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This is my take as I moved there, lived there for 5 years, then moved back to the SF Bay Area. The things that attracted me to the Phoenix area was the cheaper cost of living, the ease of getting an ENTRY LEVEL sales job out of college, the night life scene in Scottsdale, and the sunny weather. I always have and still to this day really like Scottsdale, however it is not a place I would make my permanent residence and as time went on Phoenix became less and less attractive. The entry level job with the horrible pay that was essentially a call center was something I desperately needed to get out of. Problem was, that was seemingly all that was available. Very few outside sales or enterprise account manager positions available because there is very little industry there. The night life in Scottsdale got old after about two years of going to the same trendy, characterless bars running into the same characterless people. The sunny weather I adored became an oppressively hot pain in the butt that kept me indoors, on the couch, blasting the AC for six months out of the year. I love hiking and fishing. Perfect, theres trails and lakes but it's so hot you can't enjoy it most of the year. I am a huge SF Giants fan. Perfect, Spring Training is down the street but only lasts a month. I made friends through work and school who were from Chicago, LA, New York, etc., but after about two years 90% of them moved back to where they were from. Very transient place. There were a few young coworkers of mine (mid 20's) who bought houses in Phoenix due to the lower cost of living, but two of them ended up getting fired with little money saved and now have a mortgage and no job due to the horrible job market, low salaries, and little opportunity. I had a live in girlfriend there who was a native but would I want to raise a family there? Not particularly due to how bad the schools are and how under employed and under educated 99% of her family was. Bottom line at least for me is, if I won the lottery I would absolutely buy a place in Scottsdale. But since I live in the realm of reality, the sunny weather, great sports atmosphere, night life, "growing job market", outdoor activities, and affordable housing is all an illusion. Is San Francisco more expensive? Absolutely, and it all comes down to what matters to you at this stage in life. I will gladly pay a lot more to rent a smaller place that has a mild climate, unlimited amounts of hiking, biking, fishing, sports, bars, educated population, booming economy, exponentially better career opportunities, better food, culture, art, history, social scene, you name it than pay less to buy a bigger, hollow, stucco shell of a home that offers little to none of the above. Phoenix, a great place to go to college, party for a weekend, hit up a Spring Training game, a round of golf, a day spa, then leave. Until you sell your house after your kids grow up in CA then retire there. Just my two cents.
This is my take as I moved there, lived there for 5 years, then moved back to the SF Bay Area. The things that attracted me to the Phoenix area was the cheaper cost of living, the ease of getting an ENTRY LEVEL sales job out of college, the night life scene in Scottsdale, and the sunny weather. I always have and still to this day really like Scottsdale, however it is not a place I would make my permanent residence and as time went on Phoenix became less and less attractive. The entry level job with the horrible pay that was essentially a call center was something I desperately needed to get out of. Problem was, that was seemingly all that was available. Very few outside sales or enterprise account manager positions available because there is very little industry there. The night life in Scottsdale got old after about two years of going to the same trendy, characterless bars running into the same characterless people. The sunny weather I adored became an oppressively hot pain in the butt that kept me indoors, on the couch, blasting the AC for six months out of the year. I love hiking and fishing. Perfect, theres trails and lakes but it's so hot you can't enjoy it most of the year. I am a huge SF Giants fan. Perfect, Spring Training is down the street but only lasts a month. I made friends through work and school who were from Chicago, LA, New York, etc., but after about two years 90% of them moved back to where they were from. Very transient place. There were a few young coworkers of mine (mid 20's) who bought houses in Phoenix due to the lower cost of living, but two of them ended up getting fired with little money saved and now have a mortgage and no job due to the horrible job market, low salaries, and little opportunity. I had a live in girlfriend there who was a native but would I want to raise a family there? Not particularly due to how bad the schools are and how under employed and under educated 99% of her family was. Bottom line at least for me is, if I won the lottery I would absolutely buy a place in Scottsdale. But since I live in the realm of reality, the sunny weather, great sports atmosphere, night life, "growing job market", outdoor activities, and affordable housing is all an illusion. Is San Francisco more expensive? Absolutely, and it all comes down to what matters to you at this stage in life. I will gladly pay a lot more to rent a smaller place that has a mild climate, unlimited amounts of hiking, biking, fishing, sports, bars, educated population, booming economy, exponentially better career opportunities, better food, culture, art, history, social scene, you name it than pay less to buy a bigger, hollow, stucco shell of a home that offers little to none of the above. Phoenix, a great place to go to college, party for a weekend, hit up a Spring Training game, a round of golf, a day spa, then leave. Until you sell your house after your kids grow up in CA then retire there. Just my two cents.
That's absurd. I was exiled in Tucson for about a year in the 90's, commuted home to Phoenix on the weekends. About a third of the commute from where I worked at Speedway and Wilmot to my home in Phoenix was spent getting across to I-10. It took forever to get across town. I can' imagine that it's gotten any better.
Enough with Tucson already. This is a Phoenix forum.
I could not believe it the first time I visited Tucson from Phoenix, trying to head east across town. Speed limit is 35mph on "Speedway" and no one speeds. Tucson likes being slow, and their roads are old and chunky. Still, I like the place!
