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Life in Prescott
Things to consider before moving to Prescott
This information is an accumulation of several years of living in Prescott. To begin, the Prescott area is basically an island separated from other cities. This is a good way to view the quad cities. Your nearest city/town that are of decent size are Sedona, Flagstaff and Phoenix which are within a 100+ mile radius. As such, it makes for a very interesting existence (this includes people who work in the area as well).
My goal is to breakdown important issues that might be of interest to families or individuals who are considering moving to the Prescott area.
First, let’s talk about housing. Basically you have four cities that make up the quad cities (Prescott Valley, Prescott, Chino Valley and Paulden). There are a nice homes in Prescott and the Williamson Valley area. The rest of the quad cities are manufactured homes, mobile home parks, RV parks and quite a few shanties.
The people that reside in the area are mostly retirees from California and the mid-West and this makes for an interesting demographic. When you’re driving you have to watch your ass everywhere you go as you’ll have heavily medicated retirees driving around completely oblivious to their surroundings. Another interesting fact is to watch the local supermarkets on any given Wednesday and the retirees will come out in droves for Senior Wednesday grocery shopping. I got to tell you – when someone gets up there in age they lose a lot of their civility and basically become a “mean old *******”. I’ve seen this time and time again where you just shake your head in disbelief as you watch unbelievable crude manners. I thought this wouldn’t be the case until I moved into Prescott. It was definitely an eye opening experience.
Another very important issue to consider is that Prescott is most likely the “Drug Rehab Capital” of the west coast. I found out the hard way after living here several months and having discussions with local law enforcement who informed me of this horrible situation. I do not know the exact number of rehab homes in the city, but it is a serious issue that affects the entire area . Folks, this is a money making endeavor and it isn’t going to go away. My wife and I used to joke to one another that if we saw a clean cut family or couple walking in the square they could only be tourists. If we saw a sleeve tattooed or disheveled male or female (and yes, there are non-tattooed drug addicts...) walking around the square during business hours they are most likely the rehab participants. There is also a HUGE failure rate and they tend to stick around because their families don’t want them back. It’s a sad cycle.
My wife and I have also noticed the trend for young people that are working in the service industry jobs to start with one tattoo and then end up completely covered in tattoos by the end of the year. I have nothing against tattooing but in my humble opinion it could potentially hold one back from career advancement.
Jobs/Employment: If you are a white collar professional this is definitely not the place for you. Ninety-five percent of the white collar jobs belong to the medical/dental profession who service the needs of the retirees. The majority of the employment is city/county government related and the rest is low paying service industry jobs. This is a town that should be called “God’s Waiting Room” for the retirees and the service people who take care of them. Employment is few and far between unless you want to work in a fast food joint.
And speaking of food, Prescott is not known for anything resembling gourmet food. In the past four years, I’ve witnessed no less than 15 restaurants closing in the quad cities. If you like greasy burgers, fries, cheap Mexican food then this is the town for you. The only place worth mentioning that serves good food is the Prescott Station but the prices are at the Scottsdale level. It’s a sad place if one is used to traveling the world or eating well. But for the retirees, it’s probably heaven.
In regard to work ethics, good luck finding anyone who gives a flying hoot. The service industry in this area definitely takes their sweet time and will charge you high prices and the services are mostly substandard. I could go on about car dealerships, landscaping services, electrical, etc. Definitely read Yelp and or Google reviews before you undertake any project or repair. I can’t stress this enough. In fact I’ve never seen such poor service anywhere and I’ve lived in three other states.
Medical Care: WOW, all I can say, again, is do your due diligence before you have any procedure done other than treating a sprained ankle or the cold/flu. God forbid you have a serious medical issue, you’ll be going to the Phoenix area or a specialist in another state. Another issue to keep in mind is that if one is involved in a serious accident/issue, you’ll be stabilized and flown to either Flagstaff or Phoenix. This bill could easily hit the $60,000 for a single flight. I highly recommend that one purchases the insurance that these medical flight companies offer to protect yourself.
