Are you thinking about moving to Arizona? Let me share with you what I love
and what I hate about living in the Grand Canyon state.
If this is your first time here, welcome! If you've been here before thank you so
much for coming back and for spending your time with me.
My name is Lindsay and I'm a proud Anthem resident and your local REALTOR®
with the Wise Move AZ Team at Realty ONE
Group. On this channel we have a lot of fun talking about all things Anthem
and real estate, every single Thursday and we absolutely love having you
along for the ride. Before we jump in, here's a little background on me.
I moved to Arizona full time in February of 2017.
Prior to that I had visited Arizona quite a bit.
My grandparents were snowbirds and had a place in Mesa. I remember flying out to
visit them over spring break when I was little, and
eventually my parents bought a place in Anthem, Arizona, where my dad retired
(and by retired, I mean started full-time golfing ). Eventually,
I also made the decision to move to the United States
and decided to move to Anthem, Arizona to be closer to my parents.
Since then I have fallen completely in love with Anthem,
and all of Arizona for that matter. So, I'm very
excited to share the things I love most and the things I don't love
so much. Normally I'd ask you if you want the good news or the bad news first, but
I'm making the executive decision that we're starting with the things I love.
One, because the things I love far outweigh the things I don't,
and two, because it's way more fun to talk about the things I love.
#1: Weather. The weather has to be number one.
Honestly, when I first moved to Arizona, I was a little bit worried that it was
going to be too hot in the summers. While there are a couple of months that
are really hot, they are completely made up for the rest of the year when it's
absolutely gorgeous out! We can get outside
all year round in Arizona. Personally, I would take a couple months of extreme
heat over freezing temperatures, any day. The
other thing I love is that when it's too hot to sit outside in Phoenix,
in say August, we can spend that time in the pool,
or we can head up to Flagstaff for the weekend for a break.
Arizona is so diverse that with just a couple of hours of driving you can be in
the mountains. In the winter, you can head up there to
see snow, or go skiing, and in the summer it's the
perfect break from the heat. I did a whole video on the weather here
in Anthem, Arizona and how it compares to Phoenix.
So, if you'd like to check that out, I will link to it in the cards. While we
all joke that it's a dry heat here, I do actually think that the lack of
humidity makes a difference. Anyways, I absolutely love the weather
here and the fact that we seem to have an
unlimited supply of sunshine. #2: Plants and landscape. Before I
moved to Arizona, I thought of it as a dry lackluster
desert. I honestly pictured tumbleweeds and
mirages like in the movies. Since moving here, I have fallen
completely in love with the diversity in the desert. I mean,
I'm not saying you won't ever see a tumbleweed. That stereotype might have
a little truth to it, but that doesn't do justice to how beautiful the desert
really is. Where I live in Anthem we're tucked into
the base of Daisy Mountain, in the Sonoran Desert and it is
so beautiful. Honestly, watching the sunsets here with the mountains in the
distance is second to none. You'll find mountains throughout the
valley and throughout the state. What's even better, is that all of these
mountains have their own unique charm and character.
In addition to the really incredible landscapes, the vegetation here is also
really cool. Before moving here, I had no idea that
the desert blooms. Cactus blooms are so beautiful! I still
feel like a tourist popping out my camera to take a picture every time I
pass one by. Even when the desert isn't in bloom, it's
gorgeous! I love seeing the diversity of plants
that thrive here despite the dry conditions.
My favorites are the saguaros, the palo verde trees, and the prickly pears.
Although, I have to say despite everyone's best efforts
I am not a fan of prickly pear fruit. Anyways, I would say
if you're like I was and thinking that the desert is a little bland,
I encourage you to take a closer look, like anywhere else. Our plants change
with the seasons and it's a beautiful phenomenon to watch.
#3: Activities. Because Arizona is so diverse, you can do
pretty much any activity year round. My husband and I are hikers, and Arizona has
no shortage of hiking. We could hike for the rest of our lives and we probably
still wouldn't get to try all of the trails, but there's so much more than
just good hiking in Arizona. Honestly, unless your favorite
pastime is ice fishing, we probably have it here!
Arizona is great for cyclists, mountain bikers, painters, foodies, tennis
players, pickleball players, golfers (hello, how did I not say golfers
first?), shoppers, boaters, water skiers, and pretty
much anything else you can think of. #4: People. This one is probably
a little cheesy, but honestly I couldn't go
through a list of all the things I love most about Arizona
without touching on all of the awesome people we've met here.
Now, remember, that I live in Anthem which is more like a suburb or a small town,
outside of Phoenix. It's actually a Master-Planned community
but anyways, I have no doubt that it has a different feeling than say, living in
downtown Phoenix, or Yuma, or Tucson, or Prescott.
Honestly, we've made so many really good friends in a relatively short period of
time, we know our neighbors, and when we're out
for a walk, people say 'hi' to each other. Maybe it's all the warm weather
and sunshine that makes everyone so friendly. Whatever it is...
I like it! #5: All the things I don't need.
What? Yup, that's right! One of the things I love
most about Arizona is all the things I don't need.
I don't need a shovel, I don't need a snow brush,
I don't need winter tires, and I couldn't have been happier to say goodbye to my
heavy winter jacket. All of those things have been replaced
with bottles of sunscreen, sunshades for the car, pool floaties, and
a well-insulated water bottle. I do still have a remote starter on my car,
but that's so that I can get the air conditioner going before I get in,
rather than the heater. Alright, now that we've talked about the things I
love most, let's talk about the things I don't
really love. I'm hesitant to say hate because that's
really strong and it seems a little over the top when we live in such an
incredible place. Also, I had to get Carolynn's help a
little bit with this one, because I was really struggling to come up with five
things. #1: The heat. I know, I know, what a hypocrite,
weather was on the list of things I love most and now here it is as a
downside of living in Arizona. For the most part, the weather here is awesome,
but every year I hit a point in, like, August or September, where it just feels
like it's been a little too hot, for a little too long.
