Thinking of moving with my family from Massachusetts to Glendale Arizona?
My husband and I are considering moving from Mass to Az. Cost of living in Mass is just so expensive and we are tiring of the cold weather. We have three children ages 13, 12 and 10. Does anyone have any comments either positive or negative? What are the schools like? I currently work at a large University here and it provides tuition remission for my children so that would be a big benefit that we would loose but to have less of a mortgage and a mild climate would be so great! My children are very active and we are assuming that they would have more opportunities to play baseball and football due to the weather but maybe we are wrong! Lastly what is the political environment in Arizona, clearly Mass is a very democratic liberal area but we are conservative and find the atmosphere in Mass to "left" leaning for us. Thanks in advance for any comments!
Phoenix - 15 Answers
People's Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
Answer 1 :
dont do it your children will hate it
Answer 2 :
You'll love Arizona then, a bunch of ultraconservative Mormons!
Answer 3 :
I live in Rhode Island, and you may hate the cold weather, but you might hate the baking summer heat in Arizona even more.
Answer 4 :
Re the political climate: look at who the US Senators from Arizona are. You will definitely miss the change of seasons, even if you don't like snow and cold. Don't know where Glendale is, but much of AZ has summers that are as bad as Mass winters, i.e. no one goes out because it's too hot, or they run from one a/c'd environment to another, just as we Northeasterners run for heat in winter! That tuition benefit could be a "biggie", but if you get employment with another university, you will probably get the same benefit there. You may or may not have a smaller mortgage. Look at some real estate websites for the area to see what's available. Have you ever been to Arizona? Maybe you should pay a visit, IN SUMMER, and see what it's like. You could also go on-line to local TV news channels or newspapers and see what's going on there - do this for a period of time, not just one day. There's a book and, I think, a website, called "Places Rated" that you can take a look at, too. Good luck to you.
Answer 5 :
Do yourself a huge favor and fly you and your family to AZ NOW!! Check out the far NW side of Glendale,tour the Phoenix area which the locals call "The Valley " visit The Grand Canyon and see if you can deal with that radical of a change in lifestyle and habitat As long as you're heading to GCNP you may want to spend a day in Flagstaff to see if it would fit your needs better
Answer 6 :
I've lived both places. Politically, AZ is more conservative than MA. You won't see people expecting as much from the state as you see in MA. Law enforcement is a bit tougher there. Agree with the comment about 4 seasons. Glendale is a suburb of Phoenix. In April the average daily temperature goes above 100 and you won't see sub 100 degree days consistently again until October. However, and it's true - it's a dry heat. They don't have the steamy weather like it is in Boston right now, but 110+ is still oppressive. The other weather phenomena in the area are the monsoon rains in the summer. They get these lighting storms at night in the summer that are really something. If your scared of lightning, these will scare the bleep out of you. At the same time that these storms are going on, it's still 100 degrees. I distinctly remember driving on Camelback Ave in Phoenix one summer night - the bank clock said the time was 10:10, the temp was 110 and it was raining like hell with lightning lighting up the sky everywhere around me. At Christmas time there is no snow. People put lights on cactus. Many people don't have yards/lawn. Most people have a desert scape, meaning rocks and cactus for a yard. Easy to maintain. Watering the lawn is discouraged because water is limited. What I remember was the town would come by once a week and flood your lawn. You had a little dike around your property line (i.e. where you wanted the water to go) and they would fill your yard with water. That was all the watering you got to do for a week. The population is considerably more diverse than MA. There are colleges in and around the Phoenix metro area. ASU is located in Tempe, which is a suburb of Phoenix to the south east. Glendale is west and a little north. They don't rely on a highway system in Phoenix as much as they do city streets. That being said, the place is really easy to navigate. Once you get the lay of the land figured out someone can tell you and address and you can likely drive right to it without a map. The whole area is laid out in a neat grid. The major city streets are 6+ lanes wide and there is enough of them to spread the traffic load across. Cons - Blue haired drivers and what they call snow birds. Bugs - get used to living w/ roaches, black widow spiders and other various creepy crawlies. Summer heat Flash floods (it happens more than you think) Lawns are not lush and soft like they are in northern climates Gangs are an issue No seasons/ great weather - you will actually get sick of it being sunny everyday - trust me on this. Pros Great weather, it's great at first, then you get used to it, then you wish for a nice snow day. Great Mexican food Cost of living Having an orange or grapefruit tree in your backyard, going out and picking a piece off for breakfast in the AM. The desert - it's beautiful in my opinion. Lot's of outdoor things you don't see in MA - free out door racket ball courts in the parks, really long bike concrete bike/roller blade paths, outdoor seating at restaurants, using your swimming pool year round. It's different. Consider one thing though, extended family. If your family is in MA, you will likely find that you miss having them around at holidays, birthdays etc
Answer 7 :
In my life, I have lived in Massachusetts, Florida, and now Arizona, and I can tell you that my husband and I hate it here (We live in Surprise). I don't care if it is a ''dry heat'', 115 degrees is still 115 degrees, no matter how much humidity is factored in! My husband and I came here on vacation, thought it was great, but living here is so much different. The grass isna't always greener on the other side. We are moving back to FL September 25th, and never looking back. At least it rains there, and there are actually things to do. As someone else posted before me, your kids will have nothing to do here, and hate it.
