What's not to like about Prescott? (Camp Verde, Cottonwood: transplants, rentals, home builders)

[Gretchen B]

Originally Posted by shadow91

how does the hospital pay its RN's? I heard that is a nice hospital.

From what I hear, the nursing jobs up here are some of the few "high paying" jobs in the area. It's Yavapai Regional Medical Center, and they just built a new satellite hospital in Prescott Valley which I think is supposed to be bigger than the Prescott hospital. I'm guessing you could maybe Google it and find out a little more about the pay scale.

[ArizonaGirl]

I lived here back in 1980 when I attended Yavapai College and left for 23 years. Moved back in June and I'm extremely disappointed. Where did all these court ordered rehab centers come from? The town's motto should be "Come for the Rehab, stay for the Relapse." (The main tourist attraction is Whiskey Row.)

It does have the best hometown brewery in the state and has won many national awards for their beer (The PBC is located right across from the courthouse.)

People here lack follow up skills. They say they'll call you. You can leave 3 or 4 voicemails and rarely get a call back. I can't even get the Wall Street Journal delivered everyday. Then I see two papers the following day.

I hope you like the smell of skunks because in the summertime that's all you'll smell. Very skunky here.

Don't get into any trouble with the law or your name, age, address, etc will end up all over the radio, even for piddly offenses.

Get XM Satellite or Sirius Radio. The local stations here beam in their music programming from Denver, and when the local news ends, the rejoin the network in mid song. They can't even bother backtiming to meet the network.

When traveling across town, avoid downtown whenever possible, cars jut out into the road on Gurley Street because they're too big to fit in the diagonal parking; and UPS trucks are stopped in the middle of the lanes to make deliveries. Seriously.

On the upside, there's a great little roller rink here, the only one left in Northern Arizona, and they just opened an ice rink in Prescott Valley. Plus, there's a Costco, the only one in Northern Arizona. Gas prices are cheaper here this winter than they are in Phoenix. Last summer they were 10 cents a gallon higher.

It's a drinkin' town with a tourist problem.

[Latitudes]

Great post, ArizonaGirl! Too few posters show that much wit. "A drinkin' town with a retirement problem". I'm stealing that one!
One thing I wonder about. So many times we read posts on places that were great towns 20 years ago that've been ruined by development since. Do you suppose old-timers 20 years ago might have said that the same town was a great place back in the 60's but its gone downhill now in the 1980s? I mean if you never knew what a town used to be like, if you just accept it as you find it, does the change of character or livablity still pain you? I'm sure that there are probably folks who come to Prescott and think that its too small and needs more growth. I also think that maybe towns have awkward stages in their growth where local infrastructure isn't adequate for the number of people, but then they build past that and cross some kind of threshold between town and city. Or maybe between mid sized city and bigger city.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Latitudes

Great post, ArizonaGirl! Too few posters show that much wit. "A drinkin' town with a retirement problem". I'm stealing that one!
One thing I wonder about. So many times we read posts on places that were great towns 20 years ago that've been ruined by development since. Do you suppose old-timers 20 years ago might have said that the same town was a great place back in the 60's but its gone downhill now in the 1980s? I mean if you never knew what a town used to be like, if you just accept it as you find it, does the change of character or livablity still pain you? I'm sure that there are probably folks who come to Prescott and think that its too small and needs more growth. I also think that maybe towns have awkward stages in their growth where local infrastructure isn't adequate for the number of people, but then they build past that and cross some kind of threshold between town and city. Or maybe between mid sized city and bigger city.

It is never again as nice as the day you get here, no matter when that was. I think that the true value of Arizona lies in her natural beauty. Development destroys that by definition. Sedona is one the most striking examples. It makes me want to cry to see what has happened up there when I visit now. The splash of money on the red rocks is sickening. Now Prescott is under siege and more and more places will fall prey to the dozers, the strips malls, and the tract homes over the years. Phoenix is less affected than much of the state has been. Most of Phoenix is not less beautiful as the Salt River floodplain was never that lovely to begin with, although nearby higher elevation deserts have been obliterated. The air and the lifestyle has been seriously degraded with the population increases too. It is probably the same everywhere in the world. More people means destruction of natural beauty and a decline in the quality of life for those already there.

[Gretchen B]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

It is never again as nice as the day you get here, no matter when that was. I think that the true value of Arizona lies in her natural beauty. Development destroys that by definition. Sedona is one the most striking examples. It makes me want to cry to see what has happened up there when I visit now. The splash of money on the red rocks is sickening. Now Prescott is under siege and more and more places will fall prey to the dozers, the strips malls, and the tract homes over the years. Phoenix is less affected than much of the state has been. Most of Phoenix is not less beautiful as the Salt River floodplain was never that lovely to begin with, although nearby higher elevation deserts have been obliterated. The air and the lifestyle has been seriously degraded with the population increases too. It is probably the same everywhere in the world. More people means destruction of natural beauty and a decline in the quality of life for those already there.

