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Anyone live or have lived in Phoenix area???


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I may have an opportunity to transfer to Phoenix (Office would be in Tempe).  I’ve been in New England for 15 plus years.  3 kids 13/13/9.

 

Anyone have advice or thoughts about the area?  Pluses and minuses?  Obvious ones are weather and maybe cost of living (but I think that has gone up a lot).  

 

Thank You!!!

Edited by carnut12
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Hey Nut!!…..Talk to "BIKEBOY"....Chris on this site he's building a house in that area and has had a summer home there for a while now

I'm sure he can help......All I got is I've been to Arizona several times and it seems like a lovely  place.....Good luck on the move if you make it.

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58 minutes ago, svtkeith said:

 

Hey Nut!!…..Talk to "BIKEBOY"....Chris on this site he's building a house in that area and has had a summer home there for a while now

I'm sure he can help......All I got is I've been to Arizona several times and it seems like a lovely  place.....Good luck on the move if you make it.

Thank you!!!!

 

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We lived there after we got married from 1976-1979.  I love the desert heat.  Let's face it, in the continental US, you are going to spend 3 months of the year inside.  The thing I love about the desert is that I've never ever had to shovel 3" of 105* off my driveway, and if I do wander outside during those three months my preference is a pool over a ice skating rink.  From Phoenix we went to Colorado Springs (79-86), Massachusetts (86-96), Lyons, CO (96-14) and now Vegas (14-19) with a brief stint back in Phoenix with Intel at the tail end of 95-96.   We liked the Lyons area best of CO (the Springs area we were in had lots of military families and they don't socialize very much.  MA weather was dreadful in the winter and the the spring with black flies, summer with humidity, the only positive being fall with the trees changing color. 

The valley is huge.  We lived in Tempe proper.  My aunt and uncle have lived in Tempe, Mesa and Chandler, and Phoenix proper.   The area has grown exponentially - areas that were farm ground when we lived in the area in the 70s became the Intel Chandler plant by 96.  If the Intel thing had stuck we were looking in the Queen Creek area.    Not so developed towards that area that you could still get a respectable lot with city services (some had wells/septic) but without the HOAs that everyone ought to hate.   Landlocked cities, esp. Tempe, have very little new housing stock and most is "aging", so if you're looking for new construction look out in the areas of Chandler, etc. 

We briefly considered retiring to AZ, in 14 but chose Nevada due to the no state income tax.  A desert city is a desert city, but the tie breaker for Vegas was we already had some friends that lived here. 

When we lived there in the 70s and went to MA we were fearful of the increase in taxes.  AZ has moderate property taxes and a very fair state income tax.   Compared to Colorado front range AZ housing is cheap but I don't know exactly where you're coming from.  Use Zillow to narrow in on some areas you might want to look at.

Edited by twobjshelbys
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Good Friend of mine used to live there and actually lived across the street from Bob Bondurant. He  moved there from Conn himself and he liked the area overall. He said the climate took some getting used to but he preferred it over the nasty northeastern winters. The housing prices there got hammered back in the housing crash of 08/09 and hit bottom in or around 2011, but has since returned to pre crash levels in some areas. Housing appreciated there last year at about an 8% rate but took a slight dip of about 2% off that upswing due to mortgage rate increases. There are some decent deals out there right now. The city has lots of good restaurants. The one thing he didn't like was that it is landlocked and so far inland. He was a guy who liked being able to drive over to a beach so he moved to Southern Cal within minutes of the ocean recently.Lots of retirees in the area. The area is also prone to giant dust storms 2 or 3 times per year that distribute a fine powder all over everything  and it even ingress in to garages and some homes so good luck if you own a black or dark colored car..or any car for that matter. Also make sure ALL your cars have a cabin air dust filters and change them regularly. You can read up on “Valley Fever”. Not trying to scare you, just inform you of potential hazards if you or any family have allergies, asthma or respiratory issues. It’s a beautiful area around outer Phoenix if you like wide open scenery and cacti. Best of luck to you.

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Also, this is the time of year that the Arizona car guys are most active.  The Phoenix Cobra guys have something going on almost every weekend.

The weather that makes cars fun this time of year is also the downside - the snow birds migrate there around Holloween-Thanksgiving, and leave in late March.  You'll have lots of old people driving many of whom have no business behind a wheel. 

And if you insist on snow, drive up to Payson and you'll get all you want.  There's even a ski area in Flagstaff (although I don't think it''s a highly rated slope.  But Vegas has one too of a similar scope.  Local day trip kind of thing. 

Edited by twobjshelbys
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Hey bud...born and raised. Moved away in 2008 and kept a home there all this time....several actually. Wifee and I love realestate and have LOTS of experience in the Scottsdale area. Done now, but have had many rentals and flipped many also. All in Scottsdale and McCormick Ranch area. That's basically Scottsdale. 

Having a new place built right now in Fountain Hills (town where my bikestore was). Gonna be done end of March. 

PM me and I'll give ya my phone #. We can chat if you'd like. :cool: 

BB

Edited by BIKEBOY
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