Corrine

I'm moving to Phoenix and I don't even know where to begin. What areas are nice? How to find a job. I'm a New Yorker so I'm looking for a semi-urban vibe. Any good links you can suggest?

teri

There are many nice areas of Phoenix and Metro. First, find a job and live near by. The traffic and freeway system is not great.

John

I have no idea why you're moving, but please know in advance that Phoenix and NYC are THE opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of "urban vibe capacity" among major metro areas in the US. There is a world of difference between the two. Phoenix has a slow, laid back feel, and there is precious little "night life"---at least as it is defined in NYC.
People who move to, and like it well enough to stay, in PHX are there because they enjoy the blue sky, sunny days and outdoor activities. Restaurants are OK for a city its size but nothing to rave about. Cultural opportunities are extremely limited for an area of over 3 million people.
PHX is a rapid growth strip mall town. It has little or no character.
I vacation there twice a year and appreciate it for the resorts, relaxed attitude and outdoor activities.
But if culture and night life are high on your priority list, please go in with your eyes open recognizing the limitations there.

loangalsal

No such thing as a "semi-urban vibe" in Phoenix. I lived there for 4 years and loved the weather, but teri & John are exactly right in their descriptions. Traffic is horrible because they never put in a decent freeway system, and the city is spread out, strip malls everywhere. Why Phoenix? You said you don't have a job yet. You can find that "semi-urban vibe" somewhere warm like Austin TX maybe, or parts of California, but not Phoenix.

kkj

I moved to Phoenix from Chicago four years ago and love it! But, Phoenix is very different from Chicago. There isn't really an urban culture here -- at least I haven't found it yet. There are lots of nice areas around town. There is no one perfect place to consider. Most of the nice places are in pockets of an area. I would look for a job and then start looking in that area for a place to live. If you really want an urban feel about the best that we have to offer is something downtown, on Central just north of downtown or perhaps Tempe (if you are looking for college type night life.) Unfortunately, none of the areas I've mentioned are anything like New York.

Are you looking for a house, apartment, condo or townhouse? One thing you'll find out fast is that our housing prices compared to New York are terrific.

One of the things I did was check out the internet and take a look at Real Estate sites. One of the relators had put together a good handbook on relocating which went over all the basic information about each of the towns etc.

Other sites you might want to check out are also the city of Phoenix's web site. I believe that it has a section on relocating.

Keep the forum advised as to how you are doing and what your time table is. I'll be happy to get any information that I can to help you along the way.

Good luck.

Corrine

I'm not looking for something as urban as new york, that's why i'm leaving in the first place. But i wanted to know if there is a downtown with apartments and shops. I don't want to live in a house per se. I'm really looking for sites that people from phoenix use to find a job or a new place.

I'm not fixed on Phoenix yet...I wouldn't mind getting more info on Austin and SA, Texas. I can handle the heat, I used to live in south florida.

huh

Can't handle the heat? Whoa, Nellie! Turn around and head east!
Phoenix is brutally hot ("but it's a dry heat") from May to Oct. The downtown isn't much to rave about. The traffic is awful.

judy

MY husband and I moved to PHX for 2 years & loved it. We used apartment finders to find an apartment - they give you several to look at that fit your needs. Apartments are EVERYWHERE due to the huge increase in population. Downtown PHX is NOWHERE you want to live, the only thing there is slums & ball part. Scottsdale is expensive, but nice. We lived on the PHX/Scottsdale border. Tempe is a college town, but harder to find hosing, and this is wheremost of the night life is. Chandler is a new up and coming area. Gilbert/Mesa are ok, but I found them old. Most jobs in in PHX or tempe. Stay clear of Peoria - too far away. We were told any housing on the "st's" were better than the "aves" and I have to agree. We love it, and unlike one poster thought traffic was great with lots of side streets, but after boston anything looks good. I strongly recommend visiting the area. azcentral.com has FL newspaper with all the jobs.

kkj

I wanted to take issue with look for housing on the streets, not the avenues. Houses with a street designation are not superior to houses with a avenue address. If that were true than those people who live in zip code 85308 (Arrowhead in Northwest Glendale) are in for a big surprise. According to the Arizona Republic newspaper this zip code has the highest concentration of millionaires in Arizona. If streets are good enough for millionaires than they should be good enough for everyone. Sorry, but as a west sider, I get irritated with everyone who thinks the east side is the be all and end all of Phoenix.

With the type of area you are looking for, I don't know if Phoenix would be for you. I don't want to discourage you, but suggest you might want to take a vacation out here and check things out yourself. I did this and came out in the middle of July. I figured if I could handle the heat, I could definately handle the rest of the year.

Good luck in your relocation plans.

keel

KIELBASA!

Andrea

I am an Arizona native and honestly love it here, I would really like to live somewhere that has a more thriving "downtown", but I just can't get my self out of here. I think the best places to start would either be Tempe or Scottsdale...Scottsdale can be a little more pretentious than Tempe, but there are a lot of good restaurants and nightlife around. There are also some new apartments around Camelback and Central in the downtown area, and they aren't too bad, I have friends that live there and LOVE it! The historical districts downtown are really fun too, and Phoenix is really trying to improve their downtown. Give it a few years and it will really be neat! I would stay away from the Chandler/Gilbert, Mesa, and the West Valley. Too far away from everything, and there is absolutely no culture.

Traffic really isn't that horrible, granted at rush hour it is, but where in any big city isn't it?!

Arizona is really fun, definately if you like the outdoors, you can be outside practically year round, summer time you just have to travel a couple hours up north or south.

Check out:
http://www.azcentral.com, http://phoenix.citysearch.com/
http://www.digitalcity.com/phoenix/