Scottsdale V Austin (Phoenix, Flagstaff, Prescott: homes, neighborhoods, schools)

[Adventurer007]

Would be grateful for reasons why my young family (we are moving from Ireland) and I should choose to live in Scottsdale for 9 months (from Sept to May) rather than Austin, Texas? Job opportunities not an issue. Cost of living, outdoor life, people, schools, safety, weather? Thanks!

[Arizona89A]

Originally Posted by Adventurer007

Would be grateful for reasons why my young family (we are moving from Ireland) and I should choose to live in Scottsdale for 9 months (from Sept to May) rather than Austin, Texas? Job opportunities not an issue. Cost of living, outdoor life, people, schools, safety, weather? Thanks!

Why are you choosing between these two in particular? There are many other rich, wealthy suburbs and cities here in the southwest. How do these cities appeal to you? Very interesting question. What amenities are you looking for?

Edit, your goals are on the us forum with your other post. I added about 10 other cities that are Scottsdale clones! Other Scottsdale residents may have opinions on those other rich cities

[Adventurer007]

Thank (again!). Yes, as per my other other post, our list includes...

Things that are important to us/on our 'wish list' (roughly in level of priority) include:

- Outdoor life. We want the kids to spend lots of time outdoors, preferably in beautiful scenery. We enjoy hiking, cycling and mountain biking for example.

- Weather! Having lived in a wet, mild Irish climate for most of our lives we want to experience sun, sun and more sun. We could do harsh winters, but would prefer not to.

- We want something quite different from life in Ireland. For this reason the east coast doesn't appeal as much (as beautiful as I'm sure it is). Different in terms of scenery, culture and weather

- Safe for us and of course the kids.

- We don't want to live downtown in a big city. Prefer small/medium town or suburb.

- We are very health conscious (food and exercise) and like living in places where other people have similar lifestyles and organic food etc being available is a nice to have

- Nature and beautiful scenery.

- We appreciate 'nice' things, as I'm sure most people do...nicely kept, pretty towns, nice restaurants etc

- I don't want to let budget be the determining factor but of course we prefer to spend less if possible.

- Wifey hates mosquitos...minor point, but worth mentioning. Also we are wary of lyme and things of that nature.

[VikingFan]

I prefer Scottsdale. A classy medium size city attached to a major city. Unlimited recreational opportunities nearby. That said, Austin is no slouch either. What is the big negative for me is the humidity and heat in the summer in Austin. I think it is much worse than dry heat in Scottsdale. More mosquitos in Austin as well.

[DetroitN8V]

Austin is not a small/medium town at all. Scottsdale could be considered a medium size city. Both have parts that are suburban in feel but both are fairly large. Other than that, Scottsdale checks your boxes. It's a great place to live.

[exit2lef]

It's sort of an apples-and-oranges comparison because Scottsdale is one of many suburbs within the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, and Austin is a large city at the center of its own metropolitan area.

Examples of more direct comparisons could include these possibilities:

Phoenix vs. Austin (entire metro area vs. entire metro area)

or

Scottsdale vs. Round Rock (suburb vs. suburb)

[Ponderosa]

There is simply no comparison when it comes to scenery. Scottsdale/Arizona is far, far, better. Real mountains abound and flora and fauna of the Sonoran desert is unique in the entire world. September to May when you plan to live here is the best time of year for weather too with endless days of cloud free sunshine and perfect temperatures for getting outdoors. Your opportunities include hiking desert mountain trails steps from your house, to cross country or downhill skiing only 2 or so hours away by car. The Texas winter is cold, windy and depressing by comparison and there is no easy escape.

Scottsdale has everything else you are looking for from safety to restaurants of every level, cleanliness. But since you mention outdoors and winter weather the most, it is really a no-brainer. Scottsdale and Arizona win this one hands down.

[locolife]

AS Ponderosa said, in my mind there is no comparison at all of the beauty in the West versus central Texas. The Austin area does have some nice lakes and a lot more tree coverage than Phoenix but it sounds like you're looking for something different and the Sonoran desert is certainly one of the most unique places to live in the world. The sacrifice here versus Austin will be our summer, while Austin is certainly hot and can be very humid in the summer the heat is not at the intensity of the Phoenix area. Since you mentioned mountain biking you might like to know that the Phoenix area is an IMBA rated riding center, we have something along the lines of 200+ miles of trails around the valley. In Scottsdale you'll live closest to the McDowell mountains, which depending on where you live could literally be in your backyard. So hiking, biking, walking opportunities are almost endless there with others like Cave Creek, Camelback, Superstitions and South Mountain also not too far from Scottsdale.

