Favorite Things About Arizona (Phoenix: home, living, price)

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by Colt Cassidy

I've always loved & appreciated Arizona's state flag. It's wonderfully different from other state flags, and it's second ONLY to Old Glory, IMHO!

Our flag is pretty awesome. Maryland is probably the weirdest, not bad, but the weirdest.

I think after ours I have always liked South Carolina. That one I just really like for some reason.

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by yellowbelle

Can I add more? After recent news, I'm reminded how much I love not worrying about hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes.

Not that they'll never happen, just not with the frequency I was used to...

Haha yes it has been quite funky with the weather lately. Arizona is unusually cold, California is getting tornadoes... So is this the climate change they were talking about?

I think out of those three disasters I'm not sure which one is worse. Earthquakes are probably the best in this situation (and the one we are more likely to have) because tornadoes and hurricanes can take your house if they please. We can get wildfires but I feel that wildfires get lots of news coverage and it's much easier to evacuate from. Haboobs are nothing...

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by yellowbelle

Can I add more? After recent news, I'm reminded how much I love not worrying about hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes.

Not that they'll never happen, just not with the frequency I was used to...

I'm dying to get away from Texas. I moved here 37 years ago after living in California for nearly 29 years. The earthquakes were nothing compared to the wicked thunderstorms here that unnerve me to no end. Every spring when the violent weather is the most prevalent, I ask myself, "Why am I still here?" Then, yesterday, Texas was hit with so many deadly tornadoes and in December yet! So, what's a good town, not too large, not too expensive, and some place to where I could retire? I'm hoping to do so in 1 1/2 years and would like nothing better to see Texas in my rear-view mirror.

I would love to move back to my hometown of Burbank, CA, but that's impossible due to real estate costs.

I've considered other states like Idaho, but I've never really delved into Arizona.

[Tzaphkiel]

the sound of the trains in Flagstaff
the stand of white birch on the drive down to Flagstaff from Williams
seeing herds of elk

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by Canine*Castle

I'm dying to get away from Texas. I moved here 37 years ago after living in California for nearly 29 years. The earthquakes were nothing compared to the wicked thunderstorms here that unnerve me to no end. Every spring when the violent weather is the most prevalent, I ask myself, "Why am I still here?" Then, yesterday, Texas was hit with so many deadly tornadoes and in December yet! So, what's a good town, not too large, not too expensive, and some place to where I could retire? I'm hoping to do so in 1 1/2 years and would like nothing better to see Texas in my rear-view mirror.

I would love to move back to my hometown of Burbank, CA, but that's impossible due to real estate costs.

I've considered other states like Idaho, but I've never really delved into Arizona.

Feel free to delve.

[PhoenixSomeday]

• Cost of living. I'm native to Silicon Valley. It is absolutely dirt cheap here. Home ownership is a real and attainable goal, not a perpetual fantasy.
• Amazing sunrises and sunsets. They were the exception back home; here they're the rule.
• Relatively brand new and very wide road and freeway infrastructure. It doesn't take very long at all to go far.
• Heavy rush hours that don't go from 6am to 11am and 2pm to 7pm, like back home. Here, it's less than half that.
• Gas is a full dollar cheaper; as of yet unexplainable-by-anyone-I've-asked bizzarely huge price gaps between regular and premium at about half of gas stations aside.

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by PhoenixSomeday

• Cost of living. I'm native to Silicon Valley. It is absolutely dirt cheap here. Home ownership is a real and attainable goal, not a perpetual fantasy.
• Amazing sunrises and sunsets. They were the exception back home; here they're the rule.
• Relatively brand new and very wide road and freeway infrastructure. It doesn't take very long at all to go far.
• Heavy rush hours that don't go from 6am to 11am and 2pm to 7pm, like back home. Here, it's less than half that.
• Gas is a full dollar cheaper; as of yet unexplainable-by-anyone-I've-asked bizzarely huge price gaps between regular and premium at about half of gas stations aside.

Doesn't CA have a high gas tax? That would be part of it...

