Brooklynites to PHX?
Hi all --
My husband and I are considering a massive life change by moving out of Brooklyn and Phoenix is on our list of possible homes.
A bit about us, as I believe our situation is somewhat unique:
* We're in our mid-30s, no kids (so schools are not an issue).
* I've been in NYC for 12+ years, but originally from the Midwest. Husband is British and has been here for 2+ years.
* Phoenix isn't a grab-bag thought...I have a good chunk of family in the area who have been there since the late 1970s. This is an obvious plus; the con is that they are mostly centered around North Scottsdale (think Kierland, Cave Creek, Tatum and Shea), so my experience in town is fairly limited to where they live and surrounding tourist attractions. They LOVE where they live; adore being near the malls and shopping and golf and such; can't see why this isn't exactly what everyone else wants, etc.
And so, here is our question: Is there a neighborhood or town/village in the metro area where we can have all the joys of the desert (climate, beauty, nice friendly people, my wonderful family), but also be within a no-more-than-two-mile radius of (mostly) independent shops, restaurants, bars, cafes, etc.? This is the part of Brooklyn that we love -- that we can walk to what we want/need on a daily basis, and that chains are far and few between. We're also not big fans of the gated and/or planned/pre-fab community.
We truly love the desert (just got back a couple weeks ago...even the wilting Brit could handle the heat!), but would love to hear that there is some magical neighborhood that is kind of quirky and "us." For example, we love Cave Creek, but doubt we could afford to live there immediately since there are other big-ticket purchases (i.e., cars!) that we would need to take care of first.
Job-wise, we're pretty secure and are used to paying upwards of $1200/month for rent and you-don't-even-want-to-know-how-much for utilities, if that helps.
I know this is asking for a lot, but thanks for any ideas/advice.
My husband and I are considering a massive life change by moving out of Brooklyn and Phoenix is on our list of possible homes.
A bit about us, as I believe our situation is somewhat unique:
* We're in our mid-30s, no kids (so schools are not an issue).
* I've been in NYC for 12+ years, but originally from the Midwest. Husband is British and has been here for 2+ years.
* Phoenix isn't a grab-bag thought...I have a good chunk of family in the area who have been there since the late 1970s. This is an obvious plus; the con is that they are mostly centered around North Scottsdale (think Kierland, Cave Creek, Tatum and Shea), so my experience in town is fairly limited to where they live and surrounding tourist attractions. They LOVE where they live; adore being near the malls and shopping and golf and such; can't see why this isn't exactly what everyone else wants, etc.
And so, here is our question: Is there a neighborhood or town/village in the metro area where we can have all the joys of the desert (climate, beauty, nice friendly people, my wonderful family), but also be within a no-more-than-two-mile radius of (mostly) independent shops, restaurants, bars, cafes, etc.? This is the part of Brooklyn that we love -- that we can walk to what we want/need on a daily basis, and that chains are far and few between. We're also not big fans of the gated and/or planned/pre-fab community.
We truly love the desert (just got back a couple weeks ago...even the wilting Brit could handle the heat!), but would love to hear that there is some magical neighborhood that is kind of quirky and "us." For example, we love Cave Creek, but doubt we could afford to live there immediately since there are other big-ticket purchases (i.e., cars!) that we would need to take care of first.
Job-wise, we're pretty secure and are used to paying upwards of $1200/month for rent and you-don't-even-want-to-know-how-much for utilities, if that helps.
I know this is asking for a lot, but thanks for any ideas/advice.