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Please do extensive research on Phoenix before moving there, or U could regret it! It takes living in AZ for a while B4 reality sets in an people discover they dont like it here. Too often that is the case. Its best to spend a few weeks there in the summer to get used to the heat. Some people only THINK they want our heat, until reality sets in and they go back home. Its not just hot, but hotter than hell from May to October. In all honesty, Phoenix may look nice in magazines and relocation guides, but thats because the photos have removed the brown air.
1. The Phoenix area in general is not very safe. Safety is really spotty throughout the Valley. A safe neighborhood can quickly change just a few blocks away. Violence is rampant in the entire metro area. There is at least one murder in the news everyday in the city of Phoenix alone. Kidnappings, home invasions, and car theft are rising.
I'd have to disagree with the general area not being safe. Violence, in my experience, is not rampant in the entire metro area. Of course there are pockets in EVERY city in the U.S. that can be questionable, but my wife, daughters and I often walk downtown at night and are not nervous at all. Have never been harassed or threatened by the homeless population there. If anything we have met some very interesting people!
3. Most of Phoenix's affordable apartments are in LOUSY areas of town, and you will have to pay a premium to get a good neighborhood. Just make sure you have a car, or living in the Valley will be very difficult.
Again, I'd have to disagree with this as a blanket statement. While it is true that costs are higher in "good" neighborhoods if you search hard enough you will find a decent deal. I agree that a car is a necessity to get around as the Valley is pretty big.
4. Cost of living is low because wages are VERY low, as well as having a LOUSY job market. Phoenix is very hard place to find a good job. Thats just the way it is. A bulk of Arizona's economy is service industries that pay barely minimum wage. If you want to flip burgers or bag groceries, Phoenix may work for you. If you want to grow your career and have an income, look somewhere else. I am just being honest. In fact, Arizona is starting to lose people leaving for better economic opportunities elsewhere.
Yes, cost of living here is low compared to many of your major cities and the wages for some industries are as well. The job market reflected the overall national economy, not just Phoenix. As a matter of fact, it is starting to pick up these days. There are lots of good jobs that pay a decent wage out here as well as the service-oriented jobs that don't.
In fact, Arizona is starting to lose people leaving for better economic opportunities elsewhere.
Hmm....not sure where this is coming from. I have noticed the opposite! I have spoken with many people who moved here because of the job market! In all fairness, though, I also have spoken to people who have left for lifestyle changes.
5. The claims of good weather are grossly exagerrated. Its hotter than hell from May to October, forcing you to be a prisoner in your own home. Its too hot to do anything! And the lack of rainfall is not good and produces a dangerous brown cloud over the Valley for weeks at a time. Ozone days are very common too, making Phoenix a bad place for people with allergies and breathing ailments.
No doubt about it our summers are hot! No, I mean really hot!! However, having said that, I realize I personally like the heat much better than zero and single digit temps back East. What people fail to mention is that AZ has diverse climates. So while it's 115 in Phoenix, it can be 80 in Flagstaff or Show Low (both are three-hour drives). Relief is possible and you don't have to leave the state to get it. Last summer my daughter and I wanted to escape the 112-degree weather and drove 40 minutes to Globe where it was a beautiful 85 degrees! The brown cloud is real and although not as bad as LA's, it can be tough for people with asthma or other respiratory issues.
I think you can do a whole lot better than Phoenix and think you should consider maybe Austin. Chicago is good if you can afford it. Phoenix is usually not at the top of anybody's places to live. Needless to say, I dont like Phoenix. Have been here since 2006 and will be leaving soon!!!!!!!
This is a matter of opinion, I think Phoenix, while not perfect, is still a pretty good place to live. I also lived in Austin (which was cool!), but found that I enjoyed living in Phoenix more. Chicago is a great place too, but the winters are no joke! Good luck in your journey and I hope it works out well for you. I also hope normcrok8 finds their desired promise land soon because it's obvious this isn't it!
PIt takes living in AZ for a while B4 reality sets in an people discover they dont like it here. Too often that is the case.
The majority of the people love it here hence the reason the city has grown so much. If they didn't like Phoenix, and left like you assert, the city would not be one of the two fastest growing cities in the country for over the last decade. Most people love our weather. They understand it's hot from June to September but enjoy the weather the rest of the year. They recognize a hot summer is much more tolerable than a cold winter.
