Anyone here from Arizonza?

Destroyer442 · Mar 2, 2004

I'm in contract to sell my last apartment building here in FL. Im thinking about doing something drastic like move to a totally different state. I've looked into many and decided against most but Arizona keeps popping up in my mind. I'll be heading there to check it out if all goes well and the deal with my last apt complex goes through.

The real estate prices seem low in AZ which is a big plus as I can hopefully buy the home I choose in cash but I'm interested in how any of you guys that live there like it?. I know summers are real hot but how about the rest of the year? What kind of people live there? I'm asking this because I dont know, I dont know exactly how to ask that question but I'll leave it at that. TIA for any info.

rbohm · Mar 2, 2004

how hot the summers are depends on where you choose to live. tucson, phx, and yuma are quite hot in the summer(spring and fall also), but flagstaff summers are pretty mild in comparison. the winters on the other hand can be brutal at times. the big thing is the low humidity here compared to florida, just remember to drink a lot of water here to prevent dehydration, much less of a problem in florida, than here.

fiveofanatic · Mar 2, 2004

Been here since the summer of '01, I like it so far.

Brax · Mar 2, 2004

I don't live in Az, but I"ve been there before, it's one hot place no doubt about it! I absolutely love it though.. I"d move there if I could!

Destroyer442 · Mar 2, 2004

rbohm said:
how hot the summers are depends on where you choose to live. tucson, phx, and yuma are quite hot in the summer(spring and fall also), but flagstaff summers are pretty mild in comparison. the winters on the other hand can be brutal at times. the big thing is the low humidity here compared to florida, just remember to drink a lot of water here to prevent dehydration, much less of a problem in florida, than here.

The humidity here is real bad. As far as the winter being brutal in AZ, do you mean it gets real cold? I'm pretty clueless as far as AZ goes so maybe you can clarify that for me. I used to live in NY years ago so I'm used to harsh winters although I doubt AZ has winters like that.

Destroyer442 · Mar 2, 2004

fiveofanatic said:
Been here since the summer of '01, I like it so far.

What part?. Tell me more about it bro. I'm real serious about this move.

Gael · Mar 3, 2004

I posted this in the other thread, but this looks to be like the one that's getting used, so here you go.

It depends on what you're looking for, for where you want to live. Phoenix is the biggest city, and it has a considerable amount of things to do there. There are 2 dragstrips nearby, which is a plus.

Chandler is near Phoenix, maybe a 30 minute drive max to get into the main city, and personally, if I needed to live in Phoenix, I'd probably try to live in Chandler, I think it's really nice there.

Then there's Tucson, where I live. I like it here, but there's not nearly as much to do as there is in Phoenix. It's about a 2 hour drive from Tucson/Phoenix depending how slow/fast you go.

Weatherwise, summers are hot, yes, but the rest of the time it's great, in my opinion. If you like warm weather, sunny weather, this is for you. weather.com says Tucson is supposed to get into the 80's next week. It hit in the 80's a few days in February, too.

People are probably about what you'll find everywhere else, some cool people, some idiots. Gotta be careful with your cars though, people like to steal stuff in AZ, especially Phoenix I think. There are plenty of local car boards, I think there's an AZLS1 site, which'll work well with your Camaro (saw the sig).

Anyway, I hope this helped. Maybe I'll see you down the line. Good luck with everything!

Destroyer442 · Mar 3, 2004

Gael said:
I posted this in the other thread, but this looks to be like the one that's getting used, so here you go.

It depends on what you're looking for, for where you want to live. Phoenix is the biggest city, and it has a considerable amount of things to do there. There are 2 dragstrips nearby, which is a plus.

Chandler is near Phoenix, maybe a 30 minute drive max to get into the main city, and personally, if I needed to live in Phoenix, I'd probably try to live in Chandler, I think it's really nice there.

Then there's Tucson, where I live. I like it here, but there's not nearly as much to do as there is in Phoenix. It's about a 2 hour drive from Tucson/Phoenix depending how slow/fast you go.

