Personal Trainer Thinking Of Moving To Phoenix/Scottsdale Area (apartments, foreclosures)

[Nick0578]

Hello, I am a Personal Trainer currently in Boston and thinking about moving. I want to move out of Boston because of three reasons.

1) I've been here too long and want a new experience
2) I hate the winter
3) People just aren't friendly

I have never been to AZ but hear great things about it from people I know who visited. I am a 30 year old single guy and would prefer to live in an apartment vs. a condo. I'm really active and social and like friendly people, but I prefer doing lots of things during the day to being out all night drinking.

I'm curious about opinions around the following about the Phoenix/Scottsdale areas.

1) demographics
2) price (my range is probably $1k - $1,500/month)
3) fitness levels/interest in the area
4) is it a friendly place?

I prefer to live somewhere that I can walk to work..which would be a gym obviously.

I'm a nutrition and corrective exercise specialist if that means anything. I work really well with people new to fitness or athletes who are injured.

Any comments/thoughts/experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[joninaz]

1. It's tough to read into the general demographics for the metro area since they get skewed. There are a lot of older folks/retirees, but also a lot of younger families cranking out kids, which moves the avg. age needle back and forth. Between these are clusters of outdoorsy/sporty folks, but all over the map in terms of interests... weekend warriors, hikers, bikers, runners, gym rats, single sport specialists - but there's no dominant theme. Rather, people move from all over the country and bring their sports with them, from ice hockey to water skiing to beach volleyball.

2. Price wise you'll get twice the place for half the price as Boston. You might go for a cheaper rent range if you need to get a car... but you should still find a decent apartment well below 1k/mo. You'll pay more in your range to be right at or next to hot spots.

3. As mentioned, fitness interest is all over the map. There are lots of gyms, but it seems to me that most people go and do their routine and don't use the staff trainers. I'm guessing here, but it would seem that to be a top specialist, you'd need to earn your way into smaller circles of those general consumers willing to pay a premium. On the flip side, there are some elite training places for professional athletes where people pay bank to attend. It's all about finding a niche.

4. Heck yeah. Almost too nice.

[tyrbo52]

The economy is fairly stagnant, and existing pt's already have their spots. I wouldn't move here on a whim and a prayer if that's the only kind of work you are willing to do.

[las vegas drunk]

The people in Phoenix are ok. I am a Phoenix native myself. However, do not move to Scottsdale, that is a different story. They do not call it "Snobsdale" for nothing.

[ivanabacowboy]

We have a gorgeous Lifetime Fitness right across from where I live. It is huge and I think is only a couple years old. My son works there and walks to work. ;-) I live at Desert Club. NE Phoenix. He saw his first AmEx black card there.... To give you an idea of the demographic at the gym: they have valet parking. (Unreal-you can do cardio, weights and a swim but cannot walk to and from your car????) I have never been inside but my son said it is really nice, more like a spa than a gym. When he wants a serious workout (he is into weightlifting) he goes to Gold's Gym in Airpark (aka about 3 miles east).

For a 1BR your price range will be fine. The complex is very nice. As part of the same development (the apartments and Lifetime are part of "Chauncey Ranch") there is a Whole Foods, movie theater, borders, restaurants, fitness clothing store, pets store, Sports store, tons of other stores, and a bike store where unbeknownst to me until I went window shopping one day, where I could buy a bike that cost almost as much as a car!

[freedom2]

Ive been to Boston it gets brutally cold there In ky it gets very cold here too thats why we've been looking into Az also so do alot of reseach before you come we are now thanks to alot of info we've received on this site visit before you decide We are visiting this summer or early fall Good luck to ya friend

[robbieaz62]

There are Pure Fitness, 24 Hour Fitness, LA Fitness, Curves, Gold's, World, and a few other franchise gyms all over the place in the Phoenix metro area. You're never more than a mile or two from one in most parts of town.

Price shouldn't be a problem in that range.

I wouldn't avoid Scottsdale though. That's where you're probably more likely to find younger, more affluent people willing to pay a personal trainer. And you can find apartments in that price range in the heart of Scottsdale where you can walk to most everything.

[Nick0578]

Great information. That Chauncey Ranch place sounds RIGHT up my alley! Very exciting. I'm a little confused about one thing though. Scottsdale seems to have a rep for being a pretty rich place, but they have apartments for $1k-$1.5K? Maybe my frame of reference is skewed because boston is so high priced. Perhaps wages are lower in Scottsdale in by comparison as well?

Does anyone have any info on how Personal Trainers are paid out there? Is anyone familiar with any boutique Personal Training businesses? I realize I am asking a lot of questions.

I'm very excited about how things sound. I can't wait to visit.

[robbieaz62]

Scottsdale can be pricey but here is an example of a really nice complex in the heart of town well within your price range. It was actually on my short list when I was about to get divorced but we ended up staying together. I have no idea what the general apartment availability situation is with all the foreclosures in this area. It's possible they're running pretty close to full but the prices don't seem to have spiked since I was looking last year so maybe not.

San Marin at the Civic Center - 4215 N. Drinkwater Blvd. | Apartments.com

[sablebaby]

Yep, you will find that you can live nice in Scottsdale compared to Boston.

I see trainers charge $45-$75/hr usually, just depending on their qualifications or what not. Just like any business it can be tough to build clientele, but not impossible.