starting a new career at phoenix arizona

Lexingtonbred · Feb 21, 2006

you wanted to know about the city of phoenix. there are alot of sub cities in the phoenix area including Mesa, Scottsdale, Tempe, Gilbert, Chandler to name a few.

Housing priced in Phoenix, I think, have finally reached the ceiling. Mean average price is around 250,000 and you don't get alot for the money on new homes. However, you will get better re-sales for the same money. Watch the neighborhoods.

Phoenix has a pretty high crime rate as do all southwest cities. Is comparable to Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Phoenix rates about 3rd, according to my last research in car thefts and high insurance rates.

the morning commute is pretty bad on the freeways, IE: 25 miles about 45 minutes on the freeway to work. Stop and go about 10mph sometimes. I did a fair amount of commuting in Phoenix and could never really find a way around the freeways.

Now for the good parts. There is LOTS OF WORK for nurses in Phoenix. If you are ready and get a year or so under your belt, you will be able to work at more than one hospital if you choose. There are many GOOD neighborhoods in the area, you just have to look. Almost every neighborhood is self contained, meaning shopping, grocery, etc probably less than 5 miles from any given house. The weather is great. Even though the summers are hot, if, you go from your airconditioned house to your airconditioned car to your air conditioned job. There is really not that much time exposed to the elements if you choose not to be. I find that the evenings are great for walking the dog, hanging out, etc.. Mornings are great too. there is a lot of "culture" there, concerts, art exhibits and the community I think, is very family oriented.

Food and utilities are probably higher than in other areas of the country.

AT 24/hr you will be about 50,000 a year. Thats okay, but you will probably need another income to be able to save money and juggle a mortgage. If you want to know about what it will cost to live in a city, check out the rental market first, it will give you a good idea what people are paying for housing.

Go to any chamber of commerce site for the city you are interested in and it will give you demographics, etc.

Hope this is helpful, and good luck!

bettyboop · Feb 21, 2006

Lexington

Thank you so much for the information it is much appreciated, as you may gather there are several nurses coming to Phoenix Arizona to work and live and this information is excellent.

Again thank you

GilbertDaddy · Mar 6, 2006

Hello!

Also another guy here going to school, currently just working on pre-reqs :)

While the home prices have climbed, they'll be coming back down or at least adjusting a little. More new home offices are NOT filling homes at the rate they used to and now sellers are being FORCED to offer concessions when selling due to the market changing to become more buyer oriented.

I make around what you were offered (currently in IT) and being the sole provider a family of 4, we live ok. Homes in new home areas are being rented for AWESOME prices and it's a great way to see what's out there. Buying at this point in time will mean you'll be stuck somewhere for a while. I'd advise renting for now until you know where you want to stay. Plenty of 3bd/2ba brand new homes going for under 900/month.

I live in Gilbert, but commute to central phx and it's not too bad since we have the new 202 out here. However it still takes a good 45 mins each way.

Just some perspective, hope it helps :)

GilbertDaddy · Mar 6, 2006

Also, I'd like to point out once more that you should look into rental homes rather than apartments. Having lived in apartments all over the mesa area where I grew up, it was kind of dissapointing how many times we had car break-ins at nights and even an occasional random gunshot off in the distance (when closer to MCC in west mesa), etc.

When we moved to the outskirts (well sort of, we're just down the road from the new mercy hospital opening soon), we were astounded at how easy life was out here. When you pay 800/mo for a 2bd apartment and hoping your car doesn't get busted into each night, you start wondering why you didn't pay a couple bucks more a day to get into a new home where you can park in a garage, etc.

AZ is a wonderful place but as the population grows, so does the crime as someone else pointed out. However, the highways and streets are of MUCH higher quality than you'd find most anywhere else (at least LA and the outskirts like the 215/10/etc).

bettyboop · Mar 6, 2006

We decided a long time ago that rather than an apartment we would rent a house, possibly in Gilbert, Anthem or some other suburb of Phoenix.

The company I'm going with keep trying to push us into an apartment but with two older children have stood my ground and insisted we want a house to rent.

Gilberdaddy have you any idea when the hospital is opening near you and what kind of hospital it will be? it will be interesting to find out.

GilbertDaddy · Mar 6, 2006

I believe it's going to be Gilbert Mercy Hospital? Beyond that, I'm not entirely sure other than that Chandler Regional is handling most of the HR for now (last I heard).

