I noticed that a lot of you are from, or know a lot about Arizona and I was wondering if I could get a little help on some information about the areas.
Everytime a do a cost-of-living search I only know to compare Phoenix, and every once in a while I’ll compare some other city, but I realy know nothing about them.
I’m finding that the cost-of-living is about 9.8% higher than where I am now, which isn’t bad at all considering that I’m just outside of Utica,NY.
Are certain cities known for certain things?
I heard that housing costs are rising there and that a house there costs about 40-50% more than around here, but the source telling me this isn’t realy reliable.
I’m looking for a nice warm, dry climate; far enough away from a city where I don’t have neighbors right next to us but not out in the middle of nowhere.
In the Phoenix metro area, housing prices have gone through the roof recently, but I guess that’s true with the rest of the country as well. Things seem to be calming down a little now, but the cost of living is still much higher than it was 5-6 years ago(not just housing, but you use a lot of gas too. Phoenix is pretty spread out.)
Most of the outlying cities are still pretty populated. You’d have to go about 30 miles from downtown to get into an area where you could realistically buy some land so you couldn’t see your neighbor.
As far as the areas go, I’m on the far North end of Phoenix and its a pretty desirable area. Other areas I’ve heard good things about:
-Glendale - A suburb of Phoenix. They’re trying to revitalize the downtown area. New NHL arena is done. NFL stadium will be done next years. It’s a hot spot.
Tempe - Home of ASU. Centrally located. “In the mix”. Expensive, urban.
Chandler/Gilbert - I don’t know too much about these areas, since they’re on the opposite end of town, but I hear they’re nice.
The far west side of town is experiencing the most growth right now. These are the cities of Buckeye, Goodyear, and Avondale.
Hope this helps a little.
If you have a question about a more specific area, fire away.
Good luck on your move.
[quote]AZMojo wrote:
In the Phoenix metro area, housing prices have gone through the roof recently, but I guess that’s true with the rest of the country as well. Things seem to be calming down a little now, but the cost of living is still much higher than it was 5-6 years ago(not just housing, but you use a lot of gas too. Phoenix is pretty spread out.)
Most of the outlying cities are still pretty populated. You’d have to go about 30 miles from downtown to get into an area where you could realistically buy some land so you couldn’t see your neighbor.
As far as the areas go, I’m on the far North end of Phoenix and its a pretty desirable area. Other areas I’ve heard good things about:
-Glendale - A suburb of Phoenix. They’re trying to revitalize the downtown area. New NHL arena is done. NFL stadium will be done next years. It’s a hot spot.
Tempe - Home of ASU. Centrally located. “In the mix”. Expensive, urban.
Chandler/Gilbert - I don’t know too much about these areas, since they’re on the opposite end of town, but I hear they’re nice.
The far west side of town is experiencing the most growth right now. These are the cities of Buckeye, Goodyear, and Avondale.
Hope this helps a little.
If you have a question about a more specific area, fire away.
Good luck on your move.[/quote]
Thanks!
I still need to find a job there first, but my wife and I are ready to go any time I find one. She’s going to school full time so if I find a job while she’s in the middle of a semester I’ll just move there and she’ll come later.
As far as work, I don’t know what you do, but I do know that Phoenix is hiring police. I was there about a year ago, and Phoenix PD had billboards advertising hiring. They have a website, and appearantly there are still openings.
[quote]AZMojo wrote:
-Chandler/Gilbert - I don’t know too much about these areas, since they’re on the opposite end of town, but I hear they’re nice.
[/quote]
Gilbert is actually the fastest growing city in the nation! It has a very rustic/country felling! It is quite expensive through. Gilbert is a very family oriented town with a beautiful new library.
[quote]combatmedic wrote:
As far as work, I don’t know what you do, but I do know that Phoenix is hiring police. I was there about a year ago, and Phoenix PD had billboards advertising hiring. They have a website, and appearantly there are still openings.[/quote]
Yes, the Department of Public Safety is hiring as is the Sheriffs office and the Department of Corrections.
[quote]combatmedic wrote:
As far as work, I don’t know what you do, but I do know that Phoenix is hiring police. I was there about a year ago, and Phoenix PD had billboards advertising hiring. They have a website, and appearantly there are still openings.[/quote]
Thanks, maybe having military security experience might help with that.
If all else fails I was thinking of going in that route.
I was basically an electronics technician with a high clearance in the Navy (CTM) and that’s the type of job I’m looking to find again. Anything in system installation/troubleshooting.
[quote]BOSS wrote:
AZMojo wrote:
-Chandler/Gilbert - I don’t know too much about these areas, since they’re on the opposite end of town, but I hear they’re nice.
Gilbert is actually the fastest growing city in the nation! It has a very rustic/country felling! It is quite expensive through. Gilbert is a very family oriented town with a beautiful new library.
[/quote]
Cool, thanks. I’ve been applying mostly to Phoenix only because I didn’t know about anywhere else. I’ll try Gilbert too.
The housing prices are a bit of a deterant, but if I can find anything above $15/hour I’m moving.
[quote]pangers wrote:
What type of position are you hoping to find? I am currently managing a manufacturing operation. We are always looking to add quality people.
Moved here (Phoenix) from Colorado 6 months ago. Love the weather and people. The people here are more friendly and polite than they are in Colorado.[/quote]
I worked for BAE Systems as a Production Operator, and did some manufacturing work with them, along with installation of a LAN, but mostly building and soldering cables and connectors.
I loved that job, but moved to be closer to family here in upstate NY. I’m noticing that I don’t realy see my family that much anyway, don’t like the long cold winters, and most importantly…there are no jobs here.
My wife is all for the move to Arizona too, and we’ll be fairly close to her side of the family. I’ll move first and she’ll finish up whatever semester she is in at the time then move there with me (or that’s the plan anyway).
If you think there’s a good possibility for me to work there I can PM my resume to you.
Hey SWR -then you can come to our bootcamps!!(lol) I live in Chandler and it is nice alright but everything looks the same. Also, look for the scorpians that show up on your porch from time to time-Jules
[quote]teamstaley wrote:
Hey SWR -then you can come to our bootcamps!!(lol) I live in Chandler and it is nice alright but everything looks the same. Also, look for the scorpians that show up on your porch from time to time-Jules[/quote]
Definitley! I was going to do the distance training thing, but if I live there I won’t need to.
I wanted to go to the last one but couldn’t afford to fly there (plus I’m watching my daughter while my wife goes to school full time, instead of paying my mother to watch her).
I only spent two days in Chandler, but I loved the area and would definitely consider moving there. Other places that seem similar are Scottsdale, Gilbert, Mesa and a few other places all centered around Phoenix.
As for no basement homes, it’s the same in Florida.
Avondale, Litchfield Park and Peoria are growing communities in the west valley right now. The housing prices all over the Phoenix area, as everyone else has said, are going up. If you are looking for the “affordable” housing market, you may want to look at the north end, or the “out skirts” of the valley.
As for “areas being known for something”:
Scottsdale: High prices, snobs and hot women with attitudes
Tempe: ASU, Mill Ave (party central) and hot college women with attitudes
Mesa: Good community, strong Mormon population, hot women
Phoenix: rising crime rate, hot women
The job market is pretty fierce down here. With your backround in tech, there are several large tech corporations located here that you may want to look at. But with your military background you may be a prime candidate for a law enforcement agency.