If you are a white collar professional and are still in the working force, do yourself and your family a favor and AVOID the Prescott area (exception, if you’re in the medical field treating the retirees).
A lot of discussion revolves around the hiking in the area. There are some nice areas to go hiking but that is definitely for the tourists and younger crowd. You’ll see very few retirees hiking in the hills. Another issue for those who have allergies/hay fever, the Prescott area is known as one of the worst allergen areas in the country.
If you’re retired or have a government job that is local to the area, you might appreciate Prescott and its offerings…. BUT – If your aspirations in life exceed Senior Wednesday Shopping, Drug Rehab Counseling or to raise your GS scale in your Government job you might wish to look elsewhere.
Hope this information assists in your decision making.
For the most part, recent retirees come to Prescott for the conservative views and AZ's friendly gun laws. Of course, you'll have political dissent but NOTHING like crazy Kalifornia where it is one sided almost all of the time...
Yep, I have already moved from the area....
Furthermore, I thought it is the purpose of City Data to provide one's opinion about the area in which they live/lived or have knowledge from which other's can benefit or assist in making a decision to move/visit a certain geographical area.
You're certainly entitled to your cynical opinions, but I'll make a few comments.
Yes, it's a retirement town and you do notice that in the driving habits and the amenities and services available. If you're retired, that's all good.
Yes, there's a big rehab industry here, but it hasn't affected the crime rate.
Yes, good paying professional jobs are hard to find and salaries are generally low. Hence, the retirees.
I've written over 180 restaurant reviews on Urbanspoon (now on Zomato) for local restaurants and agree that restaurants are somewhat better in bigger cities. But there are enough great restaurants here for a good variety of dining experiences. There was some loss of restaurants over the recession but since that ended a couple of years ago the number of restaurants in the area has bounced back up.
Yes, I've also noticed problems with quality of service in the area. Everyone's EXTREMELY friendly and then EXTREMELY apologetic when you point out the mistake/problem. It's a hassle but eventually things get done right.
YRMC, the local hospital, has been ranked extremely high in certain categories by Consumer Reports and is now a level 4 trauma center. Yes, there can be problems finding a doctor that you like but all the specialties seem fairly well covered.
No place is perfect but this area has a ton of positives. Sorry it didn't work out for you.
It's always interesting when a brand new member joins solely to tell why they left a place, and overgeneralizes like mad in doing so.
No place is for everyone, sorry it didn't work out for you Your opinion is no more valid than anyone else's. As you can see, others have had a very different experience with Prescott. Several of the things that ended up bothering you about Prescott you could have learned in advance with a little research. Hope you are happier where you are now.
You're certainly entitled to your cynical opinions, but I'll make a few comments.
my responses are next to an asterisk:
**Cynical-must have struck a chord with the truth...
Yes, it's a retirement town and you do notice that in the driving habits and the amenities and services available. If you're retired, that's all good.
** Yes, that is what I pointed out in my post.
Yes, there's a big rehab industry here, but it hasn't affected the crime rate.
**Please research crime statistics and drug use in the quad city area. Heroin use has skyrocketed...
Yes, good paying professional jobs are hard to find and salaries are generally low. Hence, the retirees.
**Thank you for verifying my opinion.
I've written over 180 restaurant reviews on Urbanspoon (now on Zomato) for local restaurants and agree that restaurants are somewhat better in bigger cities. But there are enough great restaurants here for a good variety of dining experiences. There was some loss of restaurants over the recession but since that ended a couple of years ago the number of restaurants in the area has bounced back up.
**This issue can be debated-if you consider fast food restaurants as "bouncing back up"...
Yes, I've also noticed problems with quality of service in the area. Everyone's EXTREMELY friendly and then EXTREMELY apologetic when you point out the mistake/problem. It's a hassle but eventually things get done right.
