Arizona Phoenix/Scottsdale area questions

In My Humble Opinion
1

I don’t know if this should be in GQ or another forum.

I am considering looking for work in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. I was hoping to get some questions answered about the area. Some of them may seem silly but hey, figured I should ask before making this big a jump. Here is my start of a list.

If you are in high tech, what do you think of the job market and prospects for the future?

How do you deal with the heat in the summer? I have lived in FL for a few years and MA for a long time and know what humid heat is like but it being dry and desert like would be new to me. I don’t mind AC btw.

What about water restrictions and possible shortages? Does this happen?

What is the price of a gallon of gas? (Want to compare to local pricing)

What is the bug/insect factor for the area? My wife is very anti-bug. :slight_smile:

What about snakes/tarantulas/scorpions?

I can look at the stats but what does the average age feel like when you are just going about daily business? (FL has high avg age, but the area I was in was fine.)

Is having a pool worth it?

Is the housing market really bad there? Prices seem lower than where I am at currently.

If you have a dog how does the dog like the hot weather?

I know my list is strange but thanks for any help! :slight_smile:

2

I live in the area - a bit east of it.

The Valley is very tech-oriented and I’m always reading about new tech companies opening up businesses or locations here. I’m not in the technology field, though, so I’ll leave it for someone else.

I’ll take dry desert heat over the humidity any day… to me, once it hits 100 it all feels the same, but I grew up here. AC is a necessity in homes and cars. It doesn’t get very cool at night during the summer, unfortunately.

I don’t think restrictions or shortages happen very often, but neighborhood HOAs or apartment complexes might have their own restrictions. I think most people just try to be mindful of their water use - except for drinking. Make sure you drink lots of water.

In my area (the East Valley) I believe it’s around $3.83 or so.

Hardly any bugs. There are little gnats and mosquitoes sometimes. Termites can be a concern.

Snakes and scorpions are certainly a concern. They are more active as the weather heats up. If you see a lot of crickets around, scorpions are probably around. Watch for rattlesnakes especially in sunny areas, on and under rocks, etc.

It depends on the neighborhood and the time of year. You’ll see more older people in the winter. They are starting to leave now. My area sees a large influx of snowbirds, but some areas might not see that at all.

If you will use it, I think it is, but it depends on your lifestyle.

The area was hit very badly by the housing market. There are some reports it is getting better. But there are a lot of foreclosures still.

It depends on the dog. Snout nosed breeds and breeds with a heavy coat will have a harder time of it. Dogs with thin coats will do better. They need lots of water available to them.
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If you are in high tech, what do you think of the job market and prospects for the future?
Phoenix is a high-tech center. Intel, Freescale, On, GD, and Boeing all have a big presence here. It’s not Silicon Valley, but you can also buy a house for $150K.

**How do you deal with the heat in the summer? I have lived in FL for a few years and MA for a long time and know what humid heat is like but it being dry and desert like would be new to me. I don’t mind AC btw.
**
A/C - and drink lots of water. It’s usually not too bad if you can find some shade.

**What about water restrictions and possible shortages? Does this happen?
**
Not since I’ve lived here (30 years). Arizona has the best deal when it comes to Colorado River water. Expect to see more conservation efforts, since the way people waste water can’t go on forever.

What is the price of a gallon of gas? (Want to compare to local pricing)
Unleaded was $3.89/gal yesterday.

What is the bug/insect factor for the area? My wife is very anti-bug. :slight_smile:
We have our share of roaches and Black Widows. I find that the geckos keep them both under control. We rarely see any roaches in the house, and the Widows stay outside.

What about snakes/tarantulas/scorpions?
All of these are native to the desert, and will be found in the wild (tarantulas are mostly found in the higher elevations - I’ve never seen one in Phoenix). Scorpions can be an issue in older houses, but they are mostly a nuisance. A bigger issue is bees - I’ve had to call the bee guy out three times since i’ve lived in my current house. Still, it’s no big deal.

**I can look at the stats but what does the average age feel like when you are just going about daily business? (FL has high avg age, but the area I was in was fine.)
**
The area feels pretty young, but there are many retirement communities, and those are to be avoided…

Is having a pool worth it?
I don’t think so. All my houses have had pools, and their a big pain in the ass. I guess if I was more of a swimmer, I’d think differently. Plan on spending $2k/year on Electricity / water /maintenance if you get one.

**Is the housing market really bad there? Prices seem lower than where I am at currently.
**
The market is picking up. Some areas are doing much, much better than others. Some areas will be depressed for years.

If you have a dog how does the dog like the hot weather?

I have three dogs. They all love to lie in the sun. I used to have 2 “outdoor” dogs, and they were chows (furry). They used to lie in holes under some shrubs, and got along just fine.

4

Thanks both of you for your responses. They are what I hoped for. We are thinking we want somewhere warmer. :slight_smile: I guess I will have to step up my search efforts.

Thanks!

5

Let us know later if you are coming to the area, we do need to have a good excuse for a Phoenix dopefest and we have not had one in ages.

