Thinking About Moving to AZ Sometime.....Need Info

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

OK, I've had just about enough of Oregon's famously soggy springs (not to mention autumns and winters)........I love our summers here, and the scenery is gorgeous year-round, but every year I hate the damp and the cold and the gloom just a little bit more, and my DH and I have begun talking about moving someplace warmer at some point in the not-too-terribly-distant future.

We're originally from the San Diego area, but we don't want to go back there for a number of reasons, not the least of which are the cost of living and the overcrowding. We're both intrigued with the idea of moving to Arizona, although we're not nearly as certain which part we want to live in (the Sedona area sounds nice, but again, we want to be where it's warm and sunny most, if not all of the time). I'd like some information from AZ nurses as to the best places to live and work, what the salary ranges are for experienced nurses (I'm a certified Med/Surg RN) and a general idea of the cost of living (we'll want to rent a house with at least 2-3 BR and 2 BA).

Some other things I need to know are if there any particular health care companies with good reputations, and which ones I should avoid. Are there any electronics manufacturing companies located in your state, and where are they? What do you like, or not like, about where you live and/or work? Are the job prospects good, fair, or poor for RNs, especially older ones who may not want to work full-time? And if you came from someplace else, would you still move to AZ again if you had the chance?

Any help you can give me would be much appreciated. I don't see us doing this much sooner than four or five years from now when our youngest graduates from high school, but then, I may just get fed up with the emotional and physical lows that hit me every single autumn and last until the temps rise into the 70s again late in the spring......maybe we'll just pull up roots and GO one of these years. :)

Thanks!

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Lots of jobs in Arizona if you can stand the summers- no jobs in Sedona unless you do home health care

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I feel for ya in that soggy rain. I moved to Phoenix from Vancouver, B.C., tired of the rain too. I lived here for a year, worked in the Middle East for a year then came back here. I really like the hospital i worked for and really like Phoenix. Lots of jobs here! Med/Surg nurses desperately needed.

I found the cost of living here much less than i did in Vancouver. I was paying the same rent for bachelor apt. in North Van with no ammenities compared to my one bedroom now with 2 pools, 2 hot tubs, weight room etc.

I enjoy the weather here most of the time and ride my bike to work.

The big Con about Phoenix is the 90 days that you have to get through in the summer (mid June to mid Sept). Thats when i find it really hot. I just set my mind that i get throught those 90 days and the rest of the year is perfect weather.

My hospital is called Banner Good Samaritan and is one of the larger hospitals in Phoenix and has a trauma center. There are several Banner owned facilities throughout Phoenix - our latest one that opened this year has all private rooms with flat screen TVs and Internet. Its called Banner Estrella. More info about our hospitals at www.bannerhealth.com.

My BF is an RT at the VA hospital - he enjoys that as well as he likes the teaching hospital experience with the govt bennies.

We will soon buy a house here where we will be close to both our hospitals.

PM me if you have any specific questions.:)

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
I feel for ya in that soggy rain. I moved to Phoenix from Vancouver, B.C., tired of the rain too. I lived here for a year, worked in the Middle East for a year then came back here. I really like the hospital i worked for and really like Phoenix. Lots of jobs here! Med/Surg nurses desperately needed.

I found the cost of living here much less than i did in Vancouver. I was paying the same rent for bachelor apt. in North Van with no ammenities compared to my one bedroom now with 2 pools, 2 hot tubs, weight room etc.

I enjoy the weather here most of the time and ride my bike to work.

The big Con about Phoenix is the 90 days that you have to get through in the summer (mid June to mid Sept). Thats when i find it really hot. I just set my mind that i get throught those 90 days and the rest of the year is perfect weather.

My hospital is called Banner Good Samaritan and is one of the larger hospitals in Phoenix and has a trauma center. There are several Banner owned facilities throughout Phoenix - our latest one that opened this year has all private rooms with flat screen TVs and Internet. Its called Banner Estrella. More info about our hospitals at www.bannerhealth.com.

My BF is an RT at the VA hospital - he enjoys that as well as he likes the teaching hospital experience with the govt bennies.

We will soon buy a house here where we will be close to both our hospitals.

PM me if you have any specific questions.:)

Thanks! I'll definitely check that out........I've been to Phoenix in the summer, and while I'm not really crazy about the 110+ degree temps, it IS a dry heat, and there's always air-conditioning :) I'm the lizard type anyway, I generally don't lose my happy thoughts until the temp goes over 95, and even then I can cope better with heat than the cold and damp.

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Marla,

Check out Tucson area.............slightly cooler in the summer, much less traffic, more of the small town feeling, and some wonderful hospitals. Love the University of Tucson...............

Traffic in Phoenix has become unbelievable, lived there for 14 years, was back there a few months ago for a few weeks, then to pick up the rest of my things in storage, and there were car accidents all over. Traffic was a parking lot on the 101.........commutes that become so long are no fun...think LA traffic jams. Did a travel assignment in Tucson and just loved everything about it..............plus plenty of agency jobs if you do not want to deal with the full time thing anymore......... :)

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Specializes in NICU.

Ohhhh Marla is a comin' to AZ!?! :)

Well I don't have much info on which hospitals to work at .... I haven't worked at one (yet! ..... planning to find a job there this summer!), although I was born at Desert Sam! Anyway, I've heard all kinds of great things about Banner, like Lynn suggested, that'd be a great place to start looking. They've got tons of big hospitals all over the valley.

Oh, and while Sedona is a GREAT place to visit ..... not sure about living there, some crazies up there :)

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Time for a reality check from someone that recently lived in both Phx and Tucson...

