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Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | It's April 10th...expecting three-four inches of snow...Just shovelled out of 12 inches last Wednesday.
My wife and I went to Arizona to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We traveled the state from north (Grand Canyon) to south (Tucson) and loved every inch of it. I'm seriously looking into moving.
Any Arizona brethren out there with info on areas to look into, and to stay away from, pleawse respond or PM me. I teach, and will be looking for a good district. I like the area North of Phoenix...say Apache Junction/Lake Saquaro on up towards Payson the best...Sedona is nice, but looks bretty spendy...Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Norse(tired of freezin my bones)man1 |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Originally posted by Norseman1:
Any Arizona brethren out there with info on areas to stay away from, Yeah.....anything within 25 miles of Tupperware's place. |
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Posts: 1026
Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | ...sorry for the typo's, my fingers are still frozen and numb from clearing off my winshield this morning...kind of like typing with frozen bratwurst! Does wonders for your guitar playin as well.
Norse(by the way, we were in Arizona about two weeks ago...what a beautiful state!)man1 |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Norse,
The combination of Minnesota in the summer and Arizona in the winter is very common, judging by the Minnesota license plates I see around here all winter long.
On the northern side of town, areas such as Deer Valley, Cave Creek, Anthem and Fountain Hills are pretty nice. Actually Payson itself is kind of nice, for a smaller place. Much cooler than Phx in the summertime.
Dave |
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Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | Payson reminds of Minnesota with mountains. I like all the Ponderosa Pine. The milder climate is attractive as well. I notice that there are teaching openings in Roosevelt and in Globe...do you know anything about those commmunities...and what is Apache Junction like? Seems housing is a little more reasonable there than in the mountains.
thanks again for the reply. |
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Posts: 5575
Location: big island | norseman, can you and your wife handle 120 degrees in the summer?
ask tuppy about arizona.
my inlaws own a piece of property they bought "site" unseen in Concho Valley which is at a higher elevation than phoenix. they got it several years ago on one of those mail order land sale deals. now in their twilight years they are not sure what to do with it. they keep receiving offers from real estate investors but have declined every one so far. they paid $10K for a bit over an acre right near a golf course that has been recently built. the offers have not been much more than that unfortunately. perhaps we will inherit it and retire to arizona from hawaii...NOT! |
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Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | ...well it's not 120 in the higher elevations. A few weeks ago, it was 84 in Phoinex, and 60 miles away in Payson, it was 59 degrees. Average summer highs are in the 80's around Payson and up towards Flagstaff.
Norse(and thanks again Lanaki for all the info on Hawaii...it was just a little out of our reach, so we settled on Arizona for our anniversary trip.)man |
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Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | again, if you have suggestions please email me...I really want to hear what you might have to say, but I don't want to clog up the "For Sale" bulletin board doing so...thanks again! |
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Location: SoCal | Hey Norsey, just think how bad it would be if we didn't have global warming! |
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Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | ...I know, my neighbors and I keep our cars running every night, and spray three cans of Right Gaurd into the atmosphere each day, in an attempt to try and speed up this whole global warming thing.
At the rate of our current climate change, I would say Minnesota should be inhabitable during the winter months, sometime in 3010. |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Flagstaff is beautiful and very similar to the mountains of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, and most certainly more bug-free than Minnesota. The climate is still very dry. The down side is that everybody from southern California who has every traveled east on I-40 knows this, so expect housing to be more expensive than rural Minnesota. |
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Location: big island | norseman,
if you do move to arizona, will you change your member name? |
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July 2002
Posts: 1900
| Hey Norsey, I hear Glen Campbell moved back to LA, so his house in Phoenix is for sale... you could move there... ;) |
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December 2004
Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | Look at this in a practical way.
1. Winter: No more shoveling snow. Save your back :)
2. Summer: Cook your breakfast on your sidewalk and save electricity. :) :)
3. Run over to Tupperware's house and play his guitars. Priceless. :D |
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October 2005
Posts: 5332
Location: Bluffton, SC | Originally posted by ProfessorBB:
Flagstaff is beautiful and very similar to the mountains of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, and most certainly more bug-free than Minnesota. The climate is still very dry. The down side is that everybody from southern California who has every traveled east on I-40 knows this, so expect housing to be more expensive than rural Minnesota. I LOVE Flagstaff! Sedona too!!
Anyone in earshot range of that please disregard. Or at least consider the fact that you may have me as a neighbor sometime in the next 10 years. |
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Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | For years after we moved out here from the Midwest, our Midwestern family members could not understand how the climate could be totally different 15 miles away. Living in a desert at the edge of the mountains has it's advantages. It's tough to get decent bratwurst, though.
Unfortunately, we have been discovered and you'd probably pay twice the price for half the house if you moved. When I was there last year, I heard that Arizona prices were pretty low, though. |
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Location: Upper Left USA | Norsey,
I was fortunate and Miles made a good choice. Up here in the corner we have moderate climate, phenomanal lanscape and we don't talk funny. |
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Location: South of most, North of few | Norse, if you can stand the tourists, Fla. is a nice place. Lots of water, salt and fresh, and don't forget the hurricanes. Adds a real excitement to life from May to Nov. Just bring a generator. :cool: (we don't talk funny either...yall.) |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Hey Norse, don't be deceived by "It's not that Hot..." statements. Anywhere in the southern 2/3 of the state is HOT. Like 114 degrees. Over 100 is the Norm, not the Exception. Up by Flagstaff is okay, cuz it is 7000 feet up. And it still gets hot. But it ain't humid...
In Phoenix no-one goes out during the day. Nowhere down there does anyone go out... Period. They go from their air-conditioned cars, the their air-conditioned buildings.