6

How do you deal with the heat in the summer? I have lived in FL for a few years and MA for a long time and know what humid heat is like but it being dry and desert like would be new to me. I don’t mind AC btw.

Get a place with a “swamp cooler” (actually called an evaporative cooler), if you can, for a few of the hot but dry months, they’ll save you a ton of money, and you can have the house open. A/C is expensive, but you can’t do without it. Esp. in your vehicle.

What about water restrictions and possible shortages? Does this happen?

Water bills goes up in the summer. We have relatively inexpensive water, all things considered, but no restriction yet. Could come at any time, given the La Nina this year. A place with xeriscaping is a good idea, if you’re buying or renting a SFH

What is the price of a gallon of gas? (Want to compare to local pricing)

About $3.89 last I filled up.There is relatively no useful public transportation.

What is the bug/insect factor for the area? My wife is very anti-bug.

What about snakes/tarantulas/scorpions?

Putting these two together, I would say it can be an issue, depending on where you chose to live. Tarantulas, nope, not in the city that I’ve ever seen. Scorpions, yes, if you chose to live in any area where they were first. I get about 12-15 a year. You learn to watch, never put your hands where you can’t see first, glass jars under the bed stands, check the bed, no dust ruffles or anything that goes to the floor. Use a rough annoying to their feet door mat at each entrance, get a black light to check around the outside (then you kill them), keep everything clean–if you have bugs, you’ll get scorps. Vigilance always. Shoes to bathroom in the night, keeping said shoes on the nightstand, not on the floor. Don’t wish to scare your wife, but it can be an issue.

I can look at the stats but what does the average age feel like when you are just going about daily business? (FL has high avg age, but the area I was in was fine.)

Average–not sure how to answer this. People from all over, all ages. There are retirement communities, and a good number of retirees, but all ages.

Is having a pool worth it?

Tough call. Evaporation is an issue. It can actually, without exaggeration, be too hot to use your pool

Is the housing market really bad there? Prices seem lower than where I am at currently.

Getting better, we got hit hard. But from what I hear, there are bargains to be had now.

If you have a dog how does the dog like the hot weather?

Make sure they have water, they’ll adapt, try not to leave them out all day. No chains, I believe it’s not legal to tether a dog here.

7

Dummygladhands, where do you live, out in the middle of the desert? I’ve lived in Phoenix since 1972…OMG, that’s forty years now…and I have NEVER ONCE had a scorpion in the house. Out hiking, maybe, but in the house??

I’ve had a few cockroaches, luckily very few because they tend to give me a heart attack, and some of those little lizards, especially when I had a cat. Mosquitoes aren’t much of a problem here. Every 18 years or so we have cicadas, which are disgusting but stay outside. Mostly they hang around in palo verde trees and buzz really loudly. I’m not looking it up so I don’t know where we are in the cicada cycle.

How do we deal with the heat? A/C always. When the A/C broke down at my high school in August, they sent everybody home.

Water: if there’s a shortage, people are asked to not wash their cars for a while, take shorter showers, fix leaky faucets, not plant grass, etc. Most folks, including us, have gravel “lawns” which take very little water, although using a slip-n-slide on one would be a bitch.

I’ve only seen a tarantula once in the wild, and that was when I was hiking in the desert. I’ve seen some rattlesnakes, but never in anyone’s house. Garter snakes occasionally in people’s backyards. Little lizards are all over the place, but they’re just cute.

Pools are an expensive pain in the ass, but if you have kids, they really love it. Some school districts on the east side of town have year-round school schedules, which makes a lot more sense here. Nobody is taking in the harvest in 115 degrees, you know? The kids don’t even play outside during the day in the summer unless there’s water involved. It’s just too hot. Unfortunately we had school summers off, and my kid played a lot of videogames with his friends and swam a lot, but otherwise summers are kind of boring. Traffic is a breeze, though.

The job market really varies, as others have noted. All you need is one, though. If you have a job, the market doesn’t matter so much anymore.

I understand that the housing market is starting to rebound, but Phoenix was hit really hard. It’s likely still a buyer’s market. Why not fly out and see what’s available in your price range? Look in different neighborhoods, too. There are some good deals in new builds at the outskirts where lots of people got caught in the housing bubble and defaulted. But the central areas have some lovely old neighborhoods, much greener than you’d probably expect Phoenix to be.

We have a beagle who likes lying in the sun. The only doggy issue is that you can’t walk them in the worst of the heat because their paws will burn on the asphalt. But there are tons of dogs here.

Re: the average age, VERY neighborhood-dependent. Sun City is all old, by town edict. Apache Junction, lots of retirees. Fountain Hills, lots of snowbirds. More central = younger hipper types, mostly. Around the university in Tempe, obviously a lot of folks in their twenties. There are something like 75,000 students attending ASU.

However, I must be honest. We dream of escaping and moving to Seattle. I’ve had enough heat and I would like to be rained on for a decade or so.

