California-Arizona - On Fence - - (school, college, living in)

[BlueStone]

Greetings.
Real stuck; any thoughts? I'm curently living in AZ, am hot-cold about the place. Lived in DC, Mpls., France, Canada - can get rotten bored here and the heat can drive me nuts. Beautiful appt., ok job - "loser" school teacher.. fluent in French, German, some Spanish- love the ocean - feel healed every time I see the water. Where would you live? If you've lived in AZ + California, please respond. Which did you finally chose? Why? Familiar with posts about cost of living, pollution, driving problems, etc. - if you had to "do it all over again" where would you call home? Mid 50s and looking for a "final place" to enjoy..sick of moving around!

[zenjenn]

Ok, well I've never lived in Arizona, but I have had many family and friends move there.

Granted I am someone who left California by choice after living my entire life there, but if I had to choose between California and Arizona, I'd pick California. I'm not sure why Californians are all into moving to Arizona. If you want a lower cost of living in a less crowded area, there are plenty of places to do so that aren't Arizona. I, too, would be sick of the dryness and heat and would feel healed every time I saw water if I lived in Arizona!

Don't get me wrong, Arizona is a beautiful state. I have enjoyed many visits there, but I don't think I'd want to live there.

Of course, why are your final two choices Arizona and California? California - in the metro areas - has a high cost of living, driving problems, crowds, etc. Pollution is not so bad anymore due to improved emissions standards and such. As a teacher you might find California hard to get into financially, but you can swing it if you don't have a lot of family expenses (kids in college?) and would still be happy and comfortable living in a smaller place. If I was a lone teacher wanting to move to California for some cooler weather and the ocean, I'd be trying to land a job in a more peripheral coastal town rather than the big metro areas.

[NYSD1995]

For me it all comes down to the heat. I can't deal with it. So AZ is out, even though it is a unique and gorgeous state.

[BlueStone]

Thank you for the thoughts. I may very well "leap" to SD and then over time, crab crawl north to a mid-size or smaller town. Just to be by the ocean would be a dream come true.