Weatherwise, summers are hot, yes, but the rest of the time it's great, in my opinion. If you like warm weather, sunny weather, this is for you. weather.com says Tucson is supposed to get into the 80's next week. It hit in the 80's a few days in February, too.

People are probably about what you'll find everywhere else, some cool people, some idiots. Gotta be careful with your cars though, people like to steal stuff in AZ, especially Phoenix I think. There are plenty of local car boards, I think there's an AZLS1 site, which'll work well with your Camaro (saw the sig).

Anyway, I hope this helped. Maybe I'll see you down the line. Good luck with everything!

Thanks for the input. Phoenix is the city I plan on visiting but your input on the surrounding cities will help when I take a trip there. Thanks again.

AzStang98 · Mar 4, 2004

Also you have flagstaff which is in northern az. like someone mentioned the summer in flag isnt as bad as down south in phoenix and tucson. plus you are in the mountains and during the winder you get plenty of snow for skiing and snowboarding and snow mobiling. plenty of hiking, fishing, and all sorts of outdoors stuff. not sure what else is up there because I have only drove through.

Destroyer442 · Mar 4, 2004

AzStang98 said:
Also you have flagstaff which is in northern az. like someone mentioned the summer in flag isnt as bad as down south in phoenix and tucson. plus you are in the mountains and during the winder you get plenty of snow for skiing and snowboarding and snow mobiling. plenty of hiking, fishing, and all sorts of outdoors stuff. not sure what else is up there because I have only drove through.

Are the summers as bad as people say? Snow? How cold does it get in winter? For some reason when I think of AZ I think of scorching heat. I'm curious, is the winter season short there?

Gael · Mar 4, 2004

Depends where you're at.. Flagstaff is the coolest part of Arizona probably, gets snow normally in the winter, is nowhere near as hot in the summer.

Phoenix has mild winters, and pretty hot summers. You can probably expect 110 degree weather in the summer, if not more. Usually it's not as bad as some people make it out to be, because it's not very humid, until you get to monsoon season. Just make sure your cars have sufficient cooling, and don't run hot, and that you have AC wherever you live. AC in the cars is helpful too.

Zonie · Mar 5, 2004

As an Arizonian native going on for 50 years and without going into a lot of detail, I can sum it up in three words.........."Don't do it!"

There are better places to live and not just exist......

1hot5.0 · Mar 5, 2004

Ive been in Arizona since 1998 and I like it. I don't think the humidity is too bad in the summer at all.

5.0Stanger · Mar 6, 2004

The winters in Phx are usually from around November to just outside of February or March. It seems coldest in December and January. The summers are hot, no doubt. You can see an average of 115 degrees F in the middle of summer. It's already been said that water is the main staple, during summer. Then, we have the monsoon season. This usually equates to rain and dust storms. I'm just glad that I keep my Stang in a garage.

1hot5.0 · Mar 6, 2004

I can't wait for monsoon season. Maybe I'm wierd, but I like watching the storms.

Dark Knight · Mar 7, 2004

monsoons rule.. same with that storm this past week.. was watching it from the airport... great light show

fiveofanatic · Mar 8, 2004

Destroyer442 said:
What part?. Tell me more about it bro. I'm real serious about this move.

Here's my current weather:

View attachment 526547

The summers are hot as hell, & last a loooong time. The hundred-teens are not uncommon; it hit 113° the day we moved here, 07/03/01. (It was a record for that day.) You know it's hot when it "cools off" to under 100°. Humidity is pretty much non-existant; all the "it's a dry heat" jokes are true. 100° here feels like 85° at my folks' place on the Texas gulf coast.

I'm about 15 miles or so west of Phoenix; I like being in a small town near a big city, so this suits me well. It'll soon be like any other suburb, though, progress is gaining rapidly. I'm on the west side; the east side is nicer for scenery & more expensive.

It's a dustbowl, especially in the summer. Dust storms that turn everything brown & wipe out all visibility are not uncommon. They're usually the front end of a summer rain storm, & if the rain comes with it, it's OK; otherwise, it's just nasty.

