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I think Vegas is too transient. Roughly the same climate; lots to do but a lot of people who’ve run out of any luck and more pouring in weekly hoping there’s will be any better.
Exactly, the entire economy is based on 100,000's of people pouring into the city and trashing it every weekend. Sure it's fun to party but that would get really old, really fast. Last time I was up there I saw a lot of Las Vegas Knights fans leaving after the game, the locals high tail directly to their cars and seem like they can't get away from the strip fast enough.
I find Phoenix has a much better mix as a place to setup home base.
I think Vegas is too transient. Roughly the same climate; lots to do but a lot of people who’ve run out of any luck and more pouring in weekly hoping there’s will be any better.
The winters are quite a bit colder in Vegas. The summers are almost as hot as Phoenix and the desert isn't near as scenic in my opinion. The Mojave has it's places but overall, I like the Sonoran desert a lot more.
The winters are quite a bit colder in Vegas. The summers are almost as hot as Phoenix and the desert isn't near as scenic in my opinion. The Mojave has it's places but overall, I like the Sonoran desert a lot more.
Nevada is more "moon" like so it really depends on the individual. Southern Arizona is more lush and it does rain more in order to provide for that. But some people really like the dramatics of landscapes that come across as hostile. The Sahara, the tops of some of the worlds highest mountains, the tundra of northern Alaska and Siberia, etc. are just a few examples. Those who can find beauty in that may find Nevada to be more stunning, it's all about opinions.
People who tend to sway this way in aesthetics to begin with would generally be ok or prefer Phoenix/Vegas/Tucson/Reno etc. over the majority of the US. Odds are if you don't already have this leaning you would have moved out by now, or not even considered living out here.
People who prefer lush, green, water or other general things that make a place "friendly and livable" do not like deserts at all, and would prefer Flagstaff and the varying sky islands throughout the Southwest by leagues over what we offer. But even they may find Flagstaff to still be not green enough. It wouldn't be green enough until they got to Eureka.
Truth is most people are the latter rather than the former and don't realize it until they move out here or Denver or something and realize they really, really do not like it all that much. Brown is just the name of the game for half of the mainland US and if you don't like it, stop moving out here.
I had many romantic notions about Phoenix BEFORE I moved here. Even so, there are many reasons to think TWICE before you make that jump! I failed to listen to the warnings! I consider my failure a learning experience and one that will never be forgotten! If you're curious about my reasons, please read on...
Here are some of the main reasons that made me move away from PHOENIX ASAP!
1. HEAT - I was under the impression that it WOULDN'T BE A BIG DEAL!! What's a little heat, right? Just use the a/c, right? It is a VERY big deal! In July around the time it reached 120, I suffered what appeared to be a MILD heat stroke with my left side going numb followed by many nights waking up with the most SEVERE muscle cramps. The doc believed it was simply a pinched nerve in my neck but I believe it was more than that as my whole upper back ached for days on end. It felt like somebody was stabbing me in the back. I had never experienced anything quite like it and this was all while the heat was well over a 100 degrees. Again, never anything like it! I'm finally on the mend three months later and I moved to a cooler climate. I have seen major improvement in my overall health by doing so. Deaths related to the heat in Phoenix are no joke. The heat is a serious issue that I figured before moving here wouldn't be as bad as suffering through a cold winter and I'm originally from the Northeast. In my opinion, it's worse than any winter I've ever experienced!
2. COST OF LIVING. I had this misconception that my money would go far here. Stop laughing! That is so not true! IT IS BLOODY EXPENSIVE to live in Phoenix! First, the rent you see advertised is not the real AMOUNT. You need to add water, sewer, trash, and tax so it's NEVER the amount advertised! Even if you make around $17.00 you will be struggling to scrape by if you have a high car payment to manage along with your rent. I've heard more than one horror story of someone's rent going up over $200 after one year of renting. That's absurd but the landlords in PHOENIX will do it simply because they CAN based on Phoenix's popularity at the moment. It's a dirty business, but they don't care.
