Flagstaff - Husband Says Yes - I Say No (Chino Valley: hotels, new home)

[codasgirl04]

I'm sorry i would have just passed China Doll's threads ....IF it wasn't for the fact that she called me out on my religion, I thought that IMO I gave the OP the best advice that I could have

You know people all over this world have terminal illness's my mother has a terminal illness and not ONCE has she ever been rude or babbled on about nonsense. (sp?) There is no excuse to treat someone with disrespect that you don't even know.

Now China Doll, I am engaged to a wonderful man, I have children, I have friends and a loving family and a great job! I use this website to find out info on cities that we are thinking of moving to.

[Lulu101]

The OP said she likes it there--she's supposed to change her mind now because you don't?

Originally Posted by rich67

Lastly, let me pose this to you. Florida (where I live as well) is really a lousy state as well. Crime is through the roof everywhere, the economy is miserable, house prices are down and it's humid and FLAT...I mean, there is not a hill or a mountian anywhere. The only thing this state has going for it is beaches.

[nowannamove]

I have found this thread interesting.

Some of you offered excellent insight on Flagstaff and/or what it means to move the children. Some of you accused me of seeking 'sympathy' and being a whiny stay-at-home wife. Some of you politely offered thoughts on marriage. Some of you rudely offered thoughts on marriage. Some of you truly listened. Some of you made harsh assumptions.

Many of you were quite helpful and/or genuine in a desire to help. Others had their own agenda and were downright rude and/or judgmental to either me or others on this forum.

To those of you who made a genuine attempt to contribute to the discussion, thank you. I appreciate your time, input and caring attitude. To those of you who feel that the internet is a place to judge and ridicule others, I hope that you think about this:

While the internet is seemingly anonymous, the people who come to this forum and all other places online are REAL People with REAL Feelings. Just as you would treat a person with dignity and respect face-to-face, you should also treat people online with dignity and respect. Just because you can't see someone, doesn't mean that it is OK to disregard the rules of common decency.

To all of you. I wish you all well, and hope that you all find what you seek in a positive and loving manner. Perhaps I will see some of you in my yoga classes some day?

Namaste and God Bless

[pokuku]

Ok, as a Flagstaff resident, I feel obligated to throw in my two cents. Here goes:

1. We currently live in a small, conservative, yet very posh retirement city in Florida. He thinks it is too conservative here, so he wants to move to a 'funky' collegetown like Flagstaff.

Well, Flagstaff is not conservative by any stretch of the imagination, so that much is true. However, it really lacks in the "collegetown" department. NAU being here hasn't really made this into a collegetown. For instance, there is almost no local music scene (and no music clubs), no indie/art cinema house, no college radio station, no indie bookstores, etc. The only real "collegetown" thing about Flagstaff is the abundance of bars.

2. He thinks that Flagstaff is pretty and outdoorsy.

It is. If you're the hiking/biking type, its great here. I love fishing and boating, and there isn't much of that (duh, its arizona).

4. He thinks the company is 'cool' and that he will be happier there. I think he is in fantasy land. ALL companies have warts. We moved here to Florida three years ago because he was chasing this same dream of more money and a more exciting company.

I'm 99% sure I know what company you're talking about, since there really is only one decently-sized private employer in this city. And you're right, it has its warts, for sure. I've worked at much worse companies, though. It IS NOT the "amazing" company it claims to be. It is simply a good one.

I do not want to move, and here are my reasons:

1. I have been to Flagstaff and I think it is a dirty, run-down poor looking town. And yes, I did go to the 'trendy' downtown area to eat. I was not impressed, if that is all the town has to offer.

It does have rather "dirty and run-down" areas...more than a town this size should, actually. And there are nice neighborhoods as well. As far as eating...I give Flagstaff a C+. Not "God-awful" but not great either.

2. There are no jobs in Flagstaff for me. What the heck would I do?

This is a big problem here. There are literally only a few employers with decent paying jobs. The local public radio station did a series about that called "Flagstaff: Poverty with a View".

