Why NOT move to Phoenix? (Tempe, Catalina: sale, homeowners insurance, violent crime)
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I keep seeing people complaining about the "sprawl" in the Phoenix MSA...seriously, this is why we advise people to live near their office/work location and find the best home base you can afford. Most of the time, my family doesn't even go north of the 60 unless we are travelling, everything we need/want is in the SE Valley. If I need to go meet a client during the day, it normally takes about 30 minutes to get where I need to go...unless they are in the Avenues but there aren't a lot of businesses out there I need to get to. Our lives pretty much revolve around a 10-15 mile radius from our home. All of this "sprawl" and "Phoenix needs to contract into the core" is just silly. Let those that want to live in the core do that. Those of us that don't want to live on top of our neighbors and want a little bit of land...we're happy and content in the "sprawl".
If you are having trouble estimating travel times, Google Maps or Waze can give you a good idea of how much time it takes to get from point a to point b.
This shouldn't matter to you at all, as you're retired, but for me I'm years and years away from it, and career-wise Phoenix really comes up short. For that reason, I strongly disagree with the part I emboldened. Before getting my current job, I had several interviews and in my field the pay was roughly the same. It's better than the average income in Maricopa County, but I wouldn't say it's stellar. Others I've met in my field had personal reasons for really wanting to move to Phoenix, but have admitted that they accepted before moving that they would be taking drastic pay cuts, even figuring in the lower cost of living. In sum: the economy is pretty lackluster for a city this size, save for a few fields (which obviously I don't work in), which results in lower-than-average pay, increased difficulty in career advancement, fewer competing positions at other companies, etc. I would have to really love Phoenix to put up with that, because long-term that would hurt me as I'd never get ahead.
You're right. I'm retired and the job situation is not directly relevant to me. But at the same time I'm a PHX landlord and there is plenty of demand for my rental SFRs from people who have good jobs (because I have very nice SFRs, very very nice, and all with pools). In any case there are plenty of people with good jobs but not homeowners, a good pool of potential renters for me.
But you are right. Either I don't need a job, or if you prefer my job is as a landlord/investor and I can do that from home, and I'm the master of my own financial fate. Heh, and I won't be taking any jobs away from people who need them. Rather, I'll rent them a beautiful home to enjoy Phoenix living!
And I still can't see any loss for me at all except moving away from where I grew up. I have a beautiful view from my CA house but I can afford a house in PHX that also has a beautiful view. Toss in a Jacuzzi and play pool and there you go! Or there I go.
I swear, the more I type the more I wonder why I'm not making more immediate plans! Oh well, my life will unfold as God or karma or fate dictates. There is definitely a huge bifurcation I'll be facing in a few years: CA or AZ. Every day it looks more like my future is in AZ.
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Originally Posted by Vision67
Why not live in Phoenix? Pollen: Bermuda grass, orange blossoms, etc.
I have no allergies and never have. Call it luck, call it being blessed a good immune system, or whatever makes allergies not an issue for me. We all roll the genetic dice, and I came out with at least some very good traits (but I'm not perfect by any means.
@ Locolife, I like the sprawl of Mesa, FWIW. Get into a nice area and the houses are beautiful, the tracts are clean and neat and perfect! -- Depending on my distance to shopping/restaurants I'm retired and can plan many such trips while others are busy at work.
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Originally Posted by locolife
Ironically, AZ ranks pretty low for skin cancer rates. The fact that we're all so aware of it and take precautions is good for your long term prospects. Those in cloudy cities don't seem to be as aware of the risk.
There you go, and remember I'm retired = older than most. You develop skin cancer over a long period and I may not live long enough to pay the piper.
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Originally Posted by Dewey59
Regarding comparisons to Tuscon and Las Vegas, I have been to both numerous times and will take Phoenix any day of the week! Tuscon has 1 freeway (ok, 1 1/2) - everything else is surface streets - and a lot of those surface streets are in bad shape. Really difficult to get anywhere in that city. Las Vegas is a dump! Sure, the tourist areas are all glitz and glamour, but when you get away from those areas, it is a garbage invested, gang ridden hole. Yuck! Sorry, I know, I have trouble expressing myself sometimes!
Oh my Gawd, I totally agree! I worked about 1-1/2 years in Palm Springs and totally no comparison to Phoenix beyond I-10. And I have a relative who lives in Las Vegas (and that is enough reason for me to avoid LV) but I have zero interest in gambling and in my many camping trips to Utah I never stop in LV longer than necessary to take on gas and take a ... well you know!
I'm not sure why I'm not interest in Tucson. I've for sure enjoyed Saguaro NP but that's next to I-10 and I never went in town. I just never felt any allure from Tucson. And I already know PHX at least to a degree.
@ KurtAZ, we have the exact same thing in SoCal, despite idiots who don't understand that. Either live near your work or work near your home. It's just that simple. My advice: never more than a 30 minute commute, and take into account future traffic growth.
Last edited by Lovehound; 04-29-2017 at 09:56 AM..
Agree, the pay here is horrible. I was in the tech industry and when I moved here I was astonished at how low the pay is.... Even for someone like me with 20+ years experience. As dvxhd mentioned, this doesn't matter to the OP, but it would for others considering the move.
