Balanced Review - Pros and Cons
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2/6/2020
Over 10+ years of living here in Prescott, AZ. No place is perfect and there are plenty of bad places to live. Here are the PROS and CONS:
CONS:
* Good paying jobs are VERY difficult to find. Most jobs will be in construction, healthcare, food, service industry, hotel industry, big box stores, etc. Forget about IT jobs, high paying skilled labor jobs, business jobs, large companies, etc. This is a retirement & tourist town so that is where the jobs will be (healthcare & hospitality). Average median household salary is around $28k year (compared to $63k avg for USA).
* Cost of living is high. Housing is very expensive (mainly due to California transplants & their dollar exchange rate) and apartments are scarce and very expensive. 90% of the workforce doesn't even live in Prescott. They live in Prescott Valley, Chino Valley/Paulden and Dewey and drive into Prescott to work. This also contributes to the roadways being overwhelmed with traffic. Although they are building wider roads and more feeder highways to help with this issue.
* No longer a small town feel. Due to the insane growth in the area in the past 10-15 years, this area is no longer a "small town" and it has lost its small town feel. Areas like Chino Valley still retain it but Prescott, no longer. The town officials hand out new house building permits like candy. As a matter of fact, the building dept is so backlogged with new plan reviews, they have to sub-out and hire companies to help them review and issue building permits. As of 2019, they estimated about 20,000 new homes will be built in the next few years.
* If you are younger and want a nightlife, Prescott is not your town. Remember, it's a retirement and tourist town. Tempe/Scottsdale/Phoenix is the place for the young adult nightlife.
PROS:
* Weather is very moderate, a mild 4 seasons. Extremes can happen but overall it's a Zone 4B (building climate) so it's moderate & dry.
* Lots of open spaces, nature, trails, outdoor things to do. Beautiful scenery.
* Prescott has some of the cleanest air in the country. American Lung Association listed it as #1 for best air quality a few years back. (Although forest fires have been an issue and air quality gets really bad during wildfire events, which have been increasing.)
* The city is pretty safe to live compared to big cities. Crime rate is way lower than Phoenix. Main issue are drugs, like many towns are dealing with. The low pay in the area, contributes to the poverty and drug use.
That's about as fair of a pro/con review I can give. Biggest issue I have had in the town in the past 10+ years is the low paying wages for the limited amount of jobs they have in the area. I have a college degree and many skills but finding a good paying job is difficult in this area. Most teenagers who grow up in Prescott, end up attending the 2 year colleges and then leaving the area for universities and bigger cities and more opportunities. Most never return. Latest stat was that 80% of young adults leave Prescott and don't come back.
Trent | ,