There has been a little storm brewing on the home front for awhile now and something needs to give I think. Here is the problem…
I am just peachy here in Ohio. Yes, I want to move into the city soon but in general I really like it here. The winters are harsh granted, but the spring and summer more than make up for that in my mind. I can totally see me being happy here for a long time to come.
BUT…my husband is not happy here. My extended family who also live here, are NOT happy here. They all want to move back to Arizona and they are pressuring me big time. My two oldest kids are on their side. This has me stressed out because I despise uncertainty and things being up in the air.
All last night I was mentally contemplating the pros and cons of Ohio and Arizona and I am now more confused then ever.
My extended family members want to go back to AZ because the economic situation is better out there. I would have to agree in their case but for my hubby I do not think that is quite so true. The housing situation in AZ is phenomenal right now though. Houses that we considered buying only 4 years ago that were going for $350,000 plus AND you had to enter a lottery just to get one are now re-selling for $150,000.
Luxury condos that we used to live next to are selling for $50,000…and that is a 4 bedroom 3 bath condo with a double garage. The housing bubble has definitely burst there…it is a buyers market. My parents are drooling at the thought of getting their behinds out there and scooping up a house or two.
But I like it here…waaaah! I like the access to local food for 3 of the 4 seasons. I like all the special events, fairs, festivals, and other fun stuff that Ohio has. I like the GREEN grass and vegetation. That is a BIG one for me because if in case you have never seen it… Arizona is brown…not green. Ohio has four seasons and Arizona (Phoenix) has two… kinda cold and stinkin, freakin, hot. You can grow tons of your own food in Ohio and drought is not a huge problem. The opposite is true in Arizona. Ohio is the more sustainable green choice IMO.
So why oh why do I feel as though by summer time this year I may be announcing that I am moving…grrr.
Oh well, I guess I need to think about good things like all our old friends being out there. We would be close to the west coast, which I love. AZ has great camping, many awesome hiking trails, white water rafting, tubing on the salt river, 3 killer zoos, and awesome spots like Havasupai Falls. Oh and I could drop by Whole Foods and see Kristen some time at one of her events…that would be nice. ;)
Anyway, I hope to get something figured out before my daughter starts kindergarten. I REALLY do not want to uproot her after she starts school. And if this is my last spring/summer in Ohio then I need to make it a good one.
I totally feel your pain. I lived in Columbus for a year before my hub’s company moved us to sunny SoCal. I LOVED Ohio. The winter we lived there there was a huge blizzard, but besides that it was mild (compared to KS/NE, where we lived before that) and I absolutely loved all three other seasons- the summers aren’t too hot, there is lovely agriculture all around, great farmer’s markets, and I never even made it to the Amish communities (although I did befriend one Amish woman while volunteering at Ronald McDonald House). I HATE summers here (and I hear it’s even hotter in AZ) and, while there is pretty decent produce, I still miss the green stuff! But I didn’t know all that about Phoenix- everyone I know wants to move there, even my anti-city parents!
EVERYONE has to like where they are living. especially in a family. and are you sure that the economy is better in AZ? the houses may be cheap for a reason. sorry to add another negative (like you needed one besides the heat).
I grew up in Phoenix, but my family moved to central Ohio when I left for college, so I’ve been visiting them there for 20 years. Seems there are pros and cons to both. I personally am glad to live in Colorado :) , but if I had to choose between AZ and OH, based only on the location, I think AZ would win. If growing your own food is the most important thing, you might not be as happy in AZ, but seeing your list of good things about it (camping, hiking, tubing…), seems you’d find a way to be happy there too. Never an easy choice… good luck!
As a person who is moving from Seattle to Phoenix in 20 days (eek, so much left to do) I have a few thoughts for you.
Why did their housing market crash so badly? Part of it, is that the job market also crashed. Yuma Arizona has the second highest rate of unemployment this year of US cities.
In my corporate setting in Seattle every time I turn around I’m meeting a new hire who just moved here from Arizona because they couldn’t get a job back home, and whose family is still in Arizona trying to sell or rent their house.
From the little bit of talk radio I listen to, I have heard that there have been some proposals to close Phoenix (and other cities in extreme climates) as a city over the next decade because of the cost to run a city in the climate. What I got from the report was that while the proposal wasn’t being taken very seriously, Arizona is of such financial stress that the proposal wasn’t entirely shut down merely put on the back burner.
You despise uncertainty; well I think Arizona is a really uncertain State right now. Why am I moving then? My husband wants to make a courier out of Automotive Mechanics, and THEE place to do that is the UTI in Avondale. That said we’ll be watching the area’s stability closely for the two years my husband will be in school, and will put a lot of thought behind any decision to say.
Just some stuff to think about.
Thx for the thoughts ladies. Truthfully I think the economy would be better for my family in Ohio. My extended family however are in the automotive industry and it is more profitable for THAT in Phoenix…all the traffic and accidents there mean big money for them. They each took a 40 thousand dollar a year hit by moving to Ohio.
It would not be the same for my hubby though, unless maybe he goes into business with them. If we move out there…well my guess is he would end up waiting tables.
My husband’s work takes him to Phoenix for most of the winter and we usually join him for about 2 weeks every year. While it’s great to be there when the snow is raging here in Michigan, I have to agree, I would really miss the spring, trees, growing things and just general vegetation that 3 of the 4 seasons here bring! Best of luck to you all in making your decisions.
