Sharks_and_Bones

I have applied for a job in Phoenix. Not sure if I will get it or how much the salary is yet. The job would be at Midwestern University in Glendale. Where would be a good area to look for an apartment (assuming I got the job)? I doubt I would be able to get a car immediately so would need transport links to work/groceries etc.
Obviously, it is rather warm in the summer- how much should I budget for air-con?

And, probably my most important question- SPIDERS and SCORPIONS- I am utterly terrified of them and this is a huge concern to me if I did move to AZ. Do they come into dwellings often? How do you deal with them?

I have been trying to get a job following my MSc for nearly 2 years so I am prepared to dessicate slowly in an American dessert for one.

christmasoompa

Sharks_and_Bones

Spiders and scorpions scare me enough that I am already worrying about them.

The university would be my employer. I was told about the position by some people who already work there at an international conference. Nothing has started on visas yet.

Nutmegger

Would that be a Boston cream pie? A Key lime pie? Pecan pie?

PS There are bugs, large ones, everywhere in the US.

tom169

Good news is that it may be cap exempt.

SanDiegogirl

You have another thread running on this same subject:

I have no idea about anything!!

As others have said any prospective employer has to obtain a visa for you (unless you are a US citizen) and that could take both money and time.

Noorah101

First and foremost, the university has to get your work visa for you. Then you can worry about all the other stuff.

Maybe Glendale?

Public transportation here is not good, so you'll need a car ASAP.

112 degrees predicted by this weekend. Depends on the size of your house. I have a 1,025 SF condo and my highest bill in the summer is around $90.

I've lived in AZ (Tucson and Phoenix) almost all my life and have never seen a scorpion in my house, yard, or hiking trail. Spiders, sometimes, but you get your home and yard treated with pest control. No biggie.

Rene

petitefrancaise

Where's the Karma button gone??? Rene deserves it for patience!

Jerseygirl

Second icon under your avi. Thought it was a cloud...but enlarged it’s a set of scales.

Steve_

Public transport in Phoenix blows enormous chunks of crapness, especially on the west side and north side of the city. There are buses in Glendale, so it is theoretically possible I suppose. The west side of Phoenix is considered the working class sort of area generally, Peoria is reasonably okay I guess. It's a huge metro area, hard to summarize. Glendale is where the football stadium is, that's the main landmark.

Well seeing as you can't spell: "desert", I don't fancy your chances.

There are a heckuva a lot of teachers working on short-term contracts in Arizona because no-one will work for such crap wages, the Gov. is in the back pocket of the private prison lobby so when he came in he cut education funding and used it on prisons, until recently when the teachers went completely bonkers. So you get Filipino teachers on J-1 visas pretty often.

I've seen one scorpion in a park in Phoenix, it was tiny, nearly stepped on it. Around houses I think the termite treatment keeps the spiders away. Personally in Phoenix the wasps are the scariest, I mean if you go out to a specific park where you know there are Tarantulas, you might happen across one if you look hard enough but in your home there's no chance.

But like I say the wasps are the scariest, some of them are huge and they don't live in nests, they just wander around on their own. I dare you to look up: "Tarantula Hawk" on Youtube. I don't think there are any around Phoenix but there are some big buggers buzzing about. Bees also seem to be a pretty big problem, I know various people who've had to get nests removed. Also, rattlesnakes are pretty common, but you can usually hear them.

scrubbedexpat091

I spent a year living in Tempe which is in the Phoenix metro area, I did have a scorpion venture into my apartment, as well as a rattle snake, but other then that nothing else beyond the pretty harmless daddy long leg spider.

Can't speak for anyone else, just my experience for the 2 summers I was there, the only problem I had was the heat, but if one has an indoor job, the heat isn't a huge issue but I worked outdoors so it was a bit miserable...lol

Steve_

If you work as a teacher, presumably it's possible to piss off somewhere during the summer.

Noorah101

LOL, thank you!

Rene

Noorah101

I guess, but the OP asked about AC cost, so...

Rene

lizzyq

Being fair to the OP, JG did tell him to open a thread on his general questions in addition to the visa specific thread.