To those contemplating a move to AZ (Phoenix: sales, real estate)

[chaparrito]

I'm curious. Other than your crappy weather back wherever it is you are, what's the attraction?

[Jkgourmet]

In regard specifically to the Phoenix metro area:

Cost of living
Cost of housing (home ownership)
Low taxes (real estate and income taxes)
Beautiful, spectacular scenery (which doesn't appeal to everyone, I know)
New buildings (again, not appealing to everyone)
Clean streets
Very diverse cultural and social atmosphere
Plenty of ethnic food (restaurants and grocery stores)
Better highway system than where we live now (never believed I'd say that!)

[AZ Bandit]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

In regard specifically to the Phoenix metro area:

Cost of living
Cost of housing (home ownership)
Low taxes (real estate and income taxes)
Beautiful, spectacular scenery (which doesn't appeal to everyone, I know)
New buildings (again, not appealing to everyone)
Clean streets
Very diverse cultural and social atmosphere
Plenty of ethnic food (restaurants and grocery stores)
Better highway system than where we live now (never believed I'd say that!)

I'm moving back to Arizona next month after being gone for 6 months and I have to agree with everything here. Phoenix is a very desirable location if the above is important to you.

[PoppySead]

No religious prejudice, no huge pot holes, light clothing and casual atmosphere (you can live in flippies and a tank top), no large tornados, hurricanes, or blizzards. No humidity, no iced roadways, nice people, beautiful sunsets, big blue sky and plenty of vitamin D, mountains, easy drive to high elevations, and San Diego, low cost housing that doesn't look low end, cheaper utilities most of the year, easy commuting, swimming year round, golf, new everything.
I know I mentioned the weather but there is more to the weather than just a sunny winter, it's important, especially if you have SAD, or Arthritis.

[GoDevils]

Originally Posted by chaparrito

I'm curious. Other than your crappy weather back wherever it is you are, what's the attraction?

We got 40 inches of snow where I live in April. You'd move too! I'm kidding. Not about the snow. That actually happened. Why we want to relocate: I don't have to shovel, we're outdoors people who DESPISE the cold, where I live there's nothing to do 7 months out of the year unless you're inside 24/7, I have a graduate degree and can't get paid here becuase our wages are so low, hundreds more opportunities for my husband to work there, far more opportunities for me, better/more opportunites overall for our daughters, family, cost of living is probably the same, it may be a tinge higher during the warm months there, the scenery is beautiful in it's own unique way, the people there were fantastic when we were back last summer, sporting events all year round, zoos, museums, etc. When my husband and I were dating, all he talked about was getting back to Phoenix. I thought he was loony until I went there last year. Now it's all we talk about. I can't explain it, but there's something about the culture and the people that I fell absolutely in love with. Now.....I just have to be able to navigate the freeways....

[pokuku]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

In regard specifically to the Phoenix metro area:

Cost of living
Cost of housing (home ownership)
Low taxes (real estate and income taxes)
Beautiful, spectacular scenery (which doesn't appeal to everyone, I know)
New buildings (again, not appealing to everyone)
Clean streets
Very diverse cultural and social atmosphere
Plenty of ethnic food (restaurants and grocery stores)
Better highway system than where we live now (never believed I'd say that!)

Ok, I'll give you just about everything you said, except one:

"Beautiful, spectacular scenery" Uh...no. Beautiful sunsets, yes. Giant sprawling generic-like city, yes. You can find beautiful scenery throughout Arizona, but I think saying its in the Valley is stretching the truth.

One positive I have noticed in particular for people from the US East and other places (like LA) is that racism and segregation are not nearly as much of a problem in PHX as they are in other large American cities.

[adventuregurl]

very low humidity

[dacubz]

Cost of housing and taxes for one. My home in IL has real estate taxes over 8K, my AZ home is only $1200. My AZ mortgage is only a fraction of the one that I pay in IL.

We're inactive here, but in AZ we love to hike. Boring to walk the streets here, compared to the mountains there. Also love to swim late night in the warm temps.

[magnum0417]

Having lived in NY, the move to AZ 1 1/2 years ago was rejuvenating and the best decision I have made in decades. Yeah,the ocean is a 5 hour drive (well Rocky Point is 4) but the COL would be much greater if we had an ocean on our doorsteps. With that said, the favorable taxes along with diverse nature for hiking, kayaking and seeing everything from PondeBullBoxer31 to Saguaros within 2 hours makes Arizona ideal for me. Back in NY, a two hour drive offers no ecological or climatic disparity of any significance. Out here, two hours has you in a different world.

Not having to dodge potholes along with well above average shopping makes Phoenix area ideal even for the couch potatoes that don't appreciate the hiking and diverse scenery as I do. Income taxes. I opt for 3.6% here but could do less but I don't want to owe. Back in NY, I paid 7% and still owed every year. Property taxes here. Generally 1% or $1000 for every $100000 your home is worth. Those who came from high taxed harsher climates as I did from NY tend to appreciate the amenities here.

[thinkalot]

If you move here after age 50 you will die before you run out of new things to do and places to go. Best move I ever made.

I agree with everything the previous posters have said except I do not consider Arizona diverse. There are Mexicans and Native Americans but being from the Midwest I miss the ethnic Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Where are the Russian, Polish, Croatian, Slovak, Hungarian, Ukrainian, etc churches and their weekly food sales and annual festivals? When I hear a foreign language it is always Spanish. It takes more than 4 or 5 different colors to be diverse. You have to have all of the sub groups of each color. Too many plain vanilla white people in my opinion. Haven't seen an Asian in weeks. Saw a black guy last week. Met an old Italian woman that speaks broken and it made me homesick, and I'm not even Italian.