I read your comments to me about Arizona. I need to hear all the reasons why I will love it there. We are most likely relocating to Scottsdale. My brother lives there and I have been there several times but living out there is another thing. I hope we can handle the heat in the summer. However, I could care less if I ever see another snowfake again. My 7 year old hates hot weather ( maybe she wouldn't mind it without the humidity we have here). If there were decent shade trees, that would make me happier. I would love to ditch all the snow gear.}(
Bobbi
- Thread starter fab40
- Start date
Bobbi
Cathlete
Hi, Fab. I don't miss snowflakes at all and if I should yearn for them, I can remember that amazing white Chirstmas and a very snowy Easter which hit Tucson while I have been here. It doesn't happen often so it is delightful. Two weeks ago IN MAY which is when we typically hit "the Century Mark", which is to say it goes over 100, we actually broke records. It was 109 for a few days but the following week, down came the temps into the nineties and as you've no doubt heard, it's a dry heat. With humidity in the typically 10-13% percent range, those high temperatures just don't feel as heavy and unbearable as heat and humidity.
When you look for a house, look for "dual cooling". We use our AC, yes, particularly in July and August, the monsoon season but there's a nifty thing called evaporative cooling which is simple and inexpensive and works very well when it's hot and dry. It's a pump and a giant fan which pushes hydrated air into the house and keeps things cool when it's hot outside. In July, the days start out sunny and it clouds up and usually (and hopefully) rains. Then the AC comes on and the price of cool goes up but it only lasts into August so it's tolerable. Resturants, theatres, malls all super cooled. I usually take a sweater even in summer. I think they over compensate for the heat myself.
Access to a pool is great as well. We live across the street from the community pool and it's a wonderful thing for the kids but I do just fine going rarely. My house is older. The newer ones are more efficient at heating and cooling I am sure.
It can be pretty hot from May into November but from November to May, it's so beautiful, you'll know why we can tolerate the Big Heat of summer when it comes. I'll take it over cold and snow in a big way. We average 350 days of sunshine and the Phoenix and Scottsdale areas are remarkably green and lovely. I live in Tucson which is much less of a metropolis but it's growing like crazy. It was an adujustment coming from Michigan. I missed oak trees but mostly I missed my mother. LOL! The desert has grown on me and it's really very beautiful once you are used to it. The sunsets are breathtaking and I particularly love mornings, especially summerr mornings. And it does get so that it's never really cool outside, even at first light but it's not that long before it is. It can be a treacherous but I have no doubt you are aware of staying hydrated and it's most simple to stay in during the hottest part of the day but even that's not necessary. My car has a freezingly cold AC unit and I was out and about with teenagers mid-day yesterday and it was very nice. May through August are the hottest months and it starts cooling down in September, sometimes into Ocotober. I have learned not to carve Halloween pumpkins too early because they shrivel but much of that is the endless sunshine and I go for endless sunshine in a big way. In fall, with no marked change of seasons, the days can be hot but the afternoons into the evening cool off. We spend certain times of the year layering, waking up to quite fresh mornings and going into cool evening with a fairly warm day. I send Sam off with a short sleeved shirt, a long sleeved shirt and sometimes a jacket and he peels them off as the day progresses.
A few days ago we had a very unusual rainstorm blow through. In May! It's usually dry as a bone. We went from 109 (the previous record was 104 in 1989) to the eighties and it was gorgeous. It still is although we are climbing again. The temps have remained very friendly. Those record breaking summers are the exception and most of the people I know are adult transplants who all seem to love it as much as I do. I have a neighbor from Louisiana who is an exception but I don't quite understand her aversion to the heat since she grew up in a muggy hot clime and Arizona just can't compare. I'd whither away in the Bayou. The thermometer might read 105 but it'll say "feels like" 100 and that may sound dreadul but with low humidity, it's not. Our bodies are very efficient at cooling us down since sweat evaporates so easily in the dryness and drinking cool drinks, wearing sun protection become second nature.
Scottsdale and Phoenix run a few degrees warmer than Tucson since we sit in a valley surrounded by mountains. They are also more manicured and there's defintely greater cultural offerings to be had.
