Mrs Table

Great news Andrew, hope you have a lovely time and all goes well. Have you been there before or is this a leap into the unknown for you?

Mrs Table

I'd not heard about this type of USA schooling before. This would be something I'd probably try to find out more about if things progress at all. Thanks for the tip.

andrewlohnes

Thank you very much I've been to Tucson a couple of times and Phoenix a couple of times (my dad lived in Tucson but now lives in Phoenix) and I love it there. I've only ever been there though in the months of March, April, and November so haven't experienced the summer yet! It's like marmite I think, you will either love it or hate it with no inbetween haha I suppose your best bet is to head over on holiday and check it out for yourself. All the best!

Noorah101

Could also be Flagstaff (Northern Arizona University). The weather in Phoenix and Tucson is similar, but Flagstaff is quite different, being in the mountains. .. pine trees and snow in the winter.

Rene

andrewlohnes

Ah, I just presumed it would be 1 of the big 2. Yea just think if it is Phoenix you may be headed too then in the winter a few hours drive and you can be in the snowy mountains.

Mrs Table

It's in Tucson.

andrewlohnes

Ahh U of A, booo go Sun Devil's

Noorah101

Yay! I'm a U of A grad! I grew up in Tucson. The weather is usually about 5 to 10 degrees cooler overall than Phoenix. Not as much AC, at least when I lived there... they utilize swamp coolers more, unless things have changed. There's nicer desert scenery around Tucson, but traffic is horrible due to lack of freeways. Tucson doesn't have the same city vibe that Phoenix has. Tucson has more of an old town feel, except for a few upscale spots. One of my best friends still lives in Tucson and I go there to see her often.

After living in Phoenix now for 28 years, I don't think I could live in Tucson again. I definitely prefer the bigger city of metro Phoenix.

Rene

andrewlohnes

Yea Tucson is beautiful, that's where I went when I was 12 and 14 to visit my dad and that's where I fell in love with Arizona I went there last year down to Davis-Monthan and see my dads old house and the boneyard, it was nice to see again. The main reason Phoenix wins for me now over Tucson is because I love sport and Phoenix has it all. Just wish I'd moved a lot earlier in life but better late than never, plus at 28 I suppose I am still quite young.

Pulaski

It's a fairly new concept, but is taking hold fast. Schools where I live (east coast) have started to switch to the new schedule, I guess as an experiment, and they seem to be being offered as an alternative, so the catchment area is larger, at least here. The local middle school has switched to a year round schedule, but seems to have simultaneously stopped school bus service, presumably becuase it is serving a much larger area with no concentration of children from any one area.

username.exe

Best of luck to you, Andrew.
I'm sure you'll love it, like you say you've been there before and you must be looking forward to it.
Arizona is a great place to live, raise kids and retire

andrewlohnes

I'm extremely excited now, I don't want to hijack the OP's thread but I first started planning this whole move 2 years ago this month! So it's been a long time coming and i can't wait to get there properly but to the OP Mrs Table my opinion is if you get the opportunity then go for it!! You only live once.

Mrs Table

Thanks Andrew!

Steve_

Bear in mind the people replying here are most likely sitting in an air-conditioned office...

I can't hack Phoenix during the summer honestly. 45 C, I can't cope with it for more than ten minutes outside. I'm very white and genetically no way can I deal with it. And bear in mind I lived in Florida for a pretty long time and I could cope with that.

People say "oh but everywhere has air conditioning" - that actually makes it worse in a way because it prevents you from adapting to the heat.

It's just a constant chore as well, your car feels like a blast furnace when you get into it, even if you use a window reflector thingie the steering wheel can be super hot. If you get a car, make sure the windows are tinted and the interior is a light colour.

What a lot of the locals do is bugger off to Flagstaff or California during the summer. Go to Flagstaff and you go from being cooked alive to not being able to breathe.

And then there's the comment "oh but it's a dry heat" I don't see how that is helpful. I mean super duper humidity as in southern Florida isn't fun either but the Sonoran Desert is well, um, a desert. So you turn on the AC and any slight humidity you had disappears, so make sure the central air has a humidifier. If you're coming from the UK it is really, really dry. We're talking 0% RH. It feels like you're walking around inside a hair dryer during the summer.

Swimming pools are helpful but there are dust storms, so be prepared to clean the thing.

It's nice during the winter though.

And another thing, make sure if you buy/rent a house that you can cope with the noise of the neighbour's AC compressor. Because it will be on, constantly, all the time from May to October.

WhyteBoar

We moved out to Phoenix last August. I lived in Arizona (Tucson) when I was younger but my husband had only visited during the spring or autumn.

This summer was hotter than last year, but to be honest, both of us feel that it is bearable. Two weeks of 110+ degrees do get old after a while, but you get on with things and before you know it, it as cooled. Tucson is also a little cooler than Phoenix.

For us it is worth it for the wonderfully mild winters and the warm, sunny, spring and autumn. Personally, I hate cold, windy days, where it pours with rain. I need to see the blue sky and the sky here is huge.

Go 'Cats