The heat is real hard on cars, specifically rubber parts & batteries. Two years is an OK lifespan for a car battery here.

It was a real trip for me to go outside at 10:00 at night when I got here & feel the sidewalk still very hot on my feet. It can get pretty burdensome after a few months.

The good part is you can escape it for a day or a weekend with a drive to Sedona or Flagstaff, maybe a 2-3 hour easy drive. Sedona is the most beautiful place you will ever see. It's very nice to go get into green trees & 70's for a day or two. (Sedona will stay pretty hot, Flagstaff gets cooler. Big elevation change.) You can also head to San Diego (my favorite) Palm Springs (just as hot) or LA (dunno why). San Diego is maybe a six hour drive.

The other good part is the whole rest of the year. We had I think two days this winter where low temps hit the freezing mark. After spending a lot of time in the Pacific Northwest, if I'm going to have one season to excess, it's going to be summer.

Coming from CA, housing is very affordable; every other cost of living item is probably slightly less than it was in California. www.realtor.com is a good place to check out home prices. I'd combine that with just looking at the area on www.mapquest.com to get a basic idea of the place.

We have NASCAR, NHRA, & I think Indy car events, NBA, NFL, NHL, & MLB. Spring training is especially cool, too many teams to list.

Emissions is easy for OBD II (96 & newer) cars. New cars are exempt for the first four years, after that, they pressurize the evap system & check for codes. If your mods don't trip the light, you're basically good to go. Earlier cars have to be run on the dyno, also. Real early cars back to 1967 get hosed here, they have to pass emissions (including dyno) testing every year. This is for Maricopa county (Phoenix & surrounding areas). It's actually more stringent here than CA for the classics. Other areas have no testing at all, not sure about Tucson.

Blown 89 · Mar 8, 2004

rbohm said:
the winters on the other hand can be brutal at times.

Are we taling about the same state here?

Arizona winters are a cake walk. Most nights you'll be able to get by with jeans and a sweater. Once every blue moon you'll need a jacket if your out late enough or up early in the morning. I was born and raised in AZ and spent some time in Chicago. It's funny listening to Arizonans bitching about how cold the winters are when you can wear shorts during the day in the middle of winter

If you don't like the heat then Flagstaff is the place for you. Summers don't get hot at all. I train up at NAU's high altitude training complex every summer and the days hover in the 80's. When I'm up there I have about a mile walk to breakfast every morning and I'll usually wear shorts and a sweatshirt to take the nip off. It's cool enough in the summers that most places up there don't have AC. The winters in Flag are generally pretty warm compared to places like Chicago and New York. It snows but the cold really isn't bad at all.

NoKitten · Mar 8, 2004

What altitude do you want. AZ is unique in that it has every climate zone in it. It all depends on how you like it. In Yuma, it gets hot, and we're about half way between San Diego and Pheonix. 3 hours either way. Drags every friday at Firebird Int'l and NASCAR at Phoenix Itn'l. Good events all over. I'm happy to live here, mostly because rust is usually not present in most of the classic cars (or rare).

~meow

AZ95GT · Mar 15, 2004

I used to live in Tucson Arizona, and I will say the summers there are not as hot as they are in Phoenix or Yuma. It is very nice in the mornings there and the sun-sets are beautiful. I think in 5 years, it snowed there only once.
I now live in Flagstaff, I have been here a long time and I love it!! The summers are usually mid 80's to low 90's. While there is not even close as much to do here than in Phoenix or even Tucson, it is less crowded, has amazing scenery and there are no emissions tests to worry about. During the winter here it gets to be pretty cold, this year it was in the single digits in the mornings and then would warm up to about 28-35 degrees during the day. It usually snows quite a bit here. There are many opportunities to go skiing or snowboarding. Your skin will be much more dry here than in Florida as will your lips. I do notice a difference in performance in the stang here (we are at 7,000 ft.) Hope that helps... -Brian

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