Right now my husband and I live in a very small town in Kentucky. We want to make the move to Phoenix or Mesa, Arizona. What we need is some advice on jobs, apartments, cost of living, and the school Mesa Community College, if anyone attends. We want to get out of this small town and go somewhere that is warmer in the winter and I don't care about heat in the summer. We need a change and think Arizona would be perfect, but we have to iron out details before we can go. Does anyone have any advice?
Phoenix - 2 Answers
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1
The heat is really debilitating there in the summer. Over 110. My friend got dehydrated walking into the supermarket from the parking lot in Phoenix and decided to move to FL, Most of her neighbors left for the summer so the place cleared out. A lot of the stores there close at 5 PM in the summer.
2
I'm from back east and I've lived here for a year. Let me break it down for you. PROS: * Fantastic weather (from about mid-October through early May) * Dry air. You don't have to worry about mold, mildew, or car rust. Best of all, there are virtually no mosquitoes = ) * Gorgeous sunsets, beautiful desert landscape and fauna * Affordable housing/property costs * Modern infrastructure and a good freeway system. For a city of its size, Phoenix's traffic is really not too bad CONS: * The summer heat * Low wages * HIGH utility bills, especially in the summer when you'll have your A/C running 24/7 * Very little cultural diversity (Mexicans and Native Americans, that's about as diverse as it gets in Phoenix) * Horrible, rude drivers (AZ is #1 nationwide in hit-and-run accidents, which proves it's not just my imagination) * Rampant panhandling and solicitation * Too many chain restaurants and a lack of ethnic food (except Mexican) * Too many meth-heads * Too much white trash * Too much skin cancer * Downtown Phoenix is purely a business district with very little in the way of nightlife or entertainment (other than the sports arenas) * CRIME. A huge problem here. Arizona is #1 nationwide in identity theft and #4 in car theft (trailing only CA, TX and FL) * Illegal immigration - another huge problem here * Phoenix's public schools are putrid; AZ's public education system is ranked #49 nationwide * High rates for car registration and insurance * The people - overall I'm just not finding the folks in Phoenix to be very intelligent, sophisticated, cultured or mannered (just an opinion) I'm not out to trash Phoenix, I just want you to have all the facts. And as you might guess, I've made the decision to move out.