**EVERYONE is extremely friendly and apologetic?? Really?- Himm, that would be a first for any city:-)
YRMC, the local hospital, has been ranked extremely high in certain categories by Consumer Reports and is now a level 4 trauma center. Yes, there can be problems finding a doctor that you like but all the specialties seem fairly well covered.
**Quality, quality, and quality of care....
No place is perfect but this area has a ton of positives. Sorry it didn't work out for you.
Overgeneralizes-??
And "so what" if I am new member. I take it from your deduction that I should've posted a few "positives and not critiques" before I wrote my Prescott post so that I would somehow be "that much more accepted"? Before you "put on the rose glasses" please read other posts about Prescott that point out the very same quality of life issues that I experienced. In addition, may I point out my original reason for my post- So others can read negatives and positives (other posts), which can eventually help/assist a decision on whether they wish to move/visit an area or not (in this case - Prescott)...
Before I forget, one has to live in an area to find out the bad and the good. You cannot "research" certain issues that are relevant to residing in a locale...
Mt. Mahn's critiques are right on for the most part. A few comments.
I get pissed off at retirees because sometimes they just drive sloooowwwww. I've only seen a few times where they actually did anything dangerous, and that is no worse than living anywhere else.
Jobs, they aren't here. But that isn't a Prescott problem, that is an American small to medium sized town problem, though it might be slightly worse here.
People are generally friendly, even service workers, but not always. This is like everywhere else.
The food here does kinda suck. No that I don't enjoy certain restaurants, but Williams, a 10th of the size of the quad cities has better food for the most part. Demographics I'm sure drive this. There are some OK Mexican food restaurants here, but I've had better Mexican food in Traverse City, Michigan. How embarrassing for a SW state.
The whole rehab deal. I'm glad Prescott is looking into to putting limits on the halfway houses (if they haven't done so already). But the kids need somewhere to go, and some of them even recover. Our city should be proud of that fact even if most relapse. We should be open and helpful within common sense limits. Most of the rehabs kids I've encountered downtown have been low profile and respectful. I know some relapse and get kicked out of the rehap places and end up homeless. It is a problem...but a small one. At least it brings some youthful faces in the area to break up the geeserville landscape.
As to Prescott being isolated, there are smaller towns outside of the big four all over. Being an hour and a half from a big city but not in a big cities urban wake in my mind is a big plus.
I'd love to add in all sorts of negatives to keep people from moving to Prescott, especially more retirees. Not that I have anything against you as individuals I just worry this place will become Palm Springs North. My preference would that it not be, your preference might be different. The fact of the matter is that while all the critiques mentioned are valid, and should absolutely be considered before moving here, Prescott is STILL a very nice place to live over all and these are all minor announces, even the retirees. If you get to know some of them you even start liking them, as much as I hate to admit it, most of them are nice people just looking for a somewhat affordable place to live out their golden years. When they come as a hoard it is bothersome, but in ones and twos most of them are nice except the die hard cultural californians but most of the californians that move here do so to leave commiefornia behind them. There are a few who want to make little california here...with over 20 Starbucks if you count all the ones in grocery stores in the area they may well be on their way. That would be a shame. I'd have to start eating Kashi cereal and recycling. Not high on my priority list.
Prescott is a beautiful, laid back, mountain town with a good balance of size and amenities. If you can swing an income up here and are in the right stage of life Prescott is a very nice place to live. The weather is nice with four mild seasons (though it was a bit hot this summer). Prescott is affordable but not as much as it once was. A big city with everything big city's have to offer is down the hill within an hour and and a half but you are far enough away to pretend it doesn't exist. The people are generally nice and laid back, even if a little older.
Is what it is. Sounds like the poster just didn't have the right variables in his life to make Prescott enjoyable. Not saying he did anything wrong just pointing it out. All his critiques are valid. But for many it is still a good spot.
Last edited by infocyde; 09-23-2015 at 03:11 PM..
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