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No place is for everyone. You are free to disagree, and evidently do, but why does it matter to you why he or she "loved" it? The OP is asking for nuts and bolts moving advice, not discussing why the decision was made to move here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 49erfan916
It's hella cheaper than Laguna Beach. IMO, you're getting a great city for a fraction of the cost.
As someone who lived in Phoenix for a number of years, I am attempting to grasp why the OP "loved" the city as much as he or she claims to have because it is unclear in the initial post.
If the OP is planning a move to Phoenix because he or she loved the sun, mountains, desert flora, etc., then it is likely he or she fell in love with the shiny veneer of Phoenix and is not planning a relocation around more substantial factors, such as employment and career advancement opportunities, cost-of-living ratio, healthcare access, public school funding and quality, etc.
FWIW, the Phoenix metro area is very clean and modern-looking due to its relatively young age. Coupled with the scenery, constant sunshine, mild wintertime temperatures and physically attractive residents, it's a hard place to resist, especially if you're coming from an older, more established city back east (like the OP and me).
However, after living in the Valley for a few years, you realize that all that glitters is not gold. IMO, there are more important factors in life than smooth road surfaces, a high number of Costco stores within a 20-mile radius and consistent 80-degree days in March, but I'll let the OP learn that him- or herself.
On the rare occasion it's got to 100 degrees in Michigan I never thought that I would rather have snow and cold weather instead. I don't doubt that 115 is hot and not comfortable. But it's a con that I could live with for all of the pros that come with Phoenix but weather and not weather related.
Is centrally located considered where I-10 and I-17 intersect? Any other freeways that are bad a certain direction during rush hour?
On the rare occasion it's got to 100 degrees in Michigan I never thought that I would rather have snow and cold weather instead. I don't doubt that 115 is hot and not comfortable. But it's a con that I could live with for all of the pros that come with Phoenix but weather and not weather related.
Is centrally located considered where I-10 and I-17 intersect? Any other freeways that are bad a certain direction during rush hour?
All of them are bad, but the 10 west from the tunnel to 75th ave during evening rush is HORRID, as is the commute eastbound from 75th Ave to the tunnel in the morning. The 101 gets equally screwed in areas, as does the 17, 51, etc. No highway is immune from traffic. Some are a bit better than others, but expect delays. Or, commute with someone so you can use the HOV lanes and save some time.
On the rare occasion it's got to 100 degrees in Michigan I never thought that I would rather have snow and cold weather instead. I don't doubt that 115 is hot and not comfortable. But it's a con that I could live with for all of the pros that come with Phoenix but weather and not weather related.
You're just trading blood vessel constriction and frostbite for sunburns, kidney stones and Valley Fever, TBH.
On the rare occasion it's got to 100 degrees in Michigan I never thought that I would rather have snow and cold weather instead. I don't doubt that 115 is hot and not comfortable. But it's a con that I could live with for all of the pros that come with Phoenix but weather and not weather related. Is centrally located considered where I-10 and I-17 intersect? Any other freeways that are bad a certain direction during rush hour?
This is our first winter in Arizona, we moved from Michigan last summer out here. And I completely know what you are saying about preferring to deal with the heat versus the snow and freezing cold in MI, I'm having the time of my life teasing family and friends back in MI right now, you guys are getting it bad this year.
For what it's worth, my two cents on leaving MI behind and moving here last July, yes, I said July, we moved in the super hot temperatures and guess what, we not only survived the 120 degree days, but they weren't nearly as bad as we expected them to be. 100 degrees in Michigan with close to 100 percent humidity (which is common for hot days there) is 100 times WORSE to me than 120 degrees of dry air in Arizona. I will take the hot temps in AZ any day over those negative 20 degree days with the wind chill biting at your face as you trudge through a foot of snow trying to go anywhere. And once the winter months roll around out here, you feel like you have discovered some big secret that no one in Michigan ever told you about, you can actually have beautiful, blue skies and sunshine with warm days all winter long! We never have to worry about making plans to go out because we don't have to worry about what the weather will be like. No need to worry about snow accumulation, icy roads, cold temps, you pretty much know what you are going to get almost every day out here. I like that consistency.
In addition, my mood has changed for the better out here. In MI, we had so many dark, overcast days, in fact most of the year is like that in MI, cloud cover all the time. I know it really had a negative effect on my mood. Out here, I can start to feel down and out or crabby and all I need to do it go outside and enjoy the sun and blue skies and my mood is immediately elevated. After having lived in MI my entire life, it's a real mood lifter to live out here now.
We flew out here and purchased a home in advance of our move, but that's because we already had family in this area that helped to guide us with location of where to move, so it was easier for us to know where we would land. You should take the recommendations of folks on here and rent first until you get a job and get an idea of what area you will want to live. I work at home, so I don't have to fight the rush hour traffic on a regular basis, but here's what I will say. Even when I've gotten stuck in Phoenix rush hour traffic, I still don't find it as bad as MI rush hours. I think it's because there are more lanes out here on the freeway than in MI. In MI, with only 2 or 3 lanes for the entire freeway, I literally could sit in one spot in rush hour traffic and not move for 5 or 10 minutes. Out here, even when I get stopped in traffic, it does seems to keep moving along, yes, it's slow, but at least you are moving even if only small moves. I honestly find the rush hour traffic in MI worse than rush hour out here. Just my opinion.
And finally, we rented a Penske moving truck and drove across country for 3 days to get out here. It was much cheaper than hiring a mover or even using something like POD for moving. Moving services are crazy expensive, if you can do it yourself, do it and save a ton of money.
As someone who lived in Phoenix for a number of years, I am attempting to grasp why the OP "loved" the city as much as he or she claims to have because it is unclear in the initial post.
