Anyone who moved away and misses the Phoenix area dearly?

[stevek64]

Though we never "moved away", we travel often and have seen a great deal of the nation in detail via work, just traveling, and visiting friends and family. And when we have traveled in the south and especially the east, while it's nice to see something different, even for short periods of time, we can't wait to get back to the desert here. Many places in the west, Phoenix and beyond, we like this area of the nation much better and would miss it if we somehow couldn't be here for a longer period of time. Personally I wouldn't take a job/locate anywhere in the east/mid west for various reasons, no way, no how.

[westcoastbabe]

Originally Posted by Soapsud

We moved a few months back to the southeast after 6 years in the Phoenix area. Over the time we lived in the Phoenix are, a lot of folks asked us how we did it with the heat, the sprawl, the so called "lack of culture". But we used to love living in the area.

A job opportunity brought us to the southeast, and it was one of the most difficult decisions, because we just couldn't imagine a better place to live than Phoenix. We just loved the convenience of the area. We were in the east valley, and for most shopping or other activities, we hardly had to drive more than 15-20 minutes. What others often referred to as lack of culture, with all the strip malls, we looked at as amazing convenience. The roads are fantastic - just so easy to drive on, and no need for GPS or Google Maps. Also sidewalks and streetlights on every road! After moving away, we realized how well-developed the Phoenix area is. I understand that part of it is just the landscape, that such infrastructure would be more expensive in other places, but it's been difficult to adjust. We loved the weather as well - the southeast is not so bad - but Phoenix area is definitely more of what we prefer. We didn't mind the hot summers at all. By the sixth year, I think we were numb to the heat. We also loved how there were so many parks! Of course, there's a lot more natural greenery here in the southeast, but we liked the more structured parks in the Phoenix area.

Anyway, my point of making this thread was to see if there were others who lived in the Phoenix area for a long time, and then moved away and miss it dearly. We are slowly getting to like where we live now, and of course, it's a better job, but we still miss our lifestyle in the Phoenix area.

Aah I know what you speak of my friend...Moved from Charlotte, NC 3 years ago. Before I moved I got so much "SHADE" for wanting to move to Phoenix. "You be back within 1 year"; "Its not what you think it will be", and yada, yada, yada...Love the heat as it does not bother me. I do not for once miss Charlotte's sticky, humid, humidity. Highways are definitely better here than Charlotte. I like yourself love the amazing convenience of being near everything. Lack of culture.....PUHLEEZE. People think Phoenix lacks culture and substance. You try living back in Charlotte. The place is void of it.

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by AZJD

We moved to the Bay Area, California for a bit. Bay Area is much better than Phoenix in terms of stuff to do and see, not to mention much better weather.

But it's not worth the sacrifice in quality and size of housing. And you have to live in a million dollar home to attend a decent school district there.

Back in Scottsdale now and much happier. Everything in Phoenix is new , cheap, and nice. If we want our Cali fix, it's a 1-2 flight away.

Bay area does not have better weather. It's cold there most of the year. It's not freezing snow cold but it never really gets warm and you even have to wear long sleeves in the summer in SF. I was in SF on Memorial Day, and we had to wear coats at night because it was cold. But I agree that California and South Florida has more to do and see. But like you said, I can drive to CA or take a short flight and be there in a few hours.

L.A. has better overall weather than Phoenix. I'm from L.A. It's weather is similar to Phoenix except the summers are more manageable and the winter are a little colder than Phoenix. L.A. and Hawaii are the only places with better overall weather.

However, in terms of best winter weather. Miami has the best winter weather in the country followed by Phoenix. Miami is balmy and warm in the winters in which you can truly wear t-shirt and shorts in December. Phoenix has better winter and spring weather than southern California and Bay area.

Also, when comparing cities, it matters if one is single versus having a family. If I'm single, I'm moving to New York City. If I have a family, I can't think of a better place to raise kids than Phoenix in terms of the overall picture: cost of living, traffic, schools, weather, people etc.

[KurtAZ]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Bay area does not have better weather. It's cold there most of the year. It's not freezing snow cold but it never really gets warm and you even have to wear long sleeves in the summer in SF. I was in SF on Memorial Day, and we had to wear coats at night because it was cold. But I agree that California and South Florida has more to do and see. But like you said, I can drive to CA or take a short flight and be there in a few hours.

L.A. has better overall weather than Phoenix. I'm from L.A. It's weather is similar to Phoenix except the summers are more manageable and the winter are a little colder than Phoenix. L.A. and Hawaii are the only places with better overall weather.

However, in terms of best winter weather. Miami has the best winter weather in the country followed by Phoenix. Miami is balmy and warm in the winters in which you can truly wear t-shirt and shorts in December. Phoenix has better winter and spring weather than southern California and Bay area.

That being said, Phoenix is doing a great job of adding amenities and activities for kids. I've seen a lot of progress in this area. If we can just acquire a major theme park, that would be a huge boon to the city.

