I'm thinking about moving there..I need something different..more people..and the area looks beautiful. Thinking about Scottsdale/Gilbert area..thought about Sedona, but housing there is prohibitively expensive.

Soo..anybody live there? If so, how do you like it?

I used to live there (with my parents, in high school). We lived in Paradise Valley...it's awesome. But...it's expensive. Where do you live now? We had a really basic house with a decent living room, a den, 3 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, and a pool (couldn't name the square footage for you, but it was modest. Smallish bedrooms.) and it sold for $600,000 when we moved. So...Maybe forget about living IN scottsdale or paradise valley unless you stumble upon a real find.

I live in northern NH..

I found 2br apt/condos for under $1k/mo in Scottsdale -- washer/dryer, new appliances, pools, tennis courts, fitness centers/etc. Does that sound about right? I was just checking Craigslist..not really sure where else to look.

If all goes as I'm hoping, I'll be doing alright financially -- definitely not a millionare, but expecting $44-49k/yr..no idea how bad taxes are in AZ, though (no income or sales tax in NH).

Vinny lives there.

Move to Las Vegas. The weather is always clear and sunny, and there are all sorts of nice city conveniences. Many different kinds of people, too.

Heh -- well, I'd never be bored with LVPD, would I..

Don't move to Utah, unless you like mountains. It's 100+ here in the summer and it gets below 0 in the winter.

Washington is best. >.> Who would want to live in a desert anyway?

Nope - not particularly interested in Utah. I kinda like the fact that I can drive a few hours north of Phoenix and hit snow..

I've been to Sedona a billion times. I like it there, but it's too hot.

I LOVE Minnesota. It's NOT as cold as people make it out to be, and it's ALWAYS beautiful. And people are so freaking cool.

And it's one of the cheapest places to live.

I'd live there any day. Oregon is also a cool place.

There's a reason for that.

I live in Arizona.

I like it.

My gf's uncle is Mike Chamberlin, who is on the local news in Phoenix on CBS. So I'm out there at least twice a year

Arizona is pretty. So is New Mexico. And Texas.

[QUOTE=Vincent Valentine]I live in Arizona.

I like it.[/QUOTE]

Are you familiar with the Phoenix area? I'm mainly looking at Gilbert and Peoria now.

Phoenix is a pretty big place you know. Gilbert is pretty nice, but its way east and there's lots of Mormons and all the houses look the same. Peoria has nice areas and bad areas - like the rest of the Valley, it's a bit patchy with high-income and low-income areas. There are only a few places that are consistently nice (like Scottsdale or Paradise Valley) or consistently crappy (South Phoenix.)

If it's people you want, you might try Tempe/Scottsdale, all the college people live there.

Tempe is really pretty cool, and there are a lot of younger college people there, of course. My sister had an apartment there for a while, I'll ask her what she was paying for it, I believe it was a pretty nice place.

[QUOTE=Vincent Valentine]Phoenix is a pretty big place you know. Gilbert is pretty nice, but its way east and there's lots of Mormons and all the houses look the same. Peoria has nice areas and bad areas - like the rest of the Valley, it's a bit patchy with high-income and low-income areas. There are only a few places that are consistently nice (like Scottsdale or Paradise Valley) or consistently crappy (South Phoenix.)

If it's people you want, you might try Tempe/Scottsdale, all the college people live there.[/QUOTE]

Thanks man -- I'll definitely look at Tempe! Just found the perfect job, too -- and their pay is higher than most Phoenix suburbs..they're really close to Phoenix itself, though -- real estate appears to be fairly expensive...how easy is a commute in that area?

Well, the problem with Phoenix is that it's so spread out. It grew out and not up due to laws regulating building heights to maintain mountain views. If I recall correctly, though, the roads are quite good (the freeways certainly LOOK beautiful), but I have never driven there so I think Vinny'll yet again give you the information you need.

My sister's 2 bedroom apartment in Tempe when she lived there was $650 total, so she was paying about $325 for it, and her 3 bedroom condo-type thing was $999, so she was paying around $333. She said now real estate has gone up so expect to pay probably $400-500 for your part of the rent.

Well, it's not like the winters are going to tear the roads up like they do here..

What I should do is take a week off and fly over there, get as many applications/tests in as I can, then come back here and work until I hear back from someone..

I'm in the seriously-going-to-move stage...pricing housing, etc. I was practically bored to death today...my family doesn't live around here anymore, and there's not much to do.

Sooo...yeah -- I'm looking for a banking position (admin assistant, CSR, etc - just not a teller!) until I can get Lasik, wait for the healing process and get into a PD (vision req's are stricter there than here in NH)...anybody have any tips?

minus the last month or so

I want to move to bay area California.

California being the maximum point of being away from here.

I don't think I could handle Cali...too many laws...

But it's still the maximum point of being away from here on this continent..

I'm willing to settle for that.

I flew to AZ a few years ago to visit a friend in Tempe. I was only there for a weekend, but it was quite nice. My friend still lives there.

Does he need a roommate?

I was born and raised in Tucson. Back then it was fantastic, and it hasn't changed much. The only thing now is that Tucson's crime rate has gone up. But in the area you're talking about is good. You might also look into Green Valley too. It's close to Tucson, but it's enough out that it's stayed suburban.

San Diego > *

A basic house for $600000 with 3 bathrooms and a pool...

He's living with his girlfriend, so I doubt it, but I'll ask anyways.

If you want, go ahead...I can imagine the conversation, though..

'Some random guy on the internet wants to know if you need a roommate.'

'Uhm, what?'

'Yeah.'

Go to a night club. You'll be sure to encounter and dance with a lot of girls.

..?..

Call me strange if you like...but first priority is finding a job and a place to live..

I have a friend who lives in Carefree. Great area, but it is really spread out.

I live in Arizona and have for 10 years or so. I have lived in Gilbert, it was nice, but there wasn't much there. It was more farm country than anything else. Right now I live in Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix. I hate heat, so that sucks, but its VERY nice in the winter. Housing WAS really cheap, unfortunately for prospective homeowners, there was a houseing boom recently, skyrocketing prices. Scottsdale is very nice, but very expensive. We call is Snotsdale for a reason... Arizona does have the best university ever, however, the University of Arizona. (Go Cats!) Overall, Arizona is a great place to live if you don't mind 115+ temperatures in the summer.

EDIT: Yes, it does snow up north in Flagstaff/Prescott, but it also snows south in Tucson, so either way from Phoenix is a good place to go. Tucson, Tempe, and Flagstaff are the big college towns. Phoenix can be pretty bad in some places, I would stay away from it.

EDIT 2: The roads in the Phoenix/Tempe/Scottsdale area are very well maintained, the city does well here. Now, I'm not sure how people drive in NH, but people in Arizona drive like idiots, driving 15 over the speed limit will still get you run over.

I live in Glendale too. (Almost.)

I need to move out, but I make at best $800 dollars a month and I'm not sure I'd be able to, even if I had a roommate.

You've lived there 10 years and you're still *****ing about the heat? C'mon boy, it's DRY HEAT, you don't even feel it.

And when he says "Snows in Tucson" he means, "Snows in Tucson once every 10 years when the pressure gets low enough and the winter monsoon hits"

You should be aware that contrary to popular belief, it DOES rain in the desert. In fact, when it rains it pours. They call it monsoon season, and when it happens, stuff just stops. Expect it and you'll be fine. Stay away from houses in deep ravines or valleys to avoid flash floods.

First of all, I didn't grow up in Arizona, I grew up in Illinois and Oregon, I like cold weather. And, it snows on Mt. Lemon, which is just south of Tucson. It has a ski resort, it snows quite alot.