I'm also a pretty big fan of San Diego. I've never lived there, but I always enjoy taking a trip out there. I live in North Scottsdale (nothing near a $4m house) and in general I like it. It definitely has it's downsides, but I think they're outweighed by the positives. I love the weather ~9 months of out of the year and the weather at night during the summer isn't THAT bad. It's been a bit cooler lately, so I've been going outside quite a bit at night and it's been great.
Italian beef sammich - Lukes in PHX & Scottsdale, any of the Rosati's Pizzeria's have decent ones. There are also a handful of hole in the wall joints in N. PHX to get a decent beef. Nobody likes to dip them here, they give you the juice on the side - weird, but it still gets the job done. Pizza - Rosati's reminds me of Bellas in Chicago. Good thin crust, stuffed, and Chicago style pizzas. I'd kill for a Barnaby's though. White Castle - I just buy them in frozen from stores, not quite the same, but what are you gunna do?! (On a side note, I'll be in Ann Arbor this weekend, the wife and I will grab a crave case for the plane home. She's prego, I hope it will not cause birth defects) I prefer the vans and photo radars = less real cops on the roads. They just shut down the HWY cams, and the handful of other stationary camers are a joke once you figure out the locations. As for the vans, you can usually spot them before your radar picks them up, they run a low Ka, hard to pick up past 200ft. The best part? I keep X band turned off, the fuzz uses K and Ka. Whenever I was on the North Shore in Chicago, I locked my cruise control to the speed limit, I hated the Chicago suburbs w/ the trigger happy traffic cops. The back roads of AZ are fantastic, wide open. Twisties galore in mountains, canyons, and random roads like the road to Bagdad (97). I hope you don't mind rock chips though. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Bagdad,+az&ie=UTF8&ll=34.479109,-113.206215&spn=0.18226,0.324097&z=12 ............Oh and Vegas, from reading Chicago Bears forums over the years, people who moved there from Chicago all want to kill themselves. I have never heard anyone from Chicago speak highly of living in vegas.
I grew up in Chicago and New York - now I spend most of my time in Scottsdale. Best advice I can give is to pack up for a week and try it out. Its certainly a different lifestyle... very casual, but I think you will love it. You do meet a fair amount of people who have never left the state - the ignorance can drive you a bit mad, but hopefully you can just shrug it off. For the money, Scottsdale or Paradise Valley are your best options. Honestly, housing pricing makes a purchase in the short-term very tempting... and probably lucrative. If you come to visit, stay at The Phoenician, Kierland, JW Marriott, Valley Ho, Four Seasons, or Hyatt Gainey Ranch. These are nice properties that will give you a good flavor for the area. There are other nice hotels, but they are not located as close to the action or in residential settings. If you are looking for a home, check out DC Ranch, Silverleaf Country Club, Grayhawk, Troon, Whisper Rock, Desert Mountain, or generally Paradise Valley. Those first six are master-planned desert communities with nice golf and they are in North Scottsdale. Scottsdale is quite spread out - there is a big difference between South Scottsdale and North Scottsdale. South Scottsdale is very suburban with density and night life. North Scottsdale is desert, but quite upscale. If you are like me, and chose to live in Arizona, then I want it to feel like I live in Arizona. I don't want to be in a condo pretending I live in NY. I can refer you to a number of good real estate agent contacts (not quacks) and can connect you with play at the best golf courses here in the Valley. Its worth your time to explore here.
Did not initially see your price range. For 3-4M You could get something nice in Paradise Valley and by a nice beach home in San diego for another 2M You could do LA for that price range but it will limit your options. Check out La Jolla (north of San Diego) $4M Should get you 4000sf and an Ocean View. If you need any specific help or would like a realtor to consult with during your visit PM me and I will hook you up. ------------ Yeah I like Ahwatukee but you have to except driving an extra 10 minutes for a decent meal. I am cool with this as I am told the school are good and as said we have an amazing home for the money! Oh and the pic is not me that is Grady from Sanford and Son. I am only 37
I'd have to agree with most of the posters about it here: heat is tremendous in the summer, but the winter makes up for it... kinda like the midwest in reverse, in a way... the ideal (and what I'm working toward) is Scottsdale fall/winter/spring and Michigan summers (have family there)... To give you an idea of what your price range could get you: My parents bought a house in the Pinnacle Peak area, very North Scottsdale, in the desert - they live in a small gated community (as opposed to some of the larger, more master-planned communities up there)... they paid under half a mil in 1993 for the house, which at that time was about 2 years old... 4 bedroom, 4.5 bath, 3 car garage, pool, on an acre, about 4k square feet... Since then, they did a full renovation and added an addition - now the house is: 6 bedrooms 5.5 bathrooms office library wine cellar home theater with three rows of stadium-style seats exercise room sauna huge deck with city light views 5-car garage with one bay tall and wide enough to hold their boat 7500 square feet After the addition it appraised at about 2.3M... this was before the recent real estate craziness and then slump too... They still have three kids living at home with them, and I honestly don't now why they need a house that big... but for 4 you could really get a HUGE spread, if that's what you're into... personally, give me a 3k square foot house in a safe neighborhood with a 4k square foot garage! Move to Scottsdale, find (or build) exactly what you want, and spend the money you'd save over LA on F-cars!
Oops, sorry. I meant that for Noel's profile picture. He seems like he is into racing so that is why I suggested that. Sorry about the confusion.
I have a membership at Gainey Ranch. Love to play golf there when I am in town. The ball rolls forever which helps my low trajectory tee shot. They keep coolers with iced towels available and plenty of drinks on the carts (nothing like ice cold water on a hot day). I freaked out the first time a road runner ran across the fairway in front of me. Those suckers are BIG!
No. There is nothing. It is a baron wasteland. Don't waste your time, when Lake Shore Drive is calling your name!
Being from New York, I feel your White Castle dilemma. As far as Pizza goes, it's New York style, but I have actually found the Ray's pizza chain out here to be pretty decent. For me though, Ajo Al's makes it all worth it!
