Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge So What's It Really Like In Arizona?

My Nephew is about to separate from the Air Force. He will be going through his actual separation at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. Right now he is still in Japan. He has a job offer in Arizona working for a private company and it sounds like a pretty good offer. He is a computer system administrator and is pretty much a whiz on these things. The company he is talking with wants him to start the first week of December. I don't have all the details, but he sounded pretty excited about it. I raised his sister and him from elementary school on when my brother had some problems, so it made me feel pretty good when he called and asked me what I thought he should do. I told him the job opportunity sounded great, and from everything I had heard, Arizona was a pretty decent place to live, so my question is, is Arizona a pretty decent place to live and will I want to ride out there to visit him after he gets settled in? How cold does it get in the winter and what is the summer heat like? I'm pretty excited about having him back in the U.S. again.

That would be Malmstrom AFB.
A maelstrom is a powerful whirlpool; a large, swirling body of water. Or... A violent or turbulent situation: caught in the maelstrom of war.
Or... A whirlpool of extraordinary size or violence.

Congratualtions to the lad. How about getting him a nice Triumph for getting around in that nice AZ weather?

Well I'm sure you'll get plenty of answers from the AZ folks. As far as the weather is concerned, it really depends on what part of AZ he'll be in.

Right you are! I couldn't remember the name of the base and when he talked to me about it, that spelling erroneously came to mind. Thanks.

Well its likely gotta be either Luke AFB up in Phoenix or DMAFB (Davis Monthan) down here in the smaller burgh of Tucson also referred to as the Old Pueblo.

How's the weather? Well ..as I see it we really have two seasons here hot and hotter. Not really. Winters in both Phoenix and Tucson are moderate to say the least. We do see freezing temps occasionally in the mornings from anytime after Thanksgiving up through late February to maybe even early March. Daytime highs in Phoenix which is just an angry mule's kick up interstate 10 from Tucson are typically a few degress warmer each day year round.

Lots of sun year round ....snow is non existent in Tucson or Phoenix and a typical midday high in Tucson on Jan 15th would be say 65 to 68 degrees. Dec and January being the two months that tend to drag the mean temp down. Keep in mind though that even in Dec/January it is not unusual for us to see a few days when high temps spike as high as 70-73 degrees or more. From March 1 forward things start to really warm up dramatically. By late March we are experiencing daily highs not seen in Illinois or Ohio until late May or early June I'd say.

Now for my purposes Summer lasts from April to September. October things begin to slowly chill down. Some of the best riding weather is in September/October and in March April.

High summer May, June, July, and August and most of September will roast you to a nicely done medium rare with little or no work at all. But its a dry heat.

Is it a decent place to live? It depends on what you like. Phoenix is a huge more and more like LA megalopolis spreading out forever it seems. Lots to do and see in that megalopolis. Tucson although growing rapidly is still more home townie to our eyes.

Great state for hunting and fishing (the deer are smallish when compared to Northern tier states but we do have Elk in the Northern forests of Arizona if you are lucky enough to get a permit. Javelina season is in Winter. Kill a pig and have a BBQ! Southern Az style.

Culture is a mixed bag of white, hispanic, native Americans, blacks and miscellaneous others. The local Hispanic culture is a big part of Tucson. Now
we have tons of snowbirds. Snowbirds are seasonal flightless aging birds from Northern tier states who invade our fair vicinity and violate all the traffic laws. They are tolerated cause they bring money with them. Snowbirds congregate in large flocks in Phoenix and to a lesser degree in the greater Tucson area.

I think he will like Arizona. Just remember it do get REALLY hot in high summer. Blast furnace dry heat. But its tolerable. I have spent summers in the east and south and that humidity is just nasty.

Kevin, I believe that he said his nephew is separating in Montana, and will go to work for a private company in AZ. I would expect that type of work to be in the large metro areas in the south, but it could be in the Flagstaff area. Big difference.

Oh, and there's been some BIG deer come out of the Kaibab .

Randy,
NO! Whatever YOU DO, tell him NOT to come to Arizona!
There's entirely TOO MANY of those darn Californicators arriving daily into that state!!! ESPECIALLY in the Prescott(my particular choice, BTW), Sedona, Flagstaff areas, which BTW are nothing like Phoenix/Tucson....the former are much cooler temperature-wise throughout the year(on average about 20 degrees or so)...elevation makes all the difference, you know)

NOW...if he'd like a real nice family-friendly place, there's ALWAYS....LAS VEGAS, ya know!

Cheers,
Dwight
(bigbill's gonna get me for this one)

Ya know Bill, you gotta point there, ol' buddy!

Now, the only thing I'm wonderin' about...after my snide little remark here...is if I'll wake up to find a Kentucky Derby hopefull's head in my bed tomorrow morning!!!!

They're not nearly so overt anymore
You may, however, be receiving an offer soon

Hot in the winter, very, very hot in the summer ....

(Less'n you're oop north of course!! )

Quote:

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But it's a "DRY" heat.

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Definetly a statement you will need to get used to saying several times a day.
I can't believe how many times I have heard that every time I go there.

If I was just starting out, Arizona would not be a choice. Being a border state, and having more than it's share of illegal immigration problems, Arizona suffers for those looking to raise a family.

Wages are comparatively low. Although some people would like you to think that the only jobs illegals do are the ones Americans wouldn't, the sad fact is they bring all wages down, even in professional fields.

Crime is a major problem in Tucson and Phoenix, almost 3 times the national average. Auto theft is one of the worst in the country. Gang and drug related violence is a daily occurence.

The education system ranks annually as amongst the worst in the nation as bi-lingual programs slow down the efforts to educate all the students, and the additional costs along with it rob the system. Low wages also keep better teachers away.

Housing is overpriced compared to wages. Here in Tucson, median income is around $40,000/yr while the median price of a house is slightly over $200K. The selling prices of the same model as our house in our subdivison has nearly doubled since we bought it 5 years ago. For the most part this is due to Californians either speculating in real estate, or retirees cashing in their houses and moving to Arizona. A recent Moody's Forecast though said the bubble has burst and they predicted a 13.4% drop in the price of houses in Tucson next year, one of the highest in the nation.

While all that paints a bleak outlook, I'm not looking to move. We live in a relatively nice area, so crime isn't that much of a problem. We also don't have any children, so the school system isn't a priority for us. If you come to visit, spring and fall are the best times.

I didn't read this last night Dwight, had to make an emergency call to Uncle Nunzio and then go to bed.

So, you met Guido? .

I found out that the job is located at Fort Huachuca. Sounds to me like he is going to take it. My oldest daughter lives in New Mexico and is excited that she may soon have her favorite cousin living reasonably close by. I haven't been to Arizona myself since a trip to the Grand Canyon my family made in in the late sixties. Arizona sounds like a good place to ride...Maybe after he gets out there I'll take a little time and try the ironbutt thing!

Sierra Vista is the largest city in that area. And although it's closer to the border, crime is much less of a problem than in Tucson. Tombstone is just a short drive from Ft Huachuca. If you come out for a visit, let me know and we'll hook up for a ride.

Sierra Vista is an "Army Town" ....small and nice but for anything to really do...ala nightlife etc ya gotta come to Tucson.

I know some people who make the drive to Tucson for recreatonal intererts and nightlife twice a week cause Sierra Vista just is kinda dead in that regard.

Arizona... If I could not live in Oklahoma, Texas or New Mexico,,,I guess it would be Arizona...a beautiful State !