Living in Prescott - Our Experience So Far (Phoenix, Flagstaff: sales, real estate)

[billgrey]

I'm 68 and semi retired. We got tired of the fog, overcast, traffic, allergies and political insanity of Sonoma County, California. I was disturbed with the prospect of spending another 10 years paying off my mortgage for a small home on a postage stamp lot in a highly trafficked area. Yeah... it's beautiful and we loved the beaches.... but there were just too many downsides. So we looked at moving in 2015.

We filtered down our selections to Northern Arizona and drove down to spend time in Flagstaff, Sedona and Prescott. It was an easy decision. Flagstaff is pretty busy and WAY too cold. Sedona was dry and too hot for my wife in the Summer. Prescott was more friendly, and despite the negative comments, remains so. In fact, it was one of the major reasons we moved here. Most everyone is very friendly. They even wave at you in the neighborhood. Way different than California. There's way less traffic also.... depending on what time of day you go out... and where you are. More on that later.

Weather is a bit more extreme than the statistics would indicate. After all, it's a mile high in the mountains. But temperatures are not radically different than Northern California. Drier, for sure. The low humidity is something you have to get used to the first few months as well as the elevation. Winter nights can descend to 13 degrees of dry cold. Summers in June are often over 100 for a couple of weeks. Once the dramatic (and more humid) monsoon rains come in July, the average is more like 85... sometimes 90. The air temp doesn't seem that hot.... but the sun itself is very hot and you can burn easily. Just dress appropriately and carry plenty of water.

We get a little "designer snow" in the winter that blankets everything for a day or two.... and then melts. Don't worry about having 4-wheel drive. You don't need it here. We drive a 2007 Prius and it works great in the snow and ice which never lasts very long, anyway.

The downtown courthouse plaza is beautiful and forms a "town center" that is very appealing to some of us "vintage" baby boomers :-) It reminds me of my youth in a small town. Honestly we don't hang out down there much except for eating out, but we pass by most every day doing our errands.

Those that complain that it's all growing too fast are correct. The traffic has grown noticeably in the three years we've been here. There are lots of retirees, students and young families moving in. Not sure how the young ones are finding work... but many are and most like being here with some exceptions. The retirees generally love it.... but most of them come with ready-made income; pensions, social security and investments.

As for the young ones; we’ve discovered that many of the young natives we’ve met have already moved away….. and come back. Now they know what a good place this really is and they bring their partners and expertise back to the area. It's not perfect by a long shot.... and it's going to get more challenging in the future with all the imports. But right now, it's a nice place to live.

Restaurants are important to most people, if they can afford to dine out. They are to us, as well. This is NOT the Bay Area... or even Phoenix, for that matter. The choices are limited. That said, there are some nice places in town and some really do a good job.... like Rosa's Italian Restaurant, El Gato Azul, Tara Thai and Taj Mahal Indian Food. We really like the Prescott Brewing Company and Park Plaza Deli, as well. We are vegetarian and can find good tasting food at all these places. Recently we began enjoying Maya Mexican Food on South Montezuma. It's just a little family restaurant but they are nice and the food is really good. And Wildflower Bread Company has great soups and super breads. It's a very good lunch place and we eat light dinners there, as well. But if you're looking for fancy vegan food or gourmet restaurants like you find in San Francisco...... forget it. It's all just "pretty good".

If you are a health food addict like we are, we have Sprouts and Natural Grocers stores and they are nice stores. We had a Whole Foods... but it they closed it earlier in 2017 in their Pre-Amazon purge :-) If you must have Whole Foods you'll have to drive to Sedona (over an hour). We do have our own Costco and Trader Joes here and they are very good stores. I love Costco's selection of organic food... especially if you like making smoothies. The Trader Joes is only a few years old and the employees there are great. Very friendly and hopping place.

We have two nice movie theaters; one with plush barcolounger seats here in Prescott (Picture Show Cinema) and a multiplex Harkin Theater in Prescott Valley. There’s always plenty to see here. But no “art theaters” that I know of.

For those of you who need to see water (we do!). There are several nice lakes in the area, all with different characteristics. Check out Watson Lake (nice for kayaks and hiking), Willow Lake (birding and hiking), Goldwater Lake (popular) and Lynx Lake (looks like Tahoe).

