Want To Know More About Phoenix (Surprise: apartments, condo, wages)

[sheena]

Originally Posted by sunshinecities

I forgot to mention something in my response above. If you move to Phoenix eventually you would need a car. It's not like NYC where you can just hop on a subway or walk the city to get around. Someone mentioned there is a rail being built but still it would not be like a typical city you might think of in terms of the big city life by foot or subway etc. I notice the response above mentioned Charlotee NC in addition to Raleigh. Yes, Charlotte is supposed to be nice too. My husband and I considered that city also. Yet I heard Raleigh is even more oriented towards a younger crowd - can't say for sure since I never lived there - just have friends around there.

You may want to continue to look into Charlotte

[sunshinecities]

Me again. Hope I'm not "over-responding" but can't help feel for your urging to move as - like I said - I had at that age. You may want to check out something on the Connecticut forum - I noticed someone posted something about Raleigh NC. Although one person loves it there are a LOT of people who don't - I had mentioned it - but apparently a lot of people do not like it. Charlotte seems to be more appealing I guess - although I've never been there -people say nice things about it. Hopefully searching other state forums will help you too - to check out various cities etc. I suppose the bottom line might be to perhaps go by your own gut-instinct after reading everything.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by sunshinecities

Me again. Hope I'm not "over-responding" but can't help feel for your urging to move as - like I said - I had at that age. You may want to check out something on the Connecticut forum - I noticed someone posted something about Raleigh NC. Although one person loves it there are a LOT of people who don't - I had mentioned it - but apparently a lot of people do not like it. Charlotte seems to be more appealing I guess - although I've never been there -people say nice things about it. Hopefully searching other state forums will help you too - to check out various cities etc. I suppose the bottom line might be to perhaps go by your own gut-instinct after reading everything.

Hi sunshine, I have taken the plunge from Phx to Charlotte already. I researched for about 2 years. Raleigh never had the appeal that Charlotte does for me anyway. I couldn't be happier with my choice.

[Flite]

Wow, thanks for all the great replies everyone.

I have been checking out Charlotte, it seems very similar to cities over here with all that green, but bigger. The housing looks very cheap also. I checked out the average weather and it is cold for pretty much half of the year. Also in alot of photos I checked out the skies were overcast in the majority of them. One other thing that sorta ruins it, Graphic Designers (what I'm training to be soon) earn a good $5000-$7000 less a year than Graphic Designers in Phoenix, although that may equal out with housing costs and some of the other stuff thats cheaper there than Phoenix. If the weather is better than what I am reading I would definately look into. Downtown looks very nice.

I checked out Dallas and Houston, but for some reason I'm just not attracted to those cities. I like the big city look of them but the rest of it didn't look that great. The weather looks nice and housing seems pretty decent, not sure why but I just couldn't see myself living there.

Atlanta looks really nice and housing is relatively cheap. It also seems to have nice weather and the pay for a Graphic Designer looks good, slightly lower than the average in Phoenix.

I still have plenty of time before I decide, but I don't see any of these cities in the same way I see Phoenix. Those cities aren't like a New York or Chicago where I would sacrafice great weather and cheap housing just to live in a huge iconic city like that.

Thanks again for all the help, I will continue searching also.

It seems people like places like Atlanta, Charlotte and Dallas more than Phoenix. Is this the case? Are those cities really better overall?

[AOYAS]

Originally Posted by Flite

Wow, thanks for all the great replies everyone.

I have been checking out Charlotte, it seems very similar to cities over here with all that green, but bigger. The housing looks very cheap also. I checked out the average weather and it is cold for pretty much half of the year. Also in alot of photos I checked out the skies were overcast in the majority of them. One other thing that sorta ruins it, Graphic Designers (what I'm training to be soon) earn a good $5000-$7000 less a year than Graphic Designers in Phoenix, although that may equal out with housing costs and some of the other stuff thats cheaper there than Phoenix. If the weather is better than what I am reading I would definately look into. Downtown looks very nice.

