Prescottonians, why the angst about Californians? (Prescott Valley: fit in, transplants, real estate)
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I see quite a few comments here in the Prescott forum about people relocating from California to Prescott (and the area in general), and most of the comments are of concern with this phenomenon.
Why, may I ask?
Is it primarily due to people with a wad of cash selling California homes, and driving up real estate prices? Is it more Arizonian people usually don't care so much for the California "values" coming to the region?
Is there truly a significant percentile of Californians transplanting to the region?
To me it seems Prescott, being on multiple "Best place to retire" type lists over the last few years, would be on the radar of many people spread across the U.S., not just Californians. I am simply not seeing the industry and employment in Prescott/Prescott Valley to draw in blue or white collar folks from any region in the U.S. to Prescott, so it is heavy on the retiree transplants, correct?
I never seem to see complaints about, say retired Minnesotans coming to Prescott.
Look at the recent trends in real estate prices, and politics of Oregon, Washington, Colorado and Nevada. That's mainly why locals here are not a fan of most Californians.
The employment opportunities need to get better here for blue and white collar incomes. It's a great place for retirees, but people between the ages of 18-55 not in the service industry have it more difficult for jobs. That will change once demographics balance out more.
I see quite a few comments here in the Prescott forum about people relocating from California to Prescott (and the area in general), and most of the comments are of concern with this phenomenon.
Why, may I ask?
Is it primarily due to people with a wad of cash selling California homes, and driving up real estate prices? Is it more Arizonian people usually don't care so much for the California "values" coming to the region?
Is there truly a significant percentile of Californians transplanting to the region?
To me it seems Prescott, being on multiple "Best place to retire" type lists over the last few years, would be on the radar of many people spread across the U.S., not just Californians. I am simply not seeing the industry and employment in Prescott/Prescott Valley to draw in blue or white collar folks from any region in the U.S. to Prescott, so it is heavy on the retiree transplants, correct?
I never seem to see complaints about, say retired Minnesotans coming to Prescott.
Tell me about it........
Just a guess, it's probably because of the politics of California and indeed "values". People from Arizona just do not want to see Arizona become another California. Personally I don't blame them one bit, I don't either. Nor do I ever want it to become another New York or any other bastion of progressive politics. Along with a life long desire for the southwest, I moved here to get away from all that crap. Arizona is more compatible with our way of thinking and after 7 years of living here there's no place else we'd rather be.
What I don't understand are those who get fed up with their home state, move elsewhere and then try and change their adopted state into the place they've just left? In which case they really had no business moving in the first place.
If you're gonna' move elsewhere you really have to make sure that it has everything that you could ever want out of life. If not you're gonna' be one miserable SOB and making everyone else that you come into contact with miserable too. You also have to take into consideration that those who are natives were here first. Complaining about their lifestyle and beliefs is a non starter.
As for us there has never been any animosity towards us with anyone we've come into contact with. People should also realize that just because you're from California or anywhere else does not automatically mean that you share the same "values" that your home state has a reputation for. Unfortunately none of us had a choice as to where we were born. If that were the case I certainly would have chosen Arizona, our biggest regret is not being able to move out here sooner.
Prescott being one of the "best places to retire" to means that most of the jobs here will probably cater to that demographic. We work from home so that was never an issue for us, and we did not have to compete or take someone else's job. As for industry coming to this area I really don't know if that would be a good thing or not? Certainly not if it would drastically change the area with all the noise and traffic along with thousand's of more people that it might bring. Then again it might be a good thing if it provided good paying jobs to the natives of the area. However water will always be an issue which could put a limit on any future growth.
It started in earnest with the Northridge earthquake in southern California a long time ago. Prescottonians didn't like the rapid influx of people from California. It would not have made much difference if there was a massive migration from another state, in that respect, but the fact that it came from California, with people with lots of money to throw around, and different values (NOT just politics- Prescott is still pretty red) caused the resentment to be greater. They built houses that didn't fit in, and just changed, or threatened to change, what had been the atmosphere of Prescott for a long time.
