Where would you rather live?

[Jim]

I may have asked this before, but I don't remember and can't find it. Still, I'm curious so I will ask again.

Where would you rather live? Where you currently do, or Flagstaff? If neither, where is that?

I live in Flag, yet after todays weather, the high rent I pay, the low wage job I just left today, the really irritating train, and many other things, I would much rather head to warmer and drier towns. I like the middle elevations of 3000' to 5000', especially since the 115 of Phoenix is not a sane temperature to me, and neither are -15 and -8 degrees (last years and this years low temps in Flag).
Still, I'm returning to school for a second BS degree, so I'm stuck here for 3 more years.

How about you?

[Jim]

Hey, I'll admit it. After getting to Page about once a week for the last 15 months I'm always happy to leave. It is way too isolated for my taste. Its very pretty in the area, but I wouldn't want to have to drive 2 hours in any direction to get to shopping that isn't Walmart.

Hoffmaster, I hope your two new residents have money, because they'll have a hell of a time finding a decent paying job in Flag. Do they like to change bed linens? ;)

[Hoffmaster]

Hoffmaster, I hope your two new residents have money, because they'll have a hell of a time finding a decent paying job in Flag.

I doubt they'll move here. They are still young (very early 20's) and seem to cling to family a bit more than they should. Freeloaders. You'd think a 23 year old living with mom and dad would have money, but sadly this is not the case.

Even if they did move here, I'm sure they'd move to Phx. I was only suggesting that they would like the vibe in Flag. Lots of college kids and climbing bums. Oh yeah, lots of hippies and pot heads too. Yeah, my brother and his girlfriend would fit right in up there. I explained to them that jobs are a bit on the scarce side up there (decent jobs that is) and that is why I don't live up that way. If they did decide to move out here, my fiance and I could get them jobs in the blink of an eye. She is in HR at an aerospace company and I have an industrial sales job. We both have tons and tons of connections.



No, I'm not offering to find any of you a job. Do your own hunting. I might be in that boat soon enough anyway if the economy here doesn't pick up soon.

[RedRoxx44]

In Az--Page, Sierra Vista, Clifton Morenci or Globe. Tucson is ok but is getting bigger and too busy for me. But my parents are here so that is that.
Other-- Escalante or Hanksville or Kanab UT.

[Jim]

Lots of ... bums. Oh yeah, lots of hippies and pot heads too.

You got that right.

[Dschur]

Pine and Strawberry are having problems with water especially on the weekends that everyone comes up to their cabins at the same time flat landers don't realize that just because we have mountains and trees we don't have the water available as the valley does. (we are still on stage 2 water restrictions here in Payson). Cottonwood and Clarkdale and Camp Verde are very high in drug usage meth etc. I know a cop that says that is one of the major places in AZ for drug problems. Alot of the very small towns in AZ have gone that way.

[Hoffmaster]

Cottonwood and Clarkdale and Camp Verde are very high in drug usage meth etc. I know a cop that says that is one of the major places in AZ for drug problems.

That was my main deterrent to moving to that area. It's a shame.

[Jim]

I heard the Home Depot in Cottonwood didn't open for 6 months or a year past its goal because it couldn't get enough potential employees to pass drug test. It was a joke to us, but thats really sad if you live in it.

[kenandjude]

Nice thing about living in the valley, it's not too far of a drive to hike in the mountains to get away from the pollution, traffic, noise etc. I too enjoy the heat but it sure is nice to head up north for a difference of 10-15 degrees during the peak summer months.

[Jeffshadows]

I love living in Tucson. The proximity to all the sky islands is sweet and people here are fairly laid back.

Ditto. I was born here and nowhere else feels like home. Tucson has a lot to offer and tends to draw natives back home if we wander. When I walk out into 105F heat and see saguaro and agave blooming all around I get an overwhelming feeling of contentment. Flag is similar, I knew a lot of Flagstaff die-hards back in my climbing years; especially natives.

