Opinions on Arizona living

[calflan]

Possibly relocating to Tucson, anyone can offer insight to living in Tucson for a 'never been west of Texas' guy ?
Have always lived on the east coast and may be able to push for alternate location, like Phoenix. Any input much appreciated.

[AzGoat]

Tucson, not bad and if you can handle the dry heat your good to go and the city has grown a lot. Have fun and good luck on where you end up!

[calflan]

Thanks AzGoat, what do you think / know about Phoenix ?
Tucson is not so much 'city' is it, smaller ? Where do most live there, outskirts of town ?
WHat's it going to be like for my wife - malls, theaters, restaurants, etc., etc. ?
Thnaks again.

[Mr Twisty]

Make sure you get a job working indoors with A/C

The winters are pretty nice tho.. Can't say about what there is to do, I just pass thru occasionally.

[Atti2de]

Vegas is close, Cali is close, a lot around it loved it there just don't go out side in summer and hope u have savings accout for electric bill...

Phx has baseball, football and basketball. Some great underground music, clubs and one of the best laid out cities I've ever lived at.

[InfernoOrange2010]

I have been living in Tucson for 14 years and love it. The city is big enough but not too big. Phoenix is too big, traffic sucks, and too spread out. In Tucson you can be out of the city in less tahn 30 minutes. There is hiking and biking (watch out for the wild life). It is a dry heat most of the summer until the rains (Monsoon Season) starts in July or August. Tucson is a little cooler than Phoenix. The town of Oro Valley is nice, just north of Tucson. So my vote is Tucson over Phoenix.

[Rogue Leader]

I never lived there but my fomer boss moved there from Buffalo (he was originally on Long Island).

All I remember is he said it was beautiful there, you get good value for your dollar on a home, etc.
The heat sucks to the point you just have to stay inside a lot.
He ultimately decided to leave after the 3rd time he found a scorpion walking around INSIDE the house fighting with the family dog. He has 2 young kids so I am sure he was scared for them.

He lives back on Long Island now.

[calflan]

Guys, thank you very much for taking the time. I also have a motorcycle (cruiser) soi area is great for that as I understand, especially being able to access Grand Canyon and California. Problem is, as stated, I have never been that far west and looking at a map, doesn't look like alot of areas to target for living. Have done several searches for surrounding area and come up short of options. Because of that, THANKS a bunch to InfernoOrange - great info.
Don't like the sound of the scorpion thing much, never been around one of those puppies before ....
Heat, ouch. We are outdoors people, but I imagine blood thins. How long (many months), through the year, is one tied inside the house to avoid the heat ? I assume June through September ???

[Iwantone2]

I've visited Phoenix...does that count?

Don't know if it's every year, but me and my g/f went for a new year's eve street party thing. I think it's called the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Block Party...they had fu@#ing Styx playing last year (everybody that was watching them kept calling them "fu@#ing Styx!!!" )

Oops, the block party is actually in Tempe...not far from Phoenix

[AZCamaroFan]

I live in Phoenix, so if there's anything specific you want to know about it..

[sugar'n'spice]

I visited Scottsdale once and fell in love. Any way you look at it you're lucky! Try living in Montreal Canada, where it's snow and ice almost 6 months of the year! It's now almost the end of April and we are still waiting for constant blue sky and sunshine.

[thedonkeyslayer]

Lived in PHX area from 2000 to 2009...miss it...I'm actually in Tempe now for an 8day visit...love it

[InfernoOrange2010]

The HEAT! Yes we have heat here. We do not do Daylight Savings Time here. So the sun comes up early. If you are outdorrs people. Hiking, Mountain Biking, Rock Climbing and such. I have done them all here year round. Do your activities first thing in the morning before it gets hot. Then take a Siesta and spend the rest of the day by the pool with a cold beer. You can always drive up to Mt Lemon in the mountains takes about an hour to get there from most parts of Tucson. Much cooler there. Again hiking and a great place to rock climb (Windy Point). Housing is more than affordable. I like the North West side of town closer to Oro Valley. You have your choice between "Track" homes (you know where they all look the same). You can also get "Horse Property" where you between 1 - 3 acres of land. And no you don't have to have a horse to live there. Scorpions, yes I have found a couple, even got stung once. It felt like my leg was on fire. It lasted less then half a day. I have not heard of anyone dying from one since I have been here. But yes we do have all kinds of wild life here. You name it, it has been in my back yard. Rattle snakes, tarantulas, bob cats, coyotes, havalenas (wild pig looking thing). It is the desert after all.

[Brokinarrow]

Hope you don't mind sand and desert. My parents live near Phoenix, and I definitely love visiting them during the cold Iowa winters! But I could never live down there, I just don't like living in a desert.