I could not believe it the first time I visited Tucson from Phoenix, trying to head east across town. Speed limit is 35mph on "Speedway" and no one speeds. Tucson likes being slow, and their roads are old and chunky. Still, I like the place!
It's mainly that they are slow in the left lane, leaving speeders to the right side who still have to constantly break for those turning. Tucsonans don't seem to understand that the left lane is the "fast lane" even on surface roads.
I moved out here a bit over ten years ago.. I was forced to since I was minor at the time. Originally from SoCal but my parents were attracted to the cheap real estate in the Phoenix area for investment. Selling most of the properties we owned in California netted us a nice fortune.
For my parents, they were able to were able to retire far earlier than most... They retired right after we moved. They love the less hectic life that was California, cheaper cost of living, and overall lesser crime. The cost of living in California has grown exponentially. It's really absurd how much it has grown. Low to middle class has long but fled leaving behind the poor who can't leave and the upper middle to upper class... Though it has slowly been creeping up into affecting the upper middle. We didn't have to leave for monetary reasons, but they still would be working to this day... Paying higher prices for frivolous things. The scenery up north is gorgeous and all the hiking, trails, cabins, and history was highly attractive. A lot of family activities.
As for I? I do enjoy it here. I love Flagstaff and northern Arizona in general. Flagstaff and Prescott have been a second home for me during the summers. I enjoyed NAU and the pleasant college life it offered. I love the little odd towns like Jerome and Bisbee. It's nice not being stuck in a crazy, hectic life.
I do frequent California. I miss the beach and I miss how California has everything imaginable. There is always something going on but Arizona is my home. After a week or two in California, I can't wait to come back and unwind.
I think it's a lot to expect of oneself that moving from a San Francisco 'summer' (even if Mark Twain never really wrote "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco", it's true) to a Phoenix summer isn't going to result in you falling over dead the first couple years. Many get used to it after a while. Some don't tho. I live in Palm Springs, which has just about as relentless a summer as Phoenix (here it's a bit less monsoony and a lot less habooby), and I may very well end up in PHX next year due to the ridiculous cost of living in SoCal.
If you like mild sunny summers, you might want to try an intermediate step like Sacramento, which has a fair amount of 90s and a few low triple digits, but definitely not in the same league heatwise as Phoenix - which I think was just too far of a jump from someone in SF.
What attracts ANYONE to ANYPLACE they live.. It obviously has what they are looking for....
Whether it be small or large the place that most people are is where they want to be...
Why does Bill Gates who is one of the richest men around live in Redmond Washington??
Why does Warren Buffet who is also one of the richest men around live in the same house he bought in the 50's....
Because these places obviously hold something for them.... Wherever you want to be, no matter how much or how little money you have, whether you rent or buy a residence, whether you are young or old the location is most probably where you are happy and it has things you desire or appreciate...
Lived all over the east side of the valley (Tempe, Scottsdale, Chandler) during my 6.5 years in the Valley and though I'd never want to move back permanently we likely will have a place there to drop by at least a little bit here and there. The in-laws have several places down there and in the next 5 years will open one up for personal use otherwise we'd contemplate buying something small.
We HATED living there towards the end. We HATE heat. We are from Minnesota and Washington (seattle area) so the allure wore off after the first 3 years. Plus we are young and found it to be kind of status-quo as far as career aspirations and rising the ranks. So no we would never live there full time or even live there at all. It's just a great place to visit. Why? Because it's super easy living. Traffic is not bad, it's easy to navigate. Low cost of living. Laid back lifestyle. Slow pace. Great weather November-March. Plus one of the biggest things is we have some good friends down there!
Lived all over the east side of the valley (Tempe, Scottsdale, Chandler) during my 6.5 years in the Valley and though I'd never want to move back permanently we likely will have a place there to drop by at least a little bit here and there. The in-laws have several places down there and in the next 5 years will open one up for personal use otherwise we'd contemplate buying something small.
We HATED living there towards the end. We HATE heat. We are from Minnesota and Washington (seattle area) so the allure wore off after the first 3 years. Plus we are young and found it to be kind of status-quo as far as career aspirations and rising the ranks. So no we would never live there full time or even live there at all. It's just a great place to visit. Why? Because it's super easy living. Traffic is not bad, it's easy to navigate. Low cost of living. Laid back lifestyle. Slow pace. Great weather November-March. Plus one of the biggest things is we have some good friends down there!
For this invaluable information.
Please.....will somebody end this thread. PLEASE !
So no we would never live there full time or even live there at all..... Why? Because it's super easy living. Traffic is not bad, it's easy to navigate. Low cost of living. Laid back lifestyle. Slow pace. Great weather November-March. Plus one of the biggest things is we have some good friends down there!
If you take out one sentence then this posters comments gets really interesting. "No we would never live there" .... "Why? it's lost cost, low traffic, easy to navigate, slow pace, great weather for half the year and we have good friends there!"
Why would anyone want those things??!!! Sounds "turrible" to quote Sir Charles himself.
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Thanks
