Should we move to Tucson, AZ

[kokomo1114]

My husband and I are presntly in Tucson looking at houses. We have sold our house in Stillwater, MN and doing a significant downsizing. Leaving family and friends is a big deal, so we are taking this seriously. Real eastate is cheaper here and I can already dream of a colored Mexican-themed kitchen and laundry. Do you guys like the area? Anyone have a nice collection to see?

Dennis

[email protected]

 

[norgeway]

No way

I could Too hot for me.If I ever moved anywhere it would be NORTH where there is some real winter.

 

[vacerator]

Sure, if

you want to. I'd love it out there in winter. Not summer, unless I at least had a pool. Otherwise you're stuck inside places same as here all winter. 100f degrees is hot no matter the humidity or lack of.
We've been to Phoenix in March, and Sedona. Loved it there. The desert was in bloom. Our neighbors retired to Surprise seven years ago. My husband will not move.
We have kids and grandkids local. We are all the family here they have, other than in laws in Atlanta and Orlando. He also hates it too hot, or humid. He also doesn't want to buy a place that needs any updates, as we've got ours to our liking.
I wouldn't care for Florida's high humid summers, nor hurricanes. I've suggested renting a place for a month each winter. I'm retired, he works from home, so can do that anywhere. This winter hasn't been so bad. Not much snow, or too cold.

 

[chachp]

I lived in Phoenix

 

<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">I lived in Phoenix for about 6 years many years ago.  There will be a month or two where it's very hot but the rest of the year is lovely for the most part.  It's like living in the north and enduring time in the winter where it's that unbearable below zero weather.  You stay inside.  I guess it depends on your tolerance for the heat and how much you would love the rest of the year.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">I live in Arkansas now.  We get hot but it's very humid when it's very hot.  We just stay in the A/C when it's like that.  The rest of the year is pretty nice.  I haven't shoveled snow in years for whatever that's worth.  </span>

 

[vacerator]

My hubby travelled to

Little Rock every week for two years for work. One week they got two inches of snow, and everything closed up and shut down. They can't drive in it, nor have equipment to plow it. In summer it is awful humid.

 

[chachp]

Snow in Little Rock

 

<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Well you're right, they don't do anything with the roads when we do get some snow.  The city does shut down but it's very seldom that happens.  For example it hasn't happened here in the past two years at least that I can remember.  We have only had one or two days this year where we got flurries but it was so warm it melted.  They get a little more in Northern Arkansas but here in Central we don't get it much.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">There will always be a few weeks in the summer where it really hot but again I don't think we hit 100 in the two years either.  I'll still take this over the winters I left behind in upstate New York.  </span>

 

[gusherb]

I was in Phoenix last July right at the peak of the season and it wasn't all that bad. I would make sure to stay hydrated at all times and stay indoors at the peak of the day. We went on a tour at the Taliesin West and our tour guide who had to have been in her 70s fainted from heat stroke (she said that was the first time that's ever happened in 20 years giving a tour) and it was 110° that day. 

 

I think the key part to this was that the monsoon had started (this is a weather pattern, not a rain storm, that's a common misnomer) and the humidity was higher than usual causing a reduced evaporative cooling effect across the skin. (hence why it's so hard to cool off in places that have high summer humidity) 

 

 

Tucson is a little milder than Phoenix in the summer so it shouldn't get that extreme.

 

 

I also spent a good bit of time in Sedona where it tops out around 100° and it was pleasant. I'd be happy to live in extreme heat for a few months to have a super pleasant rest of the year. Right now where I live I get a few months of pleasant weather and the rest is crap. 

 

[frigilux]

First off, congratulations on selling your house and downsizing! I did the same thing 2.5 years ago in anticipation of retirement and haven’t regretted it for a moment. I decided to rent rather than buy—tired of dealing with house/yard upkeep. Unfortunately, I’m too stubborn or stupid to leave Minnesota, even for the winter. My parents were snowbirds and loved wintering in the Tucson area. Hope you find a great place and don’t forget to send photos of your Mexican-themed kitchen & laundry!

 

[tomturbomatic]

Jonathan, puerient  interest here: Did she go down in mid talk or was she just standing and fell out?  Did anyone catch her or did she land against someone or something?

 

[sugarshock]

I've lived in Arizona, Texas and Oklahoma areas. Of the three states, I've always liked the southern side of the state of Oklahoma. The winters get nippy sometimes but don't last long. The summers aren't as brutal and what days are, don't tend to last long either.

Houses are very reasonable priced, taxes for retires are nice and the cost of living overall is cheap. There's culture, but not like Tucson. Crime rate is better but have to live with the fact a tornado might come through your house.

I wish you well no matter where you decide to set your new roots.

Peace....Kevin

 

[vacerator]

southern Ok?

Is it still in tornada(o) alley? Karen Silkwood lived in that area, where the Kerr McGee uranium processing plant is or was.

 

[vacerator]

Opps, correction,

sorry, should have looked up Crescent Ok. first. It is not in southern Ok.

 

[stricklybojack]

.
I lived there in the early 90’s for a few years.
Tucson lacks freeways other than the one that connects it to Phoenix. The upshot is certain avenues become extremely crowed during certain hours. My advice, don’t live too close to those avenues.
It is over 100 for 100 days every summer yes, BUT there are the summer monsoon rains. This is a short but extremely welcome downpour which augments the heat. Swamp coolers are a fantastic form of air conditioning which use evaporating water...much preferred feeling imo than AC.
You naturally limit daytime activities and use the nights in the summer to escape the sun.
Also consider other towns like Prescott if you think Tucson would be too warm. Prescott is at a higher elevation than Tucson.
Tucson also varies greatly depending on the part of town you are in.
I worked with a Minnesota transplant who no doubt is still there. He would spend summers working on his brother’s farm in Minnesota then come back to Tucson. I probably could even find a phone number. He would be a great guide having lived there for decades.

 

[gusherb]

Tom

She knew it was coming and so did we. First off I noticed she had water in her hand but hadn't touched it in an hour, then toward the end of the tour she stopped the tour to go inside and cool down for a minute, pushed herself to come back out and finish it off and carried on and we stood there watching her speech slow down, become a slur, went silent then she started to go down. But everyone was watching it happen and was standing there to catch her and carried her back inside the AC, where she came to and had no recollection of what had happened. She refused the ambulance and a half hour later I saw her walking around like nothing had happened and downplaying it. Stubborn German she was.