What's it like living in Arizona

LYNNORA · Jan 23, 2005

Love it here. Very affordable on a single salary. I am from Canada and i really like working and living here. It was 80 degrees this week and i am walking around in shorts and t-shirt in January. I live in Phoenix so I can't tell you much about Tucson personally but friends that i have liked their travel assingnments at the Universtity hospital there. PM me if you want more details or info about the hospital i work for.

saskrn · Jan 23, 2005

I am thinking about relocating and really need some information for those of you who live in Arizona, what do you like/dislike about it. Is is affordable on a single salary. I was thinking about the Tucson area. Any information would be helpful.

I did a couple of travel contracts in Tucson, and overall thought it was a decent city with a little bit of character. Night time was my favorite because the stars seemed so clear and it cooled off a bit, but didn't really care for the daytime. It was too hot and everything was brown. I desperately missed grass! I found Phoenix just to be a whole lot of cement that never cooled down.

I have personally experienced sabatoge by some nurses at UMC and would never recommend that anyone work there. I have not heard anything overly negative about the other facilities in the city. Carondolet has a good reputation, as does NW, TMC and the heart hospital. Eldorado used to be a HCA facility - I don't know if that matters to you or not or if it still is.

I never found the cost of living to be unreasonable. You can find some decent apartments like The Legends at La Paloma for an ok price.

I think the worst part was the heat. I am from Canada, spent 8 years in the USA, and could never get used to the heat!

PhoenixGirl · Jan 23, 2005

I live in Phoenix, been here almost 3 years now, and really love it. But I went to high school here in az (in another city) so I'm used to the weather and scenery. My husband and I were in CT for 2 years before we moved here and we just love it here so much better than New England.

For us, there is always something to do in this city. We have 2 young boys, so in the summer we have season passes to the waterparks, plus there is tempe town lake, the city has lots of cool festivals and things to do. We also own a boat and go out to Lake Pleasant all the time, especially when it's warm. In the winter it doesn't get unbearably cold, I love that. I checked the weather report today it is going to be 75 and we are taking the boys out to lunch, while some of my northerner friends are stuck in their houses due to snow storms!

I also love the community college system in this city. That is where I'm currently going to school, using their system and supposedly it is highly organized. The hospitals pay good here, a new one just opened up in the west valley, and ASU is getting a medical center within the next few years so that is going to just mean even more jobs, opportunity, and education. The COL is great here. We built a brand new house 2 years ago in a growing area, 2300 sq ft, pergo flooring, corian countertops, tons of upgrades and it cost us 161K. My house will sell for 40K more than that now, although we ain't sellin! :)

ayndim · Jan 23, 2005

I am thinking about relocating and really need some information for those of you who live in Arizona, what do you like/dislike about it. Is is affordable on a single salary. I was thinking about the Tucson area. Any information would be helpful.

It is affordable but unless you love the heat you will hate it hear. Personally, I like snow and hate weather that gets above 80. But we stay because it is so affordable and allows me to be a SAHM. However, after I get my RN we outta here! Winter seems to last all of a day or two for me. And summer drags on. And we get very little rain.

The area I live in is a little nicer than central Phoenix, imo. We are about 45 mins away. We live right next to the White Tank Mountains. Makes for a pretty view in the am. Not real familiar with Tucson, except that the weather is similar.

renerian, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2005

Heat sounds pretty good to me right now/buried in snow.

renerian

ayndim · Jan 23, 2005

Heat sounds pretty good to me right now/buried in snow.
renerian

Wanna trade?

jnette, ASN, EMT-I · Jan 23, 2005

Tucson is indeed a lovely little city. It is also about ten degrees cooler than Phoenix, which helps. And Mt. Lemon is just a short drive up into clear, cool temps.. gorgeous scenery and lots of recreation.. hiking/camping, etc. up there ..going from cacti to pinetrees, and a drop of about 40 degrees in temperature in a matter of less than 45 minutes. Sabino Canyon is another great place to get away.