It started in earnest with the Northridge earthquake in southern California a long time ago. Prescottonians didn't like the rapid influx of people from California. It would not have made much difference if there was a massive migration from another state, in that respect, but the fact that it came from California, with people with lots of money to throw around, and different values (NOT just politics- Prescott is still pretty red) caused the resentment to be greater. They built houses that didn't fit in, and just changed, or threatened to change, what had been the atmosphere of Prescott for a long time.
I can relate to that feeling. The village where we grew up was 20 miles north of NYC, right on the Hudson River. It was a predominantly middle class blue collar town. Just a main street with a few small stores: Two delicatessens, two bars, pizza parlor, stationary store, pharmacy, flower shop, doctor's office, insurance office and a barbershop. All well under 1000 sq.ft. No big box stores, there still isn't. Yet those stores are only a few miles away. We avoided all the traffic that goes along with that.
Everybody knew everybody and their relatives kinda' like one big family. Three generations of my family grew up there. Most of us (my family) at one time or the other worked for the village. Police, fire and public works. As much as I detest New York, I'll always have a soft spot for that small village along the Hudson.
There were a few large estates with huge stone castles similar to those on the Rhine, along with an awful lot of property, at least half the village. The owners of those estate's died off, the castles were destroyed, the property divided up and the multi million dollar homes came in. Because of it's close proximity to the city and easy commute many of NYC's wealthy moved out of their million dollar apartments on 5th Avenue and on up the Hudson.
Soon after the schools weren't good enough for their children, the village parks were too small, the village where we grew up just wasn't good enough for them. The cost of living skyrocketed to the point of pushing most of the natives out. Many of the small stores were replaced with "yupee" boutiques that catered only to the wealthy.
My parents would go to the local board meetings with their concerns. However the mayor and town council soon became strangers and could care less about their concerns. They were told that if they could no longer afford to live in the house they'd lived in for over 30 years then perhaps they should live in a new senior complex that was in the works. In other word's warehousing them.
Fortunately for Prescott the population density is no where near what it is in Westchester County, N.Y. There are five times as many people living per square mile as there are out here. I thank God that it is still pretty red out here. At one time it was out there too, but not anymore and not for the better.
It started in earnest with the Northridge earthquake in southern California a long time ago. Prescottonians didn't like the rapid influx of people from California. It would not have made much difference if there was a massive migration from another state, in that respect, but the fact that it came from California, with people with lots of money to throw around, and different values (NOT just politics- Prescott is still pretty red) caused the resentment to be greater. They built houses that didn't fit in, and just changed, or threatened to change, what had been the atmosphere of Prescott for a long time.
That sounds like a bit of a "one-off" influx of Californians, tied to a specific event.
I guess part of my question was (and I see I was not very clear about it) are most of the transplants from California then?
I see a lot of interest in Prescott from all over the U.S., so I figured "transplants"would be widely represented. Perhaps not?
Last edited by snebarekim; 01-15-2017 at 06:18 PM..
I can relate to that feeling. The village where we grew up was 20 miles north of NYC, right on the Hudson River. It was a predominantly middle class blue collar town. Just a main street with a few small stores: Two delicatessens, two bars, pizza parlor, stationary store, pharmacy, flower shop, doctor's office, insurance office and a barbershop. All well under 1000 sq.ft. No big box stores, there still isn't. Yet those stores are only a few miles away. We avoided all the traffic that goes along with that.
Everybody knew everybody and their relatives kinda' like one big family. Three generations of my family grew up there. Most of us (my family) at one time or the other worked for the village. Police, fire and public works. As much as I detest New York, I'll always have a soft spot for that small village along the Hudson.
There were a few large estates with huge stone castles similar to those on the Rhine, along with an awful lot of property, at least half the village. The owners of those estate's died off, the castles were destroyed, the property divided up and the multi million dollar homes came in. Because of it's close proximity to the city and easy commute many of NYC's wealthy moved out of their million dollar apartments on 5th Avenue and on up the Hudson.
Soon after the schools weren't good enough for their children, the village parks were too small, the village where we grew up just wasn't good enough for them. The cost of living skyrocketed to the point of pushing most of the natives out. Many of the small stores were replaced with "yupee" boutiques that catered only to the wealthy.
My parents would go to the local board meetings with their concerns. However the mayor and town council soon became strangers and could care less about their concerns. They were told that if they could no longer afford to live in the house they'd lived in for over 30 years then perhaps they should live in a new senior complex that was in the works. In other word's warehousing them.
