How's life in Mesa, AZ?

[da loser]

you forgot IN-N-OUT

 

[daveshel]

Originally posted by: savoyboy

Originally posted by: elbosco

Originally posted by: savoyboy

Originally posted by: daveshel
Big Mormon presence in Mesa. Huge population - something like 120K now, sprawls out forever. Miles and endless Generica.

120K? Try 455K

Try less than 50k. Not everyone in Mesa is Mormon.

sorry. i thought you were talking about Mesa's population.

I was. If that is now 455K, more to the point - it wasn't that long ago I looked it up!

 

[pyonir]

Mesa? Hope you like old people. That's what i hate the most about Mesa. I lived in Mesa for a year...waiting an hour to eat at a stinkin applebees every single night from 3pm to 8pm is not fun during the winter months. I hated that.

I live in Phoenix now and love it. But i don't have a family to raise, and i'm just renting a room in a house.

 

[elbosco]

The Good about Mesa:

The Weather - it was 75*F and sunny today

Sunsets - just beautiful

In n? Out ? nuff? said

Monsoons ? the best lightning storms you will ever be witness to in your life

Job market ? you can get a job here

Fliberto?s ? cheap Mexican food that?s actually good

Road Maintenance ? when not clogged with traffic, the roads and freeways are a joy to drive on

Housing ? it?s a buyer?s market

Arizona ? it?s an amazing state with a wealth of culture and much to do and see.

Location ? 5 hours from LA, San Diego, 4 hours from Vegas, 2 hours from Sedona and Flagstaff



The Bad about Mesa:

Traffic ? it sucks. Urban sprawl at its worst. the suburbs go on forever and this means longer commute times especially since the freeways are under construction

Sports ? let?s face it, most if not all of our professional sports teams blow

Old people ? the only negative aspect about winter is the sheer number of snowbirds the valley attracts. Their slow driving coupled with the aforementioned traffic problems make you root for kavorkian

The Weather ? central arizona has two seasons ? pleasant and blistering heat. AC in your car is a must and I guarantee you will cry like a girl the first time you accidentally grab metal when reaching for your seatbelt in the middle of July

Nightlife ? now mesa itself has no nightlife to speak of, everything in the town is closed by 6pm, sure phoenix, tempe and scottsdale are a 10 minute drive away but it seems more clubs and bars are closing every day

Pollution ? it?s dirty here, plain and simple. There?s an everlasting brown haze hanging over downtown and the desert is filled with trash. Impossible to keep a car clean

Crime ? it?s on the rise

The Water ? buy bottled or get a filter


In a nutshell, not the best place to live, but not that bad either.

 

[JRich]

I lived in Mesa once, then I moved to Chandler

 

[AZGamer]

I lived in Mesa - I'm moving back once I finish school out here in DC. I don't know why you'd ever leave.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: AZGamer
I lived in Mesa - I'm moving back once I finish school out here in DC. I don't know why you'd ever leave.

The weather is nice, but I like my space and privacy that my 1 acre wooded lot provides me here in the midwest. Plus I have non-existant traffic and you aren't treated as if you are a criminal until you prove otherwise.

Plus there's just something humbling about having a true winter that provides a sense of humility that fair weather people don't have. It's hard to describe, but having 4 true seasons adds some kind of balance to people.

 

[FrustratedUser]

Originally posted by: snoopdoug1

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Also, it's really difficult to compare houses between the midwest and there. We are so used to have basements around here and take that for granted. A lot of people can get by around here with a 1600 sq/ft ranch and have a full basement(finished or unfinished) to stick their crap in.

Not so down there. Very, very, very few homes have basements down there. When it says 1600 sq/ft...they mean 1600 sq/ft. Your only storage is a garage stall or a spare bedroom.

Plus don't expect a back yard. You'll have a 20x10 patch of gravel and a 6'-8' block privacy wall seperating you from your neighbors.

Yeah, I'm really used to that basement. Might be a stupid question, but is the reason they don't have basements there because it's a desert? Not many garages there either?

The reason is that there is a layer in the ground that's like concrete and it's tough to dig. How do I know? I lived in Tucson.

 

[FrustratedUser]

And to let you all know.......... AZ rocks!! I love AZ!! I like to move back ASAP! VA blows.