University of Tucson? Actually, it's called the University of Arizona.

Better traffic in Tucson? Better keep looking, as the Tucson traffic was designed (term loosely used) by a engineering team out of Podunk, USA. One meandering freeway attempts to support Tucson communities from all directions of the city as well as semi trucks and trailer just passing passing though. From 1995 to 2000 I commuted from the NE Tucson foothills to the airport (17 miles) and it took 45 minutes each way. I moved from San Diego to Tucson and I can tell you those 17 miles of stop/go traffic lights were miserable.

Small town feel? It hasn't been that way in any of that last 10 years. The quality of life was nice, but now even the once nice quiet smaller NW areas like Oro Valley are congested.

Before you commit to a city it would be wise to take a trip to see for yourself. Tucson isn't the Tucson of old.

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Specializes in NICU.
From 1995 to 2000 I commuted from the NE Tucson foothills to the airport (17 miles) and it took 45 minutes each way. I moved from San Diego to Tucson and I can tell you those 17 miles of stop/go traffic lights were miserable.

That was always my experience in Tucson too. I drive from Tucson to Phx, Phx to Tucson quite a bit because I drive to AZ from TX and then back again. We always make sure we leave at a time so we'll miss the Tucson rush hour because there is NO WAY to avoid it ..... there's no way around it. And the roads never made sense there either. At least in Phx you can't really get lost .... the roads make sense, well to me they do :)

Although I do admit that the lights of Tucson are better than Phx. Phx will eventually change over to the better lighting like Tucson has ... just takes lots of time.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Thanks, you guys. I haven't been to Arizona for many years, and what I remember of it was wonderful, although I'm sure all the old people from the frozen North (and soppy Northwest) are already there, contributing to the traffic and the rising cost of living. :chuckle Being from San Diego originally, and having navigated L.A. traffic many, many times, I can't say I'm impressed with Portland's traffic jams, which many Oregonians complain about all the time......do you think Tucson's or Phoenix's traffic is worse?

Frankly, I don't want to live IN the city, anywhere.....I want to live on the outskirts, or near a small city (60,000 or less population). Tucson sounds pretty good, weatherwise and otherwise; I like northern Arizona for the scenery, but I'm not moving 1200 miles away from everything I know to go through more cold and wet winters. I want SUN, I want WARMTH, yet I also want to be able to afford to live in relative comfort (which is why we're not considering returning to southern California, or going to Hawaii or Florida). I've contacted the state BON for info regarding licensure, and they tell me I can apply for licensing by endorsement........sounds pretty easy, and since my certification is from AMSN, that won't be affected by the move to another state.

Sheesh, I'm talking like I'm going to do this next week........we've promised ourselves to wait until our last child is out of high school, and I'm sure that when our grandson arrives we'll be less enthusiastic about moving away. But the more I think about it, the more I want to do it.......we do need to come down and visit first, although we moved to Oregon sight unseen 18 years ago, and after some initial problems adjusting, we did just fine (but that was when we were young, poor, and desperate for a chance at a new life, not old and settled like we are now).

In the meantime, I'm doing a lot of online research, and maybe, if we still want to do this thing in another year or two, we'll just drag the boys with us and go for it. I'm not sure I've got another four or five wet, gloomy, gloppy winters left in me......... :uhoh21:

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Specializes in CCU (Coronary Care); Clinical Research.

Marla...as an Oregonian myself, here is my advice from visiting the state...

DON'T DRINK THE WATER!!

(i'm going to be a water snob, our water is way better)...ick. :chuckle

But I do wish you luck in your decision to move.

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.
Marla...as an Oregonian myself, here is my advice from visiting the state...

DON'T DRINK THE WATER!!

(i'm going to be a water snob, our water is way better)...ick. :chuckle

But I do wish you luck in your decision to move.

You gotta be kidding.......I don't know how water can taste much nastier than Albany's, which has more crap in it than you can shake a stick at and is probably at least partially responsible for my DH's and my kidney stones. Of course, there IS sulphur water, which I took a sip of some 40 years ago at my grandfather's campsite in Nevada and have never forgotten either the taste OR the smell.......YEEEEECCCCCCCCHHHHHH.

Speaking of water, a couple of people have recommended drinking only bottled or distilled H20, both for the taste and the lack of stone-causing chemicals.......we just may have to start doing that, whether we move out of state or not. Bleah. :no:

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Time for a reality check from someone that recently lived in both Phx and Tucson...

University of Tucson? Actually, it's called the University of Arizona.

Better traffic in Tucson? Better keep looking, as the Tucson traffic was designed (term loosely used) by a engineering team out of Podunk, USA. One meandering freeway attempts to support Tucson communities from all directions of the city as well as semi trucks and trailer just passing passing though. From 1995 to 2000 I commuted from the NE Tucson foothills to the airport (17 miles) and it took 45 minutes each way. I moved from San Diego to Tucson and I can tell you those 17 miles of stop/go traffic lights were miserable.

Small town feel? It hasn't been that way in any of that last 10 years. The quality of life was nice, but now even the once nice quiet smaller NW areas like Oro Valley are congested.

Before you commit to a city it would be wise to take a trip to see for yourself. Tucson isn't the Tucson of old.

Sorry that I used a Freudian slip................actually worked there several months ago...................much smaller feeling than Phoenix...........

I remember Phoenix when it had a small town feel and very few freeways....

Pima Rd was the outskirts of town..........Beeline Highway was the only wat to get across to anywhere......................

And the water is dreadful to drink from any tap there, either city........ :o

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