cheap to be true--->it is most likely not anywhere I would want to live. In this part of town, prices have come down but are nowhere near "dirt cheap".

[Carnivoregal]

What about Copper Leaf Condos? THat is in zip code 85040. Do you know anything about that area?

[losercore]

It will hep to know where you are coming from too, but here are the top 5's for us and we just moved here (Althought I had been here several times before)

1. Sun
2. Outdoor Lifestyle
3. Weather
4. Cost of Living
5. Most people in the burbs are mainly transplants and are very nice and welcoming where ever you are from. (So far anyway)
6. BONUS - It's really close to SoCal for beaches, Disneyland, SeaWorld and everything else you may want to vacation there for. Also the many National Parks and State Parks in AZ give you plenty to do. You can stay nice and comfortable in the winter in Phoenix and then travel not too far to some snow if you wanted.

I cannot say I hate anything at this point - maybe the sprawl. It takes a very long time to get from the far east valley to the Airport. Lucky for me I do not commute so there is no traffic issue for me and I dealt with LA/OC traffic most of my life anyway. But yes it can sometimes seem very far to get somewhere because of how large the area is. I like it, but only bothers me when I need to fly - and that happens to be often.


Again this will depend on your budget, family life and many other factors but we ended up in Gilbert.

We focused on Gilbert, Ahwatukee (Part of South East Phoenix) and Chandler this area is what is consoidered the east valley. Many other people focus on the North like North Phoenix, Scottsdale. I cannot say much about those places yet, even though they do seem really nice.

Gilbert has some of the best schools in the State and really is a clean, attractive town. There is plenty of shopping, dinning and things to do not too far away. Chandler borders Gilbert and was on our list, but we just did not find what we wanted in Chandler.

Keep in mind that prices you may see on the Internet are most likley short sales. this means the price could be 25% + lower than it will really sell for. We looked a 2 SS's and the first seemed too good to be true. 5 beds, in Val Vista Lakes great condition and a price tag of $260,000 with a large pool and huge lot. Of course we put in an offer and found out so did 2 dozen other people in one weekend. The house sold for over $380,000 - out of our price range. So you can see the prices may not be what you think they are. Forclosed properties can be a deal if you want to spend the time dealing with the bank, cleaning and most likley fixing up a place. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you like it and the price is right chances are so are many other people and you will have multiple bidding wars driving up prices. Just the reality here right now.

Again depends on where you are coming from. If you are coming from Newport Beach, CA then I would say yes, there are great deals on houses here. But if you are coming from Houston, TX I would say it's about the same. Good areas cost more than the bad areas and the cost of living is pretty close.

Good luck - we love Arizona

[w1ngzer0]

Originally Posted by firsttimeowner

Please tell me 5 things you love about living in az..........and what area you live in and 5 things you hate about az. and again if its specific to your location or all of Az.

Love:
1.)When every other state, including California, is at 103 to 104 with humidity, Arizona at 105 feels like 99 in Calfornia.
2.)Long period of perfect weather and cold weather
3.)Met my wife in Arizona
4.)Growing nanotech and electronic chip industry
5.)Affordable housing (for now...)

Hate:
1.)Too many people come and go
2.)State keeps education in last place
3.)Can get up to 115 or higher
4.)No mass transit beyond buses (It's a problem with the west, not AZ)
5.)everything has to be done 3 times before getting it right...

I honestly would not care if I could ever buy a home as long as the apartments were at a fair price. Usually when homes around the area skyrocket, so do rents. I would hope AZ invests in a fair rent act like some other cities have done.

[wilberry]

Phoenix
too hot
too crowded
too big,
too much crime
too much air pollution
too high if rent
too high realestate
too many **** roaches
too much like HELL

[poolgirl51]

Originally Posted by firsttimeowner

Please tell me 5 things you love about living in az..........and what area you live in and 5 things you hate about az. and again if its specific to your location or all of Az.

I see some great deals on big new homes with pools but.............its it just too hot to be worth living there and are those homes in good or bad areas.


where is safe and has good schools.

please advise.

Thanks
Debbie

I live in Northern AZ and love it here. So here goes:

Love:

1. The outdoor activities and wide open spaces
2. The ability to get to a lot of different climates in less than 2 hours
3. The ability to get to many, many different and interesting places around the west in less than a day
4. The biodiversity (lots of different plants and critters)
5. The people, warm, friendly and interesting

Things that I don't like as well:

1. So many folks move here with out really spending the time, before they move, to understand how different it is here. Once here they are unhappy. Any one considering the move should visit first and often before moving.
2. We don't have kids but the school system is not good and that impacts everyone.
3. We live in Northern AZ so it is not really an issue for us but I would struggle with the heat in Phoenix in the summer.
4. See #3 - we do have to go down to the valley a couple of times in the summer to shop for things we can't get up here. We are a little remote.
5. Far from family (Fl, GA, HI, KS)

[MotleyCrew]

Love: The weather during the winter and even the summer and the monsoons.
The newness of North Peoria and the shopping variety.
The cleanliness
The wildlife here, especially the quail and coyotes
Most of the people I meet from everywhere around the globe.

Don't love: The rapid decay of any fruit or veggie you bring home.
The lack of cooling down in the evening.
Traffic, or rude drivers
Dust storms
Orb spiders.

[las vegas drunk]

Love...

The winter. I will admit Phoenix has a better winter than Las Vegas.

Hate...

1. Photo radar, one thing I don't miss.

2. The town shuts down completely after 2 AM.

[thegirlinaz]

Live in: Gilbert, AZ

Love
1. Heat
2. Lots of outdoor activities (hiking, backpacking, camping, hunting, shooting, ATVs)
3. Nice people
4. Affordable

Hate:
1. Heat
2. Traffic, terrible drivers on the road!
3. Bad economy (which is everywhere unfortunately..)