Arizona anyone?

[tonyswife]

DH and I are considering a move to Arizona. We currently live in Northern CA. In order to avoid political debates, I will just say that we no longer wish to live here for many reasons. We've been talking about where we would like to live and Arizona came up for several reasons. There seem to be quite a few job opportunities for DH and the cost of living is well below what we are used to. It is likely that we could buy a new home outright with the equity we have in our current house.

Are there any posters from Arizona? Used to live in Arizona, Friends or family that live there? What do you think of it?

We are looking at the Phoenix area. We are planning a visit there in the next few months to look at housing and examine the area to see if we would enjoy living there.

SOmeone needs to assure me that my children will not be in constant danger of scorpion stings. I hate little critters like that.

 

[TammiMcMan]

My 14 year old son was in Phoenix in early December for a skating competition. He fell in love with the area. He's already looking at attending the University of Arizona when he gets out of high school. DH and I are seriously considering making the move with him. That's still 4 years away though.

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

It kind of all depends, can you with a straight face utter the words, "yes but it's a dry heat" when the temperature is 120 degrees and your Nike's are melting if you stand in one place more than 2 minutes.

It's a great place to live. Nine months of the year it is beautiful weather. Three months of the year you hang out by the pool and dream about the other nine months. And the price of milk is less than Alaska.

Jeff

 

[tonyswife]

Oh Jeff, Chandler is one of the towns that continually coms up on my searches for homes.

Where we live, it regulrly reaches the low hundreds during the summer plus we get humidity. I think I could handle the heat just fine. My mom and dad live in Palm Springs and I was able to deal with that heat just fine during the hottest weather, LOL.

You never did tell me about the scorpions.

 

[dennis99ss]

Had a sister tht lived in Scottsdale for a number of years. I used to like the area when I went to visit. I am trying to remember the different areas, but, the area around a place called McCormick Ranch was nice.

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

That is the cool thing about Chandler, most of it used to be farm land so there are very few scorpions. I was always depressed about that since I thought it would be cool to take the black light out and hunt them (they glow under a black light).

If you handled Palm Springs, then Arizona will be a piece of cake (melted if you leave it in the car I might add). I have begun wearing oven mitts to drive my car in the summer. I have some that look like lobster claws that I really like. You do get a few people who stare but I am comfortable enough in my sanity to not worry about it. The cost of living is lower but is beginning to rise. The value of our house has more than doubled in 10 years so we are starting to see some of the affect from people moving in from other areas.

There are a lot of beautiful areas in the Valley of the Sun. Scottsdale is more of an old western flavor while Chandler tends to be more high-tech. McCormick Ranch is pretty and they have a railroad similar to Disneyland in the park there. There always seems to be something to do here whether it is the arts, concerts, or my personal favorite baseball. The one drawback is that you find out you have a lot more relatives than you knew about since it seems that everyone wants to stop by in the winter and sit by your pool.

Jeff

 

[Stephanie218]

My boyfriend's family is in a slow process of moving from Connecticut to Chandler, AZ. Their father has been living out there for a year already working, and the rest of the family is joining him this summer. My boyfriend, currently at Quinippiac U. is transferring to Arizona State - we flew out in November to visit, and everyone loves it. It's gorgeous, and the whole time i was there i didn't see a scorpion, although i was pretty afraid. Chandler and Scottsdale is a really nice area, although Chandler's houses are a lot cheaper than some in Scottsdale!

 

[gottaluvPluto]

Well .... my DH llived there for 10 years, Glen Dale area and hated every minute of it. He hated the traffic, smog, heat and several other things I can't remember. We now go there once in awhile to visit family and I have a hard time with the heat. I live in Florida and I just can't stand the heat in AZ. I guess I am use to the humidity. I also have a hard time breathing when I go there,especially in December. Maybe its the smog.

Good luck!

 

[jwsqrdplus2]

We are moving to Tucson within the year, and I cannot wait!! I can utter, "but it's a dry heat" with a straight face after 5 years in Louisiana!!! I look forward to the dry heat. I will take 120 with little to no humidity over 95 with 95% humidity any day!!!