[Kellyjean280]

I am looking to relocate my family to a warmer climate and still be relatively close to Arizona and Utah where I have extended family as well.
What is the job market like for Computer programmers and more importantly how is the area to raise teenage boys.
I would like to try and get away from some of the drug activity and alcohol abuse issues that exist living up North.

[observer53]

Can't speak to Boulder City, (I suspect the job market there in your field is actually Las Vegas) but the job market for technical folks in Prescott is not strong. The economy there is not very diversified, mostly service and tourism oriented, very little manufacturing, no tech employers.

[Willy702]

Boulder City is much warmer than Prescott due to elevation, with winter in Prescott seeing occasional snow, but summers being about as ideal as you could ask for in Prescott while BC is desert hot as you would expect. BC is a suburb of a big city as opposed to Prescott which is a small regional city with a two hour drive to the big city.

Kind of depends on what you want, but BC while being isolated and having a different feel than other Las Vegas suburbs its not like you are going to bar those Las Vegas influences from being seen as chances are you will be driving into the city every week anyways. Job market is better in BC since its a suburb so all the city jobs are accessible with a bit of a commute, but Prescott probably has some smaller scale opportunities with the many small businesses around. If you find a job in Prescott you won't have much of a commute, while you are almost guaranteed to have at least a 30 minute one way commute or longer to work from BC and traffic gets quite bad at times coming from that direction during rush hour.

[Kellyjean280]

Thanks for the information. This was very informative

[Nn2036]

If Boulder is too hot in summer for you, you can try Reno which has similar weather to Prescott. It may be too far from AZ and Southern UT though

[johninvegas]

Reno is a lot colder in the winter than Prescott, although seeing that you are living in Fargo, it will be much warmer than that.

Prescott will be a harder job search, but there are possibilities for computer jobs since it is the county seat--govt. jobs. Prescott might be a better fit for your teens, depending on whether they are into more rural type of activities, versus suburb/city activities.

If you look at housing, Prescott Valley has lower costs than Prescott itself, but you lose the beautiful pine scenery. Housing in Prescott itself is kind of pricey.

Boulder City has a nice community feel, almost like a midwestern town. There is no gambling in B.C., that may contribute somewhat to that feel. Coming from the upper midwest, it is brutally hot here in the summer when you first move. Don't be discouraged by your first summer here, you will get acclimated to it in a couple of years.

Almost all your major shopping will be done in Las Vegas if you move to B.C., it's about 20 minutes to good shopping in Henderson, also a suburb of Las Vegas. As I'm an old geezer and don't have kids or grandchildren, I don't know anything about the schools in either place. Others will chime in about that.

You might also want to post this question in the Prescott sub-forum in the Arizona area.

[LasVegasPlayer]

One thing to consider is taxes. Boulder City easily wins there due to no state income tax. Anything in Arizona will have it. Sales tax is 8.15% in Boulder City and 8.35% in Prescott. Both exempt groceries. I don't know about property taxes in Prescott but my Clark County home is about 0.6% of the value. It is hard to beat that even if Boulder City has some additional city taxes tacked on.

[Tornado Baby]

There are no casinos in BC if that matters. It is a cute little town with a historic district and near Lake Mead. Cannot comment on activities for teens outside of school. There is a lot of traffic that goes through town between Vegas and AZ. I was born in Fargo.....anywhere is better.

[SoHoVe]

Drugs and alcohol are serious issues for teens just about everywhere you will look. I think the key is strongly encouraging other interests (sports ect) and really getting your sons (and yourself) involved in what ever positive things they have interest in. No guarantees ofcourse but from what I've seen throught my life is it's more likely to be the bored kids who don't have alot of supportive parental involvement who are the most likely to make poor decisions.

I like BC...it's a quiet bedroom community but I have no idea about raising kids there.

[WildWestDude]

Well, have you considered St. George UT? It might fit in your plans given the job market is good for you.