Please, please, please make the snowbirds leave. (Phoenix, Mesa: rental car, rental)

[thedreamteam]

Sounds to me like the only real drawback associated with snowbirds is their poor driving habits. Considering all the benefits attached to this particular group that is a prety insignificant reason to compare them to "roaches".

I am a 34 yrs old seasonal resident and consider myself a very good driver (never been in an accident in 16yrs of driving) and i also pay property tax to the city of phoenix, inject $'s into the local economy and helped do my part to prop up the local real estate market when my wife and i decided to purchase a home in the valley a few months back.

From the comments here i realize not every feels the same way as the original poster. no matter how uninformed, i guess he is entitled to his opinion.

[Arizona Mike]

Jeez, it's not like we're Sturgis dealing with a biker run. It's a bunch of retired people who pump money into an economy that badly needs it. Some are bad drivers, some are better than a lot of the younger people on the road - drive around a local high school when classes end if you want to see some scary poor drivers. I went out to dinner last night at the Elephant Bar and it was crowded with snowbirds, but I imagine the staff will be sorry to see them go.

[GloryB]

I don't usually jump into 'other state' conversations, but since I happen to live in Orlando, FL.....I can honestly say the thread title caught my eye.

Snowbirds have the draw back in that they demand better housing, roads, health care, shopping....etc...therefore, drives up the cost of living for the locals. This is only made worse with them thinking they have somehow 'bettered our way of life and we should be grateful' !

Snowbirds also bring in tremendous revenue with a purchasing power that surpasses any national economy or local unemployment percentages. I would hate to see how many ghost towns would pop up without them.

This debate reminds me of military towns. The drawbacks have to always be weighed against the the great financial advantages.

I'm not sure there is a clear answer.....but the question is always a valid one. I'm glad Florida isn't the only state with this great debate.

[MalteseJane]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Yes! Go home already! We went to a state park this week to do a little fishing and camping and it was overrun with old people from out of state. Virtually every spot was taken up by some old fart from Washington or Idaho. We don't have enough camping and such for the people who live here much less for the thousands of squatters from out of state.

Snowbirds, come and enjoy, but on March 1st, get your butts in gear and get outta here! Leave us a couple months to enjoy our state before the miserable summer weather makes shut-ins of us.

Sorry to remind you that one day you will be an old fart too. Nobody has invented eternal youth yet.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by MalteseJane

Sorry to remind you that one day you will be an old fart too. Nobody has invented eternal youth yet.

I already am. But I am an Arizona old fart - a grumpy one at that - and I would like to have at least a couple nice weeks when I don't have to look at the balding heads and choke on the cheap perfume of other old farts from far away places.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by Roran

Blah, blah, blah, yes snowbird's money is great for the state of az that is fine. Just like illegals who work on the farms picking fruits and veggies. No, I don't hate old people. Even I have grandparents (locals).

As for the unwritten rules thing, really? Running a red light when the green arrow turns for both sides of traffic uncommonly known? Missing a turn on University and Scottsdale rd at 4:30 pm on a monday, stopping reversing into the car behind them. Turning a corner in a parking lot hitting a PARKED truck, reversing hitting it again, reversing hitting it another time, then scrapping the entire side panel across it. Or plowing through houses, stores, bus stops, school busses, pedestrians.

There should be a parade after Easter when the blazing heat drives the snowbirds out of AZ like St. Patrick did with the snakes in Ireland. We can call it GOMER Day.

Snowbirds, as a rule, are usually slower drivers, and not as attentive as they should be. That aside, I don't have any problem with them "wintering" here. What bugs me, however, is the attitude that we depend on them so much as part of our economy. Perhaps 30 years ago that was all right ... but now that we are one of the nation's largest metro areas, we should be concentrating on luring in YEAR ROUND tourists of all ages. As large as we are now, we shouldn't have to rely on a bunch of sun loving RV drivers as a large percentage of our economic base. Come on! When are we going to grow up and start behaving like a metro area of over four million?!

[canudigit]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Snowbirds, as a rule, are usually slower drivers, and not as attentive as they should be. That aside, I don't have any problem with them "wintering" here. What bugs me, however, is the attitude that we depend on them so much as part of our economy. Perhaps 30 years ago that was all right ... but now that we are one of the nation's largest metro areas, we should be concentrating on luring in YEAR ROUND tourists of all ages. As large as we are now, we shouldn't have to rely on a bunch of sun loving RV drivers as a large percentage of our economic base. Come on! When are we going to grow up and start behaving like a metro area of over four million?!