Karla
Extended family is important, but ultimately your initial family is first. It sounds like your extended family should to Arizona, and that your family should visit them in the winter. Would you be happy waiting tables? I think not!
I’m from California and now live in Chicago. When I moved here, people always commented on how California “doesn’t have seasons.” They do, they’re just more subtle. And if you do move to the Southwest, you’ll find that instead of brown, you’ll find the purples, the silvers, the blues, the greens and the reds in the landscape in time.
I don’t know if your looking for advice/opinion, but my thoughts go with Katharyn. Do you have to move because your extended family does? If your hubby is not happy maybe find a place that both of you would really enjoy living.
hubby and i have the same issues. he wants to leave ohio because for him the job market is blech and i have no desire whatsoever to uproot myself and go somewhere warm (he likes california), although I will admit that his claim of local mangoes year round was not so awful.
haha, as I was reading your post, I was already prepping in my mind what to say and then you mentioned me :)
My random thoughts…
I love Arizona (I’m originally from Michigan). I love the sun shining almost every day and I don’t miss the gloomy overcast skies of the midwest. I see plenty of green (yes, lots of brown, too) but I can see green every where I look… bushes, trees, and it’s a short drive to Payson filled with green, or even Sedona or Flagstaff, where leaves change colors and it’s cooloer. I know, you already know all that stuff. Honestly, I feel like I’m on a permanent vacation here.
With all of the construction over the past years, some say these summers are gonna get even hotter. I actually love the heat, but I’m weird like that ;)
I shop once a week at the Road Runner Farmer’s Market where Doug sells organic locally grown produce, and the rest of the stuff I get at Whole Foods, etc.
Good luck with your decision. If you choose AZ, know you have a friend out here :)
Kristen
My huband and I had the decision to make between Phoenix and Portland. We choose Portland and although we love it here, finding jobs in our fields has been difficult. We are both working retail part time to pay the bills. I’m also facing facts that there is no way we will ever be able to afford to buy our own home here. I couldn’t help but look at Phoenix real estate and dream. With our current limited income we could buy a home there. It makes me second guess our choice… Thanks for the littlle day dream!
I think that living in a city will become dangerous and possibly quite soon. Given the instability that will worsen, congested areas will become rampant with bad conditions. I personally would move out of any city for greener pastures where you can grow your own food, given the agenda to destroy people’s access to food via genetically modified seeds, etc. Grow your own, buy local, buy organic. Our media is not reporting on the rioting that is going on worldwide now and increasing daily. I believe it will not be long before it happens here. Doomsday? Yes, but better to be safe than sorry.
I live in the outskirts of Tucson, AZ. I used to have a love-hate relationship with it here, but now I really like it. I’ve lived here for 12 years now. As far as natural living, it is actually really abundant here. A cute little store called Local Harvest Marketplace just opened, and it is my new favorite store. Plenty of local organic produce, not to mention local meats, honey, etc. I can get 3 lbs of oranges for just a dollar, and they’re organic. There’s a lot of fairs and festivals concerning natural and sustainable living. Not to mention, I’m excited about the serious efforts here about using more and more solar energy, which I hope will make it much cheaper to obtain in the near future. We live on the edge of town in a cute home with a huge backyard with trees and grass! I am composting right now and I plan to start a garden soon (my first one, so we’ll hope it goes good). As far as the economy,I haven’t seen too much out of the ordinary compared to the rest of the country. I have my own small photography business, and my husband works in security and an EMT, and is planning on entering the fire dept. My photography has been booming lately so we can’t say we’re too much hurt by the current crisis. I have a grandma that lives there in Ohio in a teeny little town, and I remember when I visited how gorgeous it is! I wish I had some solid advice, but I don’t think I’d be up for a big change like moving my self. But, I thought I’d let you know of some more positives here in AZ.
Hi Tiffany – a dedicated lurker here commenting for the first time. I really feel for your dilemma. I too have been uprooted from temperate climes and resettled for family reasons in the middle of a desert (although somehow I’ve now ended up in England). It’s no small matter to be deprived of greenery and fresh local produce… But from your deep connection with nature so obvious in your writings I sense you would soon find, as I did, replacement fascinations with your local environment. Instead of grass you will have weird and wonderful cacti to cultivate, other succulents of strange form and fruit, and also caudiciform plants which are a particular love of mine and occasionally edible. There’s a lot of alternative, innovative gardening you can do in a desert, and I am sure you will find your way. Good luck with your difficult decision. S
I have been in a similar situation…and decided that it does make a huge difference if the husband is happy. I figure he has tolerated, supported, and now basically embraced (although he came from a totally different background and it wasn’t easy for him) my lifestyle of simple living, organic food, organic/natural toys/bedding/etc for our baby plus supporting me while I stay at home with our little one. He is the one that gets up early to go to the office while I enjoy time at the library, local museums, mothers’ groups and “down time.” If he is unhappy in our location or his work, then I feel like I need to be supportive of where he wants to be. Certainly he needs to take my needs into SERIOUS consideration, but he hasn’t pushed me to return to work, live differently than I believe in or complained about our simple food and lifestyle. I’m certainly the last one to think that the man should be making all the decisions regarding our life, but he couldn’t stay home and breastfeed our child–only I could do that–although there have been times I wished he could! Anyway, I feel like he has certainly made some hard choices to keep me happy, and I need to be willing to do the same.
I live in Scottsdale so I’m biased…C’mon out and we’ll have a play date! The housing here is a buyers market for sure but unemployment is bad and businesses are closing everywhere. Do your homework first and good luck!