Relocating from Minneapolis MN to Phoenix Arizona Please help (Tucson: 2015, home)

[wase4711]

tehre are plenty of states with better winters than Minnesota; if that's the only reason for your desire to move out here, don't...

[Dangerous Dave]

Rose, I'm going to second Wase. I grew up in northern Minnesota also and ended up getting stationed in Yuma. It's one extreme to the other. Phoenix has long, hot and dry summers and honestly there's a lot of in-between MPLS and PHX when it comes to climate.

However, some of that in-between area happens to be in Arizona. Some of the higher elevations in the state are very nice. Prescott, Sierra Vista, and even Tucson are milder than Phoenix. Flagstaff is a nice location, although it is expensive and the elevation lends itself to snow and some cold... but nothing like MPLS.

Have you thought of places outside Arizona? Denver? Albuquerque? Dallas/Ft Worth?

Some other places where it doesn't snow, but are very nice and scenic and stay above freezing for most of the winter are Portland and Seattle. Pretty much all of western Oregon stays in at least the 40's in the winter, and you have the ocean and the mountains. Way better fishing that Minnesota too!

Anyhow, when I was living in the hottest part of AZ I wanted out... badly. I had co-workers that used to say "well, it sure beats shoveling snow!" as if it snowed everywhere else but. Also keep in mind that in Phoenix, the seasons are bass-ackwards. You hate summer and look forward to winter. When winter finally does show up, it's dark at 5pm. I much preferred living where the summers are the "happy" season and it's light out until 8pm.

[flint8ball]

Good point Dave. It's a bummer that it gets dark so early in winter. Back in MI it didn't matter since it was cold - hibernation season.

[xz2y]

Originally Posted by flint8ball

Good point Dave. It's a bummer that it gets dark so early in winter. Back in MI it didn't matter since it was cold - hibernation season.

Hi from Michigan! I'm considering a retirement to AZ, maybe Phoenix. How did you adjust to the change from brutal winters to brutal summers? Did it take several years, or did you make the adjustment pretty quickly.

[xz2y]

Originally Posted by Dangerous Dave

Rose, I'm going to second Wase. I grew up in northern Minnesota also and ended up getting stationed in Yuma. It's one extreme to the other. Phoenix has long, hot and dry summers and honestly there's a lot of in-between MPLS and PHX when it comes to climate.

However, some of that in-between area happens to be in Arizona. Some of the higher elevations in the state are very nice. Prescott, Sierra Vista, and even Tucson are milder than Phoenix. Flagstaff is a nice location, although it is expensive and the elevation lends itself to snow and some cold... but nothing like MPLS.

Have you thought of places outside Arizona? Denver? Albuquerque? Dallas/Ft Worth?

Some other places where it doesn't snow, but are very nice and scenic and stay above freezing for most of the winter are Portland and Seattle. Pretty much all of western Oregon stays in at least the 40's in the winter, and you have the ocean and the mountains. Way better fishing that Minnesota too!

Anyhow, when I was living in the hottest part of AZ I wanted out... badly. I had co-workers that used to say "well, it sure beats shoveling snow!" as if it snowed everywhere else but. Also keep in mind that in Phoenix, the seasons are bass-ackwards. You hate summer and look forward to winter. When winter finally does show up, it's dark at 5pm. I much preferred living where the summers are the "happy" season and it's light out until 8pm.

Good post. However, there is a big COL difference between AZ and OR (Portland) and WA (Seattle). Those cities are very expensive and a lot of young people are priced out. Moving to either city without a job would be very challenging. But I agree that the PNW is gorgeous and relatively temperate.

[flint8ball]

Originally Posted by xz2y

Hi from Michigan! I'm considering a retirement to AZ, maybe Phoenix. How did you adjust to the change from brutal winters to brutal summers? Did it take several years, or did you make the adjustment pretty quickly.

I still have my "Michigan blood". I tend to hibernate in the summer here. I haven't forced myself to be more active outside when it's hot. I still wear shorts and a t-shirt all year round. The locals might even wear a winter coat here. Cracks me up. That said, I am glad we moved here. I'd rather deal with the heat than the cold dark winters back home. Plus you can getaway to cooler temps in just a few hours. "Up north" or over to San Diego.

[thinkalot]

Originally Posted by xz2y

Hi from Michigan! I'm considering a retirement to AZ, maybe Phoenix. How did you adjust to the change from brutal winters to brutal summers? Did it take several years, or did you make the adjustment pretty quickly.

I adjusted to the Summer immediately (moved here in August). I never got cold in the Winter until year 4.

Don't listen to anyone that talks about hibernating or thinks the 90's are hot. Most people can do the same things year round. You may do some earlier or later but you can still do things.

I golf regularly in the Summer. I just go in the morning instead of the afternoon. I have a 9:02 tee time this morning. I have friends that still walk their several miles every day. They just start at sun up. You have to adjust but you don't have to change.

[Farmer Larry]

I have lived here over 30 years and for the most part love it. Before moving here I worked outdoors in Chicago burbs and once endured a HIGH temp of -5F and worked in 116F here and I will take the heat any day. The only thing that is going to drive me out is air pollution, our air is getting much worse quickly. Don't live on the eastside of any freeway the most common winds are west to east. I am choking on exhaust fumes at the SE area of US60 and 101, it was much better when I bought this house 30 years ago.

[wit-nit]

When we moved here 50+ years ago it was in the middle of July, 107 degrees when we were unloading the truck and trailer. Never regretted it.
If you have sore bones and joints, arthritis etal you'll love the relief during the hot weather.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Dangerous Dave

It's one extreme to the other. Phoenix has long, hot and dry summers and honestly there's a lot of in-between MPLS and PHX when it comes to climate.

Some of the higher elevations in the state are very nice. Prescott, Sierra Vista, and even Tucson are milder than Phoenix. Flagstaff is a nice location, although it is expensive and the elevation lends itself to snow and some cold... but nothing like MPLS.

Phoenix, the seasons are bass-ackwards. You hate summer and look forward to winter. When winter finally does show up, it's dark at 5pm. I much preferred living where the summers are the "happy" season and it's light out until 8pm.

To each their own, this is one person's perspective, I've been here in Phoenix for 17 years, I think Dave was in Yuma which is not a place I'd live either so I can't blame him for not liking it.

Not all of us hate summer, I don't mind it, the lakes and pools are great, I don't like days over 110 but we only get about 20 of those a year, so the other 340 aren't bad for me personally. I like warm weather though which is why I chose to live here. Dave mentioned the high country, which is an amazing part of Arizona life, most of it is about 2 hours from Phoenix, I'm a huge outdoorsy person and exploring Arizona's high country never stops amazing me, be it the waterfalls at places like Fossil Creek, Clear Creek or Havasupai or floating the upper Salt or Verde rivers, hiking at the various canyons or mountain biking Sedona, Prescott or Flagstaff... It's a beautiful state.

If you like warm weather, keep in mind the brunt of summer is June-September, the other 9 months aren't bad for us warm weather lovers 90-95 on a dry day is great.

I'm glad sunsets were brought up, Arizona sunrises and sunsets are works of art, just google image search it and you'll see. As for the sunset time, the reference to being dark at 5pm is funny, on the shortest day of the year sunset is 5:30 and civil twilight (when it's actually dark) is about 6pm. By March civil twilight is back to 7pm and it stays 7pm or later through mid-September.

Above all else the numbers in Arizona work out better for me, 8 months out of the year I really like the weather here, in the North I was really only a fan of 4-5 months of the weather. So the question was do I trade 4 months for 8? Easy answer imo.