If Phoenix is that hot, why do so many move there? (Chandler: sale, insurance)

[fluffythewondercat]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

It is much cheaper for me to have two homes (one in MN and one and AZ) versus 1 home in San Diego. But my housing/location strategy is kind of a PITA. Moving every 6 months is a pain as well as the up-keep/updating 2 places gets old fast.

Pardon my curiosity but I'm wondering how much stuff you move. I'm interested in the 2-home strategy.

We toured a house for sale in Chandler last year at Stellar Airpark. And yes, you can park your plane in your own hangar on your own property. The owners were at their other home and were selling this one because they no longer own a plane. But the house was full of furniture, doodads, etc. and I didn't get the sense they staged it that way for sale. It looked like they had just stepped away for a moment. Even the closets were partially full. And their "Arizona car" was in the garage.

[CaliGirl70]

Phoenix "heat" is only a couple of months in the summer, then we have stunning weather the rest of the year.
In Austin, Texas where I was raised, you have very high humidity and 105 degrees in the summer.
Add those together and it's hotter than here in Phoenix. And did I forget it's humid 11 months out of the year in Austin? Feb is their coldest, most dry month. Also, mold is a big problem in Austin. Because of the constant dampness, there is always mold spores in the air, causing people to be sick a lot, me included.

Give me mountains and palm trees any day.

[hawkbiz]

I think really comes down to what you like and your frame of reference. I spent the first 50 years of my life in CT and NY - dealing with rain, cold, snow, ice, etc. now I deal with constant sun and heat. I love it - and beautiful weather 8 mos of the year! Not to mention much more to do and lower cost of living. That being said, if had spent the first 50 years of my life in Phoenix I might want to move for a new experience. It's all good in my opinion!

[LongNote]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

I would agree with this. You don't need to do anything special to go out in the heat - no jacket, no window scraping, no shoveling the driveway. It is sunny all the time not depressing gray and windy so your mood is better. People go to the lakes, have pool parties at night, play golf, softball leagues - I played in a volleyball league for years in the summer - night games. Sure it would be nice if it were moderate temps all year, but there are few places like that in the world. To my thinking, a sunny hot summer beats a cold dreary winter as the downside of an annual weather pattern. Obviously not everyone agrees and some who come find getting through the desert summer worse than the midwest winter.

BTW, the heat is nothing like the swamps of Houston. It's much more bearable. As for allergies, it's a guess. If you have mold and dust mite allergies they will improve here, but there are enough other things around that you probably won't get real relief. People who are allergic manage to find something to react to just about anywhere they live.

The heat stops me from going out like a cold snow would. And not everyone finds grey, cloudy weather to be depressing.

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by CaliGirl70

Phoenix "heat" is only a couple of months in the summer, then we have stunning weather the rest of the year.

That is as much of an exaggeration as has been made in these threads in the opposite direction. The heat is a whole lot more than two months.

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by LongNote

The heat stops me from going out like a cold snow would. And not everyone finds grey, cloudy weather to be depressing.

Be brave, LongNote.

Join the fray and become an Arizonan. Don't let heat be your Waterloo. Don't let it be the reason you would not enjoy the great American Southwestern desert in all its splendor.

Thanks to the Monsoon, Arizona's world-famous heat can quickly become a spectacular event of winds, clouds and grey skies. Thunder claps and lightning flashes will soon signal that we are on the very edge of WETNESS!

Arizonans will soon be scampering out of their homes in order to take in those first few breaths of fresh Monsoonal fragrances. They will look up and receive early droplets of long-awaited RAIN! The RAIN continues. Sometimes only for a few precious moments... or for a more extended time period...

Either way... glorious! It will be GLORIOUS!

However, before one can experience such a life-changing occurrence, one must first endure the mighty Arizona HEAT!

Be brave, LongNote!

[flyinlow007]

Having lived in North Dakota and Minnesota all my life I can't wait to get the hell out of MN. High taxes, long cold winters, all of it sucks.