I'll add further that the Phoenix area presents you with a world of adventure at your door step with places like Sedona, Flagstaff, Payson, Prescott, Patagonia, the Grand Canyon and other truly amazing sites to see. I've now spent a combined 10.5 years in Arizona and still continue to find new amazing places to see/visit. Even when it's roasting in the Phoenix area the cool mountain air is a mere few hours away by car. If you take that a step further, I like Phoenix's proximity to the beaches of Rocky Point (about 3.5 hours) and Southern California (5-6 hours). I know Austin is relatively close to Corpus Christi as well so maybe that point is a wash.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by locolife

AS Ponderosa said, in my mind there is no comparison at all of the beauty in the West versus central Texas. The Austin area does have some nice lakes and a lot more tree coverage than Phoenix but it sounds like you're looking for something different and the Sonoran desert is certainly one of the most unique places to live in the world. The sacrifice here versus Austin will be our summer, while Austin is certainly hot and can be very humid in the summer the heat is not at the intensity of the Phoenix area. Since you mentioned mountain biking you might like to know that the Phoenix area is an IMBA rated riding center, we have something along the lines of 200+ miles of trails around the valley. In Scottsdale you'll live closest to the McDowell mountains, which depending on where you live could literally be in your backyard. So hiking, biking, walking opportunities are almost endless there with others like Cave Creek, Camelback, Superstitions and South Mountain also not too far from Scottsdale.

I'll add further that the Phoenix area presents you with a world of adventure at your door step with places like Sedona, Flagstaff, Payson, Prescott, Patagonia, the Grand Canyon and other truly amazing sites to see. I've now spent a combined 10.5 years in Arizona and still continue to find new amazing places to see/visit. Even when it's roasting in the Phoenix area the cool mountain air is a mere few hours away by car. If you take that a step further, I like Phoenix's proximity to the beaches of Rocky Point (about 3.5 hours) and Southern California (5-6 hours). I know Austin is relatively close to Corpus Christi as well so maybe that point is a wash.

The OP will only be here from Sep-May. The trees in Austin will have no leaves and the lakes will be cold and windy. Phoenix, OTOH, will have arguably the best weather on the planet during that period if warm sunshine is the measure and we will be as green as we get.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Adventurer007

Thank (again!). Yes, as per my other other post, our list includes...

Things that are important to us/on our 'wish list' (roughly in level of priority) include:

- Outdoor life. We want the kids to spend lots of time outdoors, preferably in beautiful scenery. We enjoy hiking, cycling and mountain biking for example.

I spend 12 months a year outdoors in Arizona, in the summer I get up early if I'm going to be in Phoenix or I head up North to 20-30 degree cooler weather which is a simple 2ish hour drive. As a big outdoorsy person I find this incredibly awesome, having lived on the East coast before I know that not every city has a quick escape to what seems like an opposite climate like this.

- Weather! Having lived in a wet, mild Irish climate for most of our lives we want to experience sun, sun and more sun. We could do harsh winters, but would prefer not to.

Over 300 days of sunshine here, you'll probably miss the rain but it does come through during Monsoon season and occasional winter storms. But day to day life is not impacted much by dealing with weather, for most of the year the weather does not play a factor in your plans.

- We want something quite different from life in Ireland. For this reason the east coast doesn't appeal as much (as beautiful as I'm sure it is). Different in terms of scenery, culture and weather. You should read up more on the Sonoran desert, it's the most "lush" desert in the world and some of the plants growing here are found nowhere else on the planet. Each spring the desert comes alive with some amazing colors that are well documented online. Wiki might be a good starting point to understand the environment we live in here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonoran_Desert

- Safe for us and of course the kids.
Scottsdale usually ranks very well for safety in the US. https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...ety%20rankings

- We don't want to live downtown in a big city. Prefer small/medium town or suburb.
Scottsdale has a very nice town center with a lot of shopping, art galleries, museums, restaurants, nightlife, etc..

You should keep in mind that Phoenix remains a large tourist town with literally millions of visitors each year, Scottsdale is probably the premiere place in the valley most of these guests stay out. So things tend to be very well manicured, resorts can be found all over the place and in the cooler months there are events, festivals, concerts, shows almost every weekend. The Phoenix open is played there, Barrett Jackson car show, the Arabian horse show, Parada del Sol, many Rodeos and I know I'm leaving off a lot of other stuff from that list.

- We are very health conscious (food and exercise) and like living in places where other people have similar lifestyles and organic food etc being available is a nice to have This sounds like you'll fit Scottsdale to a T. There are organic food options abound and everyone there does seem to get caught up in the latest fitness trends.

- Nature and beautiful scenery.

My favorite time to be outdoors here is during the sunset, picture attached.

- We appreciate 'nice' things, as I'm sure most people do...nicely kept, pretty towns, nice restaurants etc
See tourism note above, I'd be willing to guess Scottsdale is one of the cleanest towns in the country.

- I don't want to let budget be the determining factor but of course we prefer to spend less if possible.

Scottsdale is not cheap by Phoenix standards but nationally it's very competitive with similar towns in California.

- Wifey hates mosquitos...minor point, but worth mentioning. Also we are wary of lyme and things of that nature.
I can't say you won't find mosquitoes here but I do think we'd have a lot less than Austin. Mosquitos can be very site specific, so you might want to avoid neighborhoods built around lakes or that bump up next to one of the canals that carry water through the valley. The natural desert of course it not prone to mosquitoes since there is not usually any standing water but our man-made stuff has allowed them to thrive in small pockets. Some people on here seem to have a lot near there homes, I've lived in 5 parts of the valley and never had an issue with them.

I saw this after my first post. Hopefully that helps.