Question for people who recently moved here! (Phoenix, Mesa: houses, transfer to)

[goolsbyjazz]

Originally Posted by popwar

I started visiting in 2018 for hiking trips and moved here a year ago today and been here since then. It's a unique area and I was anxious to get around to all the best hiking in the desert. I did all the good ones around the valley and did the ones up north and other parts of the state during this past summer. I'm ready to move somewhere else . The Desert has some pretty nice sunrise / sunsets and the winter is nice, but the scenery , while beautiful , is just a "been there done that already" kinda thing to me. I don't like to sit still so moving in March either back east to my green or maybe Oregon.

Popwar, you did what you set out to do, which was explore aspects of the place. You've been here for a year which is enough time to determine whether a place is for you or not. Whether you go back east or to Oregon, you will see a lot of green! Where back east are you considering? We have family in Georgia who would love it if we relocated to the Atlanta area.

[john3232]

Originally Posted by goolsbyjazz

Hello everyone! We have had so many people move to the state and the greater Phoenix area in particular, and I am wondering how they like the place so far? Is life in the desert vastly different from where you moved from? If so, how? How are you making the adjustment (if at all?). Is there anything that surprised you about living here? Is there anything that disappointed you? A little about me, my family moved here more than 20 years ago when I took a job offer. Not gonna lie, it took me about two years to adjust to (accept) living in the desert. Like many others who came and left I did not think we would make it past those two years. My initial plan was to make my way back east. However, once I fully decided to let go of where I came from (Charlotte, NC) I began noticing the desert/AZ for the unique beauty it possesses. My family (most of them) fell in love with Arizona and, well, we're still here! This may not be my forever place (still have lots of family back east pulling on us), but it turned out to be a lot better than I initially imagined. How about you?

I've lived or have spent a lot of time a number of very different cities. San Francisco, Tokyo, Dallas, San Diego and now Mesa. Only Dallas I never warmed up too.

East Mesa? Move here in 2019. It's quiet and not a place for someone single and on the prowl. But it's a nice fit for my wife and I. Close to shopping and not far from the 60 freeway.

Weather: My wife loves the AZ weather. I'm not a fan of June-Sept. but can adjust. We both love the mild winters.

Traffic: What surprised me was the speed limit on many of the major roads - 45. I'd say 95% of the accidents I've seen have been at an intersection. No fender benders. Cars are smashed and someone going to the hospital.

COL: The cost of housing seemed to jump over night. It was not long ago a 4bed/2 bath 2000 sq ft home in Gilbert rented in the 1800 range. Now it's 2400-2600. For years a couple with two kids could make it on 45-50 grand a year in many areas of the Phx metro. Those days have gone and I don't expect they will return.

Bottom line: My wife and I live in a 4 bed/2 bath 1600 sq ft. home with a pool. My neighbors are fine and the neighborhood while not upscale... is pretty nice. Eventually we'll sell and move to Chandler.

But right now we're happy in Mesa and don't regret moving here at all.

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Gotta love the way Phoenix is consistently thought of as "the desert". I'll bet people who live in Miami or Tampa don't refer to their cities as "the swamp" or "the subtropical savannah". Nor does anybody refer to New York City as the "Atlantic Coastal Plain". But Phoenix is always referred to as either "the desert" or "the valley" ... not a CITY like it truly is. I guess that reflects the mentality here.

I constantly refer to Florida as the swamp and so does my family who lives there. I’ve also heard many Texans and Louisianans refer to Houston and New Orleans as the swamp.

Lots of places in the South are also referred to the Piedmont (Atlanta), or the Appalachians, Seattle is often referred as the Puget Sound. It’s not uncommon for people to refer areas by their GEOGRAPHY. I’ve heard Portland being part of the Columbia Gorge Basin. Denver as the Front Range.

You are forgetting that the original “valley” is San Fernando in LOS ANGELES. Pretty big metro if you ask me which has a “big city” mentality, even in the original “valley”.

You seem to have a negative connotation with living in a desert. Maybe you need to get over that. But you live in a desert, a city in a desert. It’s not wrong to say we live in a desert, it’s factually true.

[beez74]

Been here 3 years and love it, no plan to ever go back to the east (Pittsburgh). Anytime I visit or even talking to family or friends its cold and dark or raining and I definitely don't miss that. Someone mentioned the traffic speeds and yes that's something that took some time to get used to, that and the annoying amount of people that PARK at gas station pumps and go in to shop and never get gas???? its something I've never really noticed until I moved her and it seems silly but I started seeing it tons and being held up by it so much its become a weird annoyance to me...... Get gas and move so others can get gas.

[goolsbyjazz]

Originally Posted by john3232

I've lived or have spent a lot of time a number of very different cities. San Francisco, Tokyo, Dallas, San Diego and now Mesa. Only Dallas I never warmed up too.

