Don't Move To Flagstaff! (Phoenix, Glendale: fit in, for sale, foreclosures)

[jadgeo]

Your comments on Flagstaff certainly have merit, although I disagree with some of your points. Flagstaff can certainly be a frustrating place to live due to high housing prices and the tendency of local and vocal activists to protest anything that allows them to get together for a potluck. I'm pretty familiar with the town as I have lived here for 33 years, have three degrees from NAU, and own three houses and a building lot. The attraction of Flag is the small town atmosphere and the outstanding outdoor access. I can cross country ski or mountain bike on world class single track from my house. Don't like the weather at 7,000 feet? Drive 45 minutes to the red rocks of Sedona to hike or bike (5,500 feet) or up to the Snowbowl for a walk at 11,000 feet. Is it hard to make it here? I spent 25 years on the road as a geologist, I don't waste my money on $5 lattes at Macy's, and I leverage my money in rentals. No one is going to give you a place in Flag, it requires work or a big bag of cash. I like the climate here, four seasons with snow in the winter and not too hot in the summer. The university provides some culture and diversity not available in most small southwestern towns. I am from Oregon originally and I like Flagstaff better than any place I've seen in the northwest. Anyway those are my thoughts on Flagpole.

[MicheleVanDetti]

I like Flagstaff a lot, it's a nice town. It's like any college town in a beautiful setting. My brother lives in Missoula, MT, and as a teacher he could never afford a house there. The low wages and high prices are considered "scenery tax". People make their choices. Live in Flagstaff and enjoy the culture and be poor or don't.

You're right about there being no middle class. Either you're a starving student, working poor, or a highly educated professional with a big salary living very comfortably.

Still, I don't like it when people complain about the cost of living in a certain area. You have three choices: Suck it up and deal with it, get a better job that will make you more comfortable, or live somewhere else where your occupation can support you nicely. My brother admits to making the suck it up choice, and he doesn't complain. I couldn't hack it so I got a career that paid better. It's just life.

[moose168]

Originally Posted by Blue Sky

If you are thinking of moving to Flagstaff, think again. Housing costs are astronomical and the wages are really low in comparison.

Sounds somewhat like the Phoenix area - only smaller, friendlier, and prettier, with 4 seasons.

My water bill is $20 a month instead of $200 a month.

$200 a month for a water bill is rather astounding for Flagstaff; but it's not too unusual for Phoenix. Try to add a little comfort here with grass and shade trees - forget it! The water rates alone are expensive; but everyone else is switching to rock lawns, which actually make the environment hotter!

I bought the same 2 bd bungalow house (with a fireplace and large lawn) here for $78,000. My old house sold in Flagstaff for $298,000.

That's nothing. Try living in California. The home you described couldn't be purchased for less than $600grand almost anywhere in Cali. A house is an investment, and $78,000 these days is dirt-cheap; so you really get what you pay for.
On the other hand, if you believe the real-estate market will become more expensive in Spokane, now is the best time to buy.

Flagstaff is expensive for no reason.

I've always liked Flagstaff as an escape from Phoenix; but I know what you mean about the cost of living.
If the Flagstaff job market is scarce and wages are low, there's no reason why the cost of living should be so out of reach for the average person.
The entire state of Arizona is higher-priced in many aspects - gas, insurance, water, electricity>>>>>>> but the wages aren't keeping up with the cost of living. Much of that can be attributed to the illegal Mexican-invasion, and the shady companies that will hire them.
Also, there's a serious shortage of established corporate headquarters in Arizona. Many companies are either fly-by-night, or satellite offices of larger companies here for the cheap labor.

[BillR1]

Originally Posted by nomore

Your right about Flaggstaff. High price houseing. High cost of living.
No middle class. You have a caste system town. First there is the rich liberals who are with NAU and their lib students. and then there is the rable, the poor whites and hispanics all hped up on meth working their low paying jobs. The liberal city fathers won't even allow a big box store in or around town. The wacky Flagg libs have been fighting better stores and improving the lifestyles of the poor workers for a very long time.

If you want the Arizona Moutains and all that Flaggstaff can off then try Prescott Arizona.

Sad, but very accurate!

[buckeye70]

Originally Posted by moose168

Sounds somewhat like the Phoenix area - only smaller, friendlier, and prettier, with 4 seasons.



