Arizona

Does anyone out west maybe someone in California know the deal with Arizona lately?

So many people from my area are moving there getting entry level jobs at 50,000+ salaries....getting a home that would cost over a million dollars here for like $400,000. Hot job openings in areas like radio, that are impossible to get into in most places just have like tons of openings out there.

Was the area just desert and now it's buliding up? Or did some other kind of economic boom occur? I am soooo curious. I like can't imagine moving there almost b/c I think of the heat and coyotes, but I am dying to know why this is going on. People are fleeing there in packs.

I briefly investigated moving to AZ myself last summer but most of the job opportunities relative to my field were in places near Phoenix. Not really my cup of tea there. Not because of the heat but because I'm partial to more mountainous, treed areas, like northern AZ/Flagstaff. Plus, planning work was more related to forward planning (development and infrastructure planning) as opposed to environmental planning (protecting and developing at the same time).

Relative to the S.F. Bay Area, AZ is (or at least it was) very inexpensive as far as buying a brand new beautiful home, or even just buying 'blank' land. Additionally, compared to California, the environmental laws and requirements are, as I understand it, virtually non-existent. This condition probably applies to housing developments and golf courses, as well as to commercial/industrial development.

It will be interesting to see how long this lasts since environmental concerns are growing in that area, especially relative to desert conservation and air quality related to increasing vehicle trips.

People are fleeing there in packs.

Well, if I lived in Jersey, I would be fleeing there too . . . too damned cold for me! :D The Arizona heat would be calling my name night and day!

My daughter is one of the people who have bought a 40-acre plot in the desert mountains of northern Arizona. She loves it there. It's true that Phoenix is one of the fastest growing cities in the country. Many California businesses have moved their corporate headquarters there because land is so much cheaper. It's true that homes are a lot cheaper there too. However, Phoenix and Tucson now have the same urban problems of gangs and crime that every other large city has. The heat in the summer is oppressive, easily 105 to 115 or even 120. I once experienced heat of 126 degrees in Death Valley and I could actually feel my body dehydrating by the second. That kind of heat is unbelievable. No way I could live there. I'm told people don't go outdoors in the summer. However, Arizona does have some beautiful smaller towns in their mountain areas that are just delightful, but there are no jobs. Buying in those small towns might be a good investment though. Retiring baby boomers are moving out of the cities into small towns. I plan to be one of them.