How are Californians adjusting to Pheonix? (Phoenix, Glendale: relocating, job, houses)

[nehazaidi]

Just wondering..........

[Grimey]

Hopefully they are learning to spell it! LOL

Just kidding, relax...

Besides, if CA xplants don't like it, they will be pleased to know that I-10 also has a west-bound lane.

[riffrandall]

Moved here from Cali 2 years ago and love it!!!!

We have a gorgeous house in Glendale - Arrowhead section, and so affordable! It really isn't that much hotter here in summer.

Sure beats $800,000-dollar scrap houses and don't miss the traffic at ALL!

[Ponderosa]

The Cali people I know seem to be quite happy here. They probably assimilate easier than any of the states. Phoenix is not much of a culture shock coming from S. California. And it is easy to go back on the weekends to see the relatives or your old neighborhood to remind you of why you left.

[brittZ]

I think the heat depends on where in CA you are coming from. In North Coastal San Diego County, it is typically (in my native AZ opinion) cold. Right up until this weekend it has been in the 60s- low 70s during the day and 40s-50s at night since last summer. My wife has been taking trips to AZ to begin acclimating to the weather as she will be moving back in August. So far so good and she has spent several weeks each summer for the past 3 years there so she is aware. I guess I should mention she is a native of the North Coastal area in San Diego.

As for concerns beyind the weather, it is awesome. I will finally be able to find steady employement as a teacher, my wife's job situation will be good as she is in accounting. It will be nice to buy a decent house in an area we like for 250-300k instead of 600-as much as anyone in the world can spendK. We are looking forward to being able to have more children, settle down, and start our lives in a new area with lots of growth and opportunity in all aspect of life that are relevant to us. Many things will be missed about CA, such as the laid back attitude of our community (which is a big surfing area), the climate, and friends and family. Eventually our goal is to move back to the Carlsbad area but we love AZ for what it is and what it offers us at this stage of our lives.

[AZ_singlemother]

I knew some Californians who constantly complained about the heat. All the time. They were from Northern Cali. Not to mention, they complained about the transportation system and the lack of things to do.

[63ragtop]

I moved here from the N. CA Bay Area in the late 90s.
The heat doesn't bother me.
I miss the green of N. CA sometimes. Definitely the ocean and waterways.

I don't know if there are less things to do but the activities are different. I think there are more activities in N. CA that can occupy an entire day. Like going into Berkeley or San Francisco for the day and just wandering around looking at stores and scenery. There is nothing like that in AZ that occupies me for more than a few hours.

The 3 main things I noticed when I moved here was:
1. Everyone is white.
2. There are a lot of smokers.
3. People drive very poorly and there are tons of accidents. I think this is because so many people in Phoenix are from other states that they driving styles all vary greatly.

#2 has reduced quite a bit since I moved here... or maybe I just got used to it.

[MotleyCrew]

We moved from N. Ca and we do not hate the heat. We find plenty to do here and we can do these things all year, and dont wait for the rain/snow to stop. I don't miss the greenery, in fact, it depressed me up in the dark forest. I love watching our sunsets here and love the summer storms rolling across the sky. We have also met some of the nicest people here than we met in 30 years in CA. Everyone has a spot on this planet and we found ours.

[nehazaidi]

Originally Posted by brittZ

I think the heat depends on where in CA you are coming from. In North Coastal San Diego County, it is typically (in my native AZ opinion) cold. Right up until this weekend it has been in the 60s- low 70s during the day and 40s-50s at night since last summer. My wife has been taking trips to AZ to begin acclimating to the weather as she will be moving back in August. So far so good and she has spent several weeks each summer for the past 3 years there so she is aware. I guess I should mention she is a native of the North Coastal area in San Diego.

As for concerns beyind the weather, it is awesome. I will finally be able to find steady employement as a teacher, my wife's job situation will be good as she is in accounting. It will be nice to buy a decent house in an area we like for 250-300k instead of 600-as much as anyone in the world can spendK. We are looking forward to being able to have more children, settle down, and start our lives in a new area with lots of growth and opportunity in all aspect of life that are relevant to us. Many things will be missed about CA, such as the laid back attitude of our community (which is a big surfing area), the climate, and friends and family. Eventually our goal is to move back to the Carlsbad area but we love AZ for what it is and what it offers us at this stage of our lives.

We are from the 'valley' (Sanfernando Valley) in SoCal. It gets hot here, but it cools down just as fast....

[BAllUCanB]

After living in Scottsdale for the past 3 years, it continues to surprise me how much my quality of life has improved since moving from So Cal. I have lived in a number of places there, including Newport Beach and other OC locations, the San Gabriel Valley, and the Silicon Valley. I am self-employed and can choose to live pretty much anywhere, and while there have been plenty of other opinions posted, I am finding life here to be more rewarding than my experiences in those locations. It is pointless to try and pit one locality over another, as every location has its benefits and drawbacks, and a person's experiences largely depend on the person.

What is it like here? The Phoenix area is large and as varied as Los Angeles and many other large cities. Perhaps the following recipe may provide a good visualization:

Take a cross-section of So Cal (from the desert to the sea, including the good and the bad)
Add a cup or two from every other section of the USA
Add two more cups from the Midwest
Throw in a dash or two (or three) of Mexico
Sprinkle on some Wild West Cowboy heritage
Dilute with water, pour out in a desert, and watch it grow grow grow.

My best advice is to not give you advice. I can tell you how it is for me, but that does not make it any more or less likely that you would appreciate living here. If you are concerned about adjusting, you might consider choosing where to live first hand, so that you already know what you will be adjusting to before you go to all the effort of relocating. Come visit areas that you are interested in and talk to people. You can find out a lot more by interacting than you can by researching online and reading opinions of a few people, some of whom don't even live here. Not that those opinions don't have value. I just gave mine and I think it means something. But you are the only one who knows what works for you.

One thing to keep in mind is that Phoenix is not LA. It isn't supposed to be and it never will be. It's also not NY, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, or any other metropolis, city, or town that people compare. The best way to adjust is to let something be what it is. But now I guess I'm giving advice.