In fact, I did a video where I poke fun at just
how hot it gets here in Arizona, so I will link to that in the cards so that
you can check it out if you want. This phase doesn't last long for me, but
man when I hit that wall, I am ready for a day in the pool,
or a weekend in Flagstaff for sure. Additionally, in the hotter summer months,
you need to plan if you want to do any outdoor activities.
If you're going to be hiking, or walking your dog, or you know, just
going outside to get the mail, I recommend that you do it early in the
morning, and that you take water! It can be really dangerous to be out in
the heat of the day, without proper planning and protection.
A couple of other lessons that the heat has taught me is that you're not going
out to the pool without flip-flops, if you want to
maintain any level of feeling in your feet.
Your phone can't withstand the heat the same way you do,
and if you try to use the chapstick that you left in your car
in the middle of the summer, it will literally feel like you're smearing
molten lava across your face. Anyways, like I said, I would take the
heat over the snow any day, but if you're like me be warned
that it may feel a little overwhelming for a couple of weeks in
the summer. #2: Distance. When I was little and we would
visit my grandparents in Arizona, I remember
asking my dad how far away something was, like the water park
or some other fun activity we were going to do, and I feel like he always said far.
Now, as an adult, I still feel like that's kind of true.
We're really lucky because we have everything we need on a day-to-day basis
right here in Anthem, but there's no denying that the Phoenix Metro
area is huge. Whether you're catching some spring training in Mesa,
walking around Old Town Scottsdale, or hanging out at Tempe Town Lake,
you can expect to cover some serious ground to get there.
Thankfully, the road systems here are really good,
so you can usually make pretty good time, but you're definitely going to put some
miles on your car getting around. In that same vein, you do really need to
have a car if you're planning to travel these long distances,
because the public transportation is not set up to accommodate those kinds of
trips. #3: Plants. I know I had this on
my list of things I love too, but bear with me because they're
just a couple of really specific things that I don't like about some of the
plants here. Firstly, I don't love that most things are either prickly
or poisonous. This can become even more of an issue if you have kids or pets.
For the most part you need to enjoy the vegetation from a distance here.
That being said, I feel like you're not truly an Arizonan until you have been
prickled by a cactus. I'm probably just saying that to make
myself feel better about my run-in with a barrel cactus last year.
Anyways, keep your distance and if you're hiking try to keep your legs covered.
The other bone that I have to pick with the plants here is specifically to do
with the century plant, which is a type of agave. These century
plants are so beautiful and then they get even more
beautiful by sending up this bloom in the middle.
Well guess what! Spoiler alert: When they shoot up that stock in the middle
it means that they're going to die! But don't worry, if it's called a century
plan it's only going to bloom in 100 years, right?
Wrong! It actually only lives between 10 to 30 years. Which, by the way, is not even
close to 100 years! Anyways, the point of the bloom is so
that it can shoot out more plants, but every time I see an agave with that
stock coming up, it makes me a little sad. #4: Snowbirds. Wait, did I just
say I hate snowbirds? No way, it's actually the exact opposite.
I love the snowbirds that come and spend
their winter months in Arizona. The part I hate is when they leave. We
have family members that are snowbirds and close family friends that are
snowbirds, and it's just always really sad when
they have to head home at the end of the season.
I always find that things are a little bit quieter after they head home,
and of course, we just miss our friends and family. Anyways, we're always excited
when one of our snowbird friends or clients
says that they're making the switch to living in Anthem year round.
I'm starting to think I might have some abandonment issues when it comes to my
life in Arizona. Between the agave plants dying and the
snow birds leaving, it's a roller coaster!
#5: Rush Hour Traffic. Last, but not least, I
am not a fan of rush hour traffic in Phoenix.
Now, before I blame Phoenix, I don't actually think that it's
significantly worse than any other major metro areas in the US.
In fact, I think it might be better than some other major cities.
I read that the average commute time across the US is 26.4 minutes each
direction, while the average commute time in
Phoenix is 25.4 minutes. This means that the average
one-way commute in Phoenix is actually shorter than the national average.
It might be because, I live and work in Anthem but when I find myself in Phoenix
rush hour it's never fun, and I'll do pretty much
anything to avoid it. So, if you're moving to the Phoenix area
be warned, we have normal big city traffic.
So, there you have it! Truth be told, the things I love
far outweigh the things I don't. Arizona is so diverse, it really has something
for everyone. If you're moving to Arizona, you may want
to download a copy of our free guide: Moving to Arizona: 10 Reasons to Choose
Anthem, and I will link to that in the description box
below. I would love to hear what's drawing you personally to Arizona
and I would love to hear what areas you're considering moving to
in the comments. If you found this video helpful, let me know by hitting that like
button, subscribing to our channel, and leaving
me a comment. Lastly, if you'd like to learn a little bit more about the area
that I'm so proud to call home, Anthem, Arizona, then click to watch this
video up top, where I run through the highs and lows of our annual weather
here, or click to watch this video on the
bottom where I break down all of the different areas within Anthem
that you can call home. Enjoy those and I'll see you next
Thursday!