3. MOST JOBS PAY NEXT TO NOTHING! There are so many jobs in the Phoenix area that barely approach $15/hr. Where on earth are those people going to live on that kind of salary? The rents are rising and the pay is stagnant. I can see it working if the rents matched relative to what someone earns, but they DO NOT in Phoenix! It's a recipe for disaster with many in Phoenix struggling to get by. And yet you have these rentals and Extended Stay hotels in the Phoenix area that are loaded with criminals, drug dealers and ladies of the night so any decent 9 to 5 hard working American would be hard pressed to find a SAFE rental without living in a high crime area based on what they can afford. And this in all fairness could be said about rents across the nation.
4. NO ACCESS TO A/C IN A ROOMMATE SITUATION. This was my breaking point! No ability to control the a/c. If you do manage to rent a small room in order to save money, good luck! Especially if that room faces West! The one who owns the unit will kindly tell you that you may not touch the a/c. Their idea of a/c is 80 to 85 and maybe 77 sometimes if you're lucky. And then when they are not there and you're at work, they keep it at 90 so you come home to a boiling room! A/C is not a luxury! IT IS A NECCESSITY! People die in this city without proper a/c. It's a very serious issue and people that I've encountered get downright bitter and nasty over their electric bills here. Some having to pay upward of $300 to $400 a month during the summer months. There goes your monthly cushion. The electric will eat up every last dollar!
5. BLACK MOLD. It's a serious problem in homes and apartments in the Phoenix area. Just google it! The shady owners use wallpaper or paint over it and hope you don't notice it. You can get serious health issues from mold. It can be devastating to your overall health if you don't get out sooner rather than later once you realize that it may be the CULPRIT as to why your health is suddenly taking a nose dive along with the heat. The MUSTY smell in your new apartment is a big warning sign! Of course when you looked at the unit, all the windows were kept wide open so you didn't smell it before you sign the dotted line. If you complain, they say that the a/c filter needed to be changed. It didn't change the fact that when my brother came to visit one of the first things he said was that my apartment smelled MUSTY and he could tell they painted over the mold on the ceiling as you could see black in the tiny cracks and crevices of the border. If you complain to your landlord about the issue, they will outright deny it and say they have never had a problem, but your health will tell you a different story!
6. TRAFFIC. When I came here in September of 2016, the traffic didn't seem that bad, but as of 2017, Phoenix has a rate of 88 people moving here a day. That's a lot of cars! And it will add a lot more pollution to this lovely city! Even my coworkers complain about how bad the traffic has become. And when the snowbirds arrive in October/November it's going to get even worse! The population is exploding in Phoenix and that's not necessarily a good thing! I'd be curious to see what Phoenix will look like in ten years with the increasing, traffic, heat and pollution.
On a positive note, if you make at least $20.00 an hour in Phoenix, you should be okay financially, but many jobs in Phoenix do not pay that well. There are many restaurants, shopping choices and beautiful parks and wildlife preserves to explore. A lot of desirable destinations are within driving distance too if you can AFFORD to drive to Flagstaff, San Diego, Vegas or LA for weekend trips. If you're struggling to get by, those destinations are really NEVER a feasible option.
Since moving away, my breathing is better and my health has improved big time, so it was the best decision I ever made. I NEED COOL FRESH AIR!!! Every city has problems, and I get that, BUT Phoenix has blind spots that you don't really get to encounter until you look past all the lovely opinions and pictures about this city from people who can actually AFFORD to live here. Phoenix is not for everyone and I failed to listen to all the warnings that were mentioned in previous posts and I paid dearly for it. My credit tanked. My job shattered into a million pieces because I could not take the HEAT or the MOLD and I lost pretty much everything. Listen and learn from others and save yourself a lot of heartache! Be careful! Pay attention! I am determined to rebuild my life one step at a time. I was thinking about Vegas, but didn't end up choosing it because the COL is even higher there and the HEAT there is a HUGE problem too! People say Phoenix is just like Vegas minus the Strip. Go figure!
I hope that my insight will help save someone from making a decision that they will later REGRET!
All of the reasons you stated have nothing to do with Arizona have all to do with your personal financial situation. The only lesson to be learned by others is make sure you have a good job before you move here, or you have enough savings to live in comfort.