And yes, water is an issue as it is all over the West. But there's no impending catastrophe in the wings. We have decades of water in the aquifers and some precip in the winter as well as the summer monsoon rains. It's OK for now and shouldn't deter you from coming here. But down the line, 20 or 30 years, the stress may begin to show. I don't care because I'll be long gone by then.... but you younger ones should keep that in mind.

Yes, there are beggars as there are in any relatively prosperous town. Yes, I wish they weren't there, for sure. But it's pretty difficult to go anywhere these days and not see them. Let's face it.... our economy is not in good shape and those with eyes can see that. It's no worse here than where we came from (Santa Rosa, CA).

This is mostly a conservative area.... but no one is interested in discussing these things in public or being contentious (as in Cali). For the first time, a month or so ago, I began seeing some people demonstrating down on the square (oh no!). But, for the most part, you don't see that anywhere in the area. People keep their opinions to themselves, in my experience.

We live out in the Williamson Valley area on 3/4 acre.... a few miles north of town. We LOVE it out here. No significant traffic and no one can move any closer to us. Our neighbors are 100 ft to 100 yards away. Lots of space..... no noise. So it depends on where you can afford to live as to how comfortable you are going to be. Traffic is going to be an issue closer to town. So, if you have to go downtown a lot or drive busy highway 69 to Prescott Valley.... get ready. That said, the traffic is nothing compared to LA or San Francisco. In fact, it's nothing compared to Sonoma County (which is supposed to be an agricultural area).

Once again..... it all depends on what and where you can afford to buy here. It also depends on what you need to be happy. We sold our postage stamp 1990's house in Santa Rosa and bought a 1970's house with a better layout, way more land for gardening and no mortgage. It was a fantastic buy for us.... but not a fancy place. We paid about $370,000 in 2015. Not a bargain as you would get in Texas.... but way more than we could have hoped for in Cali.

In conclusion, I don't entirely disagree with some of the negative comments. And I understand many of them are painting a nasty picture to keep you away from what many of us view as our oasis in the mountains :-) I don't blame them because it's getting busier here, for sure. But I'm sure glad we came here. Best move I ever made!

[infocyde]

The young ones moving away and then coming back...perhaps some. Statistics wise there was negative 3% growth for the under 35(?) crowd...sourcing my wife for the stat and not sure she got it. Considering the overall growth rate that is kind of a bad thing. Most of the people I know who are non-retirees either bailed, are looking to bail, or are in a unique situation where staying makes sense for them (own a business, have a cush government job, work in one of the few aeronautical industries left in the area, etc...). The Cali's selling their homes and buying houses for cash is killing both the housing and the rental markets for people who make the median or even double the median income in the area.

[billgrey]

Thanks Infocyde,

Of course these under 35's that I mentioned are from my own experience around town. And they were all working at various establishments here in Prescott. So they were relatively content. But I'm not surprised to hear that a lot of younger people have to bail from this area. For one thing, there's not enough to do unless you're a worshiper of nature. Also, too expensive and not enough jobs or rentals. What others have said is true.... it's mainly a retirement area....though there are quite a few exceptions.

[agorski]

Hi Bill,

Good review. It's nice to see more positive, but realistic, comments. We've been here 11 years now and still love it.

[Slater]

Plus you have J&G Sales in town. Decent prices on bulk ammunition.

[billgrey]

Agorski.... 11 years, eh? Bet you've seen some changes :-) My neighbor has lived here for 40 years. It was little more than a cow town when he moved here. Wish I could have seen it then!


But, like you, we love it.... traffic and all :-)

[Hschlick84]

The question remains, will Prescott still cater to retirees in another 20-30 years when Millennials reach their 60s or will the area change and economically diversify? As an older Millennial myself, I'm still thinking about moving to Phoenix because the job market here is lacking. I'll give it another year and if it doesn't work out, I'm outta here.

[WildwoodPark]

Hi Bill,

Excellently worded we've been here since February 1st and absolutely love it up here, people are so nice our neighbors here in Hidden Valley Ranch are the greatest as well.

It really is as the say "Everyone's Hometown"

[YetiMan]

Nice write up Billgrey

[billgrey]

Hschlick84: I think we'll know in a few years. The economy is in the process of crashing with the dollar losing its default currency status worldwide. When the economy "goes", we'll see people in other states unable to sell their homes. So they won't be able to move here and buy. That may change the nature of Prescott in a few years as retirees die off. Will real estate prices dive and allow younger families to move in? We'll see. If the population doesn't grow much.... then there won't be many jobs supporting that population, either. So many questions.