Tucson is a neat University town.. lots to see and do, yet not overwhelming like Phoenix. The traffic is FAR more bearable as well !

ayndim.. I've hiked in the White Tank Mts.... and know Surprise quite well.. you're only minutes from where my mom lives in SCW. :)

But even there, the traffic is horrendous.. and getting worse. Before long, Phoenix will have swallowed up that whole area as well. What a shame.

PhoenixGirl · Jan 23, 2005

Yes, it is definitely hot here and if you don't like heat it will make you miserable. I find that Tucson gets a lot more rain in the summertime, and it is much cooler than Phoenix. My parents live in Sierra Vista, the weather is beautiful and it monsoons a lot, plus it's a small town. I hear their hospital pays very well too. I will never move back though, because I like a big town.

Tucson is a lot smaller than Phoenix, the outlying area's are much nicer than the downtown and inner city area's in terms of living environment. I had a friend that lived in the city, right off of Romero Rd and it was a horrible neighborhood. Yet, her parents lived about 10 mins west of her almost near marana in a brand new neighborhood and it was lovely.

Rebecca

saskrn · Jan 23, 2005

Heat sounds pretty good to me right now/buried in snow.
renerian

I'm burried in snow too, but it's warming up here! :) And it sure beats the

-52 from a little while ago!

ayndim · Jan 23, 2005

Tucson is indeed a lovely little city. It is also about ten degrees cooler than Phoenix, which helps. And Mt. Lemon is just a short drive up into clear, cool temps.. gorgeous scenery and lots of recreation.. hiking/camping, etc. up there ..going from cacti to pinetrees, and a drop of about 40 degrees in temperature in a matter of less than 45 minutes. Sabino Canyon is another great place to get away.
Tucson is a neat University town.. lots to see and do, yet not overwhelming like Phoenix. The traffic is FAR more bearable as well !
ayndim.. I've hiked in the White Tank Mts.... and know Surprise quite well.. you're only minutes from where my mom lives in SCW. :)
But even there, the traffic is horrendous.. and getting worse. Before long, Phoenix will have swallowed up that whole area as well. What a shame.

It is already getting bad in "downtown" Surprise. But at least we are in the semi-boonies. We are right off Cotton Lane in Surprise Farms so we are waaay out there. I love looking out of the windows at night and seeing nothing. Makes me feel like I am in the country. My dream is to live in the rural area of Vermont but within driving distance of a hospital (or any of the New England states). Of course my hubby hates the cold but the kids and I love the cold and hate the heat so he is outvoted. :rotfl:

RainDreamer, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2005

I'm a born and bred Zoni! So I guess I'm used to the heat, somewhat, but yeah it still sucks. During the dead heat of the summer (July/August) we stay INdoors! Just like people in the east/north are cooped up during the winter, we're cooped up during the summer with the AC cranked up. And we head up north! White mountains are a great place to get away. It's nice and cool up there during the summer and you can ski or go ice fishing up there during the winter.

The traffic has never bothered me much at all. You just learn how to steer clear of it. We live in Tempe, huge college town, always lots of fun stuff to do and Phoenix is close by with lots of other things to do, but it's far enough away that we don't have to deal with their traffic and all that too much.

I've been in TX for the past 5 years going to school, graduate this May and can't wait to move back to Tempe!

As far as Tucson, I've never lived there, can't say I like it too much though and not exactly sure why, no specific things, guess I just like the Valley better, it's what I'm used to. Tucson does have some positives though, like someone stated it's generally a little cooler than the valley because it's higher elevation. The one thing that's a big plus is they have better lighting! The lights of the city don't give off that "glow" that Phx has. They have a lot of astronomers doing research and stuff around Tucson, so they don't want the lights to get in the way of their work, if you ever get a chance go up to Kitt's Peak observatory GO, it's amazing!