Las Vegas VS Flagstaff (Sedona, Winslow: foreclosures, to rent, unemployment)

[UofA_RunningDoc]

My wife and I are AZ natives temporarily displaced in Las Vegas NV. I graduated from U of A, My wife from NAU, and we are looking to move to Flagstaff.

I have read every old post about Flagstaff and found a lot of answers:

1) don't move here without a job lined up
-I have one and she will be getting another degree from NAU in education

2) It's active lifestyle oriented
-We are both runners (vicki a former all-american at NAU) & snowboarders

3) It gets cold in the winter
-I have a jacket

What I didn't find an answer to:

I know Flagstaff has high cost of living relative to AZ but I"m coming from vegas. I found conflicting cost of living calculators online, but they all agreed that the difference between the two cities was about 10%. So anyone with experience in both of these cities? Is Vegas more expensive or is Flag more expensive? Thanks in advance

[esselcue]

Vegas is more expensive, also "uglier, too darned hot and seething with weirdoes" (his words, not mine)...according to my cousin who has lived in Vegas and now resides in Flagstaff and states he will never set foot in Vegas again!

[azdr0710]

I'm sure you know that LV and Flag are hardly comparable!!.....but you seem only to be asking about cost of living.....

Flag housing is very expensive and has come down only a bit in the recent downturn....I'm sure you know that the building style in Flag is more attuned to its mountain location and may seem junky to some.....

much more expensive than 10% more than Vegas...

have not compared the prices of a gallon of milk in Flag vs. LV, but I'm sure it is more than 10% more in Flag, too....however, there is a Sam's Club in Flag - if you aren't anti-WalMart!.....

best of luck in Flag.....

[CCCVDUR]

Originally Posted by esselcue

Vegas is more expensive, also "uglier, too darned hot and seething with weirdoes" (his words, not mine)...according to my cousin who has lived in Vegas and now resides in Flagstaff and states he will never set foot in Vegas again!

Neither would I ! Thought about it, but w/ the unemployment and foreclosures in NV, I'd be heading either east on I-40 to New Mexico/Colorado, or, passing just south of Vegas via Needles to the up and coming Yucca Valley area ... or to the Central Coast of California ...

Flagstaff cost of living is very high because of rent, food, and utilities. However, there is a sams club and a superwallmart 70 miles to the east in Winslow, AZ if you have good gas mileage (and also one in Cottonwood via either Sedona or Camp Verde but that's downhill 4,000').

It is cheaper to rent (and buy) outside of Flagstaff in the unincorporated communities of Kachina Village, Mountainairre, and Doney Park.

You mention you are into the outdoors so you WILL LOVE the Flagstaff Urban Trails system (aka 'FUTS') --

When I lived in Henderson, I hated it because you had to drive to all the natural areas like Lake Meade. When I lived in Boulder City it was, of course, terrific.

DEPT City of Flagstaff Official Website
PDF MAP http://www.flagstaff.az.gov/DocumentView.asp?DID=7724


Martin Ince, Multi-Modal Transportation Planner
City of Flagstaff
211 West Aspen Avenue

The Flagstaff Urban Trails System (FUTS) is a city-wide network of non-motorized, shared-use pathways that are used by bicyclists, walkers, hikers, runners, and other users for both recreation and transportation.

At present there are about 47 miles of FUTS trails in Flagstaff; and the overall master plan for FUTS shows another 80 miles of trail to be built in the future to complete the system. FUTS trails are generally eight or ten feet in width. About 22 miles of trails are paved, either in concrete or asphalt, and another 25 miles are aggregate surfaced.

[UofA_RunningDoc]

Originally Posted by Tom Lane

When I lived in Henderson, I hated it because you had to drive to all the natural areas like Lake Mead.

That's one of the main reasons we are looking to move. Vegas is deceptive because it does have a lot of good recreation, but the travel time to access it is just too much. That and the divers here are horrible..... accidents all the time

Originally Posted by Tom Lane

It is cheaper to rent (and buy) outside of Flagstaff in the unincorporated communities of Kachina Village, Mountainaire, and Doney Park.

What is the drive like from Kachina Village/mountainaire? Since it is accessed by way of the 17 does it see heavy traffic in the A.M. going to Flag and in the P.M. leaving flag? And how are the Snowy days?

Thanks for all the replies!

[bstree]

I run the FUTS, and that alone does enough to offset the cost of living here.
Ok not really, but...
It is expensive here. I have no data but I would guess its a fair 15-20% more than LV.

[AzRoadKing]

It's not just cold in winter. Greater than 60% of the year the low temperature is below 32 degrees (F). It is a mountain / high elevation environment so weather can be extreme with relatively large temperature fluctuations on a daily basis, even during the summer.

[UofA_RunningDoc]

Originally Posted by AzRoadKing

It's not just cold in winter. Greater than 60% of the year the low temperature is below 32 degrees (F). It is a mountain / high elevation environment so weather can be extreme with relatively large temperature fluctuations on a daily basis, even during the summer.

Ya I'm not too worried about overnight lows, it's more the average temp during the day that makes me think i can tolerate the cold in flag. I'm from the kingman area so I can handle some cold.