Kingman's View from a Newcomer
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3/23/2007
I recently moved to Kingman from a large metropolis, namely Phoenix. For years, I could not wait to leave the Phoenix area with its growing number of people, traffic, high heat, crime rate, and ever-increasing horrible smog.
For years, my husband and I traveled to different areas of both Arizona and other places in the Southwest to determine where we would like to live once our kids were out of high school. At first, I didn’t care for Kingman at all. My husband has family here who we visited often but I never cared for the City of Kingman and it certainly was not considered to be one of my favorite places to live. That was, however, until my husband convinced me to at least look at some property in Kingman. I began to see Kingman differently.
Somehow I had not noticed the beautiful mountain ranges surrounding the city, and the wind that I never cared for, was the reason the air was so clean. The land was priced right so we bought and moved here almost 2 years ago. Even then, when we first moved here, I was concerned about leaving all the opportunities the big city life has to offer – not to mention some family members and close friends. After settling in though, here’s what I discovered:
• I almost immediately fell in love with the small town atmosphere
• The summer heat is never as bad as Phoenix; generally 10-12 degrees cooler
• They actually have a winter – with an occasional day of snow!
• I have made some wonderful new friends
• Family and friends in Phoenix are only 3 hours away
• Laughlin is 30 minutes away and we have:
o attended two concerts there since moving here
o taken a river boat ride from Laughlin to Lake Havasu
o met friends and family there half a dozen times
• There’s Vegas 2 hours away with the awesome Hoover Dam between here and there
• There’s lots of great places to see:
o The beautiful Hualapai Mountains to picnic, hike, or just view
o Grand Canyon Caverns
o West Rim of the Grand Canyon with the new glass skywalk
o Lake Mead or Lake Havasu
o Many historic buildings and landmarks
o And so much more
School incidents, crime, medical issues, and even the wind all exist in any town or city, no matter where you live. Kingman has an assortment of activities through the Community College, their Parks and Recreation Department, local sporting teams, and their’s always cool car shows and events. What one gives up in not have a professional sporting team here, or a large shopping mall is nothing
Kathy | Kingman, AZ