Long story short: I am pondering a move to the southwest US (am thinking Phoenix area now) to escape crappy winters. Problem is I am now stuck with a indoor-kept, one-eyed and rather not-real-bright cat. …So what I am wondering is how often do you find scorpions inside your houses? I have already seen online about what to do if stung/or if a pet gets stung, but I am curious to know how frequent the risk is–assuming that the house is in reasonably-good shape of course.
Also I have not been through Phoenix yet at all, will be visiting in June. Just looking online it seems that a lot of houses listed for sale in the <100K range seem to be trailers. Is this the situation or not? (-the level of construction and workmanship I have seen in trailers sold in Illinois has not impressed me).
Lastly, is there anywhere particularly hazardous that I should avoid in Phoenix? What’s the “worst” section of the area?
~
I know a lot of people that live in outlying/“the country” areas that find scorpions occasionally. I live in the middle of town and have never found one in my apartment. I don’t live in Phoenix, obviously, but the suburbs- Glendale, Scottsdale, Mesa, etc., seem to be in better condition that the city itself.
Are you sure you want to live in Phoenix? Why not consider Tucson- we’re approaching 1 million residents, which will qualify us for a new level of government funding to make the city even better, yet it still has a small-town quality. Plus we’re about 10 degrees cooler in the summer usually. The traffic’s better, too.
Scorpions aren’t really a big deal once you’ve been here a while. Some areas tend to have higher concentrations than others, but in general you may only see them very occasionally or rarely. I’ve found about 7-8 in and around my home in eight years. Never been stung, neither have our dogs. I’ve heard that cats may be immune or at least unfazed by them so I wouldn’t worry. They look sinister, and are quick as roaches, but they tend to stay still and thus are really easy to kill (whack’em with a shoe). From my experience, bugs/crickets are what draw them into your home so regular pest control does make a difference.
Housing… There has been a huge run-up in prices over the last few years, thanks largely to investors. Now the median home price for the valley is somewhere around $250k. Of course homes under $200k can still be found in outlying and older areas, but homes in the $100k range are most likely going to be mobile homes (in parks, no land). You’re about 3-4 years too late to find permanent housing in that range.
Areas… bad areas do exist but are not numerous. IMHO, the “Maryvale” area of west Phx seems to be the worst (someone from there will come along shortly to dispute that, I’m sure). South Phx in general has a bad rep, so do some older parts of west Mesa, Glendale, Sunnyslope. Your best bet is to rent for awhile until you get to know the areas that suit your liking. You may find the summers untolerable.
Tucson/trublmakr… those points are ripe for argument. My opinion - Tucson is a big town that still wants to be small town minded. Planning/Infrastructure sucks. Traffic there is impossibly worse than Phx because they don’t keep up with the growth. Granted, it is cooler there, especially the summer nights. Either place is better than IL. YMMV
I was more interested in the outlying areas, 20-30+ minutes out–rather than right in the middle of the valley itself. (I’m not moving to the desert because I want a lawn to mow) Dunno if that makes a difference or not, like I said I haven’t seen the place yet. I’ll be wandering the Phoenix/Grand Canyon/Zion/Bryce area for a few days. But what is certain is that the outdoor activities I like can’t be done during the 50% of the year that Illinois has crap weather, so I want to leave.
Also in many US cities, there’s a lot of houses on the market right now. Greenspan is out, I don’t want anything I can’t buy the land under and I won’t be able to move until later this year anyway. Mebbe the housing bubble will burst by then.
As for Tucson, I was not going to be visiting. I kinda was leery of the crime rates; I am told the problem gets stratospheric the closer to the border you are.
~
Numbers vary greatly from place to place. Most places are not bad, but some people are over run with the beasties. If you find a place you like, check with the immediate neighbors to see how bad it is.
Where we are, we only get a few each year, and our cats eat them. Most, but not all, cats are immune to the stings. Our cats eat the body, and all we find are a few little legs on the floor.
Prices have really skyrocketed in the past few years, but a lot of older houses are still reasonable, depending on your definition of that! Just lately the bubble seems to have burst, and it’s back to a buyers’ market, with twice as many houses on the market as the same time last year.
The ritziest place is Paradise Valley where the median price is over a million bucks. A sign at one recent development reads, “Homes in the low $2 millions.”
The Valley is huge, so you will have to take a lot of time investigating. You might want to take a look at Cave Creek and Carefree, little towns north of Scottsdale. Also, as in most places, condos are lot lower per square foot than houses. You might want to rent an apartment for a while to take your time looking.
I’d avoid south and southwest Phoenix where crime seems to be higher. Mesa is having a fiscal crisis now and today votes whether to have the first city property tax.
The good news is that property taxes here are way lower than in most places, the state income tax is not too bad, electricity is inexpensive. There really is lot to do and see all around the Valley. About the only thing that may shock you is the cost of registering a car…the cost is based on the value of the car and is quite a bit higher than eastern states, but about the same for most western states.