If the OP is planning a move to Phoenix because he or she loved the sun, mountains, desert flora, etc., then it is likely he or she fell in love with the shiny veneer of Phoenix and is not planning a relocation around more substantial factors, such as employment and career advancement opportunities, cost-of-living ratio, healthcare access, public school funding and quality, etc.
FWIW, the Phoenix metro area is very clean and modern-looking due to its relatively young age. Coupled with the scenery, constant sunshine, mild wintertime temperatures and physically attractive residents, it's a hard place to resist, especially if you're coming from an older, more established city back east (like the OP and me).
However, after living in the Valley for a few years, you realize that all that glitters is not gold. IMO, there are more important factors in life than smooth road surfaces, a high number of Costco stores within a 20-mile radius and consistent 80-degree days in March, but I'll let the OP learn that him- or herself.
Can you enlighten on what the factors were that drove you away from Phoenix? So were those factors corrected when you moved to SoCal?
I can understand the appeal of SoCal but I think even people that love SoCal have to admit there are some serious negatives there as well.
This is our first winter in Arizona, we moved from Michigan last summer out here. And I completely know what you are saying about preferring to deal with the heat versus the snow and freezing cold in MI, I'm having the time of my life teasing family and friends back in MI right now, you guys are getting it bad this year.
For what it's worth, my two cents on leaving MI behind and moving here last July, yes, I said July, we moved in the super hot temperatures and guess what, we not only survived the 120 degree days, but they weren't nearly as bad as we expected them to be. 100 degrees in Michigan with close to 100 percent humidity (which is common for hot days there) is 100 times WORSE to me than 120 degrees of dry air in Arizona. I will take the hot temps in AZ any day over those negative 20 degree days with the wind chill biting at your face as you trudge through a foot of snow trying to go anywhere. And once the winter months roll around out here, you feel like you have discovered some big secret that no one in Michigan ever told you about, you can actually have beautiful, blue skies and sunshine with warm days all winter long! We never have to worry about making plans to go out because we don't have to worry about what the weather will be like. No need to worry about snow accumulation, icy roads, cold temps, you pretty much know what you are going to get almost every day out here. I like that consistency.
In addition, my mood has changed for the better out here. In MI, we had so many dark, overcast days, in fact most of the year is like that in MI, cloud cover all the time. I know it really had a negative effect on my mood. Out here, I can start to feel down and out or crabby and all I need to do it go outside and enjoy the sun and blue skies and my mood is immediately elevated. After having lived in MI my entire life, it's a real mood lifter to live out here now.
We flew out here and purchased a home in advance of our move, but that's because we already had family in this area that helped to guide us with location of where to move, so it was easier for us to know where we would land. You should take the recommendations of folks on here and rent first until you get a job and get an idea of what area you will want to live. I work at home, so I don't have to fight the rush hour traffic on a regular basis, but here's what I will say. Even when I've gotten stuck in Phoenix rush hour traffic, I still don't find it as bad as MI rush hours. I think it's because there are more lanes out here on the freeway than in MI. In MI, with only 2 or 3 lanes for the entire freeway, I literally could sit in one spot in rush hour traffic and not move for 5 or 10 minutes. Out here, even when I get stopped in traffic, it does seems to keep moving along, yes, it's slow, but at least you are moving even if only small moves. I honestly find the rush hour traffic in MI worse than rush hour out here. Just my opinion.
And finally, we rented a Penske moving truck and drove across country for 3 days to get out here. It was much cheaper than hiring a mover or even using something like POD for moving. Moving services are crazy expensive, if you can do it yourself, do it and save a ton of money.
I seriously can't take it anymore in Michigan. I hate living somewhere where I despise even going outside of my house half of the year. I like the dry heat of Arizona. I don't have a spouse or any kids to force me to stay here. Life is short and worth at least giving it a try. And I'll take Arizona with dry heat, not giant bugs, and not hurricanes unlike say the southeastern USA. Plus there are gun ranges it seems everywhere. In fact I saw a 1,000 yard gun range just a bit north of the valley not far at all, while I don't think there is even one of those in Michigan, let alone certainly anywhere near that I'm aware of.
And like you said, I don't like seeing the cloud cover everywhere for a while, it's a gloomy and even say when it becomes September it bothers me knowing that the comfortable temperatures are coming to an end and bad weather is en route till April/May at least.
My thing about buying is that I want to build equity and could sell and move elsewhere if need be should I decide I want to live elsewhere.
That's understandable but you really need to know where you'll be working first before buying. If you end up buying far away from where you'll be working trust me you're commute will be hell and you could end up wasting 1-2 hours a day sitting in traffic. I don't know about you but my time is worth something and that something isn't sitting in traffic up to 10 hours a week! I live in the west valley and on occasion I'll travel to the east valley for a job (self employed) and every time I do I dread the commute and say never again. I know there are some who do this every day but there's no way I could.
Also,what if you do decide you want to live elsewhere in the near future? While renting you don't have to sell anything, just give your notice and be gone. To many people come here and think they can handle the summer heat only to find out after really living in it that it's so much different than spending a week or two here. I actually like the heat but even I start to get sick of it at times but then I remember winters back east and all is good again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Anglefan
when it becomes September it bothers me knowing that the comfortable temperatures are coming to an end and bad weather is en route till April/May at least.
This was me while living in MA. Every Sept I'd get depressed because I knew what was coming next. Shorter days where it gets dark around 4:15,cloudy gloomy days where you didn't see the sun for days on end and the relentless cold and sub zero temps. Funny because it was actually Sept of 2015 that I arrived back to Ma after being here and decided to move for good. I couldn't stomach the thought of going through another long New England winter.
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