Originally Posted by
RichY
I live in Arizona and would not consider living in Phoenix and Tucson. Tucson is an interesting city, as it has some history, and great air museum, and as mentioned earlier, the east side is beautiful. It's also close to the border so....
Phoenix is hot in the summer, as in consistently over 100. I was there last summer for my weekly allergy shots when it was 120 degrees. Low humidity helps with tolerating the heat, but 120 is hot, no matter how you slice it. If you want a good job, the Phoenix Metropolitan Area (PMA) is the only place to consider. Motorola is in Mesa, State Farm has an absolutely huge complex in Phoenix, and there are a lot of other well known companies there too. I-17 goes right through Phoenix and it seems everyone is texting or doing something stupid while driving through there, because I have had more close calls with nearly getting sideswiped at 70 MPH or faster in that area over the last year than the rest of my driving years combined! To me, PMA offers a lot in regards to a host of excellent restaurants of about any variety you can imagine, and the shopping is terrific. Being a 2A friendly state, there are many companies here that either make firearms (Ruger in Prescott), or make parts, coatings, etc. for them (Robar, HBI, CZ Custom, etc. There are also multiple places to take courses. Mike Pannone has classes down in Casa Grande, and of course, Gunsite is across the valley from us. There are several other trainers here in the Prescott/Prescott Valley area. It's not as pretty here as the rest of the state, and it's hard to find family doctors. I have to go weekly to Phoenix for allergy shots since there are no allergy doctors in the area. However, our weather here is more moderate. It's been in the mid 60's through the holidays, and even reached 70 one day. It gets in the 90's in the summer, and even a few days in the 100's, but nothing like Tucson and Phoenix. We get milder winters here than in Flagstaff, so from a weather standpoint, I think this area is ideal. Having said that, jobs here are scarce unless you are a medical doctor or the like. It's not the prettiest part of the state by any means, but it is centrally located making it easy to go about anywhere within the state, or even Utah and California. We sold 15 acres with a beautiful view (and even a number of petroglyphs) near Abiquiu, New Mexico to live here and I do not regret it at all. What I do not like about cities - and I grew up in a large metropolitan area, is the constant hum. Tucson and Phoenix, even at 2am in the morning, have a constant buzz, like a giant electric motor. Where we live is outside Prescott Valley city limits and I can walk to Prescott National Forest from my house. What I truly love about it is the silence at night! It is incredibly quiet, and if you are interested in astronomy, this is a terrific area, because it is so dark at night. We can actually see satellites going over at night and you can look at spaceweather.com and it will tell you what the satellite is you are seeing. We have antelope in our yard at certain times of the year, and mule deer come in at night and eat my neighbors fruit trees. Of course, we have 6 or 7 of the 13 varieties of rattlesnakes in Arizona here in Yavapai county, and a (verified) mohave rattler bit two of my neighbors dogs, one of which subsequently died from the tissue destruction. The mohave's here have type A venom, and farther south they have type B venom. Type A is more potent, as it is both hemotoxic and neurotoxic. However, we rarely ever see rattlesnakes, unless we go out at night in the summer and actually look for them. Oh, rattlers don't attack people either! Generally they will rattle (though not always), will watch you, and then they do their best to get away from you. During the day in the summer it's too hot for them, so they stay hidden. Most around here are crepuscular, so that gives you an indication when to look for them. We have issues with rodents all over the state, so rattlers and every other snake are actually good to have around. You just learn how to live with them -- and the bark scorpions, brown and black widows, blister beetles, and vegetation that always seems to stick you. Having said all of that, I wouldn't trade living here for any other place I've been. People are generally friendly and laid back. We lack in restaurants and shopping here, but Phoenix is only and hour and a half away. That reminds me! No one here says someplace is x amount of miles away. Miles are deceiving due to the changing terrain If you ask how far away something is, you will be told in hours/minutes, Our county is bigger than Delaware. Maricopa County (Phoenix Metropolitan Area) is bigger than Yavapai! Coming from the east, it's really nice to have the wide open spaces and constantly changing landscape. One final thing. In this part of Arizona the crime rate is very low. Compared to New Mexico and California, the whole state is low!
If you have any additional questions, please ask. If I don't have an answer, I'll know someone who does!
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