Answer 8 :
Well, it is definetly going to be a LOT hotter in AZ then Mas., and that will take a lot of getting used to. In the winter its wonderful because the coldest it gets is 40 degrees, but in the summers the heat is really bad. It was 113 degrees today, so unless you have a pool/slipnslide/sprinkler you would wanna stay inside. I've never been to Mas. so dont know what its like there. There would be more opportunities for sports since you can play during the winter too because it there is no snow or anything. to the person talking about the rock yards, yes there are quite a few of those, but there are also a LOT of yards with grass too. It all depends on the area, some areas all have rock yards, some all have grass yards.
Answer 9 :
I lived there for a while and loved it and sometimes miss it! It is hot in the summer but if you can stick it out for a couple months the rest of the year is awesome! plus during summer there are beautiful monsoon storms. its never that cold, if you guys are from mass then you will be sweating in the dead of winter! haha The schools at least where i am from in the east valley are great. And yeah there are a lot of parks and places to play different sports, you will be doing most of those in the summer, winter and spring, and most of the time the sports in the summer are earlier before it gets too hot! and yeah there are a lot of churches and az is a red state so you should be good in the political aspect too! AZ is honestly a great place to live and i'm sure you will enjoy it! hope i could help!
Answer 10 :
It's very conservative here. Can't add a lot of details as everyone else pretty much covered it. Only thing I can say is you'll want to move to NORTH Glendale. Plenty of good schools and areas there.
Answer 11 :
My next door neighbors are from Boston and they love it in Peoria (next to Glendale). If you move to Glendale, I suggest the Northern part of the city, or Peoria. The central part of Glendale isn't the prettiest. I like this side of town because it's not as congested as say the East Valley (Chandler, Gilbert, Tempe). There is so much going on over here now with entertainment and restaurants that we hardly leave this part of town unless its to visit family in other parts of the valley. I love the Arrowhead Lakes Area. You should really look there. Safe, clean, close to everything and easy freeway access. Lake Pleasant in only a few minutes from Glendale to. The heat and Republicans are the only bad thing about the Phoenix area, but you can drive up to Prescott to cool down which is only 1 1/2 away, or really go north up to the pine areas like Flagstaff, Payson or Sedona. http://www.azmarinas.com/PleasantHarbor/ http://arrowheadranchliving.com/ http://hubpages.com/hub/Arrowhead-Lakes-Glendale-AZ-Homes http://www.arizona-leisure.com/arizona-attractions.html http://www.westgatecitycenter.com/
Answer 12 :
My family moved to Phoenix from, did you guess it? Ireland! There honestly are only two places that would give more of a stark contrast, the Canadian Yukon, or Antarctica. Let me tell you, I moved when I was very young, so I'm used to the weather in Phoenix, and it's horrid. Anybody that says it's a dry heat and is therefor okay, is full of crap. The temperatures here get up to 110+ and lasts for a good 3 months. It's over 100 degrees from April to October. This last year it was 90 in November, and March. You get really three months of fantastic weather, December through February, where the temperature ranges from 35-40 at night to 70-80 during the day. You get a quarter of a year of great, tolerable weather. Your kids will not be able to play outside during the summer without severe risk to their health. Dehydration, and heat stroke are big problems for people that work or play outside during the summer. For the most part, it's just too hot. Even if your child drinks enough water, they are at risk for over heating. People don't even need to be playing around to overheat in Phoenix. This may not sound like it's a big problem, but take into consideration that we even have laws that are meant to help protect us from death because of the heat. AC repairmen are not allowed to take more than 24 hours to get to your home. If you knock on a person's door or enter a restaurant, they are required by law to give you a glass of drinkable water. It's true, as far as playing weather goes, phoenix has sunny days all year round, but half the year gets too hot to play safely. The heat is so intense that if you don't roll down your window half an inch when you park outside, your car will heat, inside gasses will expand, and could pop out your windshield. If you ever park on the street for over an hour in the summer, and your tires are just a little too pressurized, they will blow out from the heat of the tar. If you walk outside in the summer without shoes, you will burn your feet. The heat is dry, yes, but it's really intense. The schools are better in the east valley, but all around Arizona ranks dead last in American Schools. The standards in Arizona are pretty low all around, so most sites you check that rate schools will show you that we pass standards fine. However, the fact remains that if one were to compare to other states, Arizona is severely lacking. As far as politics go, AZ is closer to a swing state than a strong republican state. Our Senators are Republicans but our Governor Napolitano, is now a member of Obama's cabinet and was a voted in Democrat. The split is really closer to 55/45 in favor of republicans in Phoenix. Bottom line; cost of living is less, and there are more conservatives. However, living with the heat can get extremely difficult, and the public school system leaves a lot to be desired. The monsoons are a great show, though. :D
Answer 13 :
it could probably be a huge mistake. it was in my situation anyway. we moved from springfield mass to avondale az (close to glendale) and it was horrible. lots of the people there were really racist towards me and my brother at school. i've never been hated for being white until i moved there. i have no problem with other races but just be aware that racism is strong in that area. the east valley is so much nicer and has much better schools. the west valley is pretty old and run down in lots of places and the schools are far behind the level they should be.