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Its not just hot, but hotter than hell from May to October. In all honesty, Phoenix may look nice in magazines and relocation guides, but thats because the photos have removed the brown air.
This pure exaggerated nonsense. It's not brutally hot from May to October. It is hot from June to September and May and Ocotober are warm but I wouldn't character May and October as being brutally hot which is not true in the slightest.
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1. The Phoenix area in general is not very safe. Safety is really spotty throughout the Valley. A safe neighborhood can quickly change just a few blocks away. Violence is rampant in the entire metro area. There is at least one murder in the news everyday in the city of Phoenix alone. Kidnappings, home invasions, and car theft are rising.
The statistics don't support what you said and I take it you grew up in a small town because most large metropolitan cities have far worse crime. Phoenix lack of an urban core means we don't have ghettos, crack houses, and really dangerous areas that you find in other cities.
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3. Most of Phoenix's affordable apartments are in LOUSY areas of town, and you will have to pay a premium to get a good neighborhood. Just make sure you have a car, or living in the Valley will be very difficult.
Again, this is false. Anyone can go to any of the online apartment hunting tools and find nice apartments in nice parts of the city that are affordable. This is more exaggeration.
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4. Cost of living is low because wages are VERY low, as well as having a LOUSY job market. Phoenix is very hard place to find a good job. Thats just the way it is. A bulk of Arizona's economy is service industries that pay barely minimum wage. If you want to flip burgers or bag groceries, Phoenix may work for you. If you want to grow your career and have an income, look somewhere else. I am just being honest. In fact, Arizona is starting to lose people leaving for better economic opportunities elsewhere.
Take what this writer says with a grain of salt. For all we know he could be unemployed. The people who are unemployed have a jaded view of this city because they can't get a job. However, we don't know what their background is to say they may or may not quality for a job. Most people out of work rarely will admit they lack skill sets to qualify for work and blame everyone else. This forum has had a few unemployed posters assume different identities to come back and trash the city.
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5. The claims of good weather are grossly exagerrated. Its hotter than hell from May to October, forcing you to be a prisoner in your own home. Its too hot to do anything! And the lack of rainfall is not good and produces a dangerous brown cloud over the Valley for weeks at a time. Ozone days are very common too, making Phoenix a bad place for people with allergies and breathing ailments.
Wow, you listed weather twice? LOL
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I think you can do a whole lot better than Phoenix and think you should consider maybe Austin. Chicago is good if you can afford it. Phoenix is usually not at the top of anybody's places to live. Needless to say, I dont like Phoenix. Have been here since 2006 and will be leaving soon!!!!!!!
The reason people can't find work is because of the competition for jobs is intense. Everyone wants to live here yet there are only so many jobs that can accomodate that demand. That's the reason it is difficult to find work here. Many people move here without a job and assume they will find one. If Phoenix wasn't popular, jobs wouldn't be difficult to come by.
I will disagree with normcrok8's negative views on PHX. That being said it'll take some getting used to PHX heat if you have never lived in a desert location b4. But you shouldn't have problems getting used to it.
One thing I'd like to tell folks who complain about the heat in PHX is that PHX was a major city even before the 1950's which is before the advent of a/c's. If people could live then I don't see any reason why they cannot now.
1. There are plenty of safe and nice areas in PHX. We lived in North Phoenix on the border with Scottsdale and our rent was $750 for a large one bed apt. Before coming to PHX I'd heard about car break-ins by gangs etc but frankly I never saw any or never even heard of any for the time we were there.
2. Had no kids then so no idea about prescls/daycare.
3. In my opinion rent would be at par with Seattle. For example a nice suburb of PHX (Gilbert, Chandler, Scotts, North PHX, Cave Creek, etc) would have similar rents as Bellevue, Redmond, etc.
4. Job market - Seattle might have an edge over PHX in this regard. Still tech/semiconductor companies in PHX have hiring going on from time to time. However, my opinion to anyone would be to have an offer in hand before moving unless you have enough money & willpower to stay jobless for 8-10 months while you search. But that is just my thinking & each person would have his/her way of thinking about this situation.