Fortunately for Prescott the population density is no where near what it is in Westchester County, N.Y. There are five times as many people living per square mile as there are out here. I thank God that it is still pretty red out here. At one time it was out there too, but not anymore and not for the better.
That would certainly aggravate me also.
One of my last military tours I rented a home in Frederick, Maryland, lived in it for almost 4 years. Although close to Wash DC, Frederick county was mostly rural, and the local populace reflected that. While I lived there I saw many Montgomery County (Maryland county on the edge of Wash DC) and even Virginia state transplants move to Frederick county, they could buy a McMansion and still commute to the district, plus get their kids out of marginal schools closer to the district. Most of these people were very progressive and well off. The locals in Frederick was not fond of this, mostly because of the impact on Frederick school boards, city alderman, and county level impacts also.
Besides school curriculum being an issue, some transplants began to advocate for state level Hope VI public housing to be built in the county, as a "relief vent" for Baltimore city and county.
It was not popular in that area, and I agreed with the locals pretty much on that.
I recall a reader comment in a local east county paper I used to read in Frederick, complaining about mud dragged onto the roads by local farmers tractors when spring plowing began. She whined about her low slung Mercedes coupe dealing with the mud clots, then signed the comment only as "-Lonely Democrat". You do not get any less self aware than that.
One of my last military tours I rented a home in Frederick, Maryland, lived in it for almost 4 years. Although close to Wash DC, Frederick county was mostly rural, and the local populace reflected that. While I lived there I saw many Montgomery County (Maryland county on the edge of Wash DC) and even Virginia state transplants move to Frederick county, they could buy a McMansion and still commute to the district, plus get their kids out of marginal schools closer to the district. Most of these people were very progressive and well off. The locals in Frederick was not fond of this, mostly because of the impact on Frederick school boards, city alderman, and county level impacts also.
Besides school curriculum being an issue, some transplants began to advocate for state level Hope VI public housing to be built in the county, as a "relief vent" for Baltimore city and county.
It was not popular in that area, and I agreed with the locals pretty much on that.
I recall a reader comment in a local east county paper I used to read in Frederick, complaining about mud dragged onto the roads by local farmers tractors when spring plowing began. She whined about her low slung Mercedes coupe dealing with the mud clots, then signed the comment only as "-Lonely Democrat". You do not get any less self aware than that.
Yeah I've heard some people complain about horses and odors from ranches that they've moved next to. Some people have horses, chickens and roosters in some residential neighborhoods. So what? They were here first. Some complain about Arizona's gun friendly status, mostly in letters to the local paper. I don't know what they expected? This is Arizona, they should have done their research before moving here. Hopefully they'll pack up and leave.
I wouldn't be too concerned if you're thinking of moving here from California. I think you'll fit right in just as we have. Once you get here, you'll start going about your daily business, meeting new people and making new friends. When people get to know you, they won't treat you any differently than one of their own. At least that has been our experience. There's always the fear of the unknown moving to an unfamiliar place. My wife was terrified at first. But that's all that it is, fear. Now that we're here she loves this state just as much as I do. There's just nothing like it!
It started in earnest with the Northridge earthquake in southern California a long time ago. Prescottonians didn't like the rapid influx of people from California. It would not have made much difference if there was a massive migration from another state, in that respect, but the fact that it came from California, with people with lots of money to throw around, and different values (NOT just politics- Prescott is still pretty red) caused the resentment to be greater. They built houses that didn't fit in, and just changed, or threatened to change, what had been the atmosphere of Prescott for a long time.
This. Plus many younger retiring boomers from California radiate an entitlement attitude, like the world needs to bend to their will and their expectations more so than retirees from other areas of the country. It's noticeable. Local facebook groups like "Prescott uncensored", made up of mostly younger people, rail about it semi-frequently.
There is also the issue where the median age now in the Prescott area is like 55 or 56...skewing too grey in my opinion though other opinions especially if you are 55+ might very.
If you are a retiree, as much as I groan whenever I see a new SUV with California plates driving around, the area is pretty friendly and no one will bother you other than an occasional venting online. It's a nice area and you could do a lot worse.
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