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My wife and I have been living in the Seattle area for the last 14 years. I am a native, she is a So Cal transplant. I recently took a new job that has me on plane every week for work. The nice thing is I am not tied down to any city and we can move anywhere we want, as long as I stay within 2 hours or so of flight time to the Bay Area. With this new freedom, we've been looking to move to different state. We'd like warmer weather, close proximity to Orange County (to drive and visit family) and a nicer house than what we have here. We've narrowed it down to the 3 areas in my title. Would love people's input.
Requirements -
30 min or less drive time to major airport.
"Safe" - lower crime, etc. I know the stories are exaggerated in the press, but I am worried about moving into an area that has high home invasions, etc.
Newer construction. Prefer something built >=1995
Price range - $400K-$600K for a 4-5 bedroom, 2500-4000 sq ft home
Strongly prefer, but not required, a gated community since I am gone during the week. Gives me peace of mind for my family.
Good public schools
Here's what I am thinking so far
Henderson - Upside is decent pricing on housing. Gated communities available. No state income tax. Downside is if I ever need to find a new white collar job in the tech industry, I don't have many options.
Phoenix - Better home prices than NV. Better future job potential if I ever need a new one. Downside is longer drive time to CA. Also, anecdotally it seems crime might be slightly higher here than NV??
Corona - Best drive time to So Cal. Downsides are higher home prices, highest state income tax and highest property tax. Also seems like parts of Corona are great, but parts that start to get close to Riverside can be higher crime?
Sounds like you can afford Corona. You might as pay more for the house and it'll balance out with what you save on time and travel cost. Plus, Corona will be more mild weather. Seattle to Henderson or Phoenix is one extreme to another, could be a hard transition from 8 months of grey and chilly to 7 months of brutally hot and blazingly bright.
Sounds like you can afford Corona. You might as pay more for the house and it'll balance out with what you save on time and travel cost. Plus, Corona will be more mild weather. Seattle to Henderson or Phoenix is one extreme to another, could be a hard transition from 8 months of grey and chilly to 7 months of brutally hot and blazingly bright.
ya it's not just the higher home cost. The income tax and property taxes are also zingers
ya it's not just the higher home cost. The income tax and property taxes are also zingers
Those are real concerns, as a lifelong Phoenician who's biased towards PHX, I would say it's a great place to live, with a high quality of life, you just have to make peace with heat.
Honestly, I think Phoenix wins this. Their job market is a lot more forgiving of workers than the other markets mentioned. That alone should be a big consideration.
Also, Phoenix's airport is really nice. Since you'll be spending a lot of time in it, that is something else to strongly consider.
Regardless of the place you choose, in general, the crime will be higher than where you have lived in the Seattle area.
Last edited by amaiunmei; 05-17-2014 at 01:15 AM..
Reason: spelling
Henderson isn't nearly as *well-coiffed* as Phoenix suburbs like Chandler, Gilbert, and Scottsdale--surprisingly gritty for a Sun Belt suburb. Higher crime than the Phoenix 'burbs as well with too much emphasis on gambling and too few jobs outside of the tourism sector. People in and around Henderson look lower-class than people in and around the Phoenix 'burbs--less upscale overall. Summerlin is nicer, IMO, but much smaller and--I think--closer to more undesirable areas.
Corona is nice for the IE, but not as nice as T/M--too much smog, too close to Riverside, kinda gritty. At least it's closer to LA/OC than T/M--more and better jobs in LA/OC than SD. Better option than Henderson, IMO.
Chandler/Gilbert/Scottsdale--new, clean, safe, upscale, better public schools than Henderson/Corona, best roads in the region.
Henderson wins on most of the grounds. Lower crime. More house for the dollar. As nice or nicer neighborhoods and particularly an airport situation that is way better in terms of access time and convenience. Phoenix is not in the same class.
Phoenix has a better winter than Henderson but a significantly worse summer.
The perhaps fatal flaw of Henderson/LV is that it is simply not a good venue for a techie. If you change jobs you would almost certainly leave for another city. If you are not of a level where that is certain anyway it is not a good deal.
I would also note that one should never listen to Phoenician about anywhere other than Phoenix. It is hard to find this much misinformation in one thread.
is the job market for tech that much better in PHX? I know it is non-existent in Vegas
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