Renting a room from someone in any city is always a risk it won't work out. When I moved to Arizona I had saved enough to buy a house, and the mortgage payment was low enough I could make the payment working just above min wage at the time 25 years ago.
Yeah...life is funny like that. In order to obtain money, one needs to have a a marketable skill that customers or an employer are willing to trade money for. Obtaining that skill takes time and investment.As those skills increase, depending on your experience and how good you are at said skill, normally correlates to how much money you receive in exchange for that skill.
I agree. I just wanted to dispel the notion that you can move to a city and instantly find a job that pays decent wages without having a formal education or training. No one should move to Phoenix or any other large city without having a job lined up first.
I agree. I just wanted to dispel the notion that you can move to a city and instantly find a job that pays decent wages without having a formal education or training. No one should move to Phoenix or any other large city without having a job lined up first.
This makes too much sense ... so much in fact that it should be a sticky on the Phoenix forum, or any other large city forum on this site. A lot of these potential transplants need to get a clue: don't move here just because it's warmer & sunnier than where you came from, or because there's easier access to outdoor recreation. If essential reasons aren't a priority in their lives, there's really nothing Phoenix can offer them.
I agree. I just wanted to dispel the notion that you can move to a city and instantly find a job that pays decent wages without having a formal education or training. No one should move to Phoenix or any other large city without having a job lined up first.
But it's interesting how many people on this forum tell them to come on out here without a job lined up first .
This makes too much sense ... so much in fact that it should be a sticky on the Phoenix forum, or any other large city forum on this site. A lot of these potential transplants need to get a clue: don't move here just because it's warmer & sunnier than where you came from, or because there's easier access to outdoor recreation. If essential reasons aren't a priority in their lives, there's really nothing Phoenix can offer them.
Not only this, but we should want and try to attract citizens who actually like what Phoenix is and not what ARIZONA is... a big difference... these people could live in Yuma warmth and sunshine in fact Yuma is even better at that than we are, so why move to Phoenix and then complain how expensive or liberal Phoenix is becoming? You could have moved practically anywhere else in the state to avoid that kiddo. You don't need to be in the Phoenix metro, and if you don't like urban life maybe don't move to a metro that's bigger than Seattle in POPULATION... it's going to happen here whether you like it or not.
I'm sick of people moving here and then complaining that it's expensive and changing of course it is, there's over 5 million people here and counting fighting for the same jobs and houses. Maybe pull your head out of the sand and remember it's not 1991 anymore, the cheap Phoenix has long sailed. Along with the conservative Phoenix too.
Location: Live:Downtown Phoenix, AZ/Work:Greater Los Angeles, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Prickly Pear
Not only this, but we should want and try to attract citizens who actually like what Phoenix is and not what ARIZONA is... a big difference... these people could live in Yuma warmth and sunshine in fact Yuma is even better at that than we are, so why move to Phoenix and then complain how expensive or liberal Phoenix is becoming? You could have moved practically anywhere else in the state to avoid that kiddo. You don't need to be in the Phoenix metro, and if you don't like urban life maybe don't move to a metro that's bigger than Seattle in POPULATION... it's going to happen here whether you like it or not.
I'm sick of people moving here and then complaining that it's expensive and changing of course it is, there's over 5 million people here and counting fighting for the same jobs and houses. Maybe pull your head out of the sand and remember it's not 1991 anymore, the cheap Phoenix has long sailed. Along with the conservative Phoenix too.
Anyone under the age of 65 who moves somewhere needs to work, and all the jobs are in greater Phoenix. There's no jobs that pay more than peanuts in Yuma or Gila Bend
But it's interesting how many people on this forum tell them to come on out here without a job lined up first .
Depends on what your line of work is if your a Registered Nurse with 10 years of experience I highly doubt it would be difficult to find a job here. Moving here with no experience taking minimum wage job going to live poor. I think if had to do that buy a camp trailer move into a trailer park new someone who did that after a divorce actually wasn't bad out in AJ. He had nice parking spot he could even take his trailer camping he lived cheap for about 5 years dig out of debt. Rather do that then live in a rented room.
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