So, if you go, stay up North. With the Navajo and Hopi. They know where the weather is livable. That is why they are up by Oak Creek Canyon, and Sedona-way. But since it's gotten spendy, they are in Payson, Cottonwood and Flag.
But it is nice there. Just carry water! Everywhere! Even in the mountains... |
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Location: NW Washington State | Originally posted by MWoody:
Norsey,
I was fortunate and Miles made a good choice. Up here in the corner we have moderate climate, phenomanal lanscape and we don't talk funny. You do spell funny though.
Mount Vernon? It's wet over there! I'm staying in the rainshadow.
-Steve W. |
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May 2004
Posts: 2850
Location: Midland, MI | And here I've been trying to talk the missus into moving *back* to Minnesota! :eek:
On the weather front (heh), they're saying up to 6" for us here tomorrow afternoon, with a Winter Storm Warning in effect. Our flight leaves sometime around 3p, which means we should be in Tampa around dinner time and on the island by, oh, 9p at the latest. That first drink is going to taste mighty good. Might be raining there, but it won't be snowing! |
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September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Hey, I miss snow!
I'm from Massachusetts originally. Waaaay back originally.
Out here we only get rain. If we get six inches of snow, it's a Blizzard!
Been in TX, AZ, CA, TN, FL.... All them states with no snow.
(Mountain tops don't count) |
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January 2005
Posts: 4903
Location: Phoenix AZ | It's an ironic thing about the Phoenix area. There's tons of jokes and negative comments about the heat and the desert and all that. But the fact remains it's the fastest growing metropolatin area in the whole friggin country over the last 10 years. And of all the people who have moved here (we're all from someplace else), I've never met a single one that ever wanted to leave. The people that dump on living here, aren't from here. Sure it's hot in the summer, but 345 days of sunshine a year makes people very happy. Are there better climates to live in? Sure. Combined with better job markets? Better cost of living? Healthy life styles? I ain't so sure. Dave |
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Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | Suckers born every minute. Keeps that maniac, Sheriff Jo-pie (whatever his name is) busy.
On the real side, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy...
People come looking for work.
So you need more housing,
So you need more construction workers,
So you need more cooks/waitresses to feed the construction workers,
So you need more housing,
So you need more workers...
It's the perfect storm!
Been there, Done that, AIN'T GOING BACK!!!
[but, unlike Portland, it don't rain too often there] |
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Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Norsey, better plan on learning Spanish... |
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May 2002
Posts: 1026
Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | Thanks for all the advice. I'm prayin hard and I'm dead serious about this potential move.
Other than the weather, I'm comfortable where I am...but sometimes you have to shake things up in life, just to feel like your still alive! The old addage "If it aint broke don't fix it" isn't always the best approach. If you don't ever take chances...try new things..you never grow. Like I said, I'm praying, researching, listening, and learning...if things continue to line up right...I'm moving!
Norse(of course I can always take a one year leave of absence from my current job, and rent my home in Minny for the first year just in case the grass [or cactus]isn't any greener in Arizona)man1 |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | You'll have to change you moniker from "Norseman" to "Sorrento-man." |
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March 2002
Posts: 15680
Location: SoCal | In 1970 I moved with my folks from SoCal to Houston TX. It was hot and humid and growing like a sumbitch. Today, 37 years later, it's still growing. Heat and humidity are a whole lot better to a lotta people than cold and snow..... |
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Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | ..amen...particularly in February when it's minus 38 degrees...oh and then you add the wind chill.
More than that...here it is already the middle of April, I can't even go for a walk with out freezin my ears!
Norse(of course I'll still be just as bald in Arizona)man1 |
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March 2005
Posts: 5567
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Pine is a great community; Payson is too; Sedona was really nice until all of the New
age folk started moving in about 15 years ago; One of my favorite spots was Oak Creek Canyon; I used to play a small club there many years ago; Yes, it does get hot in the Phoenix area and south, but it is a dry heat without the hummidity of the midwest and east; The White Mountains are a great spot to live if you still want to enjoy snow in the winter. I lived in Yuma for several years before moving to Phoenix and now that was HOT! But, you get used to it. Swamp coolers are not great on guitars so be careful if you plan to rent first: Arizona in the winter and spring is to die for! |
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Posts: 1374
| "Norse(of course I'll still be just as bald in Arizona)man1"
yeah but your shiny spot will have a tan.
Glenn |
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March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | Shortly after my Dad moved to Portland about 20 years ago he had a heart attack. The recovery was long and he had medication problems. He had been taking antidepressants and eventually was diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder. Then he got into motorhomes and started spending the winters in Arizona. After the first winter he was off the anti-depressants and hasn't been on them since, to my knowledge. This was the first winter that he hasn't been to Arizona and I'm not sure whether the SAD has come back.
In spite of the jokes about Arizona and old folks and their motorhomes, Arizona did him a lot of good. He's more of a pain in the ass when he's happy, though. |
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September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | MusicMishka quote--- "Swamp coolers are not great on guitars so be careful if you plan to rent first: Arizona in the winter and spring is to die for!"
I didn't know that... The swamp-cooler thing, I know about the spring and the mountains.
We are always talking about low humidity and cracks. I had not considered High Humidity.
I ought be careful with my cheapie humidifier. |
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Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Mogollon Rim... Christopher Creek.
Love it. |
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January 2005
Posts: 4903
Location: Phoenix AZ | Jeff, You've been to christopher creek? What an awesome place. I love the falls. You gotta come out this way man. Dave |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Yeah. Christopher Creek is wonderful and the Gorge falls are stellar.
I make it out to AZ about every other year or so... It's been 2 years since I was last there and I'm due. Actually, I'm a native. I will give you sufficient warning when I'm headed out that way again. |
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OT: OK I've had it...Arizona Here I come!