Is Flagstaff that bad? Otherwise what town do you recommend? (Prescott: real estate, rentals)

[rruff]

Originally Posted by SAR81

We love the forests and cool weather (I actually love the cold). She likes to shop and needs a mall, and it's always good to have a lot of stores in town.
Flagstaff is gorgeous and we love hitting the mall, Snowbowl, the Grand Canyon, Williams, Sedona, and eating at Taverna and Pizzicletta, but maybe Flagstaff will just cost a little bit too much to be financially comfortable with a mortgage there. Prescott is intriguing after reading this thread. I didn't know it was big enough for a mall.

Prescott is a little more affordable, and is more retirement oriented. Doesn't have the vibe of Flagstaff.

I'm surprised that jobs in your field would pay better in Flagstaff. Usually it's the opposite. But at any rate, if you can *both* get good paying jobs then that will make all the difference. If not, then struggling to make ends meet will quickly tarnish the image you have of living there.

You mentioned cool weather (pine forest?) and lot's of stores (mall), with affordable housing. Any other important factors? Any particular need to stay in AZ?

[agorski]

Originally Posted by SAR81

Prescott is intriguing after reading this thread. I didn't know it was big enough for a mall.

The Prescott metro area (Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, and Dewey-Humboldt) is significantly larger than the Flagstaff metro area.

The differences between the 2 have to do with location and colleges. Flagstaff is on a railroad line and is a junction of 2 interstate highways. Prescott has none of that. Flagstaff has Northern Arizona University with a bunch of students, while Prescott has 1 small university with about 2000 students, a tiny liberal arts college, and a big community college. Flagstaff services pretty much all of Northern Arizona so you get a level 1 trauma center hospital while Prescott's is a level 4. Flagstaff gets national and international tourism while Prescott gets a lot of in-state tourism. Prescott is much more retirement-oriented.

This makes for some interesting differences. Flagstaff has a Mercedes Benz dealership to service cars driving on the interstate. Prescott has MUCH better shopping and selection of stores, many of which Flagstaff doesn't have. I'm sure others can come up with other differences.

[Slater]

J&G Sales in Prescott probably has better deals on bulk ammunition

[infocyde]

Originally Posted by AnthonyJ34

But it's ok if an area is predominantly made up of 30-45 year olds? I'm 42, but I don't see myself or any particular age group as being better or worse than another. Maybe younger people want to live amongst younger people, and older amongst older. But is one group inherently better or more deserving than another?

As to what group is more deserving I'm with you none out weights another though I'd tend to give preference to locals, of which I am not one here. As far as what group to hang out with it is just personal preference. I like a balance, old, young, kids, families, all mixed together. The flood of retirees annoys me because it is skewing an already unbalanced situation even further IMHO. I don't fault them for coming. I'm sure retirees are coming here en mass for the same reasons my wife and I decided to give up here a shot, so again I don't blame them. It is a macro-economic-demographic thing.

[SAR81]

Originally Posted by rruff

Prescott is a little more affordable, and is more retirement oriented. Doesn't have the vibe of Flagstaff.

I'm surprised that jobs in your field would pay better in Flagstaff. Usually it's the opposite. But at any rate, if you can *both* get good paying jobs then that will make all the difference. If not, then struggling to make ends meet will quickly tarnish the image you have of living there.

You mentioned cool weather (pine forest?) and lot's of stores (mall), with affordable housing. Any other important factors? Any particular need to stay in AZ?

We may decide to just rent a house for now, but that seems like a waste. I can get qualified for a decent mortgage, I'm just not sure how much I want to take on. I'm not sure why the behavioral health jobs seem to pay more up there. The descriptions in some of the jobs we do come up with some bigger numbers than down here.

The most dense pine tree forest we can find is the best. With snow. Flagstaff seems to have enough shopping and services for us, plus some sentimental places to eat and visit that we really loved like Snowbowl and Taverna. We definitely intend to stay in AZ. She wants to be within about a three hour drive of her family down here in the desert, and I have a little family left here too. We like the idea of Flagstaff being close enough, but not too close. Prescott would be a bit closer.

We definitely love Flagstaff. That's pretty much our "dream place" in AZ. We haven't visited Prescott yet, though. It doesn't seem bad, but it doesn't grab us in the same way. We'll have to visit this week or next and get a feel for it, though.

[mattywo85]

I see a lot of people recommending Prescott area over Flagstaff. I get it from a financial sense but Prescott is the drug treatment capital of AZ. Tons of treatment facilities and treatment drop outs around the town, no thanks.

[Hschlick84]

Originally Posted by mattywo85

I see a lot of people recommending Prescott area over Flagstaff. I get it from a financial sense but Prescott is the drug treatment capital of AZ. Tons of treatment facilities and treatment drop outs around the town, no thanks.

The people of Prescott and PV are trying to change that so it's not the case in the future.

[infocyde]

From what I've seen there is actually very little (beyond petty crime occasionally from program wash outs) from the drug rehab houses. But the new retirees can't stand the thought of them, so the rehab industry is being targeted for destruction. This will further decimate the population of under 30 people in Prescott, and there will be even less service workers for the retirees to complain at/about.

[Hschlick84]

Originally Posted by infocyde

From what I've seen there is actually very little (beyond petty crime occasionally from program wash outs) from the drug rehab houses. But the new retirees can't stand the thought of them, so the rehab industry is being targeted for destruction. This will further decimate the population of under 30 people in Prescott, and there will be even less service workers for the retirees to complain at/about

Wouldn't that be considered age discrimination though? A city/town cannot grow, will become stagnant without a balanced demographics.

[Slater]

For many in Prescott, growth might be something less than desirable.