Looking at relocating from Boise, will raise be worth it?

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by internallydeluded

When I see rental ads like this: https://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/apa/5443548825.html
it makes me think it could be possible. Google maps shows it about 30 minutes away from the possible job. But I'm not sure if the air conditioning and water bill would kill me.

You a fan of meth? Lots of supply over there.


Plus air traffic! be careful though, they're watching.

[HTY483]

Originally Posted by internallydeluded

We are renters paying about $800/month and utilities average about $250-$300 per month depending on the season. We have two girls ages 5 and 7 so cost, safety and schools are a major concern.
I understand the climate change may be brutal for a while, but what I'd really like to know is if we can find a decent area with decent schools and not have a commute more than 30 minutes max.

Your combined income will be fine. Utilities may be as much as $300/month in the summer and as low as $100 in the winter depending on the size of the dwelling. I'll tell ya right now, keeping your AC at 83 degrees because you're poor is no fun.


Arizona consistently ranks near the bottom as far as schools are concerned. I think it was 48th in the country last year as far as dollar spent per student and like 38th in high school graduation rate (cant remember that exact figure).


As far as your commute is concerned, I'd say 30min is average for most people. Commuting in from Mesa on the 60 or in from the far west valley on I-10 can take as long as an hour but it shouldn't be that hard to find a place to rent that is close to your job.


For a small 2br 2ba townhome you'll be looking at paying about $850/month unless it's out towards the fringes of the city or in a bad neighborhood.

[enigmadsm]

I was born and raised in Phoenix, spent a few years living where the DoD told me to, including 4 years in Boise and now back in Phoenix...that said. I'd gladly take a 10k cut to move back to Boise. especially with the kiddos

[43north87west]

Stay put unless it's a major career move where you're willing to sacrifice something to get ahead, or you have some other pressing reason that you need to move to PHX like sick family that you need to take care of.

This is not not something I would say if you were coming from many other cities. Even most other cities. Phoenix is great, but Boise to Phoenix is something you will probably regret. Boise has NO traffic. Its size is manageable and its climate is great. The cost of living and quality of life are great.

Phoenix is 500 square miles. While it's inexpensive compared to some other places, it's not "cheap". To get a place with a good school district is going to cost, and your income will probably force you out into a suburb where the commute time is more than 30 minutes. All of your "raise" will be eaten up by the rent cost of living in a place with good schools. If all of that is worth it to you, then look around and if you like it, make the move.

[internallydeluded]

Stay put unless it's a major career move where you're willing to sacrifice something to get ahead, or you have some other pressing reason that you need to move to PHX like sick family that you need to take care of.

This is not not something I would say if you were coming from many other cities. Even most other cities. Phoenix is great, but Boise to Phoenix is something you will probably regret. Boise has NO traffic. Its size is manageable and its climate is great. The cost of living and quality of life are great.

Phoenix is 500 square miles. While it's inexpensive compared to some other places, it's not "cheap". To get a place with a good school district is going to cost, and your income will probably force you out into a suburb where the commute time is more than 30 minutes. All of your "raise" will be eaten up by the rent cost of living in a place with good schools. If all of that is worth it to you, then look around and if you like it, make the move.

This is basically what I figured. And honestly My raise would probably end up being about 7-8,000. I'm just hoping my wife would do better than she is here. It's totally possible she would make the same or less then she is now and we'd end up moving for less than a $10,000 increase total. And being that I don't really want to live in the desert I'm leaning away from this at the moment.

[grmi66]

The only reason I would move away from Boise is for the educational resources in Phoenix. Our public schools are worse than Boise's but we have a much more robust charter school system and more college choices. When I moved back to Phoenix from Boise and put my kids back into the charter school they were in before we left Phoenix, they struggled for 6 months to catch back up to their classmates. Plus it's nice to have a lot of community colleges and 3 big universities within a two hour drive of Phoenix. Better than trying to decide between Boise State or drive half the day up to University of Idaho.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by 43north87west

but Boise to Phoenix is something you will probably regret. Boise has NO traffic. Its size is manageable and its climate is great.

Boise has 3-4 months of cold weather, Phoenix has 3-4 months of hot weather. Boise gets hot in the summer, upper 90's and even the low 100's is very common June-August. If you listen to people whine around here today, well that's Boise summer so if this is too hot for you than so is Boise summers. And contrary to popular belief Boise is also a desert. Phoenix is in the Sonoran desert which has some of the most unique plants in the world while Boise is high desert. Both are relativity brown and dry.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by internallydeluded

This is basically what I figured. And honestly My raise would probably end up being about 7-8,000. I'm just hoping my wife would do better than she is here. It's totally possible she would make the same or less then she is now and we'd end up moving for less than a $10,000 increase total. And being that I don't really want to live in the desert I'm leaning away from this at the moment.

Just an FYI, you already live in a desert. Most of the interior west is a desert. You're just in high desert and were in the lower elevation Sonoran desert. And there's nothing wrong with either one, I've spent half of my life in the type of desert you're in (Salt Lake) and the other half down here. They both have pros and cons. One of the best pros about Phoenix is that you can easily escape the heat by heading the north country in the summer 1.5-2 hours depending on where you're heading, escaping the cold in Boise during the winter is a bit tougher to pull off.

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by internallydeluded

This is basically what I figured. And honestly My raise would probably end up being about 7-8,000. I'm just hoping my wife would do better than she is here. It's totally possible she would make the same or less then she is now and we'd end up moving for less than a $10,000 increase total. And being that I don't really want to live in the desert I'm leaning away from this at the moment.

Have you ever visited the Phoenix metro? Before you write it off completely, perhaps a visit to check certain areas out in your price range/near your potential work area might help you decide. Get a feel for the area. Some cities in my mind I thought I'd dislike I actually liked upon visiting and vice-versa. Though I'm guessing you thought of this, though your salary increase in total is < 10k, does the Phoenix job have better potential for future promotions? Might be something to keep in mind too. And your wife's degree in healthcare administration that you mentioned previously might have better long term potential for her as there's a good presence of health care here in the Phoenix metro.

As someone mentioned, you already live in a desert, just a higher elevation @ 2700' version of it vs Phoenix metro which is about 1000'.

[grmi66]

When I moved to Boise a friend told me this about the weather: "You get 4-5 weeks of really cold weather and 4-5 weeks of really hot weather. The rest of the year isn't so bad."

However one thing that improved for me when I moved back to Phoenix from Boise was the job situation. Boise is still a heavily networked "old boy's club". Every job I got in Boise was the result of a Boise native hand walking my resume to the hiring manager and vouching for me. My last job search in Boise ended after 5 months when I tapped out my network of friends. Moved back to Phoenix and within 3 weeks was working at a branch office of a F500 company making $20,000 a year more than what I was making in a similar position in Boise. Plus I got benefits as well, unlike working for a small local Boise company with inferior benefits. So if the OP and his wife could both land jobs that pay $10-$20,000 more than what the pay is up in Boise it might be worth it.