7 years ago my family and I moved to Arizona. We absolutely love living here. In this video I'm breaking down all the pros & cons of living here..
You will be shocked by some of the cons.
Hi Everyone
I'm Alejandra Paladino your local Arizona real estate agent. My team and I are getting so many people calling who are relocating here and we absolutely love it! If you are thinking about moving or relocating here make sure you reach out. We are happy to help you
Moving here has been the absolute best decision for my family. The crazy thing is, before moving here I only came to visit once. So I had no idea if I was going to like living in the desert. Luckily I have fallen in love with it. I wanted to share with you all about living here so you can get more familiar with Arizona and decide if it's the right place for you to live.
The pros of living here absolutely outweigh the cons so I'm going to start with those!
Pros
1) Living in AZ can be good for your health
Living in AZ can be good for your health since its always warm and sunny. I helped a really nice lady move from Washington, she told me her body just felt better here in the warmth.
I've had friends that lived in Seattle and they would tell me it was depressing to live there since it's always raining and overcast. They would literally feel their mood impacted by the dreary weather. In AZ we have the opposite problem, it's sunny with blue skies almost every day of the year! I personally love that. I could not handle living somewhere cold and overcast most of the year. I enjoy that it's warm and sunny practically every day.
I meet many people who move here from colder states because they are tired of the harsh winters. I know I couldn't handle it! My parents used to live in Georgia and every time I would go visit over the holidays I felt as though my skin looked aged and older due to the cold harsh conditions. I'm so glad they are now retired in a warm climate area.
2) So many outdoor activities
There are so many outdoor activities. With our amazing weather it gives us the opportunity to do a variety of things.
For 9 months out of the year we have incredible weather where you just want to live outside and do as much as possible. Those months are from October to June. You will see kids playing outside, riding their bikes, going on walks. I absolutely love seeing families biking and spending time together outside. When I lived in California I did not see that as much.
Being active is a way of life here and you see people playing all kinds of sports, golf is a popular one. Arizona is known for having some of the best golf courses and every year is the popular Waste Management golf convention. Pickle ball is another sport that has gotten very popular. I'm lucky as the neighborhood that we moved into last year has a pickleball court.
There are many mountains nearby perfect for hiking and mountain biking. I live in QC and the San Tan Mountains are nearby and offer such a variety of hiking trails. You have the option to hike, run and I've even seen people mountain biking those same trails. I love that I can drive under 30 minutes and be at the mountain hiking.
A very popular activity in the desert is off roading. People have all kinds of toys to ride such as dirt bikes, quads, all terrain vehicles. My family and I are dreaming of buying a 4 seater all terrain vehicle. So we can go ride around together.
During the hotter months we stay cool at all the nearby lakes. It's incredible as there are 2 lakes within 30 minutes of where I live in QC. There are 8 lakes within a 3 hour drive of Phoenix.
My family and I love going boating. It's become our favorite activity and we try to go a few times a month. When you're on a boat you can wake board and water ski or just ride a fun pull toy!
Plus, I've seen people go kayaking, paddle boarding and fishing. There are some lakes that have areas that feel like a beach and I love going swimming there and pretending I'm at the beach.
Also, Arizona has tons of local parks from parks in your neighborhood to big community parks nearby. And those community parks have fun for the whole family from playgrounds, walking trails and some even have catch & release fishing ponds.
People ride motorcycles here practically year round so if you're into that you will enjoy riding here in the beautiful desert scenery. My husband loves going with a group of friends during the cooler 9 months of the year.
And when the weather cools down usually beginning in October we start having tons of local festivals. October is usually the best time of year as there are pumpkin patches all throughout to enjoy. There’s the Phoenix state fair & so many more fun events that start happening.
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3) The people are so friendly & community focused
Is the people. Moving here as a brand new mom and not knowing anyone was very scary! But we soon started meeting people in our neighborhood and everywhere we went.
Each house we have lived in we have met some of the nicest people who are so welcoming and eager to help out whenever you need.
The people here are very community oriented and most neighborhoods & local cities have fun events throughout the year. We live in QC which is a suburb of Phoenix and QC has some of the best local events!
Friday nights we enjoy going to food truck Friday and eating local unique meals.
4) Get to different climates easily
You can get to different climates easily. If you want to go somewhere with cooler weather you can easily drive up north. Within 2-3 hours you can get to Flagstaff, Payson or Pine. My family and I are going to spend Christmas this year in Flagstaff. My son has never seen snow so we reserved a cabin and hopefully it snows so we can have a white Christmas there.