Arizona gas prices also vary. For an example I learned that Phoenix acquires gas from California most of the time, while Tucson, on the other hand, gets gas from Texas (despite Tucson being the equilibrium distance between San Diego and El Paso). Usually (prices have been about the same lately between the two cities) Tucson is much cheaper. By about a dime or more. Tucson usually makes "Cheapest Gas in the U.S." lists as well. I saw a study by professors who made that Tucson was the cheapest however I'm not sure if I believe that.

Must be something with laws in California to regulate refineries and oil rigs that raise the gas prices much higher than what we get from Texas for SE Arizona. Similarly, this is why Alaskan gas is so expensive, they get to drill it up, they have to ship it back to the 48 to refine it, and then ship it back.

[PhoenixSomeday]

Originally Posted by :-D

Doesn't CA have a high gas tax? That would be part of it...

Arizona gas prices also vary. For an example I learned that Phoenix acquires gas from California most of the time, while Tucson, on the other hand, gets gas from Texas (despite Tucson being the equilibrium distance between San Diego and El Paso). Usually (prices have been about the same lately between the two cities) Tucson is much cheaper. By about a dime or more. Tucson usually makes "Cheapest Gas in the U.S." lists as well. I saw a study by professors who made that Tucson was the cheapest however I'm not sure if I believe that.

Must be something with laws in California to regulate refineries and oil rigs that raise the gas prices much higher than what we get from Texas for SE Arizona. Similarly, this is why Alaskan gas is so expensive, they get to drill it up, they have to ship it back to the 48 to refine it, and then ship it back.

Well, what I meant was that for my entire life in CA gas was near universally 10 cents between regular and mid, and 10 cents between mid and premium. Maybe once in a blue moon it'd be 12 cents for either the lower or upper gap. Beyond that, this was a consistent part of life.

But here in AZ, it seems about 40-50% of the gas stations have a bizarre 40-50 cent gap between mid and premium. 10 cents between regular and mid, but then 40-50 between mid and premium. A gas station on one corner may be 2.04 - 2.14 - 2.60, and then one across the street will be 2.05 - 2.15 - 2.25. And it's not even consistent across brands or franchise owners. Some will be bizarre and others will be normal, even just mere blocks away from each other. It seems utterly random and I haven't seen an explanation for it.

That said, for someone like me who requires premium, you have to know which gas stations bend you over for premium and which are normal. I know that within a large radius, the Chevron at Alison and Kyrene in Chandler is hands down not only the cheapest Chevron, but nearly the cheapest period. Perhaps being tribal operated has something to do with it in this case; who knows.

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by Colt Cassidy

Feel free to delve.

Thank you. I've been doing some 'delving' today regarding Arizona.

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by PhoenixSomeday

Well, what I meant was that for my entire life in CA gas was near universally 10 cents between regular and mid, and 10 cents between mid and premium. Maybe once in a blue moon it'd be 12 cents for either the lower or upper gap. Beyond that, this was a consistent part of life.

But here in AZ, it seems about 40-50% of the gas stations have a bizarre 40-50 cent gap between mid and premium. 10 cents between regular and mid, but then 40-50 between mid and premium. A gas station on one corner may be 2.04 - 2.14 - 2.60, and then one across the street will be 2.05 - 2.15 - 2.25. And it's not even consistent across brands or franchise owners. Some will be bizarre and others will be normal, even just mere blocks away from each other. It seems utterly random and I haven't seen an explanation for it.

That said, for someone like me who requires premium, you have to know which gas stations bend you over for premium and which are normal. I know that within a large radius, the Chevron at Alison and Kyrene in Chandler is hands down not only the cheapest Chevron, but nearly the cheapest period. Perhaps being tribal operated has something to do with it in this case; who knows.

The cheapest gas stations I see are in N. Phoenix just south of the 101 near Union Hills and PVCC, and some of the West Valley gas stations that are removed from freeways. The cheapest I have ever seen in Phoenix was out in Surprise but... it's Surprise. It was a time when gas was expensive and it was a QT and unleaded was 2.00

I'm going to take the wild assumption that most Phoenicians don't have premium cars then to justify that. Those who do have premium probably live in Scottsdale. My mom drives a truck that uses premium and she doesn't seem to mind the gas prices now She usually fills up near our house in Glendale because where she works near the ASU stadium is more expensive... Location definitely matters.