3. Flagstaff has a substantially higher violent crime rate per capita than where I live. Particularly the Rape and Aggravated Assault rates. In fact their violent crime rate per capita is higher than the national average.

This is true. Flagstaff has an abundance of hobos, transients, drunks, druggies, mentally ill, and other assorted people hanging around the streets (and breaking into your cars and homes). Also, Flagstaff has a gang problem that is really taking off.

4. Flagstaff is f'n cold as heck. I prefer our hot sunny climate.

Not THAT big of a problem, as you can easily (and quickly) escape down to Sedona, Verde Valley, etc to be in warmer weather.

5. The houses in Flagstaff are more expensive than they are here. And there are less jobs in Flagstaff, more crime in Flagstaff, and it is a much less attractive city in my opinion. Why would houses be so expensive in such an unattractive town? It just doesn't make sense. IF we moved there I don't want to spend any more than 450K on a house. I don't think I can get much for 450K in Flagstaff. Here for that price you get a newer 2400 square foot house with vaulted cielings, 4 bedrooms, three baths, pool, landscaping, and nice neighborhood.

The homes here are artifically inflated due to a few reasons. One, the lack of available land here. The Federal Government owns most of the surrounding land. Also, there has been a huge influx of people from California selling their million dollar homes and buying "cheap" 450k homes here. I call price-fixing on the part of the realtors. Add in lots of house "flipping" and folks from Phoenix buying 2nd and 3rd homes, and you have today's current, inflated prices.

6. I have heard that there is a serious water issue in Flagstaff.

Yes, the city is currently exploring how to deal with water issues. One is building a huge pipeline from the Colorado River (this will cost half a billion dollars, apparently). I won't want to pay taxes here if they do have to build such a thing.

I just went on a three month cross country trip this past summer, and of all the cities we visited, Flagstaff was the dirtiest and the biggest disappointment. I just cant imagine why in the world my husband wants to move there.

I can imagine why you feel that way!

If you think that flagstaff is a yucky place to move and have something to add, then please tell me that as well.

Its a yucky place.

[pokuku]

Originally Posted by nmnita

it is not dirty, I do not where in the heck you came up with that. Whether you did a 3 month or a 10 month trip around the country i can't believe you had your eyes open or you certainly wouldn't think it is dirty...Try driving through other areas of AZ or NM for that matter??? As for crime, I don't think so. Remember when you are looking at stats and looking at a small city or town, it doesn't take much to throw the stats off. Flagstaff certainly doesn't have a reputation for being high crime.

Wow, you are WAY off here, like so many other people who have lived here forever, blind to the problems plaguing our community.

About it being "dirty": Have you ever been to Sunnyside? Did you even have your eyes open? And crime: Flagstaff has the highest property crime in the state. Thats what the State of Arizona says. If you want to argue, take it up with them.

[rich67]

Originally Posted by Lulu101

The OP said she likes it there--she's supposed to change her mind now because you don't?

Hey, good job quoting something I posted in the first page. Way to pay attention. Did I ever try to change her mind? NO. Did I offer something constructive in the way of this post? YES. Is this your way of contributing positively to someone's post? Stop being a troll and go crawl back under your rock, Lulu.

[Brrooother]

Hi, Nowanna,

I just wanted to tell you that my family moved here when I was eight so my parents could start a local business. It became quite successful, and my family has been here ever since. I am now in my mid-twenties and am proud to call myself a Flagstaff local and a "product" of the public schools(although my fiance taught at a charter school here and that school seemed wonderful) and of the city itself. I always felt that the schools seemed diverse but friendly, and not overly clique-y, and definitely not concerning race, in my opinion.

It is a mild college-town: there are coffeehouses and bars that all have local music (and I think the local music scene is great, especially in the summer) as well as poetry slams and games. The urban trail system and local parks make it easy to enjoy the blue skies and great weather. Yeah, it gets cold, but I think still relatively mild when compared with other towns at this elevation. Flag, I think, is very friendly; people are always running into each other at the supermarket, etc, and strangers seem to always smile when you pass by.

