Move to Colorado or Arizona?

[BeachWagon]

Loving all the loving right now on this. Everyone has good valid points and perspectives. Didn't think about NM or UT, I'll scope that also.
For myself, I don't need a job, I fly back and forth month on month off to the boats where ever they are needed. (if anyone wants to know more about that, PM me)
Small towns and drugs. Yea, it's every where. We got it here also, I'm in the Panhandle of Florida. Three things to do here for work; join the military, work civil service, or do drugs. Shame these kids are screwing up their lives.
Thanks again for everyones input so far, I'll be chatting with her the next few days to plan our next vacation, and start tossing some of this her way to scope out also.

 

[BeachWagon]

Ruger firearms is also in prescott... get a job there! FYI Phoenix sucks!!!!

Hmmmm...... easy way to get some service on the SR? Maybe she can get a job there and get employee discounts?? LOL!

 

[downpour11]

Hmmmm...... easy way to get some service on the SR? Maybe she can get a job there and get employee discounts?? LOL!

Dude I heard the discounts were great if you worked there. My friend (and old coworker) in Tucson used to work in shipping for Ruger up there, packaging and shipping guns all day. He got the job and worked there for for like 4 months and then some verryy little old misdemeanor he thought was off his record popped up and he was let go. So just make sure you got absolutely nothing on your record.

Edit- just read the post above, is your GF a citizen? That might hinder her chance of getting a job there.

 

[BeachWagon]

Dude I heard the discounts were great if you worked there. My friend (and old coworker) in Tucson used to work in shipping for Ruger up there, packaging and shipping guns all day. He got the job and worked there for for like 4 months and then some verryy little old misdemeanor he thought was off his record popped up and he was let go. So just make sure you got absolutely nothing on your record.

Edit- just read the post above, is your GF a citizen? That might hinder her chance of getting a job there.

Dang! Yea, she is a German citizen. Spotless record, buuutttt..... maybe for the marketing it wouldn't be as hinkey?

 

[downpour11]

Dang! Yea, she is a German citizen. Spotless record, buuutttt..... maybe for the marketing it wouldn't be as hinkey?

Worth a shot!

 

[Djrashonal]

...unless it has changed in the recent past from all the millions of people moving there.

hasn't changed, gotten worse. PHX=No bueno.

Flagstaff/Sedona Area is still beautiful and awesome, but like others have said, jobs there may be tough

Okay here is my 2 cents... being a 3rd generation desert rat.. Tucson doesn't have much to offer.

That is the understatement of the century. Unless you are in love with the brown landscape all year you will not find much in Tucson. Even on the "Green" side of the city.

 

[BeachWagon]

hasn't changed, gotten worse. PHX=No bueno.

Flagstaff/Sedona Area is still beautiful and awesome, but like others have said, jobs there may be tough



That is the understatement of the century. Unless you are in love with the brown landscape all year you will not find much in Tucson. Even on the "Green" side of the city.

Okay, so, so far, it sound like PHX and Tucson are no goes. No one seems too thrilled. Mental note..... stay away from those two places.

 

[downpour11]

Okay, so, so far, it sound like PHX and Tucson are no goes. No one seems too thrilled. Mental note..... stay away from those two places.

Lol, I just moved from Tucson after living there for 7-8 years... I stayed there because of a job but if you like the outdoors, there are things to do, but everything is a good hour or two (at least) away. It's a town of around 800,000 people and it takes 30 min+ to get from one side of town to the other. I just got sick of the sun and the desert. Everything looks the same and I got tired of trying to go to sleep hearing sirens all night. It's not for everyone. Had sooooo much fun in the bar scene though hahaha. I have so many friends down there. Not talking about the college crowd/bars though.... can't stand it down by the UofA.

