Relocating to Flagstaff...Opinions, like-dislike, weather, things to do. (Phoenix: low income, houses)

[nicolea]

My fiance and I are going to be relocating to the Flagstaff area from the Black Hills of South Dakota (By Mount Rushmore). We have been researching all the surrounding communities but looking for others' input.

We are looking to buy our first home, get married, start a family. We are 24 and 25 years old. So we dont want to be in any retirement community areas.


We want to be somewhere that has things going on most the time whether its music, sports, night life, etc. Also people that are in our age group 35 and under kind of area. Where we are from right now you stay home most the time because there is nothing else to do but go to the bar and you may be the only ones there. And we have no people to invite over because all our friends and ppl our age all live about an hour away.

He is an outdoors person, loves fishing, hiking, anything outdoors. Both of us have grown up on ranches and always had horses, which is something we hope to have someday once we have more money for acres.

I would really like to be somewhere that we have hills or some kind of scenery. But understand that may not be possible.

Looking for peoples thoughts and opinions of the area as well.

****I realize that Flagstaff gets over a 100 inches of snow a year. If someone was wanting to not have to deal with quite that much and have a warmer climate, are there any surrounding areas to consider that you could still commute to Flagstaff to work?***********

[observer53]

Flagstaff is a college town, so you will find some people your age. That said, it still seems to roll up its sidewalks pretty early.

You made almost the same post in the Phoenix area, so I don't know where you are really moving. You WILL find hills and scenery in Flagstaff.

Flagstaff CAN have that much snow, it certainly hasn't this winter. It doesn't make sense to live at a lower elevation and commute to Flagstaff, especially in winter, because you may not be able to get to work at all since you don't live in the city, or it will be a long, slippery drive.

[cjs123]

I noticed a 'we are a relocating to Phoenix' post by you earlier in another section--did you change your mind and are now relocating to Flagstaff or are you still considering both areas?

[nicolea]

I have 4 posts out for 4 different locations because I have a job offer for any of them. So we are trying to decide what is the best fit for our family. Just tryin to get feedback on all locations from others that have either been there several times or live there.

[southwestchicagoan]

Right on Observer. I totally agree with the closing up shop early. I know I mention it a lot, but coming from Chicago I never had this problem. I'm not even talking about bars, or clubs, or anything like that. I just enjoyed the restaurants that were open 24x7 or at least past 9 or 10. I was lucky to get that in Phoenix, if just with a few places. I know there were at least options. I tend to work late at times, and not being able to get some decent food outside of a McDonald's is concerning to me. I thought the snow thing was going to be an issue this year. It sure started out that way in November and early December. Not a whole lot since. Got up to 61 today though! I know these type of seasons wreck havok for the danger of burns. But, I'll enjoy it as I can. As far as houses, there are a wide variety and range. Of course price variation comes with this. It's one of the reasons why I am not planning on staying here. The housing market even with the so-called "correction" is out of reach for me. But, I'd imagine if both folks were working it may be easier. As a single person the taxes kill me, and I don't have a lot left over to stash away for a 100k+ studio in Flagstaff. Ridiculous when you compare the housing to LV, Phx, or ABQ. For most SFH it's even higher than that of Denver, with not much of an economy to support it. Just something to think about. My worst fear would be getting laid off up in these parts, and having little to no options to fall back on. Just my two cents from a newbie up here.

Originally Posted by observer53

Flagstaff is a college town, so you will find some people your age. That said, it still seems to roll up its sidewalks pretty early.

You made almost the same post in the Phoenix area, so I don't know where you are really moving. You WILL find hills and scenery in Flagstaff.

Flagstaff CAN have that much snow, it certainly hasn't this winter. It doesn't make sense to live at a lower elevation and commute to Flagstaff, especially in winter, because you may not be able to get to work at all since you don't live in the city, or it will be a long, slippery drive.

[nicolea]

Thanks for the information. It really helps

[M_159]

I relocated to Flagstaff a year ago and I do not want to stay. The realtor lied about the house, she is one of the Flagstaff drunks that permeate the area as I found out later. The two plumbers I had to hire sexually harassed me. The third one tried to fix me up with his friend who had 32 legal counts against him. My neighbor the cop saw me drink a beer in my garage and then hounded me for 4 months...I have to paint he tells me, I have to mow. He then proceeded to mow down exactly half of the easement in front of my house. It wasn't until I called the police on him that he quit.
The socioeconomic climate here is so poor that its palpable. If you are female and single its even worse. Maybe if you are liberal and low income you would find it nice here but I don't. But beware, the locals themselves call this a drunk town. They complain about people from Phoenix but they behave worse than any people I've met in Phoenix. Colorado is better from the other blogs I have read and the cost of living is much cheaper.

[Lostone1413]

to me Flag is like going back into the 60s. Lots of hippy type people. One of the more liberal cities in Arizona. Most of the old timers I know from Flag will tell you the people from Ca for the most part have pretty well taken it down the tubes

[Slater]

I relocated from Phoenix to work in the munitions depot at Bellemont (10 miles west of Flag). Funny that a lot of folks in Flagstaff don't even know the depot exists, even though it's been there since 1942.

[kapie9969]

Expensive housing.Lots of traffic and trains. Drunks from the rez and from NAU. Very few jobs. Not much snow this year.