I checked out Dallas and Houston, but for some reason I'm just not attracted to those cities. I like the big city look of them but the rest of it didn't look that great. The weather looks nice and housing seems pretty decent, not sure why but I just couldn't see myself living there.

Atlanta looks really nice and housing is relatively cheap. It also seems to have nice weather and the pay for a Graphic Designer looks good, slightly lower than the average in Phoenix.

I still have plenty of time before I decide, but I don't see any of these cities in the same way I see Phoenix. Those cities aren't like a New York or Chicago where I would sacrafice great weather and cheap housing just to live in a huge iconic city like that.

Thanks again for all the help, I will continue searching also.

It seems people like places like Atlanta, Charlotte and Dallas more than Phoenix. Is this the case? Are those cities really better overall?

Hi Flite!

Not at all. Many many people move to Phoenix every year. In fact, last year, Maricopa County (aka Phoenix) has the highest number of new residents move to town than any other county in the entire country. There are A LOT of people who LOVE Phoenix.

But, then there are a lot of people who don't like it here, due to the heat, traffic, high real estate prices, or whatever else, so they move away, or they don't choose to move here in the first place.

I wasn't trying to tell you to move to Atlanta or Dallas or Charlotte at all...please don't get me wrong! I was just trying to give you other options to look into, because I wasn't sure if you realized that there are other "big cities" like Phoenix in the US, that aren't ridiculously overpriced with bad weather, like Chicago or NY (to use your examples). I wasn't sure if you wanted suggestions for other cities that might fit your criteria, so I went ahead and offered them to you, anyway! He he.

I know what you mean about Dallas and Houston. I personally wouldn't want to live there, either. But I do know that they're big cities (like you said you like), and they have warm weather, with low costs of living. No worries...if you honestly, truly just like Phoenix better than anywhere else, no one's trying to talk you out of it!

I would definitely be sure to visit before you take the plunge and move here, though...just in case it's not what you've pictured in your head.

[Flite]

Sorry if I seemed reluctant to listen, I didn't mean that.

I'm just too in love with Phoenix, nothing seems better.

I have a question for you guys. I saw the crime stats on Phoenix and it came as a suprise to me, things like the murder were 2 times the national average. Usually I'm not bothered by crime stats because I think they look worse than they are and I'm used to alot of crime going on because of the rest of my family.

Even so, I gotta ask. Do you feel safe in Phoenix? Can you walk to the store alone? Can you be downtown alone? I'm a male, so I guess it's a little safer than being a woman. We don't have people carrying guns where I'm from, but there a plenty of street "gangs" of young kids that will jump you on the way home, its happened to me plenty of times. But whats the chances of being shot or stabbed? Should I walk in a group to my car after work? Should I carry a gun myself?

Sorry for all the questions, but this city is so damn interesting.

[vegaspilgrim]

If I were you Flite, I wouldn't worry at all about "narrowing" down where you want to live at this point in time. First I would try to see if you can take a vacation to the US sometime within the next year. This country is so huge you have to be here, and take a road trip somewhere just to believe it. Since you seem to interested in the southwest US, the ideal thing would be to go on a road trip, either with some buddies or on an international tour bus, where you see California... and Arizona... and the cities out here, national parks, etc. I have a feeling you would like the western US in general as region. Second, I would focus on your education. Even with some technical school training, you will have a hard time competing with those who have college degrees in graphics design. Maybe the ideal thing for you would be to come here as a foreign exchange student-- you could live here for a year and work towards a 4-year degree.

Also, there are a lot of other great cities out here that you haven't even mentioned yet that you might like, and which also have low costs of living. If you love mountains and nature, and since you're from New Zealand, I'm assuming you do... you should investigate Denver, Colorado (my hometown). It is a prosperous, middle-American city, laid back, fun team-spirit vibe, and has very affordable housing. Denver is right next to 14,000ft mountains, with world class skiing just an hour away. Sure, it is way colder than Phoenix, in the winter, but you are young, you should be able to take it. It's more of a sunny, happy cold than the dreary cold they get in the northeastern US. Don't worry about having to choose anything right now-- just come out here and check out the US of A first!