East Mesa? Move here in 2019. It's quiet and not a place for someone single and on the prowl. But it's a nice fit for my wife and I. Close to shopping and not far from the 60 freeway.

Weather: My wife loves the AZ weather. I'm not a fan of June-Sept. but can adjust. We both love the mild winters.

Traffic: What surprised me was the speed limit on many of the major roads - 45. I'd say 95% of the accidents I've seen have been at an intersection. No fender benders. Cars are smashed and someone going to the hospital.

COL: The cost of housing seemed to jump over night. It was not long ago a 4bed/2 bath 2000 sq ft home in Gilbert rented in the 1800 range. Now it's 2400-2600. For years a couple with two kids could make it on 45-50 grand a year in many areas of the Phx metro. Those days have gone and I don't expect they will return.

Bottom line: My wife and I live in a 4 bed/2 bath 1600 sq ft. home with a pool. My neighbors are fine and the neighborhood while not upscale... is pretty nice. Eventually we'll sell and move to Chandler.

But right now we're happy in Mesa and don't regret moving here at all.

Hi John, you've lived in quite a few desirable cities! I agree with you about East Mesa and the increased housing prices out here. The days of 'bargain' living may be behind us. We enjoyed living in Chandler for roughly 8 years and would not be opposed to going back if the opportunity arose. Would I be wrong to guess that work landed you and your wife here in AZ?

[goolsbyjazz]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

I constantly refer to Florida as the swamp and so does my family who lives there. I’ve also heard many Texans and Louisianans refer to Houston and New Orleans as the swamp.

Lots of places in the South are also referred to the Piedmont (Atlanta), or the Appalachians, Seattle is often referred as the Puget Sound. It’s not uncommon for people to refer areas by their GEOGRAPHY. I’ve heard Portland being part of the Columbia Gorge Basin. Denver as the Front Range.

You are forgetting that the original “valley” is San Fernando in LOS ANGELES. Pretty big metro if you ask me which has a “big city” mentality, even in the original “valley”.

You seem to have a negative connotation with living in a desert. Maybe you need to get over that. But you live in a desert, a city in a desert. It’s not wrong to say we live in a desert, it’s factually true.

This^^^^^^^^!

[goolsbyjazz]

Originally Posted by beez74

Been here 3 years and love it, no plan to ever go back to the east (Pittsburgh). Anytime I visit or even talking to family or friends its cold and dark or raining and I definitely don't miss that. Someone mentioned the traffic speeds and yes that's something that took some time to get used to, that and the annoying amount of people that PARK at gas station pumps and go in to shop and never get gas???? its something I've never really noticed until I moved her and it seems silly but I started seeing it tons and being held up by it so much its become a weird annoyance to me...... Get gas and move so others can get gas.

beez74, I remember driving through Pennsylvania many times and it being grey and cloudy! Aside from Texas it was one of my least favorite states to drive through. I never noticed that about people parking at the gas pumps but will pay attention to it now. The traffic speeds, in some spots, can be confusing to say the least.

[timothyaw]

Originally Posted by beez74

Been here 3 years and love it, no plan to ever go back to the east (Pittsburgh). Anytime I visit or even talking to family or friends its cold and dark or raining and I definitely don't miss that. Someone mentioned the traffic speeds and yes that's something that took some time to get used to, that and the annoying amount of people that PARK at gas station pumps and go in to shop and never get gas???? its something I've never really noticed until I moved her and it seems silly but I started seeing it tons and being held up by it so much its become a weird annoyance to me...... Get gas and move so others can get gas.

If it's in the summer, it's to park in the shade while they run inside the store perhaps?

[john3232]

Originally Posted by goolsbyjazz

Hi John, you've lived in quite a few desirable cities! I agree with you about East Mesa and the increased housing prices out here. The days of 'bargain' living may be behind us. We enjoyed living in Chandler for roughly 8 years and would not be opposed to going back if the opportunity arose. Would I be wrong to guess that work landed you and your wife here in AZ?

We're retired. I stopped working at 61 and the wife 57. We moved here so I could manage my rental properties (six.)

[4khansen]

Retired from Iowa in 2019 to a 55+ community. Our grown children were already here in the PHX metro, which makes a "huge" difference in feeling comfortable in my opinion for most people.

I love the climate and don't even mind the summer heat! Summer in the midwest can be hell with the humidity so I certainly don't miss that and of course no winter weather here to deal with which is the biggest bonus each day I wake up and realize I don't even have to think about what is going on outside and where I might have to go today, etc. I find places all over this country as well as globally that are very beautiful and Arizona is no different. I can embrace this or any geographic situation I might be in. Yea, it would be nice to see a little snow before Christmas, but no where near enough incentive for me to even drive to Flagstaff to see it.