Well...people's taste in weather is all subjective. My wife grew up with 4 seasons and dearly misses it. I grew up south of the Bay Area but near the ocean so a cooler, foggy climate was what I was used to until moving to AZ 28 years ago. This is normal now. Traveling for business has put me into most states in our country and once or twice over to Europe. While I love getting some differences in weather patterns, I don't think I could give up the number of sunny days we have.

We still have plans to move and get out of the desert someday but...as much as we have been to the cities/areas on our shortlist...nothing has been an absolute "Yes, we have to move NOW" that would get us to pull the trigger. Now that the state's economy is showing some teeth and more and more businesses are looking at AZ as a viable alternative to where they are...it is a very exciting time to live here.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by westcoastbabe

Aah I know what you speak of my friend...Moved from Charlotte, NC 3 years ago. Before I moved I got so much "SHADE" for wanting to move to Phoenix. "You be back within 1 year"; "Its not what you think it will be", and yada, yada, yada...Love the heat as it does not bother me. I do not for once miss Charlotte's sticky, humid, humidity. Highways are definitely better here than Charlotte. I like yourself love the amazing convenience of being near everything. Lack of culture.....PUHLEEZE. People think Phoenix lacks culture and substance. You try living back in Charlotte. The place is void of it.

Too funny, I also have friends that moved to Charlotte less then a year ago and already clamoring about how to get back to Phoenix.

The no culture argument just blows my mind, are these people living under a rock? I get emails every week from New Times with at least 3 things to do every single day and inevitably it's always me that doesn't have time to get to everything I'd like to see and do. Add to this the fact that were almost continually adding new attractions and this argument is literally absurd....

[locolife]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Also, when comparing cities, it matters if one is single versus having a family. If I'm single, I'm moving to New York City. If I have a family, I can't think of a better place to raise kids than Phoenix in terms of the overall picture: cost of living, traffic, schools, weather, people etc.

I agree that place/time in life matters on where is the best place to live but as someone who loves the outdoors the epic scenery and adventures of the West just can't be matched out in the NYC area. I've been to the Adirondacks and all over VT, NH and ME, all of these places are stunning in the fall, but when it comes to great weather and just the sheer vastness of the terrain, I did not find anything that holds a candle to what we have out here.

So if I'm single and wanting a big city life, I'd still probably stay out West. I spent much of my single years here in Phoenix and truly have no regrets, loved every aspect of growing up here and continually make big city folks jealous when they see what we get to play on practically in our back yard.

[Jnvlv247]

I moved out here for ASU back in 2007. I had to move back for financial reasons to New England in September 2014. So 7 years I was "Arizonafied" :P and I missed it a lot. A litter over 2 years later and I made my way back to Phoenix!!! I missed it so much and I feel like this is my home. I moved back recently and have seen a lot of good changes which happened in 2 years so that shows you how much this place is growing. I like that. Everything back in the Northeast is stagnant and people are leaving by the dozens. So glad to be back

[AZJD]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Bay area does not have better weather. It's cold there most of the year. It's not freezing snow cold but it never really gets warm and you even have to wear long sleeves in the summer in SF. I was in SF on Memorial Day, and we had to wear coats at night because it was cold. But I agree that California and South Florida has more to do and see. But like you said, I can drive to CA or take a short flight and be there in a few hours.

L.A. has better overall weather than Phoenix. I'm from L.A. It's weather is similar to Phoenix except the summers are more manageable and the winter are a little colder than Phoenix. L.A. and Hawaii are the only places with better overall weather.

However, in terms of best winter weather. Miami has the best winter weather in the country followed by Phoenix. Miami is balmy and warm in the winters in which you can truly wear t-shirt and shorts in December. Phoenix has better winter and spring weather than southern California and Bay area.

Also, when comparing cities, it matters if one is single versus having a family. If I'm single, I'm moving to New York City. If I have a family, I can't think of a better place to raise kids than Phoenix in terms of the overall picture: cost of living, traffic, schools, weather, people etc.

SF and the peninsula is cold.

We were in East Bay suburbs. Weather was incredible.



But Yep, agree 100% that Phoenix is a much better place to raise a family, especially on middle class income.

But if I win the lottery, Danville or Lafayette California is a utopia place for a family. Just need a few million to get a home.

[sexxxcblac]

I moved here from California and have never looked back.
I own 3 properties in California, 2 of them houses my kids and their families, one of them is a rental property.. ( 16 units )
I could live anywhere I want, I choose the greatest state in the union, Arizona.

[pcmj96]

My husband and I grew up in AZ and met at the UofA in Tucson in '94. Moved to Phx after college, got married in '96 and thought we'd stay in AZ forever but life had different plans. After work moved us from AZ to CO to IL to Southern CA to FL, we finally made it back home to AZ after 19 years last March. There was never a day in those 19 years that I didn't wish we could move back 'home'. We are so happy to be back in the AZ desert, there's nothing like it. I feel lucky to have experienced different people and places, but even more lucky to realize this is my favorite place and I'm thankful everyday to be back.