 

[BeachWagon]

Yea, my girl and I are both in our 30's, waaayyyy done with the college scene. I definitely dig folks coming over, cooking up some carne on the grill, beers in the cooler, bonfires. I can still pass out by 10pm so I can get up early to go ride the trails. Building a new 29r and want to get my use out of it. I gotta live outside of town, can't stand sirens all night. Lived in Long Beach, Houston, Fort Lauderdale, Singapore, New Jersey, I am over sirens.

 

[downpour11]

Yea, my girl and I are both in our 30's, waaayyyy done with the college scene. I definitely dig folks coming over, cooking up some carne on the grill, beers in the cooler, bonfires. I can still pass out by 10pm so I can get up early to go ride the trails. Building a new 29r and want to get my use out of it. I gotta live outside of town, can't stand sirens all night. Lived in Long Beach, Houston, Fort Lauderdale, Singapore, New Jersey, I am over sirens.

Hahaha, then PHX and Tucson aren't for you. I can't stand the college scene either. Northern AZ is pretty cool and I have still yet to go to colorado but I'm sure it's even nicer.

 

[BeachWagon]

Hahaha, then PHX and Tucson aren't for you. I can't stand the college scene either. Northern AZ is pretty cool and I have still yet to go to colorado but I'm sure it's even nicer.

Good to know. We did the North Rim camping a few years back, and we loved it up there. Strange mix of desert and green mountain. I could get used to seeing that in my back yard! How's the hunting up there? Fishing?

 

[HOJeepster]

True, Prescott is also a rad place and closer to PHX. Tons to explore in Northern Arizona, cooler temps than PHX, and they get snow in the winter.

 

[BeachWagon]

True, Prescott is also a rad place and closer to PHX. Tons to explore in Northern Arizona, cooler temps than PHX, and they get snow in the winter.

Was just looking at some quick property prices in Prescott, looks affordable for large lots. I am sure after a road trip, I could find something 100+ acres, for a good price.

 

[Desert Fox]

If you are looking for property there is a lot of cheap land out in the desert that you can buy with no money down and easy payments, especially north of Flagstaff towards the Grand Canyon, but not much of it has any utilities like electricity and none of it has the possibility of ever getting any water unless it's trucked in so watch out for that.

Do some research about land fraud in Arizona and go back to the 1950's.

A lot of the politicians got their money from Arizona land fraud. Keep in mind a lot of the desert is reservation, especially in Northern Arizona. A lot of Southern Arizona (Ajo, Yuma) is owned by the military (guess where I was stationed after I came back to the states).

Gun laws are pretty liberal in Arizona. There is a saying that if you dont have a gun when you get there they will give you one. Heck you will need it if you drive on the 51.

Crime is not that bad, compared to Detroit or LA. There is another saying I recall- Come to Arizona on vacation, leave on probation. The legal system sucks.

Wheeling in the desert is pretty <S>cool</S> neat. Sand is a very different type of wheeling, get advice or take a lot of water. Take a lot of water anyways.

One place I liked but closer to Phoenix is Verde Valley. It was kind of redneckish and I seemed to fit in there but we never lived there.

There are some great companies there that you can make a good living at. I worked for Intel for 7 years before moving to Colorado. I did 9 years with Garrett Turbine Engine company (now Honeywell) and 9 years with US Foodservice. All great companies and there are many more.

We left because of 3 reasons- crowded, crime and heat.

Again good luck with your decision.

 

[downpour11]

Do some research about land fraud in Arizona and go back to the 1950's.

A lot of the politicians got their money from Arizona land fraud. Keep in mind a lot of the desert is reservation, especially in Northern Arizona. A lot of Southern Arizona (Ajo, Yuma) is owned by the military (guess where I was stationed after I came back to the states).

Gun laws are pretty liberal in Arizona. There is a saying that if you dont have a gun when you get there they will give you one. Heck you will need it if you drive on the 51.

Crime is not that bad, compared to Detroit or LA. There is another saying I recall- Come to Arizona on vacation, leave on probation. The legal system sucks.

