Anyone From Phoenix or Tuson AZ?

[whenelephantsfly]

I am checking into moving to Arizona because I want to go to school there. I do not know anyone from the region and don't have knowledge about either Phoenix or Tuson. Can any of you tell me about the cities? I have been to a couple of sites online but all I have learned is where the popular vacation attractions are, where the hotels are and where to eat, etc. I want info about the bad and good areas of town, crime rates, housing/apartment costs, art attractions and activities....things that only people who actually live there would know. Any help would be appreciated...

[ahippiechic]

I live in Phoenix, don't know much about it tho, 'cuz I work all the time & never get to go anywhere. :( Not much help, huh?

[audrey37]

I live in Tucson and it is okay. Pretty boring and average. East side is nice. I wouldn't move to the south side of town. It is scary. The schools here are okay. I grew up here and still live here. There are not many good paying jobs here is the biggest problem I have had. Let me know if you want details of anything.

[terizona]

I live in NW Phoenix. Been here for 5 years and just love it. Would be nice tho if every now & then in summer you could turn the temps down to San Diego level, but then again if it was perfect, everyone would wanna live here. ;) If you are really into researching Phoenix/Tucson, or any other city, go to the library and check out the book called "Places Rated" A new one comes out every year, and that should answer a lot of your general questions about a new city.

Might also try checking things out on a local news site. Gives you an idea of where crimes are happening, you can check neighborhood info, weather, want ads, calendars of events, home prices, etc. For Phoenix some are:
www.azcentral.com
www.phoenix360.com
www.azfamily.com

Phoenix has a high auto theft rate, red light running, etc. so auto insurance is relatively expensive here. If you are looking for somewhere nice/quiet... the further out you go from downtown, generally the safer it gets (pretty typical in big cities). NW is getting popular (Peoria, Surprise, Glendale), NE (Scottsdale, Fountain Hills, Paradise Valley) is already big (and expensive), SE is popular but already filling fast Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Ahwatukee, etc. (House prices went up rapidly in past years) SW is the new hot spot for inexpensive housing, not much there yet to do/ or work at but it's definitely growing. No idea about rental prices here. In general I think other markets have higher paying jobs, but if we're creative/efficient $$-wise and get by ok. Any other questions, I'd be happy to help. :)