[Flite]

Thanks vegaspilgrim.

Graphic Design isn't like some other careers where your certificate displays how much your worth, it's more of a how good your design abilities are. I know of a few people who left High School early and weren't involved in any education after that and are now well paid Graphic Designers just because of their ability.

I would go for a 4 year degree here but you can not study to become a Graphic Designer any where in my city so I would have to pay for the tuition fees on top of the living expenses of living in another city for 4 years.

As for Denver, too cold! :P

Thanks for all the info everyone.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by Flite

Wow, thanks for all the great replies everyone.

I have been checking out Charlotte, it seems very similar to cities over here with all that green, but bigger. The housing looks very cheap also. I checked out the average weather and it is cold for pretty much half of the year. Also in alot of photos I checked out the skies were overcast in the majority of them. One other thing that sorta ruins it, Graphic Designers (what I'm training to be soon) earn a good $5000-$7000 less a year than Graphic Designers in Phoenix, although that may equal out with housing costs and some of the other stuff thats cheaper there than Phoenix. If the weather is better than what I am reading I would definately look into. Downtown looks very nice.

I checked out Dallas and Houston, but for some reason I'm just not attracted to those cities. I like the big city look of them but the rest of it didn't look that great. The weather looks nice and housing seems pretty decent, not sure why but I just couldn't see myself living there.

Atlanta looks really nice and housing is relatively cheap. It also seems to have nice weather and the pay for a Graphic Designer looks good, slightly lower than the average in Phoenix.

I still have plenty of time before I decide, but I don't see any of these cities in the same way I see Phoenix. Those cities aren't like a New York or Chicago where I would sacrafice great weather and cheap housing just to live in a huge iconic city like that.

Thanks again for all the help, I will continue searching also.

It seems people like places like Atlanta, Charlotte and Dallas more than Phoenix. Is this the case? Are those cities really better overall?

No no not overcast most of the time in Charlotte. I lived in Phx for 19 years I love the Sun and Charlotte has lots of it too. I've been here about 3 months and I think I've had about 4 rainy cloudy days since. It's been sunny trust me and after all that sun you welcome a break in the weather. Charlotte's downtown is nice I really like the energy downtown and it's up and coming. They are building the Epi-Center right now, plus Trump is planning his thing. Light rail is going in this year and the bus system is a bus system.

No you wouldn't want to sacrifice the weather for living in NY. You'd live in a dump and freeze you butt in the Winter. Take about grey skies.

Dallas has tornados and horrible storms, that's all you hear about lately.

[sheena]

Originally Posted by Flite

Sorry if I seemed reluctant to listen, I didn't mean that.

I'm just too in love with Phoenix, nothing seems better.

I have a question for you guys. I saw the crime stats on Phoenix and it came as a suprise to me, things like the murder were 2 times the national average. Usually I'm not bothered by crime stats because I think they look worse than they are and I'm used to alot of crime going on because of the rest of my family.

Even so, I gotta ask. Do you feel safe in Phoenix? Can you walk to the store alone? Can you be downtown alone? I'm a male, so I guess it's a little safer than being a woman. We don't have people carrying guns where I'm from, but there a plenty of street "gangs" of young kids that will jump you on the way home, its happened to me plenty of times. But whats the chances of being shot or stabbed? Should I walk in a group to my car after work? Should I carry a gun myself?

Sorry for all the questions, but this city is so damn interesting.

Phoenix has crime but so does everywhere else. I felt pretty safe in the Phoenix suburb of Gilbert for the most part. I just knew what areas to stay clear of. I wouldn't be walking downtown anywhere by myself in Phoenix. If you are planning to live in Phoenix you have to pick a good area. Phoenix is not all glamorous looking houses with pools and palm trees. Do some more research on the real Phoenix. Oh Phoenix is interesting all right