Every time I drive by one of our two new Super Wal-marts (which they blasted out over 100,000 tons of boulders to make way for the one on Iron Springs and Gail Gardner), I think of that song: "You don't know what you've got til it's gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." I wonder what will become of the Prescott Dells. The ranches in there have been forced to sell to developers.

[ArizonaGirl]

I forgot to mention the old dude who hangs out downtown next to his old beat up van plastered with large hand-painted signs blaming the Jews for all the world's problems. On other days he picks on parishoners from the Potters House. He seems to enjoy getting a rise out of people. I've seen him engaged in verbal altercations and fisticuffs several times while out walking my dog. Locals say he's been here for years. I'm sure the Chamber of Commerce just loves having him hang out in front of the tourist center!

[Thinkoln Amovin']

While I wasn't particularly looking to move to Prescott, I am very interested in moving to northern AZ. However, based on what I have read here, it would appear that the same kind of suburbanite robots have infested that area, at the least. Concerns include that peculiarly American vice of dazed acceptance, as well as the increasing epidemic of income disparity. In other words, do I really want to move to a place filled with people who don't get why WalMart is the tool of the scum of the Earth to make it scummier?

Moreover, did anyone else ever notice that the people who complain about how rude people on the east coast are happen to be the biggest 'tards you ever met? I'm originally from the Midwest, and I left for a reason, despite the fact that the problem is only mild (though not mild enough for me, obviously) compared to, for example, the deep South. I live in NY now, and I truly appreciate the basic conscious (i.e., wake up and handle your business, rather than pretend that your time-wasting dilly-dallying is somehow entertaining to people who'd like to move on with their lives) approach people take here. However, I enjoy solitude, and I enjoy the desert, thus (unless I leave the US) I'm looking at northern AZ as a probable destination.

Unfortunately, the posts here seem to indicate that I ought to become even more familiar with online shopping for particular items as I search for a place to buy as far from the settled areas as practicable. Really and truly, it's not all going to the dogs, is it? It'd be so much easier to find a place in the continental US to live rather leaving the country, and while I realize that it has only taken 6 godawful years for the bovine majority to catch on to Bush, Inc., am I truly forced to accept that they've already turned the tide in making this country unlivable? I hope not...

[BriansPerspective]

I was once walking down the street and saw an old man sitting on his porch. A car drove up and someone leaned out and asked the old man how were the people in this town? The old man asked the person how were the people is his town? The person said that the people in his town were wonderful! His neighbors were friendly and everybody waved to you. The old man look at the person and said that this town was exactly like that. The person said "Great! Thank you. I'm going to move here!", and drove off.

I kept on walking, waved, and said hello to the old man as I passed. Just then, another car drove up and someone leaned out and asked the old man how were the people in this town? The old man asked the person how were the people is his town? The person said that the people in his town were jerks. They were always complaining and his neighbors were always arguing about something. The old man look at the person and said that this town was exactly like that. The person said "Damn! I was hoping to find a better town. I guess I'll keep looking.", and sped off.

[brian_2]

BiggsHomes - It's a little deeper than, 'People will hear what they want to hear.'

Thinkoln Amovin' - from the tone of your post I can assure you that you will not like it here in Northern Arizona. Don't waste your time thinking about a relocation. Visit for the change of scenery and climate, look around, drop some green, and beeline back to NY when times up

ArizonaGirl - The anti-Semite with the van is an isolated individual. Picking up those 'save the white people' flyers (the little sad faced white girl and the pretty flowers don't fool anyone idiots) from the driveway in area communities is another. I've contacted local media about the distribution of hateful literature in my area several times. Seems we have the warm, fuzzy white supremacist type of miscreant here in PV, Prescott, Camp Verde and Cottonwood. 'Get out yer guns boyz n let's go down to the border and watch fer mexican's! Cowboy up baby!

[lifesajerney]

You picked the right / wrong girl to ask depending on your perspective. I lived in Prescott for almost 20 years, before moving to Payson and I could not wait to get out of that area. When I moved there it was a quaint cute freindly town. Then Money Magazine ran an article of the best places to retire. From that time Prescott has become a metropolis. A majority from California. Besides the newcomers trying to change the area to be like where they came from with their laws and high society attitudes, you have to deal with the traffic. If you live in Chino Valley or Prescott Valley, a normal 20 minute commute, takes you a hour or more due to "rush hour". What used to be a town where everyone wore wranglers to work and if you thought of wearing a dress or suit people thought you were going to a funeral. Now it is expected because everyone is expected to be professional. If you have a small town attitude, think about some other area's. If you need a mall and like spending your mornings stuck in traffic, Prescott is perfect. I can also say that there is a very large problem with Meth in the area too.