$200 a month for a water bill is rather astounding for Flagstaff; but it's not too unusual for Phoenix. Try to add a little comfort here with grass and shade trees - forget it! The water rates alone are expensive; but everyone else is switching to rock lawns, which actually make the environment hotter!

That's nothing. Try living in California. The home you described couldn't be purchased for less than $600grand almost anywhere in Cali. A house is an investment, and $78,000 these days is dirt-cheap; so you really get what you pay for.
On the other hand, if you believe the real-estate market will become more expensive in Spokane, now is the best time to buy.

I've always liked Flagstaff as an escape from Phoenix; but I know what you mean about the cost of living.
If the Flagstaff job market is scarce and wages are low, there's no reason why the cost of living should be so out of reach for the average person.
The entire state of Arizona is higher-priced in many aspects - gas, insurance, water, electricity>>>>>>> but the wages aren't keeping up with the cost of living. Much of that can be attributed to the illegal Mexican-invasion, and the shady companies that will hire them.

Also, there's a serious shortage of established corporate headquarters in Arizona. Many companies are either fly-by-night, or satellite offices of larger companies here for the cheap labor.

A house is only worth what people are willing to pay. As long as people continue to buy at the current prices, the cost will not go down. In Phoenix, you are beginning to see the result of high prices. Houses aren't selling at the rate they were last year. As a result, the prices have dropped some. I love it! How much money do people need to make on 1 house?

[buckeye70]

Originally Posted by MicheleVanDetti

I like Flagstaff a lot, it's a nice town. It's like any college town in a beautiful setting. My brother lives in Missoula, MT, and as a teacher he could never afford a house there. The low wages and high prices are considered "scenery tax". People make their choices. Live in Flagstaff and enjoy the culture and be poor or don't.

You're right about there being no middle class. Either you're a starving student, working poor, or a highly educated professional with a big salary living very comfortably.

Still, I don't like it when people complain about the cost of living in a certain area. You have three choices: Suck it up and deal with it, get a better job that will make you more comfortable, or live somewhere else where your occupation can support you nicely. My brother admits to making the suck it up choice, and he doesn't complain. I couldn't hack it so I got a career that paid better. It's just life.

If the working poor lived somewhere else, who would do all the jobs that the more affluent depend on? There would be no restaurants, stores, gas stations, cleaners, etc. because these jobs all pay poorly. The reality is that we need people to do the less desirable work.

So, I don't think living some place else would be an option because they are needed in Flagstaff. If everyone moved & no one was there to provide all the amenities, what would be the appeal of living there? Who cares about mountains if you don't have access to a grocery store or gas to get to a grocery store in another town?

And the reward for the working poor is no access to a house of their own because the rich have driven the prices up. That's sad to me.

[northcountystooge]

but the wages aren't keeping up with the cost of living. Much of that can be attributed to the illegal Mexican-invasion, and the shady companies that will hire them.

Enlighten me. All those $15 an hour lettuce picker jobs are gone due to migrants from the south? Which industries have been affected by wage deflation? Construction ...

[AZ_singlemother]

Spokane is almost a similar comparison in climate and wages in Flagstaff. It is dirt cheap to live in Spokane, which is the difference.

Washington State is a desert on the eastern side. Spokane is very sunny.

[AZ_singlemother]

Okay, I pulled some sample properties for 400,000 or less. See what you can get for each area:

Flagstaff:

Attachment 3620
Attachment 3621
Attachment 3622

Spokane:





Hope these pics go through. I cannot wait until you see the land you can get in Spokane. It is gorgeous!

[whowants2know]

We USED to want to move to Flag, but that was before the housing costs went through the roof. We still think it is a beautiful area; however, for our family, we have to be realistic and live within our means, and we chose NOT be house-poor. Although housing costs in Flag are not as outrageous as CA (which is not a fair comparison since CA is past the point of sanity), Flag is still out of our budget range. For us, a home in the 180k price range is our limit to allow us to still have a life (be able to eat, buy gasoline , buy clothes, have vacations, buy a car . And hence, this is why we didn't buy a home in Flag.

Obviously we should have purchased a home in Flag 20 years ago, but we can't turn the clock back.

We still think it is a beautiful area and will continue to visit there...since we can still afford to take vacations .