 

[PoPPeR]

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Another post - you are buying at a decent time right now. The AZ real estate market just took a major kick to the crotch. There was a period from 2004 to late 2005 where you could sell your house in a matter of hours and get above asking price for it if you had a nice place in a desireable location. Prices appreciated anywhere from 50%-100% in a two year period.

That came to a crashing hault over the last 8 months or so and prices are actually regressing now. Lots of speculators and investment buyers are forced to sell far below asking and it's flipped to a buyers market.

It's like that in many places in the US, but even more so in AZ.

sorry but do you have a link to that? CNBC reported a couple days ago on the housing market slowdown and Arizona was still a top 5 state in terms of growth. Definitely nowhere near what it was before, but I have heard nothing about regressing prices.

 

[snoopdoug1]

wow, thanks for all the replies guys Sounds like everyone says Mesa is ok... but just live somewhere else!

 

[snoopdoug1]

Originally posted by: elbosco
The Good about Mesa:

The Weather - it was 75*F and sunny today

Sunsets - just beautiful

In n? Out ? nuff? said

Monsoons ? the best lightning storms you will ever be witness to in your life

Job market ? you can get a job here

Fliberto?s ? cheap Mexican food that?s actually good

Road Maintenance ? when not clogged with traffic, the roads and freeways are a joy to drive on

Housing ? it?s a buyer?s market

Arizona ? it?s an amazing state with a wealth of culture and much to do and see.

Location ? 5 hours from LA, San Diego, 4 hours from Vegas, 2 hours from Sedona and Flagstaff



The Bad about Mesa:

Traffic ? it sucks. Urban sprawl at its worst. the suburbs go on forever and this means longer commute times especially since the freeways are under construction

Sports ? let?s face it, most if not all of our professional sports teams blow

Old people ? the only negative aspect about winter is the sheer number of snowbirds the valley attracts. Their slow driving coupled with the aforementioned traffic problems make you root for kavorkian

The Weather ? central arizona has two seasons ? pleasant and blistering heat. AC in your car is a must and I guarantee you will cry like a girl the first time you accidentally grab metal when reaching for your seatbelt in the middle of July

Nightlife ? now mesa itself has no nightlife to speak of, everything in the town is closed by 6pm, sure phoenix, tempe and scottsdale are a 10 minute drive away but it seems more clubs and bars are closing every day

Pollution ? it?s dirty here, plain and simple. There?s an everlasting brown haze hanging over downtown and the desert is filled with trash. Impossible to keep a car clean

Crime ? it?s on the rise

The Water ? buy bottled or get a filter


In a nutshell, not the best place to live, but not that bad either.

Very informative. Thank you.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: PoPPeR

Originally posted by: vi_edit
Another post - you are buying at a decent time right now. The AZ real estate market just took a major kick to the crotch. There was a period from 2004 to late 2005 where you could sell your house in a matter of hours and get above asking price for it if you had a nice place in a desireable location. Prices appreciated anywhere from 50%-100% in a two year period.

That came to a crashing hault over the last 8 months or so and prices are actually regressing now. Lots of speculators and investment buyers are forced to sell far below asking and it's flipped to a buyers market.

It's like that in many places in the US, but even more so in AZ.

sorry but do you have a link to that? CNBC reported a couple days ago on the housing market slowdown and Arizona was still a top 5 state in terms of growth. Definitely nowhere near what it was before, but I have heard nothing about regressing prices.

Here's just one....
http://money.cnn.com/2006/10/24/magazin.../newrules_wherenottobuy.biz2/index.htm

PHOENIX

Last year as many as a third of new home sales here went to speculators and investors. Many of them are now competing with builders to dump their holdings, and prices in some developments have dropped by more than $100,000.

Growth != massive appreciation

 

[erub]

I've spent 6 months in the Phoenix metro area. Both times I was working in Southeast Tempe, and I lived for 3 months in Scottsdale and 3 months in Ahwatukee (ritzy neighboorhood in Phoenix). My work was right across the freeway from Mesa. You'd probably want to live in Chandler, or Scottsdale (if you could afford it).

I survived 2 summers there, its not that bad, you just end up spending a lot of time indoors, like people from other parts of the country do during the winter. Although its kinda funny the first time you see potholders attached to door handles