OMG, do NOT do Phoenix!!!!! $750 is a decent 1 bdr apartment in a suburb of Phoenix, so not much difference there. Car insurance is insane. I lived there 23 years and moved to Cali last year. my car insurance was CUT IN HALF!!! because of all the car theft and vandalism in Phoenix. It's close to the border, so car theft is always high by the border.
As far as weather, you are going to go from one extreme to another real extreme!!!! 115 is not fun!!!! You are literally locked in your house with a $400 electric bill (which makes up the potentially slightly cheaper housing) for 4 months!!! It's like sucking on a blow dryer, if you can visualize that. Schools are horrible. Budgets and government are corrupt and have had serious issues in the last 5 years. I would really reconsider..... Good luck!!
Opinions are very drastically different. I have lived in southern Europe and i know heat and i like it. My ideal choice would be Santa Monica, CA but cannot afford and will not be able for a wile. I was considering staying in Seattle until I have good job and lots of savings for move to Cali, but I am SO SICK OF SEATTLE WEATHER. I feel like it is time to finally get out of it. Last 3 years were pretty bad, with rain straight from October 2010 until August 2011. My family is pushing Chicago so we might go there, but I am more interested in considering PHX, not before I see it. It is interesting that people love it or hate it.
I have to agree with steenskees that auto insurance is pretty expensive here. There are some good public schools, but you have to do your research. Again, stepping onto the land and getting a feel for yourself will give you a better idea o whether this is the place for you.
I think, coming from PNW, the heat would be unbearable for you.
I just moved from the PNW last June. Absolutely LOVED IT.
At least for me, the heat was exceptionally easy to adapt to after living in the PNW for 25 years. I was at the pool or on the lake most of the time. That's how I dealt with the severe weather.
It rains in the PNW for about 9 to 10 months a year. People that have lived in the southwest for a long time have no concept what it's like. Here in Az., the clouds come over, it's hot and it pours for a 1/2 hour or so and the sun comes out. Here, the rain is something to look forward to, even for me.
In the PNW, it rains 24/7 for up to 300 days a year.
You can't do things in the rain like you can when it too hot or too cold outside.
In the heat, you can still do lots of things. Early or late hiking, going to a nice outside restaraunt, sitting by the pool, going to the lake, just lots of stuff.
You can even go out and play in the snow. Build a snowman, go skiing, sledding, even ice fishing.
In the cold rain, you are a prisoner in your own home. There isn't much of anything you can specifically do when it's 45 degrees and raining except get wet and cold and therefore, you stay inside.
You folks that haven't lived there just can't get an idea what it's like.
To the OP, I say come on down and see if this place is for you.
to say that phoenix is "crime-ridden with horrible weather" and then to follow that statement with "you should choose chicago" is hilarious. there are no comparisons of the two. chicago is far worse in both regards.
I just moved from the PNW last June. Absolutely LOVED IT.
At least for me, the heat was exceptionally easy to adapt to after living in the PNW for 25 years. I was at the pool or on the lake most of the time. That's how I dealt with the severe weather.
It rains in the PNW for about 9 to 10 months a year. People that have lived in the southwest for a long time have no concept what it's like. Here in Az., the clouds come over, it's hot and it pours for a 1/2 hour or so and the sun comes out. Here, the rain is something to look forward to, even for me.
In the PNW, it rains 24/7 for up to 300 days a year.
You can't do things in the rain like you can when it too hot or too cold outside.
In the heat, you can still do lots of things. Early or late hiking, going to a nice outside restaraunt, sitting by the pool, going to the lake, just lots of stuff.
You can even go out and play in the snow. Build a snowman, go skiing, sledding, even ice fishing.
In the cold rain, you are a prisoner in your own home. There isn't much of anything you can specifically do when it's 45 degrees and raining except get wet and cold and therefore, you stay inside.
You folks that haven't lived there just can't get an idea what it's like.
To the OP, I say come on down and see if this place is for you.
I see pictures of the PNW and marvel at the natural beauty! However, I constantly hear about the rainy weather and can't imagine anyplace getting that much rain! I see sunny pictures, boats in the water, people hiking in lush, green forests and it reminds me of my childhood in the NE. Is the rain really that bad? Of course, living in Sunny AZ, I have no concept of what maverick974 and others are talking about.
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Is it really that severe?
