Arizona Phoenix/Scottsdale area questions

In My Humble Opinion
21

I live and work in the Tempe/Mesa area.

Bugs aren’t a huge issue around here; mostly ants near my house plus the occasional roach and fly. It’s a big point in Arizona’s favor whenever I consider moving away; while I’d like to move somewhere greener, more water means nastier bugs. I’ve never seen a snake, tarantula, or scorpion this far into the city.

Echoing that AC is basically a necessity in the summer. November through February is cool enough to wear a jacket, but I’m already having to run the AC in my car and home to keep things comfortable. AC is a solid 50-70% of the electricity bill in the summer.

There’s not really a water shortage, but people are generally aware of overusing water. Phoenix is less conscious about this than other parts of the state, though; there are small lakes in certain areas of the city, and some malls and such like to make a point of having big fountains.

Regarding age, I know Tempe and Scottsdale try to cater to the younger crowds, especially since ASU is in Tempe, but the snowbird effect can get very noticeable too. On top of that, Phoenix is very much for working-age people in their 30s as well; Tucson is more dichotomous in college students and retirees. I generally see a pretty good mix of ages in Phoenix.

Housing is still very much a buyer’s market. I bought my home at $95k when the bubble was in full swing and it was a seller’s market (even worse here due to Californians moving in and bidding high at the time), and I don’t really want to think about what I’d have to list it for now.

22

No one lives in the Phx Mountain Preserve. That’s why it’s called a preserve. Areas near the mountains, or open desert will have all sorts of desert creatures.

23

Ahhhh, we’re in agreeance ( !! )–scorpions in the middle of Phoenix!!! Unless you don’t think 7th St. is Central Phoenix? And again, my mother has them at 15th Ave & Glendale. And no, she has no bugs. Other than of course the usual Phoenix sewer roaches, palo verde beetles, and black widders. :slight_smile:

24

Well, that might be a bit high, but ! figure at least $300 in electricity, $200-300 in chemicals, $100 or more in water, and then a few hundred in parts and maintenance every year, and of course more if you have a pool service. I had to dig up and repair both return lines that had been broken by tree roots in the past two years. If I didn’t do the work myself, it would have cost a fortune. Also, my pool needs to be replastered - figure on another couple of thousand for that.

25

Wow thanks for all the replies. I hope if/when I get there I don’t move into the scorpion neighborhood! We plan on visiting a few times to get the lay of the land and see if we like the area and the feel at different times over the coming months.

26

Adversary, you didn’t mention what you like to do for entertainment. Depending on your leisure preferences, Arizona could be an amazing experience. My recollections are over a decade old, but I doubt it’s changed that much.

Hunting: Arizona is a hunter’s paradise. It’s not hard to get drawn for at least something every year, and there is an astonishing amount of open land available. In most states expensive long-term leases are a necessity, but in Arizona you merely need some determination and good hiking boots. In one year I got drawn for Elk, Mountain Lion, Whitetail, Mule deer, Javelina, and Antelope. This got me outdoors for literally weeks. It still remains one of my favorite years of my life.

Camping/Hiking: Again, it’s an outdoor paradise. If you’re from the East this may be your first exposure to BLM land. I’m not sure, but I think AZ has more public land than any other state. It’s hard to get used to being able to simply turn your truck off the road and drive as far as you want to set up camp. Obviously you need good maps to be sure you remain on open land (and in reality it’s best to stick to already established tracks). There are (were) desert introductory courses available, to learn how to make these trips safe, whether it’s an hour or a week. If you care to drive North a bit, you’ll find something called the Mogollon Rim. Topping this will get you into some beautiful (and surprisingly cool) forests. You can buy maps showing all the old logging roads, and these (being public) are free for you to use. I’ve driven my truck literally hours down these old tracks to find a variety of near-perfect lonely spots to camp. Once I camped up there in November and enjoyed over a foot of snow for a week… then drove back down into the valley where I gradually went from full heater/defroster to running the A/C in my truck. All in a few hours.

Mountain Biking: The Phoenix metro area has (or at least had) an abundance of interesting bike trails nearby. You don’t need to pack and leave the city to enjoy this; It’s something you can do on your way home from work. Just notice that the other bikers are probably carrying a lot more water than you’re used to seeing (even for a 1 hour trip).

Boating: Not so much. You’ll notice there are some huge lakes available (Mead, Powell), but they’re a considerable drive. The lakes near the metro area are so crowded they’re essentially unusable on weekends (imo). I found it was best to concentrate on non-water sports while there.

A couple of recommendations if you’re going to do any serious outdoor activities in AZ (I yield to the advice of current residents if this is outdated).

Take some sort of desert introductory course. They used to be easily available, and some are combined with jeep tours of the local desert. It’s really more dangerous than it looks. Also, as odd as it sounds you might want to take a Hunter Education course. Even if you’re not planning to hunt, it’s cheap and they go over a lot of detail about land rights, BLM lands, when you can and cannot open a ranchers gate and cross their property, how to determine when active hunting is going on, etc. This course also had a lot of useful advice on safety in an unusual landscape like Arizona.

If you move there, I hope you enjoy the state as much as we did. :slight_smile:

27

I lived near Central & Northern from 1976 to 1993 and never saw a scorpion.
I’ve lived near Missouri & 12th St. since 1997 and again, never have seen a scorpion. Very rarely a roach, and I happen to like the geckos. We make sure to turn on the outside lights by the door to encourage them to hang around.

28

I don’t live there, but this is what I was able to discern about the scorpion issue when I was looking into moving to AZ:

Apparently there are many people who live a lifetime in Phoenix and never/rarely see scorpions, but there certain areas where scorpions traditionally congregate where it’s pretty much inevitable that you WILL have them coming along sooner or later, and some unlucky people have LOTS of them. If you are in one of the areas where they congregate (such as the foothills of the mountains), you can’t really stop them. They are just going to be a fact of life in certain areas and you should try to find out before you buy a property if there have been issues with scorpions there in the past.
Certain types of yard features will also attract scorpions. SWIMMING POOLS AND IRRIGATED LAWNS WILL ATTRACT THEM because the water will attract other insect life that they prey on. For similar reasons, don’t be surprised to find them if you live near a golf course.
Palm trees also may attract the bark scorpion, which is the main scorpion to be worried about (since its sting is potentially dangerous to people, especially the young/old/debilitated). The bark scorpion can climb trees and hide in the bark. For this reason, you want to be careful about having any trees growing near your home that might be a “scorpion expressway” into your home. Some people say that cats are good at catching scorpions and might help keep their numbers down though others say their cats just ignore them.

29

I’ve had scorpions in the house in Glendale - a new house, too, out by 111th Ave and Camelback. Have not seen any scorpions around where I now live, in Goodyear near 167th Ave.

Did have a scorpion-smashing fest with a friend who lives in Gilbert. Hundreds of 'em on the wall around his property, in the yard, and in the house. These were the little brown ones with the nasty sting. Not sure what that was about, but several of us started drinking beer, then used shoes to smash 'em where we found 'em. He got stung by one so he invited us over…

30

East Mesa checking in - no scorpions or nasty snakes, but I have had a black widow in the garage. Stepped on a brown gecko on my bedroom floor once and screamed like a little girl. It totally blended in with the tan carpet!