Relocate to..Arizona or Florida...opinions? (Phoenix, Tucson: HOA, homes, landscaping)

[uberalles]

I moved to Phoenix just last year. I lived in Florida for 15 years.
There are both better and worse things about each state. You have to just prioritize what's important to you. Since I had reason to move away from Florida, I'll give you some of the major cons of Florida.

1. South Florida property values and thus taxes are ridiculas. For a small 1600 sq ft house expect to pay $3,000 a year in property taxes. You can get twice the house brand new for the same amount of money in Phoenix.

2. On top of that expect $2,200 for insurance on that dinky house.

3. Expect to spend a year cleaning up a fixing damage from a hurricane every 5 years. Maybe more. Wilma ruined my screen enclosure, put a tree on the house and through our car windshield. Blew down 2 long fences. Damage was $15,000 insurance paid $10,000.

4. Too many New Yorkers. Oh, you say, "Oh, my, that's not nice". No, it's not nice but true. People in Arizona are much more civilized. Then are the rest of the dirt bags that live there. When you go to Tire Kindom, expect some damage on your car. When you go to Jiffy Lube expect greease marks all over you car. No one obeys traffic laws and run red lights ALL the time. The people in S. Florida SUCK! in my humble opinion.

5. Don't get a lot of property unless you hire a landscaper.

6. Cost of living is high in S. Florida. Gas is 50 cents a gallon more.

7. S. Florida terrain is boring. There aren't many open areas.

8. Crime is much higher in Florida than it is in Arizona.

9. Expect your kids to spend a month in school learning black history and about Jewish holidays. Oh, my mistake, I put that as a negative. Math and science aren't near as important.

[uberalles]

Now for the Florida good stuff.

1. The weather is great even with the humidity. The winters are beautiful. So you can't work outside in the summer. Take a dip in a pool.

2. It is lush. The palms are beautiful. We grew bananas, pineapples, coconuts, oranges, lemons, grapefruit.

3. The wild life in Florida is much more abundant. There are many large beautiful birds. Lizards are everywhere. Iguanas, squirrels, parrots, great fishing. A few rats also though and mosquitos and palmetto bugs (cocaroaches).

4. The beaches are neat but lately they have been eroding and are getting very narrow. Even with refilling, man can not keep up with the erosion.

5. Disney World. Universal Studios.

[uberalles]

Phoenix

Better grade of people. Mountain views. Dirt biking, tubing down the Salt. Housing prices are great. Economy is booming. I found a great job in 10 days. 1 interview. Great scools in south east Phoenix. Don't know about other areas.

You can get to all the great westarn national parks here more easily.

The monsoons can be considered a negative, but after going though huricanes they are just kind of neat.

Who was the idiot that mentioned tornados and tried to compare them to the huricanes. LOL. Sure there are tornados in Phoenix, but maybe once in a blue moon, but you can't compare that to the Florida hurricanes. Even if one doesn't hit you, you end up boarding up once a year. There's always a hurricane that will scare you into thinking it might hit.

[akire]

Because you have small children there are other things to take into consideration. Schools in the Phoenix area are over crowded and have a poor quality of education. Also the crime is high (many neighbors have been burglarized and we are in a nice, family oriented neighborhood in the suburbs). Wait until it's 116 degrees out and try to take your kids to and from the grocery store. Phoenix has a lot to offer as far as entertainment, sports, and shopping. The winters are wonderful, but then you have to worry about air advisories. Tucson is a smaller community, however the crime seems to be bad their, too. I won't comment on Florida, as I've only visited there a few times. Perhaps you should look outside of FL/AZ to raise your children?

[desertorbeach]

I am curious about Florida as well, I moved to Arizona about 10 years ago from Ohio, however tried to move back because I didn't really care much for Arizona but could not deal with the cold so we reluctantly came back to Arizona. My husband and I have no children so the schools are not a concern and he can transfer with his work. I am worried about Hurricanes, bugs and humidity from things I have heard. We are thinking of the Southwest area around Ft Myers, so if anyone has anything on that area that would be helpful. As far as the people thinking of moving to Arizona, I can tell you how I feel about it. I like not dealing with snow and not much rain most of the time but I will say that Arizona has changed, everything is so fast paced, getting anywhere is all main highways with speed limits at 75 and everyone driving about 80 bumper to bumper, many accidents. The warm winters are nice but it still gets cold here, during the day it isn't bad but we get down in the mid 30's at night and mornings most of the winter so once the sun goes down it is cold. I don't like the dust, it is windy many days and dust blowing, we have dust storms to deal with, just had a big one close to me about a month ago and had a 30 car pile up on the highway, 3 people killed. They come on suddenly and you can't see anything, complete blackout. Many people complain about humidity in other states like Florida but I would like to have some, your skin gets cracked out here and you can't get enough lotion, you dehydrate very quickly. I know about 3 out of every 5 people I have talked to here have been in the emergency room from dehydration. As far as bugs, yes we do have scorpions, we have seen many, had one on my leg once, my brother has been stung twice and we live in town. Termites are bad out here, Have seen sidewinders and rattlesnakes and tarantula's and even Gila Monsters but these are not things you see every day, we use to live out of town when I seen the snakes and Gila Monsters but we have seen scorpions and tarnatulas in town and we also have sewer roaches, centepedes, black widows and brown lucrus spiders here. We have our home sprayed from a professional monthly which I would highly recommend. We do get monsoons from July through September which brings storms, wind, rain, micro bursts and lightening. If we get much rain out here we get floods because there is no trees or grass to absorb the rain so many areas have to have flood insurance. If you are not an adventure person then it is boring here, by adventure I mean camping, hiking, mountain biking that sort of thing, other than that nothing to do besides shopping, no water parks here, no amusement parks, no miniature golf, no water sports. The summers are extremely hot from May through late October it is over 100 degrees, you can't do anything outside or you will dehydrate or have a heat stroke. Every other restaurant is Mexican food, they cater to that food here, we even celebrate Cinco de mayo here which is a mexican holiday, so if you like mexican food you will love it. We are about 4 hours from Mexico (although not many drive there now due to the drugs and killings going on there now), we are about 6 hour from San Diego and about 6 hours from Vegas, so if you like going to those places it will save you on Airplane tickets. I am not saying anything bad about Arizona, I am just giving you some of the goods and bads, it is all a preference, some love it here, myself I am thinking of moving to Florida for more things to do, have some moisture which is better for your body and to get out of the dead desert look. Again only one persons opinion but I am looking for feedback on the Southwest part of Florida.

