I have the chance to move within my company to either AZ or CO. I live in the Dallas TX area now. Any Pro's or Con's to either place? Cost of living comaparable? And of course 4X4 action? Any suggestions or things I might overlook would be welcome.

Thanks

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Rob Robertson
"It's an Explorer Thing, you wouldn't understand"

Phoenix has two seasons, Summer and Hell. Summer lasts about 9 months Hell lasts a little less than 4. If you can survive the hot, dry Hell you'll love it.

Phoenix is an excellant jumping off point for just about every type of recreation. We have world class fourwheeling on the outskirts of the city. There are 13,000+ ft peaks 2 hours away. Flagstaff to the north and the White Mountains to the East make for awesome retreats from the heat. If hunting is your thing we have it all. Deer, Elk, Bear, Lions, Javalina, etc.

Drawbacks, if you have kids in public school I would go just about anywhere else. Ours are about the worst in the country.

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Rick Horwitz
Editor
explorer@4x4central.com

www.4x4central.com (http://www.4x4central.com)

Thanks Rick, I was real excited till I got to the part about schools. I have a 10 & 11 year old. Private schools are not out of the question though. Time to research.

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Rob Robertson
"It's an Explorer Thing, you wouldn't understand"

true true, but Colorado has more modified Explorers! And nicer weather (sometimes). The property values are rediculously high however...

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Matt Adams
94 Explorer 4-door nick-named "Tippy"
http://bart.is-s.com/~explorers/explorer/explorer.html

I have lived in Bailey, CO, and am now In Gilbert, AZ. If I could convince my wife, I would go back to Colorado in a heart beat. Its nice having 4 seasons. Plus, as someone said, the schools in AZ suck. I actually home school my son it was so bad. Also, I love the snow, so the heat just really sucks. Anyway, the cost of living is comparable. I think Arizona has a better economy right now. Although, Denver does have a better football team. Not sure about the 4 wheeling in Arizona yet, I remeber being able to go anywhere in Colorado when I was younger. I think a lot of areas there are closed down. Traffic seems to be about the same also. Thats about all I know.

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Stock 94 XLT
PIAA Superwhites.
Vampire Alarm.
Jensen Head w stock Premium sound.
Radio Schack CB with magnetic mount antenna.
Uniden Scanner.

I am also very interested in this topic. I will be moving to the mid west next year. Last month I spent a week touring AZ for places to live. I was also looking in South Dakota and New Mexico. I LOVE Arizona. Tusan (spelling?) and Phoenix is a bit to hot for me. But I loved Flagstaff. I also looked into trails. And... Well.. Rick said it all. You cannot beat them. Flagstaff is just a short hop and skip to Colorado. Unfortunately I did not have the time to check it out. The cost of living in Flagstaff was good. But you must realize that I am comparing it to Philadelphia and NJ. (the armpit of America) I wish to hear from some people that live in Colorado. How are the winters, Schools, etc.?

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98 Sport 4.0L SOHC auto
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

I love Colorado. I can't tell you much about the schools (except for colleges, which is why I came here in the first place). The winter's aren't bad. It really doesn't snow that much in the Denver area, and besides, you have an explorer so snow won't be a problem. As far as outdoor recreation goes, you can't beat Colorado. Having four seasons is also a bonus. By the way, this is all coming from a guy who would like to have Colorado all to himself and who typically complains about the general immigration into Colorado that has been happening for quite some time now.

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Brian Corff
'95 XLT 4x4 V6

Beware the lollipop of mediocrity. Lick it once and you suck forever.

Well - a hint baout the schools. If you want to stay away from violence in teh schools, don't move to the suburbs... move to the inner city... other then that I don't really have a problem with the public schools (just graduated high school about two years ago), and I don't mind the colleges here locally either.

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Matt Adams
94 Explorer 4-door nick-named "Tippy"
http://bart.is-s.com/~explorers/explorer/explorer.html

Rob "Used to Go Fast But Now Needs Lift" Robertson,

Remember we don't have a state income tax here in Texas so just about anywhere else you move you have to figure in an added cost of living to cover that, even before you look at all the other costs.

Gerald

You are right about the cost of living. Having recently moved about 50 miles north of Denver, I can vouch for that. Average starter homes run $120k, $130+ for new construction, and more in Denver.

It's not cheap, but it's worth it. I moved to Colorado from Oklahoma about 5 years ago and I haven't regretted a day of it. Nothing against Oklahoma, I like the place but there are no mountains. Just to give you an idea, gas prices in the Denver area are typically $0.20 more than Oklahoma prices and they get higher as you get closer to the mountains.

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Brian Corff
'95 XLT 4x4 V6

Beware the lollipop of mediocrity. Lick it once and you suck forever.

[This message has been edited by bcorff (edited 02-17-2000).]

Thanks for all the input. I'll see how this plays out with the merger going on in my company. When I move from Oklahoma to Dallas the cost of living was about 16% higher here. But really, I can't tell the difference. No state tax helps, but that is offset somewaht by the property tax.

Thanks Everyone

Still an Okie Texan, for now......

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Rob Robertson
94 XLT 4X4 4 door
"It's an Explorer Thing, you wouldn't understand"

You guys have nothing on us in the bay area of Cali, where the average 1600sf,20yr house sell for $245,000.00 and new builds start at $350,000.00(the same 1600sf),I read not too long ago that the average house payment here in the Bay area is between $2100.00 to $2700.00 a month, gas is $1.36 to $1.50(for regular)and more taxes then just about anywhere else in the country. http://www.4x4central.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif My company has tied to recruit many people from outside of California. They look at the money we offer and think WOW! but then the reality sets in on just how much it costs to live out here, and most quit and move back. Moving to Colorado or Arizona would be an improvement for me. I could take a 20k cut in pay and probably still live better than here. In fact I was thinking about the Colorado Springs area myself.

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Happy Wheelin'
Ray L.
97 XLT 4X4 4.0L SOHC

Holy Cow! I did a comparison on Yahoo Real estate and saw how much I would have to make for things to be equal to what I make here.

Denver was like a 20% increase in the cost of living. So if I made like 50K here I would need 70K there. And Phoenix wasn't much better only 4K cheaper to live there.

Can this be right? Is gas & food that much more or is it Heating and cooling cost, plus property tax and state tax?

After that I don't see how people can afford to live there. Please tell me I'm wrong.

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Rob Robertson
94 XLT 4X4 4 door
"It's an Explorer Thing, you wouldn't understand"