One reason I'd never move there is that fact that NAU has a reputation of being a glorified community college and a party school for goof-offs. No offense to anyone who attended, just know that's how it's seen. I don't mean to say that there are no diligent and respectable students at NAU; I've heard great things about their forestry program, for example. A lot of the kids I went to high school with who were looking for an easy degree and four straight years of drunken debauchery chose NAU on purpose because of that rep. Now most of my 30-something colleagues and friends who are still immature party animals seem to all be NAU grads; it's kind of a shame, really. It's a truly beautiful campus!

I haven't spent as much time up there as I wish I could, does NAU have a really negative impact on the community-at-large?

[azbackpackr]

My daughter goes there, she's a chemistry major and works in a pharmacy. I don't think she is having too much of a bad impact on the place! She hangs out with other students who also have jobs because they have to support themselves or they would starve. She figured out right away that the sorority and fraternity kids were spoiled brats whose parents give them anything they want, and she has nothing to do with them. Those kinds of kids never learn real consequences. Those kinds of students also inhabit U of A, as I recall, and always drove better cars than I've ever owned in my lifetime. What do they learn if mommy and daddy give them all the goodies and they don't have to earn anything for themselves? I can't stand the way some of these parents have raised their kids, makes me mad.

I think greedy realtors are the ones who have had a bad impact on Flag. I'd consider moving there but can't afford it. A hiking pal bought a big house out east of town, paid over 400 big ones, but he has to haul water because there is no well or city water there. Go figger.

We have a meth problem in this area, but I don't think it's rampant. Too bad about Cottonwood, etc.

[azbackpackr]

Hey, I'll admit it. I wouldn't want to have to drive 2 hours in any direction to get to shopping that isn't Walmart.
;)

Well, don't move to Eagar or Springerville! We have to drive 104 miles r/t to even get to the closest Walmart! All the big box stores are in Show Low.

That's one thing I love about this place. Keeps a lot of retired and other people from moving here because they want the shopping. I hate store shopping anyway, but I do love internet shopping! The job market is limited--Tucson Electric Power is the big employer, plus all the govt. agencies, USFS, etc.

No one has mentioned Show Low/Lakeside/Pinetop. It isn't too bad. I wouldn't mind it except for the one big street with all the bad traffic--it is about 20 miles of strip malls from Show Low to Pinetop. Very poor planning. Snowflake/Taylor area is growing a lot, too.

[Jeffshadows]

My daughter goes there, she's a chemistry major and works in a pharmacy. I don't think she is having too much of a bad impact on the place! She hangs out with other students who also have jobs because they have to support themselves or they would starve. She figured out right away that the sorority and fraternity kids were spoiled brats whose parents give them anything they want, and she has nothing to do with them. Those kinds of kids never learn real consequences. Those kinds of students also inhabit U of A, as I recall, and always drove better cars than I've ever owned in my lifetime. What do they learn if mommy and daddy give them all the goodies and they don't have to earn anything for themselves? I can't stand the way some of these parents have raised their kids, makes me mad.

I think greedy realtors are the ones who have had a bad impact on Flag. I'd consider moving there but can't afford it. A hiking pal bought a big house out east of town, paid over 400 big ones, but he has to haul water because there is no well or city water there. Go figger.

We have a meth problem in this area, but I don't think it's rampant. Too bad about Cottonwood, etc.

Both mentioned are having a huge negative impact on Tucson, as well...

[jkern15674]

Personally I would live anywhere in 1st Kauai, 2nd Maui, 3rd Hawaii, 4th any island in the south pacific. Cost of living sucks, ICE/Meth is rapant, some locals refer to you as a Hoale and dislike outsiders, but hey that's the price of living in paradise?

[azbackpackr]

I lived on the Island of Hawaii ("Big Island") for 8 years, 1978 to 1986. I met my husband there and our three kids were born there. We lived off the grid in a cabin I had built myself, and later on in a so-called "coffee shack." It was very cheap to live there in that way, except that food was twice as expensive. Back then there wasn't a meth problem, but you had better believe some locals don't like haoles and they will rip you off, especially if you are doing any kind of special gardening! ;)

We moved back to the Mainland because our oldest son was ready for kindergarten. The schools there are not very good, and little haole kids get beat up and harassed by the local kids. They either have to become just like them or they end up with really bad self-esteem.