I have 2 lil ones as well and in an apartment there were just too many "undesirable" folk for me to feel safe even letting my kids play with the other children. One day, this 3 year old gets her arm stuck in a NAIL sticking otu of a stucco wall!! Her mom YELLS at her when she does this too (she was watching her "shows"). No thank you.

We've been so happy with our house. The children around here are raised by parents who are also working hard to afford things like a bigger backyard for theri children, etc. The quality of life is MUCH higher. Primarily because in homes, you don't have a lot of single folks but instead of tons of families, often with kids around the ages of your lil angels :)

I think there is a thread in the Arizona Nurses forum regarding the new hospital, you might want to give it a look :)

We decided a long time ago that rather than an apartment we would rent a house, possibly in Gilbert, Anthem or some other suburb of Phoenix.
The company I'm going with keep trying to push us into an apartment but with two older children have stood my ground and insisted we want a house to rent.
Gilberdaddy have you any idea when the hospital is opening near you and what kind of hospital it will be? it will be interesting to find out.

bettyboop · Mar 6, 2006

Thanks gilbertdaddy will check the post out.

Wow poor child, I agree I want my daughters to feel secure were they live, also want some were I can relax in my home not worrying about who is hanging around the neighborhood or whether my girls are going to get impaled on nails etc.

GilbertDaddy · Mar 6, 2006

It's an extreme example for sure, but that was at Chandler Place on McQueen and Warner. We moved about 10 miles south/east and for 150/month more we got 2 more bedrooms, and over a thousand square feet. Not to mention a garage and backyard :)

I can't afford to buy like I'd like to right now, but when I hear my daughter talk about how much she loves her "brand new house" (though we're on our second year in it now), it just makes me happy. The stress was so high in our apartment that the kids just didn't get the love they deserved. It's amazing what claustraphobia will do to you.

Oh, and for anyone who'll say otherwise, I'll sell ya on a house in 4 words:

GARAGES IN THE SUMMER

You could bake a ham in the backseat with how hot some of our cars get during the summer when sitting outside - yikes!!

Calzonan RN · Mar 6, 2006

The Gilbert hospital is part of Catholic Healthcare West, you can go to their website and find some info on it. It's due to open in June. It's starting out a little small (I've heard only 6 L&D rooms, from someone who works for CHW and is a NICU nurse) but they've already got plans for expansion. It's supposed to be state of the art, all the new gadgets etc that you'd ever want. CHW is a great place to work, according to the people I know who work there, and it's in a great area!!! I can't wait for it to open, right now I'm in NS, but CHW takes externs after block I is complete so I can start externing there right when they open.

Bettyboop- Word of advice...stay away from Anthem. It is a beautiful area but it's impossible to get into and out of. The only way in is I-17 and you wouldn't believe the number of times they just shut the highway down, due to an accident or whatever, and then how do you get home? They really could have planned that area better. I would definitely stay around Gilbert. The school system is rated #2 in the county, there building tons of new hospitals here (there's a Banner hospital going up at Higley and Baseline) and they're opening up all sorts of new freeways around here. Housing is less than other places in the city, and you still have that country feeling, lots of houses still have acreage and horses. Anywhere you go in this city though, you'll find construction on the roads. Problem is you never see anyone WORKING on the roads, they just close them or divert down to one lane each way. That's probably the only bad part of living in Gilbert (but you find it in all the other cities as well).

Good luck in your move,

Keli

GilbertDaddy · Mar 6, 2006

Hah!

You notice that too eh?

Keli is 100% right on Anthem. There have been a few articles in the paper saying that with all of the growth out there and lack of roads/freeways that folks are fed up and actually almost willing to have their taxes raised so the state can budget some quick repairs that aren't slated for a few more years.

There really is no way in/out other than the I17 from what I've seen. It's a beautiful oasis, just not if you have to commute from it

That's awesome that they're opening another banner out here! I figured when applying out of NS I'd go to Baywood or Desert but now there's something a bit closer to home :)

egroeg_kyut · Mar 8, 2006

hey guys, i think i have to move to arizona. i am still waiting for the placement spot details. are you already in arizona? where are you staying? thats the only thing im worried about, where i am going to stay. i hope i can find a place thats just minutes or a walking distance from the facility. im worried, i dont have any relatives or anyone i know in arizona....

bettyboop · Mar 8, 2006

calzonan I know someone who lives in Anthem and has been involved in an RTA on I-17 so I see what you mean, Gilbert is an area we are very interested in so we will look into the area more closely.

Thankyou