Answer 14 :
Well, if you're moving from MA, I would suggest checking out Scottsdale (unless you've already picked Glendale). It's a bit more upscale while having all the benefits of being in such a large city. While another poster said she hated it, and gave reasons why, it's really up to you what you make of it. If you focus on the positives, you'll have a great stay! Yes, during the summer it's too hot in the city to do anything - GO CAMPING for example. You're four hours from the Grand Canyon, two hours from Sedona, six hours from LA, five hours from Vegas. There's fishing, hiking, hunting, etc. As a fellow conservative, I'm relatively happy here. AZ has voted mostly conservative in every election. While McCain was NOT the most conservative, he was from AZ. But anyways, during the summer it's HOT! That's mitigated by the invention of AC and swimming pools. During the winter, the temperature seldom gets below freezing. About six months in the year the weather is great. While you're here, I would look into employment at ASU. Anyways, like anywhere else, it's what you make of it. Good luck!
Answer 15 :
I probably am not going to give you much information that others haven't already done other than my perspective. I grew up in South Dakota, a beautiful state, with rolling hills, lots of gorgeous grass and the coldest weather on the planet. My husband and I were married for 7 years and we had 3 children and I told him, I don't want to ever shovel snow again, so we packed up, sold what we didn't want and moved to Phoenix...that was 22 years ago. I have lived in the northern Glendale, northern Phoenix part of town since that time. My children were 2-4-6 when we moved here and they will all tell you that they love Phoenix and love the opportunities they were given by living in Phoenix. Both of my boys played baseball year round, and my 26 year old son (the one that was 4) still plays baseball, even in the intense summer heat. My daughter has always been a swimmer and on swim team and you do that in the summer and fall here, there are tons of swimming pools as well as every other house has a pool, so you DON'T stay inside all summer long, and my children were always out playing ... no matter what time of year, the only thing that brought them inside was the fact that it got dark outside. My daughter just returned from Florida for a short vacation and asked how on earth anyone could live in that kind of humidity...yes it is HOT here and sometimes it gets unbearably hot, but I compare that to two to three weeks of intense heat with South Dakota's 7 months of cold, wet, snow, blizzards and then the humid summers...this is PARADISE. I agree with everyone that says look for a home in the northern part of Glendale, in the Arrowhead area or northern Peoria...don't go to Surprise, it's not a bad area, it's actually beautiful but so new that the roads aren't great for getting in and out of town...you have to travel through Sun City to get into town or take Grand Avenue and neither of those routes is great, but over the next few years I'm sure the transportation will improve. We do have bugs, scorpions, palmetto's, cock roaches, black widows etc. but I can honestly tell you that I have none in my house and typically only scorpions are a problem to people that choose to live further out in the desert areas of town, where you are actually living in the scorpion's back yard. I've seen black widows, but if you kill what they eat? They go away...so spray for bugs, everyone does and it's not an issue...just like they spray for bugs in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico...it's not a new concept...and me? I don't actually spray for bugs, because I have cats, and they tend to take care of that problem for me. No we don't have your typical seasons, and coming from Massachusetts that might be a source of homesickness for you. It never bothered me, I like the hot and the temperate and we do have trees that change color and the leaves drop, the problem is that they typically just turn yellow and drop in about a weeks time and then the leaves grow back fast, so not the beautiful colors you are used to. But here is the best thing about Arizona, about an hour north of Phoenix is a beautiful little town called Prescott...go there in the fall and see the fall season and enjoy the changing colors, go a little further up the mountain and you will see the incredible Red Rocks of Sedona and they have those gorgeous fall leaves as well. And then in the winter, go on up to Flagstaff, visit snow bowl and go skiing...how far away is Flagstaff? about 2-1/2 hours from the edge of Phoenix. So you can have your 4 seasons and still enjoy the Non-weather of Phoenix. As for your job at the university, we have Universities here too, quite good ones...they are part of the PAC10 conference and offer a lot of opportunities. The political environment: the people above would have you believe that because there are a lot of Latter Day Saints people here that we are a state Right Wingers but it really isn't conservative like the state of Texas. I know a lot of Conservatives, and I know a lot of Liberals...but I really feel when you get down to the political temperment in this state, most people are Moderate...they register Democrat or Republican but they truly are moderate. I agree that you should probably visit before making that final step, and know that if you were to visit today when the temperature is 108 you will probably think, what am I thinking...but remember that in October when it's 80 and you will hear about blizzards on the east coast and go we were so smart to come here
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