But....there is a huge stigma attached to being in AZ in the summer. As soon as we began telling people here that hubbie is being transferred to the Phoenix area, all we heard from most of them was, "Well, have fun in the summer, you KNOW it gets 110* there DON'T you??? You'll be stuck inside all summer, blah, blah, blah..." IOW, IDK how much summer tourism Phoenix would attract, considering that the first thing that people think of when you mention Phoenix is how hot it gets...like here where we live, no one comes here in the winter because it is cold, gray, and generally crappy. About 90% of our state's vacationers, tourists, etc. come between late May and early September, and they wouldn't even think of coming here in Jan. or Feb. unless it was to gamble. I just don't see people from cooler places choosing to spend the warm months in Phoenix when that is when it is temperate in most other places and when it is so hot there, but that's just my humble opinion. Not when they can go to Vegas and only have to go outside to get from one show or casino to another. We Americans are wimps!!!

ETA: That always kills me when people talk about staying inside in the summer like it's such a terrible thing but then choose to live somewhere where they are forced inside for at least 3-4 months in the winter and have to shovel snow and drive on ice and have their car caked with road salt. Now that's a WHOLE lot better, isn't it? ; )

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by canudigit

But....there is a huge stigma attached to being in AZ in the summer. As soon as we began telling people here that hubbie is being transferred to the Phoenix area, all we heard from most of them was, "Well, have fun in the summer, you KNOW it gets 110* there DON'T you??? You'll be stuck inside all summer, blah, blah, blah..." IOW, IDK how much summer tourism Phoenix would attract, considering that the first thing that people think of when you mention Phoenix is how hot it gets...like here where we live, no one comes here in the winter because it is cold, gray, and generally crappy. About 90% of our state's vacationers, tourists, etc. come between late May and early September, and they wouldn't even think of coming here in Jan. or Feb. unless it was to gamble. I just don't see people from cooler places choosing to spend the warm months in Phoenix when that is when it is temperate in most other places and when it is so hot there, but that's just my humble opinion. Not when they can go to Vegas and only have to go outside to get from one show or casino to another.

Ah, but see, your last sentence says it all. Las Vegas can be just as hot as Phoenix in the summer ... yet that place is a year round tourist destination. Also, Florida is another year round tourist mecca ... and that entire state is not only hot, but extremely humid to the point where one could cut the air with a knife! But Florida seems to attract summer vacationers more than any other state (except maybe California) because they have the major theme parks.

The Phoenix metro area could easily be a year round destination if we had theme parks ... and they don't have to be all outdoor parks either. They are always in the planning stages, but that's about as far as they get. We have some big water parks, but they seem to be only gatherings for Valley residents to escape the heat. If we had large theme parks, and were more competitive & commercial about our amenities, we could be a year round vacation spot the same as Vegas & Florida are.

That way, we could have a more diverse economic base. Retired snowbirds who spend a few months out of the year in RV parks, etc. shouldn't be something to be heavily reliant on anymore. We have the potential to be A LOT more than just a haven for retirees, sun freaks, and nature nuts. In that respect, the Phoenix area has got to start growing up!

[thedreamteam]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Ah, but see, your last sentence says it all. Las Vegas can be just as hot as Phoenix in the summer ... yet that place is a year round tourist destination. Also, Florida is another year round tourist mecca ... and that entire state is not only hot, but extremely humid to the point where one could cut the air with a knife! But Florida seems to attract summer vacationers more than any other state (except maybe California) because they have the major theme parks.

The Phoenix metro area could easily be a year round destination if we had theme parks ... and they don't have to be all outdoor parks either. They are always in the planning stages, but that's about as far as they get. We have some big water parks, but they seem to be only gatherings for Valley residents to escape the heat. If we had large theme parks, and were more competitive & commercial about our amenities, we could be a year round vacation spot the same as Vegas & Florida are.

That way, we could have a more diverse economic base. Retired snowbirds who spend a few months out of the year in RV parks, etc. shouldn't be something to be heavily reliant on anymore. We have the potential to be A LOT more than just a haven for retirees, sun freaks, and nature nuts. In that respect, the Phoenix area has got to start growing up!

Very insightful and very true.

[he's so hott]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Ah, but see, your last sentence says it all. Las Vegas can be just as hot as Phoenix in the summer ... yet that place is a year round tourist destination. Also, Florida is another year round tourist mecca ... and that entire state is not only hot, but extremely humid to the point where one could cut the air with a knife! But Florida seems to attract summer vacationers more than any other state (except maybe California) because they have the major theme parks.

The other item FLA has is miles of beaches upon beaches. I didn't mind the heat of PHX in the summer b/c I spent 27 years of my young life on this planet living in FLA before moving to PHX. I may visit PHX this summer but I don't think people are necessarily avoiding PHX as a summer vacay spot b/c of the temps in the summer. I don't think its avoided as a summer vacay spot period.


As far as snowbirds are concerned, I really didn't notice them that much when I lived there. Sure you could tell that there was an increase of older folks but it wasn't so dramatic that I was to the point where I wanted them to leave. But then again, in FLA they have tons of old people driving around in the Cadillacs year round doing 40 in a 50 and in the far left on the highways. You just have to watch out for some of the older women on the beach who wear bathing suits that are a few sizes too small.