Are you going to come and visit before you relocate? It may come as a bit of a cultural shock to you but I have been here for 20 years in November and I never want to leave. I used to think it would be peachy to live half the year here and half the year somewhere like Washington state where it's rainy a lot, but not any longer. Two or three cloudy days and I am mournful for the sun. I hope you fall in love with it as I did. When I think of scraping windshields, warming up cars, driving in snow and ice, freezing my behind off, etc.... It doesn't have the same effect as thinking about dealing with summer here and it's been a long while since I have done that kind of winter. Though I haven't experienced much of that lo these many years and I still shudder at the thought of winters like that but summers here really aren't all that bad. Who doesn't talk about the weather? We complain because complaining about the heat goes with he territory. I manage to be cold quite a lot all year round. It's just about 9:00 AM; it's 73 degrees with a forecast of 94 and I am feeling chilly and I have yet to drink anything on ice. I think you will love it!
Long-winded, aren't I?
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"
Tell me, what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Olivert
When you look for a house, look for "dual cooling". We use our AC, yes, particularly in July and August, the monsoon season but there's a nifty thing called evaporative cooling which is simple and inexpensive and works very well when it's hot and dry. It's a pump and a giant fan which pushes hydrated air into the house and keeps things cool when it's hot outside. In July, the days start out sunny and it clouds up and usually (and hopefully) rains. Then the AC comes on and the price of cool goes up but it only lasts into August so it's tolerable. Resturants, theatres, malls all super cooled. I usually take a sweater even in summer. I think they over compensate for the heat myself.
Access to a pool is great as well. We live across the street from the community pool and it's a wonderful thing for the kids but I do just fine going rarely. My house is older. The newer ones are more efficient at heating and cooling I am sure.It can be pretty hot from May into November but from November to May, it's so beautiful, you'll know why we can tolerate the Big Heat of summer when it comes. I'll take it over cold and snow in a big way. We average 350 days of sunshine and the Phoenix and Scottsdale areas are remarkably green and lovely. I live in Tucson which is much less of a metropolis but it's growing like crazy. It was an adujustment coming from Michigan. I missed oak trees but mostly I missed my mother. LOL! The desert has grown on me and it's really very beautiful once you are used to it. The sunsets are breathtaking and I particularly love mornings, especially summerr mornings. And it does get so that it's never really cool outside, even at first light but it's not that long before it is. It can be a treacherous but I have no doubt you are aware of staying hydrated and it's most simple to stay in during the hottest part of the day but even that's not necessary. My car has a freezingly cold AC unit and I was out and about with teenagers mid-day yesterday and it was very nice. May through August are the hottest months and it starts cooling down in September, sometimes into Ocotober. I have learned not to carve Halloween pumpkins too early because they shrivel but much of that is the endless sunshine and I go for endless sunshine in a big way. In fall, with no marked change of seasons, the days can be hot but the afternoons into the evening cool off. We spend certain times of the year layering, waking up to quite fresh mornings and going into cool evening with a fairly warm day. I send Sam off with a short sleeved shirt, a long sleeved shirt and sometimes a jacket and he peels them off as the day progresses.
A few days ago we had a very unusual rainstorm blow through. In May!
It's usually dry as a bone. We went from 109 (the previous record was 104 in 1989) to the eighties and it was gorgeous. It still is although we are climbing again. The temps have remained very friendly. Those record breaking summers are the exception and most of the people I know are adult transplants who all seem to love it as much as I do. I have a neighbor from Louisiana who is an exception but I don't quite understand her aversion to the heat since she grew up in a muggy hot clime and Arizona just can't compare. I'd whither away in the Bayou. The thermometer might read 105 but it'll say "feels like" 100 and that may sound dreadul but with low humidity, it's not. Our bodies are very efficient at cooling us down since sweat evaporates so easily in the dryness and drinking cool drinks, wearing sun protection become second nature. Scottsdale and Phoenix run a few degrees warmer than Tucson since we sit in a valley surrounded by mountains. They are also more manicured and there's defintely greater cultural offerings to be had.
Are you going to come and visit before you relocate? It may come as a bit of a cultural shock to you but I have been here for 20 years in November and I never want to leave. I used to think it would be peachy to live half the year here and half the year somewhere like Washington state where it's rainy a lot, but not any longer. Two or three cloudy days and I am mournful for the sun. I hope you fall in love with it as I did. When I think of scraping windshields, warming up cars, driving in snow and ice, freezing my behind off, etc.... It doesn't have the same effect as thinking about dealing with summer here and it's been a long while since I have done that kind of winter. Though I haven't experienced much of that lo these many years and I still shudder at the thought of winters like that but summers here really aren't all that bad. Who doesn't talk about the weather? We complain because complaining about the heat goes with he territory. I manage to be cold quite a lot all year round. It's just about 9:00 AM; it's 73 degrees with a forecast of 94 and I am feeling chilly and I have yet to drink anything on ice. I think you will love it!
