Where in Arizona would be best to move to?

Question

I want out of LA (Southern CA) and am considering AZ. I am a single woman in my early 40's w/o kids. I would like affordable rent, lower cost of living, employment opportunities and lower elevation (No or little snow).

Phoenix, Tempe, Flagstaff, Yuma, Kingman, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Prescott, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Peoria, Bullhead City, Lake Havasu, Fort Mohave, Buckeye, Tuscon, Winslow or Nogales? Please help.

Answer 1

Given the very limited list of criteria, you can cross off the list Flagstaff and Winslow since they are at higher elevations. The unemployment rate in Arizona is very low...there are jobs and affordable places to live all over Arizona.

Answer 2

A city that is not on your list: Payson, AZ. It is a city about 76 miles from Mesa. It is no too hot and it snows maybe 4 to 6 times a year and is gone in a day or two.

Answer 3

It really depends what you are planning to do, what kind of job you are looking for as well as other preferences.

This website has a lot of information that might help you:

http://www.bestplaces.net/

Answer 4

Do you want a metropolitan area or a rural area?  That will make a huge difference in narrowing your choices.

I live in Glendale, but I commute to downtown Phoenix for work.  My job is 11 miles from my house and it takes me about a half hour in the morning, and 45 minutes at night. I bought my condo in 1998 and the mortgage payment is $405 per month; the population of Glendale is about 250,000.  I am 5 miles away from the Cardinals football stadium and the Coyotes hockey arena.  The very large Phoenix metro area includes Mesa, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Apache Junction, Fountain Hills, Scottsdale, Cave Creek, Paradise Valley, Peoria, Glendale, Surprise, El Mirage, Buckeye, Goodyear, Avondale, and of course, Phoenix proper.

Contrast that with Kingman, where I grew up.  The longest morning commute I ever had was only about 10 minutes, and that was from the far north part of town to the far south part of town.  It's only an hour and a half from Las Vegas, and the town itself has a population of about 40,000; there are currently no malls and the largest store is Walmart.  The weather is roughly the same as that of Las Vegas, just a few degrees cooler and very windy.

Tidbits about other Arizona cities:  Flagstaff and Prescott both are at higher elevations and receive abundant snowfall.  Bullhead City and Lake Havasu City are very low elevation, have large recreational bodies of water within the city limits, and the temperatures are some of the hottest in the state.  Usually only Yuma or Coolidge is hotter than BHC or LHC.  Tucson is slightly higher desert than Phoenix, so it is a bit cooler and has a population of about half a million in the city, but the total including outlying areas is much higher. Nogales is hot, and just across the border from Mexico.