Arizona has a lower cost of living with low taxes. I work in IT so I'm limited where I can go for job markets. Everyplace else in the south is too humid. Arizona was the best choice, plus with my parents in AZ 4-5 months out of the year its nice to have someone here to help them out.

[Mini-apple-less]

Phoenix is "nice" from November to March, "bearable" in April and October, and "God-awful" from May to September. That's 5 months of nice weather and 7 months of hot weather.

[Java Jolt]

Originally Posted by Mini-apple-less

Phoenix is "nice" from November to March, "bearable" in April and October, and "God-awful" from May to September. That's 5 months of nice weather and 7 months of hot weather.

May is bearable too but it usually becomes hot around the end of the month.

June, July, and August are always the hottest months but September can be just as dreadful sometimes.

[IceCat]

Originally Posted by Colt Cassidy

Be brave, LongNote.

Join the fray and become an Arizonan. Don't let heat be your Waterloo. Don't let it be the reason you would not enjoy the great American Southwestern desert in all its splendor.

Thanks to the Monsoon, Arizona's world-famous heat can quickly become a spectacular event of winds, clouds and grey skies. Thunder claps and lightning flashes will soon signal that we are on the very edge of WETNESS!

Arizonans will soon be scampering out of their homes in order to take in those first few breaths of fresh Monsoonal fragrances. They will look up and receive early droplets of long-awaited RAIN! The RAIN continues. Sometimes only for a few precious moments... or for a more extended time period...

Either way... glorious! It will be GLORIOUS!

However, before one can experience such a life-changing occurrence, one must first endure the mighty Arizona HEAT!

Be brave, LongNote!

I agree ... we lived in Flagstaff for 7 years and the last 2 years the snow was unbearable ... a lot of people leave their homes Nov - Mar. We tried Sedona and 18 degrees many nights was too cold for us as we had to endure 105º during the summer on many days so we thought Phoenix slightly hotter with rarely freezing weather might be good. It is also much cheaper, more to do, more places to shop, and Sedona and Flagstaff (skiing) are not far off). We wish we would have moved here earlier.

I love the Midwest culture but the unbearable humidity and heat during the summer is no fun along with mosquitos, bugs, taxes. And the winters in the Midwest are expensive and inconvenient not to mention work either shoveling or plowing.

July and August here *IS* Hades here. No double about it. Highs over 100º on many days (not all) and lows from 80 - 99º at night. Going out at 11 p.m. to be hit with 99 degress and high winds is dreadful.

However May and June and also September can also vary a great deal from YEAR to YEAR! The first summer, 3 years, ago was Hades ... But the last two years June and September had cooler nights. And were very bearable. It didn't get much over 100º with 12% humidity til about a week or ten days ago. To me we had a gorgeous Spring as it was dry.

It makes a LOT of difference if the overnight low is 65 or 80 ... that is a world of cooling off in the lower degrees.

We just figure that July and August are AWEFUL, and then a couple of months VERY nice at night but hot during the day and the rest of the year, a full sevens months IS GLORIOUS.

We can wear shorts year round, play tennis year round. I played a tournament in 118º one year, so it is done but you have to stay very hydrated. Nowadays I stay inside during much of the day during July and August.


I have been to Prescott to pick up a computer and it was 118º -- I kid you not! -- and my car broke down and my hubby had to drive from Flagstaff to help out.

The only place in AZ that does not go above 100º is mountains (all forest service land) or Flagstaff and Pine Top, Stawberry, Happy Jack on the Mogollon ridge) and Sholow which are very isolated and small towns without much there.

If you have enough money or can work nationally from home, and don't mind being isolated, then you got it made in those locations.

And ... I would like to know where it is other that southern COASTAL CALIFORNIA (and Chile in S. America) where there are mild winters and mild summers ? ? ? Seriously, someplace better than coastal CA and parts of AZ ... Inquiring minds would like to know. :-)

But being 37 miles no of PHoenix at 2200 feet with 8 - 12 degrees cooler than PHX metro for the most part is delightful !