Long-winded, aren't I?
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"
Tell me, what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Olivert
Thanks! I guess I need to be more positive. I will miss my big yard and beautiful trees and neighbors far enough away that they can't see into your house. We should find out this week if we move. It might be a good omen. I am losing my job June 30th. (lack of funds), my husband is being offered a better position and more money. Our concern is living comfortably as we do now (as I won't be working for awhile). Housing is quite expensive for what you get compared to here. I always believe things happen for a reason. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.
Hey fab40! Good luck! Let us know when you find out if you're going to move or not!! I sometimes wish for a reason to have to move somewhere new - although if it happened I probably would be as reluctant as you. Keep up the great attitude of everything happens for a reason!! Maybe it'll turn out that you love Arizona as much as Bobbi now does, and will look back and never could imagine how you were worried about the move! I wish you the best of luck!
Bobbi
Cathlete
Tucson cost of living is better than Scottsdale although the boom in building and the growth is changing that rapidly. Our house has more than doubled in value and we have so many new neighbors in brand new houses it's unbelievable. Scottsdale is rather upscale. The Phoenix/Scottsdale Metro area is huge compared to Tucson.
I grew up on three and half wooded acres in Michigan and the endless blue sky was a bit to get used to at first, although, in winter, it's heaven. Now I have a wonderful mesquite tree, not as impressive as an oak but it'll do. And there are alot of Eucalyptus trees which grow very tall here. Palms and cyprus seem more exotic at first but become old hat. There are fewer bugs but an enormous spider comes out to say hello every now and again and we had a 5 foot rattlesnake in the back yard. Still that's a treat, at least for me. A friend jokes that everything is prickly and it's true. Mesquite trees aren't great for climbing; they have thorns but the kids manage. We ignore the puncture marks. Just kidding. I have a mature yard that gives me shade but it took some work getting that. We have rocks for a lawn and I like a low care, desert friendly terrain. I cooked my roses very nicely so I took them out. They required too much water for an eco nut like me. But some neighbors do quite well with flowery colorful lawns. And the wild flowers the desert produces are exquisite and many people have yards that abound with them during the Spring. It's very foreign at first but it's quite remarkable in it's own way. I have had a bobcat sit on my fence and we still see coyotes and javalinas although the loss of habitat is taking it's toll. Northern Arizona is gorgeous and it's only a drive away and there's always a visit to California or back to see mom in Michigan. I find the desert facinating. It's cool in the OTHER way. The silver lining is definitely never fighting the freezing cold or icy roads or even owning heavy clothing. The little we do own does not wear out quickly.
Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"
Tell me, what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Oliver
I grew up on three and half wooded acres in Michigan and the endless blue sky was a bit to get used to at first, although, in winter, it's heaven. Now I have a wonderful mesquite tree, not as impressive as an oak but it'll do. And there are alot of Eucalyptus trees which grow very tall here. Palms and cyprus seem more exotic at first but become old hat. There are fewer bugs but an enormous spider comes out to say hello every now and again and we had a 5 foot rattlesnake in the back yard. Still that's a treat, at least for me.
A friend jokes that everything is prickly and it's true. Mesquite trees aren't great for climbing; they have thorns but the kids manage. We ignore the puncture marks. Just kidding. I have a mature yard that gives me shade but it took some work getting that. We have rocks for a lawn and I like a low care, desert friendly terrain. I cooked my roses very nicely so I took them out. They required too much water for an eco nut like me. But some neighbors do quite well with flowery colorful lawns. And the wild flowers the desert produces are exquisite and many people have yards that abound with them during the Spring. It's very foreign at first but it's quite remarkable in it's own way. I have had a bobcat sit on my fence and we still see coyotes and javalinas although the loss of habitat is taking it's toll. Northern Arizona is gorgeous and it's only a drive away and there's always a visit to California or back to see mom in Michigan. I find the desert facinating. It's cool in the OTHER way. The silver lining is definitely never fighting the freezing cold or icy roads or even owning heavy clothing. The little we do own does not wear out quickly. Bobbi http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/chicken.gif "Chick's rule!"
Tell me, what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life? -Mary Oliver