Theobroma

8

All ready to post my take on it, I find that Theobroma has posted almost the same answers I was going to. So rather than make all my own typos I’ll just say “ditto” with the exception that I’ve seen several tarantulas and rattlesnakes in my time here, but all in the desert.

9

I can heartily recommend the brewery that makes Kiltlifter as a venue. The food there smelled incredible when we stopped by on a beer run [we hauled a couple cases to a friend in Key West, they apparently don’t sell it there.]

We would have tried to grab dinner, but the place was packed and had a 45 minute-2 hour wait [we were given a range as it depended on how fast the tables would flip.]

10

Sorry to disappoint, and not trying to mislead, but I am up around Dunlap and
7th St. Not exactly the desert, but we have scorpions. My mother had them at her home at 15th and Glendale. We had a couple at my old home at Camelback and 7th Ave., in a pile of old 2x4 scrap, outside to be sure, but they’re around.

And after I posted, I went into the bathroom, and there, sitting on the counter as if to remind me, was a big bad sewer roach. Forgot about them bad boys. I think everyone gets them–dunno the real name of them, but they even live in Paradise Valley (my mother’s old home). Don’t hurt, but definately the startle factor, ugly bahstids. Geckos get in too, again, they don’t hurt, but they startle you.

11

7th St & Dunlap?? Isn’t that where Cave Creek Rd cuts in? And you get SCORPIONS in your house there?

Definitely time to call the exterminator! Wow. That’s crazy talk!

I recommend bleach down the drains if you get sewer roaches. Those are the most disgusting things I have ever seen.

12

Sorry to disabuse you, but exterminators cannot stop scorpions, no matter what they try to sell you. They can kill the bugs, which are the scorps’ food, Great stuff every opening in your house (meaning the house doesn’t breathe) and do some other things including diatomacous (sp?) earth, but that’s toxic to pets. This whole neighbor has scorps, along with coyotes. One lady found one in her sock drawer (scorp, not coyote :slight_smile: )

And I forgot the black widows, until one on my patio table last night reminded me. Don’t you get the widders??

Can’t bleach-septic tank

13

I work in that area, and we get lots of scorpions in the (very old) office.

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I’m around three and a half miles from you, around Cave Creek and Cactus. I’ve lived in this particular house for twenty years. Never seen a scorpion inside, or indeed anywhere in the neighborhood. I have run into them sometimes in the mountain preserve, but I’m maybe six blocks from the mountains. I suspect the mountains are the source. Or maybe that septic tank of yours.

We do see black widows in the backyard if it’s messy, though, yeah. And I’ve seen (and heard) coyotes in the neighborhood, sure. Never lost a cat or small dog, but I know it’s happened.

Exterminators can’t stop scorpions? Get out! Well, since I’ve never had one in the house, I’ve never asked them to. But I thought they could, because it’s on the freaking logo! www.azext.com

Okay, Adversary, after this whole discussion of the charming local vermin, are you still interested in moving here? I swear it’s a nice place…

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[moderating]
There are a bunch of GQs in here, but overall I think it fits better over in IMHO.
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The scorpions make pretty cool pets, by the way. Just remember the big, cool-looking ones are the least dangerous to humans. It’s those nasty little straw-colored scorpions that you have to watch out for.

16

I’ve been here since 1959, and have *never once *seen a scorpian in the city. If you have scorpians, it’s because you have bugs and they are hunting.

The only snakes you might see would be near the desert areas (Scottsdale qualifies here). Even then, they are not interested in you because you are too big to swallow.

Tarantulas? I’ve seen them up north and even in the Superstitions, but never in the valley. Again, they are not interested in humans.

17

I don’t know anything about Phoenix, but I wanted to pipe in and say if there are house centipedes there like there are in New Mexico, someone should mention it to the OP. Those of us who didn’t grow up with those things can be very, very freaked out by them.

Athena, who will never in her life ever ever live anywhere where there’s lots of house centipedes

18

Thanks, campp, I’ll be sure to pass that along to EVERYONE in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. :slight_smile:

19

Wow, did you fill your pool with Perrier water?
Geez - we have an inground pool here in Las Vegas, and I would be surprised if I spend $200/year, let alone $2,000/year on electricity and water!

Most pools come with a built in vacuum cleaner and keeping in clean means cleaning a filter every once in awhile, depending on wind and crap blowing into the pool.

Sorry to barge in on this, but it drives me nuts when I hear people complain how hard it is to upkeep pools, when it really isn’t anymore.

20

Well, “pain” is a YMMV kind of term. It takes some weekly chlorine checking and maintenance, and the electricity to run the pump can be pricey, especially if your provider is APS. Moreso if you heat the pool in the off-season. Also, you can’t leave a kid anywhere near it for a second. I mean, it’s not the worst thing in the world, but I’d rather not have one (and I don’t).

Re: pet scorpions. My kid went to a middle school whose sports mascot was a scorpion. They have a 10-gallon glass tank in the main office with scorpions in it. So cute. Keep that lid on tight, ladies!