Quote:
Originally Posted by M3 Mitch
Is staying put in AZ all that bad an option? Serious question, I have visited but never lived there. Does AZ tax SS, pension income?
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AZ taxes pensions, but not SSI. Tucson is 8-12 degrees cooler than the Phoenix area. Prescott has mild 4 seasons. Sedona is a bit colder. Flagstaff has really cold winters and lots of snow dumping. Traffic to and from Phoenix in rush hour is crazy. I don't believe AZ pays as much unless you have a career in high demand. My neighbors moved from Gilbert to Vail, just below Tucson. It is cooler than here in Gilbert, which is a town/city-size 25 minutes from Phoenix. Gilbert was rated in the top ten places to live for numerous years, and it now beats Scottsdale. Scottsdale taxes are higher. Gilbert was farmland but they have built it up like crazy. Downtown used to remind me of an old west town, but so many restaurants have moved in and it is pretty cool. Same thing with Chandler. It is sprawling here and is a planned neighborhood. When you are older, the ease of getting to and from hospitals, doctors, dentists, grocery stores, Walmart, Target, and every other retail business are all close. My brother-in-law is wheelchair bound. The weather here is much easier for the disabled to use their chair lifts on the back of his van as it doesn't rain much. He gets around so much easier here than he ever did in CT. He loves the heat as he is older (in his late 70s.) Tucson has more of that cool old west vibe and an artsier scene, though Phoenix is catching up and is no slouch.
My only gripes are that it is now too sprawling as everyone is coming here. It is getting overcrowded. Phoenix is like the hub, and Tucson a close second. Bill Gates is building some epicenter thing up north to the left of Flagstaff. Properties up north are very expensive unless you live in an isolated area away from commerce. It is a huge state.
The heat can be annoying, even if it is dry. (still would take dry over HUMIDITY). Use your AC, and not a big deal. I think of Summer as my Winter here. Once October hits, the temps start to slowly go back down and then we have about 6 months of predictable AWESOME weather. It's why we have so many Snowbirds coming this way, and RV-ers.
I find the restaurants to be awesome in some areas, and fast food in others. Lots of fast foods. Still, because of so many CA transplants, the restaurant scene is much nicer to me than it was in CT. Phoenix Magazine is a great magazine to get an idea of the restaurants. I do miss good seafood in New England though.
I lucked out in that I live across the street (busy Gilbert) from an organic Farm that has Joe's Farm Grill which was featured on "Diner's Drive-ins and Dives", a coffee shop that serves great breakfasts Lunch, and great coffee. Agritopia is the creation of Joe Johnston who wons that property. He grew up on a farm and Joe's Farm Grill used to be his house. He opened up Barnone right there on his property. they have a few artisans in there along with a brewery, winery, farm stand (indoors), small Pizza place, Vegan restaurant called "The Uprooted Kitchen". During the year you can pick your own Citrus, peaches and they sell the best Mejool Dates (organic) in the world. Many organic farms in the area with foot to table dinners, lots of farmer's markets and art walks.
It is all flat here (Gilbert, Chandler) and desert, so lots of stuff looks the same, including houses, but you can view mountains in the distance all around and they are 30 minutes to the closest ones, to an hr or less away for hiking and the lakes are here as well. Loads of people going tubing, or boating/jet skiing. Sedona is 2 hrs away, Prescott is 1 1/2 hrs, and the temps are much lower. Show Low is a lake camping area where people vacation to escape the heat.
We do have wild fires, just like ID, CA, UT, NM, and CO. We had a doozy this year off Roosevelt Lake.
Grand Canyon is 2 /12 hrs away. Skiing in Flagstaff. Camping. Lots of mountain biking and off-roading. Rock climbing, boulder climbing. All popular in this state. We have forest and waterfalls up North in so many areas. Bisbee is a cool town south of here, very artisan oriented as is Tucson.
Peopla here go north in summer or to Show Low or some other lake. My neighbor, a retire NY PD cop, goes fishing all the time!
AZ has everything, and UT also has so many beautiful areas.
Taxes are not bad here, much better than the Northeast. Housing is still affordable in the area, but much higher in Northern AZ. The popularity is why everything is going up. I hate crowds, but that is me. To others, this is no big deal and it isn't like NYC at all so...
If you love living in the mountains, go North. You can isolate yourself well enough. My complaints about the north are sketchy water resources not being hooked up to the Colorado river project with SRP. The water here is VERY HARD. Must have a whole water system to be able to drink, and a soft water system to keep pipes from getting too much mineral residue and ruining them. I preferred the water in Southwick, MA and CT over it here, but I filter my water.
People are out and about much, much more here than they were in CT an MA. So many activities. Guns are legal to carry unconcealed. Red state, but with lots of Blue in some areas. Tucson is much more liberal than Phoenix. Art scene, music scene is pretty cool in both.
More racism here than I found in Northeast which has more diversity what with Boston and NYC. Culture isn't as nice or plentiful to me as in NYC or Boston. It's growing a lot due to transplants. Phoenix must be traveled by car, and not too walkable as it is so spread out. I hate that. They do have a lite rail. It's woefully inadequate compared to NY and Boston trains and subways. You need a car to get around. But...tons of Scooters, Vespas, Motorcycles and Off-road 4 wheeler vehicles on the road because the weather is conducive to it. You have many bike clubs and loads of rides all around. That is wicked cool. There is a Scooter, and a Honda Rucker meetup I see every once in a while across the street. You can ride all year round no problem.
Every Sunday. when I go get my ice coffee across the street, there is a parrot meetup. I have a smaller bird and love them. I go and talk to these older guys who have many parrots. They are sitting out in the open on the picnic tables and you can pet or handle them.
Such a cool place overall, but in the summer months, they can get old. If you have a pretty good retirement pension, no problem escaping for a month or two. My neighbor travels in the summer all over the world. Key is to leave if it gets to you. 6-8 months of excellent consistent weather. Monsoon rainy season brings with it some relief though.
Like I said, Water Management is great, but I worry about drought continuing and where that will take us in 10-20 years. If I didn't have chronic health issues, the heat wouldne't be an issue for me. Extreme weather is an issue for me, hot or cold.
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