The only other complaint that I have is the sprawl. Again, not as bad as SoCal, but I certainly underestimated the time it would take to get from Point A to Point B. This place is huge!
Regarding comparisons to Tuscon and Las Vegas, I have been to both numerous times and will take Phoenix any day of the week! Tuscon has 1 freeway (ok, 1 1/2) - everything else is surface streets - and a lot of those surface streets are in bad shape. Really difficult to get anywhere in that city. Las Vegas is a dump! Sure, the tourist areas are all glitz and glamour, but when you get away from those areas, it is a garbage invested, gang ridden hole. Yuck! Sorry, I know, I have trouble expressing myself sometimes!
Post is nonsense. It is virtually impossible to tell nice LV or Tucson from nice Phoenix or nice LA. Only difference will be climate. Of course there are vast difference in cost but that is a different scale.
In Las Vegas the Strip is the steel mill that provides jobs that pay better than Phoenix in the related areas. But people live in the outer ring. The freeway net will get you anywhere in town in less than 45 minutes and to the strip in less than 25 from everywhere. In the better parts of town crime is better than most of PHoenix...Henderson as an example is among the 10 best for cities of more than 100,000..
locolife, yes, as I said in my initial post in this thread, if you're darker skinned, it's not an issue. The CDC says at that page:
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More than 9 out of 10 cases of melanoma are diagnosed in non-Hispanic whites.
Wiki shows Arizona non-Hispanic whites make up 59.6% of the population. So I agree that cloudy states are not getting the word out, but 40% of Arizona's population base is not susceptible.
The summers are long (harder to deal with as you get older), we're too far from the ocean, the lack of much culture.
Yes, the winters are much easier to deal with as one gets older. I know, I know, you are comparing it to a perfect ocean type climate like Laguna Beach. Few people in the US live in climates like Laguna Beach.
Yes, the winters are much easier to deal with as one gets older. I know, I know, you are comparing it to a perfect ocean type climate like Laguna Beach. Few people in the US live in climates like Laguna Beach.
I would also point out that the Southern CA beach area is over sold climate wise. It is pretty dreary from May until September. The haze moves in and does not break until late afternoon. And the afternoons are often too chilly for comfort. If we had stayed in CA 20 years ago instead of moving to Las Vegas we would have moved inland perhaps 10 or 12 miles to get out of the direct sea affected zone.
The great beach areas of southern CA are on Catalina. Nothing on the mainland compares. All suffer from fog and mist and chilly afternoons.
Oceans: meh. I haven't seen the one near me in decades. Too much traffic. Maybe I'll take GF there some day, enjoy a nice drive along Mulholland then down to the beach for dinner, then an hour back to her house (closer to the beach than mine).
In the future I can visit cuz in SD who has much better beaches anyway. 10 minute drive from her house.
BTW the drive from PHX to SD is thousand's of times better than the drive from PHX to LA. SD is actually quite a nice drive.
I lived in Phoenix for 10 years or more and here are the reasons maybe someone wouldn't move there.
1) The economy in Phoenix is great. But I work from home, as do many now, so at least as long as the job holds living anywhere in the state opens up. There are other beautiful places in Arizona that are a lot less hot during the summer and get some mild "boutique" Winters. Although many micro areas of the Phoenix metro are beautiful and over-all Phoenix has it's own charm, it doesn't compare to living near pine forest IMHO.
2) Traffic. Phoenix traffic isn't nearly as bad as some cities, but it is in the lower end of the "getting to be a pain in the rear" spectrum. If you can avoid it why wouldn't you?
3) Different stages of life. Phoenix metro area is awesome if you are single though a bit shallow. Eventually you get married and the bars go from being potential "fishing" areas to places where douche bags congregate. All those things that seemed cool when you're younger fade once you are out of the time of life, so even though the Phoenix metro has lots to offer there once you don't need it that being a draw fades.
4) It's freaking hot. No getting around it. Would I take Phoenix Summers over Winters in some other areas of the country? Absolutely. Luckily it isn't an exclusive choice between those two. Lot's of options, even within our own state.
5) Kids. Raising kids in many areas of Phoenix is fine. There are a variety of decent school districts. But in the end Phoenix is a beautiful concrete jungle. Getting away from that to raise kids to some is desirable.
6) Expensive. The Phoenix area is still over-all a great place to get a job and buy an inexpensive house. But less so than it was. And it won't get better. Phoenix is actually starting to price some people out that even 10 years ago could easily afford to buy a house there. A bummer.
7) Family Ties. Sometimes relatives get sick and have issues, so even though you may love Phoenix you might get stuck moving closer to an area where your relatives are so you can check up on them more.
8) Missing "Home". I know a lot of people who even though they loved Phoenix for whatever reason they just want to move back to where ever back was. More of a "what you are used to" than a logical thing I think.
9) Bad Spot. There are some crap holes in Phoenix. Some people move there and wind up in the wrong areas and their experience of the Phoenix metro is completely different than say your or mine was. Sad when it happens.
10) Conservatives Politics. For me this is a plus, but for some it isn't. I think Phoenix is more live and let live / libertarian than a statist type of republicanism in other areas, but some people get freaked out about this. The ones that are freaked about this probably shouldn't come, no offense. In the end it is no big deal even to the lefties that move here.
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