As a kid, I thought Flagstaff was heaven! If you like to be outdoors, whether out in the forest or your neighborhood, you will like it here. As Carecare said it, there are so many day- or weekend-trips you could take to explore scenic Northern AZ. I grew up with a very diverse group of friends, most of whom I am still close with. I always found Flag to be safe, but I grew up in a nice neighborhood on the east side of town. High school was great, and I had friends at all three schools, despite pretty fun rivalries - I was very involved in my school so I certainly enjoyed them!

It is obvious everyone has their opinion, and I know that some will probably disagree whole-heartedly with me. This is absolutely fine - Flagstaff may not be for everyone, but it is absolutely for me. I recently completed two degrees at Northern Arizona University and I'm hoping to get into medical school next fall, but someday I would like to return and raise my family here, for sure!

Oh, and Carecare, thank you so much for your post. It was everything I wanted to say, exactly how I wanted to say it - your ability to express it in words amazed me!

[nowannamove]

Thanks guys for the additional comments. I found Broother and pokuku posts very helpful too. Thank you. I'm starting another thread on teens in Flagstaff because I'm concerned about what I've been reading in the news lately.

[carecare7]

nowannamove, I will try to answer your questions as best I can. You wrote:

Is there racial tension between the native american population and non-native americans in the general town? at the schools? If so, that is a concern. I'm hoping that folks get along and that there is not too much anger or tension between ethnic groups. (My hubby is white and I'm asian/hispanic)

The seven years my kids went to the elementary schools (they attended four different schools because we kept moving around when the owners would sell the houses we were in) the Native kids were quiet and friendly. There is a pretty established Hispanic population, many of whom came here decades ago, when segregation was still a problem but now things seem to be ok. I don't see problems between the races but then, my kids were not taught to be prejudiced and we are white which means we probably wouldn't see racism as well as a minority person would.

If we move we plan to send our oldest son to Flagstaff High. What do you think of the school?

Unfortunately, I don't know about Flag high because my kids asked me to homeschool them after sixth grade and they are still homeschooled.

My husband wants to move into the flag high boundary, while I'm more interested in the Country Club neighborhood. Wha areas in the flag high boundary would you reccomend?

The schools here have open enrollment, so you don't have to live within the Flag High boundary in order for your teen to attend there. To answer your question, the houses to the left of Ft. Valley Rd (these are just north of Flag High) and the Cheshire areas, and north of the hospital (Elden Park Edition, where I live) are all really nice neighborhoods that are safe and friendly.

We will rent until the market bottoms out (which I think will take at least another year). After that we will purchase, but I prefer to rent in the area in which I plan to purchase. In the flag high area we thought that the foothills around cheshire might be nice. What do you think?

We lived in that area for a year and a half and LOVED it! The neighborhood was friendly and so nice. The view of the Peaks from Cheshire is fantastic.

Any other nice and affordable areas in the flag high boundary? By affordable, we are looking for single family homes that are currently priced under 550K.

As I said, you don't have to live in the Flag High boundary but the homes in the area north of Flag High and west of Ft. Valley road (I never can remember what that area is called) has nice single family homes.

We thought about Kachina and Mountainaire (which we have not seen in person yet), but the real estate agent did not take us there and implied that it was 'tacky' and 'red' out there. What do you think?

Both Kachina and Mountainaire are about 10 miles out of Flagstaff, south on I-17. Both are very small areas, no real amenities or things to do so you would need to drive up I-17 every time you wanted groceries and to get to work or school. When it snows, that can be a real pain and dangerous having to drive that every day. I hope I have been of some help!

[nowannamove]

Thanks for the great response carecare.

I have been reading in the news about the possibility of closing one of the three 'traditional' public high schools in Flagstaff. I"m watching with much interest....