Years after I moved to Tucson, my kids were in high school by then, I talked to a PE teacher at Amphi High who had just moved from Maui. I asked her if she thought we had made the right decision in moving back to the Mainland when our kids were old enough for school. She readily agreed, and then started telling me some horror stories from her time of teaching on Maui. So I am glad to be in Arizona. I have lived in this state now for 22 years and still love it very much. I don't care what they say about our education system here in this state. It is better than Hawaii's!

Hawaii is not paradise. Paradise does not exist, unless you are religious and believe in Heaven. Hawaii has a very high crime rate. The rate of child abuse and domestic violence is very high. Burglary is high. Breaking into rental cars is very popular. I loved Hawaii, but I never felt like it was really "home." I wasn't welcome there. And neither are you.

[Jim]

Paradise is the place you like best and settle on as better than all the other options. It, like Utopia, doesn't really exist. For me, after 4 years in Florida, Palm trees, humidity and white sandy beaches will never equate to anything close to paradise.

I can't imaging living on an island, even one as big as the "big island". I like to leave places easily, and living on an island would make that harder.

[azbackpackr]

As my husband said, when we were getting ourselves packed up to leave the Big Island, "I just want to get in a car and drive in a straight line for about 500 miles! "

[te_wa]

I can't imaging living on an island, even one as big as the "big island". I like to leave places easily, and living on an island would make that harder.

apparently, Im the only one so far who has suggested living somewhere outside the U.S.
the question of the thread did not say inside the U.S. so my reply was the South Island of New Zealand (in case nobody knows where Queenstown is).
Yes, its an Island and yes, it is large enough to satisfy me. I drove all around and through it over a 1.5 week period and because of its stability, growing economy (in stark contrast to ours, which is failing miserabley) and laid back lifestyle that is seriously my first pick. Next choice would be Iceland which was voted the best place to live in the world. Also of note is that Iceland has the happiest people in the world. That is of course according to an international opinion poll aquired by a certain medium that I will not disclose, because you have to have a paying membership to read the article. That sucks, but if you want to know what countries are out-doing the U.S. which has fallen from the #1 place to live in the world down to #6 in just 7 short years (do the math, and think of elections) I guess they want your money for their info. At any rate, im not bashing America at all, it is of course my first choice of places to live. Im just round-about saying that just because I was born here, and believed that nationalistic nonsense embedded into my brain as a child (i pledge allegiance... blah blah) that I can now see that this is not the only free place to live and prosper and be happy.

[Jeffshadows]

I can't imaging living on an island, even one as big as the "big island". I like to leave places easily, and living on an island would make that harder.

apparently, Im the only one so far who has suggested living somewhere outside the U.S.
the question of the thread did not say inside the U.S. so my reply was the South Island of New Zealand (in case nobody knows where Queenstown is).
Yes, its an Island and yes, it is large enough to satisfy me. I drove all around and through it over a 1.5 week period and because of its stability, growing economy (in stark contrast to ours, which is failing miserabley) and laid back lifestyle that is seriously my first pick. Next choice would be Iceland which was voted the best place to live in the world. Also of note is that Iceland has the happiest people in the world. That is of course according to an international opinion poll aquired by a certain medium that I will not disclose, because you have to have a paying membership to read the article. That sucks, but if you want to know what countries are out-doing the U.S. which has fallen from the #1 place to live in the world down to #6 in just 7 short years (do the math, and think of elections) I guess they want your money for their info. At any rate, im not bashing America at all, it is of course my first choice of places to live. Im just round-about saying that just because I was born here, and believed that nationalistic nonsense embedded into my brain as a child (i pledge allegiance... blah blah) that I can now see that this is not the only free place to live and prosper and be happy.

I agree with some of what you've said, I just want to qualify what I said previously by stating that I've been to five of the seven continents (and not just for a couple of days) and still have no desire to take up residence there. It's true, you are the only one who has suggested living outside of the US, but not the only one who gave it any consideration... ;)

[cathymocha]

Wholesome water and no earthquakes or volcanoes.

[PaleoRob]

Kanab UT.

Yeah, Kanab is nice. A little bit closer to "the big city" too, for those who want "real" shopping, etc.