Gotta be anon for this, but I'll be moving to Arizona this year, and I would prefer to move somewhere where there is not a high concentration of mormons. I have heard there is quite a few in Flagstaff, is that true?

Any advice from Arizonians or others is appreciated. Thanks :)

I used to live in Tucson and loved everything except the extreme heat in the summer. I live in Cali now, but am taking a long look at settling in Prescott when I retire (perhaps 10 years from now).

I love Tucson, but I can handle summer heat better than winter cold in Kansas. There are some Kolobians, but nothing like Phoenix, with its soon-to-be three temples.

70 miles to the Tucson airport. Tombstone 20 miles.

Flagstaff does have its Morg community, but for the most part, they are easily avoided. This holds true in most of Arizona except for the strongholds like Mesa, Gilbert, Safford, Snowflake/Taylor... most of the Eastern part of the State. Avoid those areas at all costs.

I've loved living in Flag, as it's small enough to be cozy, but big enough to have amenities and a semblance of civilization. Plus, you've got four distinct seasons and some of the most beautiful scenery you could ask for within a 100 mile radius.

I really liked living in Yuma, but it is hotter then hell in the summer. It's only 3 hours from San Diego, 5 hours from LAs Vegas, and about 2-3 from Tucson.

Prescott Valley is where, until recently, my husband's psycho TBM ex wife lived. She has apparently vacated the area, though.

Housing prices are priced between Prescott and Chino Valley, AZ. It has convenient shopping. Super Wallmart, Home Depot, Lowes, Cost Co, and a nice little mall. It has a couple of small collages. It's close enough to take some nice day trips to other places.

Prescott Valley is newer than Prescott, but Chino is growing too. Personally, I like Prescott Valley better than Prescott, or Chino. Watch the speed limits, because the town has put up cameras everywhere, and they will get you!

It has a couple of lakes. Beautiful mountains. Winters are bone cold, but spring, summer, and fall are nice.

I own 3 rental properties in Prescott Valley, and I'm considering retiring there! For me, it might be a little too conservative, but they have a Democratic Party and Indian Casino for us Godless Liberals :o)

http://www.pvaz.net/

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2011 03:05AM by steve benson.

Mr Benson, Hannigan's Meadow is a real sweet get away as is Greer, (close to Sunrise Ski Resort). However, Pinetop is not adjacent to Strawberry, Pine is. Pinetop/Lakeside are the towns that are together and incorporated as one now. I am pretty sure that is what you meant.

Prescott Valley is a nice area. I have only driven through it on the way to Prescott. I really like Prescott the city. Emery Riddle aviation school is there, Yavapai community college, a very beautiful and historic down town with old saloon type bars on Whiskey Row. The large county court house is in the center of town with picturesque trees and lawns. The town is in the Pines and the houses downtown are old mid-western looking houses. Many are two story. http://realtyexecutives.com/johngorden/files/2011/02/Houseweb1.jpg

Most importantly the Mormon population is small relative to the rest.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2011 03:07AM by steve benson.

Tucson is good--lots of outlying suburbs or in-town neighborhoods neatly tucked away that will give you a small town feel while being part of a mid-sized city with all the advantages of a city with a major University (U of A) and several sports franchises. Plus, excellent hiking, camping and boating are anywhere from an hour to one days' drive.

Steve Benson is right on target about Bisbee & Jerome being artsy & funky. Add to them Sonoita, just south of Tucson, which is up and coming.

Prescott and Sedona can't be beat for beauty & liveable climate but are seriously expensive and low on jobs--you'd have to work from home or commute.

Phoenix is too large, too hot, and it's 'burbs too Mormon. Benson, Wilcox, Sierra Vista and other small towns like those are just dull (I know, I've lived there)--the townfolk go to Tucson for shopping and entertainment and anything more complicated than childbirth means an ambulance or chopper to the Medical Center in Tucson.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2011 10:57PM by nwmcare.

Sahuarita or Green Valley are great. I loved it there...

Sahuarita's wonderful, but there are four wards - soon to be five - in my development alone. Lot's of religious diversity, however. Just too many Mormons. I would recommend sahuarita to anyone, unless they want to avoid Mormons.

Flagstaff (tho' it's getting congested and expensive ... still a decent university town, you got Northern Arizona U. right there)

Sedona
Prescott
Tucson

NOT Phoenix.

Tempe maybe. Adjacent to Phx but it has the sense of a university town with ASU right there.

Lake Havasu City. DH and I are looking at buying an investment home down there, with the hopes of moving down there full time in the next 7 years. The biggest draw for us is that no one is FROM Havasu. It welcomes outsiders from all areas. The other draw is that it is not very family friendly, so we won't have kids running all over the place (for a town of 50,000 people, it only has 3 elementary schools and 1 high school) However, there are TONS of activities for adults. Plus the giant lake. Real estate is a little higher than the rest of Arizona, but still much more affordable than Montana, where we are now. The people are VERY welcoming. There is an LDS ward there, but only one, so I think that's manageable. I count every day until I'm living there full time =)

LHC is two hours from Vegas, three from Phoenix and five from LA. Just about the perfect location =)

Any part that isn't brown which is most of it.

Don't like non-whites? Swim back to Europe then!

"I have heard there is quite a few in Flagstaff, is that true?"

In my experience, YES! I managed a restaurant in Flagstaff. Lots of polygs with the full prairie get-ups would come in, too.

I have a good friend in Cottonwood and she loves it. Avoid Snowflake at all costs (unless you are a Snow or a Flake). You might like "Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, watching all the (cars) drive by..." Sorry, just couldn't resist...

For your reading pleasure, here's the beginning of "a bad place" list:

Sells (Hell), Arizona
Ramah (I know just across the state border in New Mexico, but LDS settled and centered).
Gallup, NM should be added, the famed "Armpit of the West."
Navajo Reservation, simply to remote, though beautiful in places.
Hopi Reservation, ditto!
Needles? Don't go there, I beg you...



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2011 07:37PM by george.

I am from flagstaff. have lived here since 81 and even though I know lots of Mormons now that I am no longer in the morg I hardly see any of them. flag is a good place to live although the cost of living is high.

cosmo appears to be a bigot. ignore them. criminals occur in all cultures. I have lots of native and Mexican friends and they are not criminals.

"cosmo appears to be a bigot. criminals occur in all cultures."

Original poster asks for a place with few Mormons, presumably because they have disproportionately undesirable traits, and I'm a bigot for pointing out another demographic reality?

We had good reasons for SB1070. Crime foremost among them.

SB1070 was dumb and ignorant, plain and simple. In my AZ neck of the woods, it is the druggies who commit lots of crimes. Skin color has nothing to do with what kind of person you are.

How come it was a white person that shot Sen. Giffords and killed the others, including a child?

BillyJack, stay away from Cosmo and his neighbors.