My husband and I love going to Sedona. It’s about 2 to hour drive from Phoenix. We love going there to enjoy a nice weekend getaway just the two of us. Every time I’m there I’m blown away by the gorgeous scenery. The mountains are truly amazing and you never get tired of seeing them. Sedona is great for hiking, enjoying nature, shopping and just relaxing all around. This year we went for our anniversary and we enjoyed a special anniversary dinner by a creek. It was so amazing as the restaurant was outside and had several tables along the creek. It's such a magical experience and I highly recommend you try that out!
One of my favorite places to go when I feel like going to is Rocky Point in Mexico, in Spanish it's called Puerto Penasco. It's so close to Arizona as it's only a 4 hour drive. This is a popular beach and every time we go we meet so many people that live in Arizona that enjoy going there. Now that we have discovered Rocky Point we go a few times a year since it's so close and it's affordable to visit and enjoy.
Arizona is close to California so if you feel like visiting you can usually get there in 5 to 7 hours depending on where you're going.
5) Variety of areas to choose where you want to live
The variety of areas you can live in that can give you a metropolitan feel or a small town feel all within 45 minutes. For instance, Scottsdale is a very beautiful area to live in where you will have these beautiful higher end houses and some of the most amazing shopping and restaurants you can enjoy.
My family and I live in QC which is 45 minutes from Scottsdale. It's such a charming town, that gives you that small town feel. Both places are wonderful for raising kids as they have excellent schools, parks and many fun activities. But they offer you overall different living experiences. In QC we still see farms although many of them are being sold off and made into neighborhoods and shopping, but you still do see some. And while there are restaurants and so many activities to do, QC does not have that metropolitan feel like Scottsdale does.
Or if you want more the city life, Phoenix is popular. Central Phoenix has these beautiful historic streets lined with mature trees and these gorgeous historic homes reminds me of areas in California with the old beautiful houses. And there are many fun things to do nearby such as museums, art exhibits, live theater shows and of course a big variety restaurants.
6) Lower cost of living
Generally lower cost of living that other states. We have a much lower state income tax rate its around 3%. And our property taxes are usually lower than other states. On average it's .6% while the national average is around 1%. CA property taxes are around .73%. And Texas I believe has the highest with an average of 1.69%
I will say, the cost of living has increased over the past few years due to covid & all the people that have moved here from other states. My family and I still think its a lot more affordable to live here than in California. The house we live in would probably cost double if not more in California.
So while many locals complain about the higher cost of living for some of us it is still more affordable.
Cons
1) Too hot too long
A con is that it can be too hot for too long for some people. July through September are the 3 hottest months of the year and honestly by the time it's September you are over it! But I will say that these 3 months are a tradeoff for the 9 months of amazing weather!
Once it's October you start to feel the weather cool down and the fun outdoor activities begin. I'm not saying we don't go out during the 3 hot months but our activities change.
During those extra hot months you are either doing an indoor activity so you can enjoy nice air conditioning or you are doing a water activity. Many of us own houses with a pool or we try to live in neighborhoods that have a community pool. Or become friends with someone with a pool.
Also there are lots of local water activities you can enjoy. A popular thing for the kids here is a splash pad, some neighborhoods have them and many of the local community parks have them. Also there are these community pools in the cities that have a pool, splash pad and other fun water things for the kids to enjoy.
Plus, all the nearby lakes I mentioned earlier. A fun activity is going tubing down the salt river. Right now only kids 8 and over can go. But we figured out a way to take our son when he was too young. You basically need 2 cars and one is parked by where the river ends and the other one drives everyone to where the river starts. This is a good way to go tubing and save money. Only thing you are paying for is the initial tube which you can easily buy on Amazon and parking.
2) Too dusty
Depending on where you live it can be rather dusty.
I live in QC with my family and there are still fields and farm land around and when a dust storm blows through, my backyard including pool have a layer of brown dust everywhere. This year in particular it has been several times a week during monsoon season. The beautiful rain & monsoons that blow in are truly magical to watch but often times a dust storm blows in first.
But if you live somewhere north like Payson or Show Low where there are more pine trees and grass you don't experience all of the dustiness that we do.
I find that dust storms are generally blow through between Phoenix and Tucson and not up north areas.
3) Lack of seasons
There is basically hot weather and cooler temperature. There is not 4 seasons here. If you have heavy winter clothes you will probably never wear them again. Unless you're like me and need a big heavy jacket for when it's below 70 degrees! I do not like the cold so if it gets cooler then that I am a wussy and need my warm clothes!
I hope you enjoyed learning all about Arizona and the pros and cons of living here. We love living here and I hope this provided you with more information so you can imagine yourself living here.
If you are curious on making a move, reach out my team and I would love to help you!