[Floridahater]

Hello:
I am desperate to get out of Florida and move to AZ, et al. I have been here nine years. Mom passed away, and I have been attempting to relocate to a number of areas including AZ. I honestly can't tolerate the oppressive humidity. We just experienced one of the coldest winter seasons here in years. I really didn't mind because it was somewhat drier than usual. I hate high humidity. The fronts don't make it south from May to Nov; therefore, there is never a break (and you're stuck since there are no higher elevations to help escape the heat).

I lived in CA for many years and I miss the western US. Florida is a hot and humid swamp; and, as I have stated, there is no escape from May to Nov. The frequent hot rain results in more and more mold and bugs. Insurance is sky high due to the hurricanes and tropical storms (another reason not to live here). The geography is basically unattractive.

I have lived all over this country, and FL is at the bottom of the list. I am hopeful that I will be out of here this year. The national economy has been the greatest problem in relocating.

Indeed, Floridahater would advise that you pick AZ!!!!

However, good luck and God Bless no matter what your decision may be!!

[Saradance]

I'm torn on this. They both seem like great places on the surface, but once you get past the initial phase of awww, they both have their negatives. I think I would like Florida better because of the green, but the humidity and high taxes drive me away. AZ has a better cost of living, but the dead desolate desert gets old too :\ Both have very bad crime for being attractive looking areas. This is a tough one. Florida is much more cosmopolitan if you're near Miami, but Arizona feels more like America. I'll call them both equally mediocre

[littleman123456]

florida is nicer but arizona has less problems.

[bongofury]

Originally Posted by uberalles

Now for the Florida good stuff.

1. The weather is great even with the humidity. The winters are beautiful. So you can't work outside in the summer. Take a dip in a pool.

2. It is lush. The palms are beautiful. We grew bananas, pineapples, coconuts, oranges, lemons, grapefruit.

3. The wild life in Florida is much more abundant. There are many large beautiful birds. Lizards are everywhere. Iguanas, squirrels, parrots, great fishing. A few rats also though and mosquitos and palmetto bugs (cocaroaches).

4. The beaches are neat but lately they have been eroding and are getting very narrow. Even with refilling, man can not keep up with the erosion.

5. Disney World. Universal Studios.

Your #5 would be on my bad list except that visiting those places is optional.

Arizona's dryness and wind can really play havoc on the skin - cracking, itching, splitting and so on. Higher humidity is uncomfortable but better for the skin. After 50 many will know what I'm saying. Moisturizers are your friend. Buy in quantity.

Florida in the good column for food and dining choices. Florida obliterates Arizona when it comes to better restaurants, cheap eats, creativity, diversity, etc. etc..and that 'great' Arizona Mex? Not. Go to New Mexico or Texas for good Mexican. Lived in all these states. I know of what I speak. For people who don't know or care non-issue of course. For foodies Arizona blows big time.

As much as I loved having an avocado and mango tree in my yard in South Florida it made mowing the lawn a real adventure. Zing! into my ankle went the avocado pit that I didn't see and hit with the mower blade.

The Grand Canyon is special. Even after the tenth time. Just avoid the food concessions. Grab a bite in Flagstaff (or, eck! Williams) first.

A great misnomer is that Arizonians have fewer allergy problems. Prescriptions for allergy meds in 'Zona are epic. Yeah, not as bad as Georgia with that blanket of yellow pollen, but with so many people planting all kinds of non-native plants in their yards to try to create the illusion they're not living in a scorched earth brown desert environment know that the inevitable Arizona allergy infection will kick your butt.

In either state if you don't have ample melanin by birth - hope you have dermatologist choices on your health plan after 50.

[Ponderosa]

Curious I am. FL has many, many more millions of people than AZ does. Does living in FL feel more crowded, congested, can't-get-away-from-the-hordes, than it does in Phoenix/AZ?