Wheeling in the desert is pretty <S>cool</S> neat. Sand is a very different type of wheeling, get advice or take a lot of water. Take a lot of water anyways.

One place I liked but closer to Phoenix is Verde Valley. It was kind of redneckish and I seemed to fit in there but we never lived there.

There are some great companies there that you can make a good living at. I worked for Intel for 7 years before moving to Colorado. I did 9 years with Garrett Turbine Engine company (now Honeywell) and 9 years with US Foodservice. All great companies and there are many more.

We left because of 3 reasons- crowded, crime and heat.

Again good luck with your decision.

Spot on right there ^^^

 

[stevec5000]

Do some research about land fraud in Arizona and go back to the 1950's.

A lot of the politicians got their money from Arizona land fraud. Keep in mind a lot of the desert is reservation, especially in Northern Arizona. A lot of Southern Arizona (Ajo, Yuma) is owned by the military (guess where I was stationed after I came back to the states).

Yeah, I remember when title companies were letting the same property be sold over and over several times but lately it's mortgage fraud by companies like AIG, Bank of America and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Also Senators Glenn and McCain are crooks who were part of the notorious Keating Five who were part of the Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s but then what politicians aren't crooks?

 

[BeachWagon]

Yeah, I remember when title companies were letting the same property be sold over and over several times but lately it's mortgage fraud by companies like AIG, Bank of America and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Also Senators Glenn and McCain are crooks who were part of the notorious Keating Five who were part of the Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s but then what politicians aren't crooks?

They're all crooks. But that's for another discussion.

I'll keep that land business in mind though. Would hate to find out the land I buy belongs to someone else who bought it at the same time as me!!

 

[Bay33saw]

Hard to go wrong with either, but don't count out Utah or New Mexico. Flagstaff is freaking awesome, but the sunbirds know it and land values are through the roof. Durango CO is also awesome. Check out Santa Fe NM for small town feel within striking distance of city life - I like Santa Fe a lot. St George UT is another great little town with good food, good outdoors stuff with Bryce and Zions right there, and Las Vegas close enough for when the girl needs her smog fix.

If I could live anywhere right now, it'd probably be Grand Junction CO, but that might be too far from civilization for your GF.

St George UT is a great up and coming place, like Kid said, not far from lots of good stuff, Bryce, Zion, Las Vegas.

 

[Reino]

'Small towns' in Colorado are really on two extreme ends of the spectrum:

1.) Truly isolated communities like Paonia with not many job opportunities, so you have to scrape by to survive.

2.) or luxury resort towns like Aspen, with pleny of jobs but none of them pay enough to actually live at the high cost of the area....so you have to scrape by to survive.

Which is why 90% of the population lives in the Front Range, which is just like any other major American urban corridor, except it is relatively close to the mountains.

 

[Bfaulken]

I lived in Florida from when I was 6 months old to 18 years old. Came out to Colorado for college and love it. Winters can get cold, but then again they have 50+ degree days too. Spring/summers are awesome. I do miss the beach but the mountains are just as fun with more to do. Take up fly fishing, hunting, wheeling, camping, winter sports, or all of the above, its all available.

As far as driving in the snow, I haven't driven in a blizzard yet (haven't had that many the last two years), but I have driven in some snow and its not too bad with practice. Just don't wait until you need to be somewhere to try driving in snow, just like learning anything. Go somewhere that isn't busy sometime, and just drive until you feel comfortable. Find an empty parking lot and find out what your car can/can't do in snow/ice. They do keep the roads pretty well-plowed though.

Denver is PACKED, but further out in the suburbs aren't bad, or a place like Boulder or rural parts of Colorado Springs.

Denver's music scene is unbelievable. Plenty of concerts, from big names to local bands.

Don't know much about Arizona other than visiting the Grand Canyon, but I've heard some good things. I just loved CO from the first time I visited, so I made it a second home.