Great views and people
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6/5/2018
My wife and I moved to Sedona a year ago, and we are really enjoying it. The views are fantastic, and the people friendly.
Here are a few specific observations, some of them addressing other comments on this site. They are arranged roughly from positive to negative:
- The scenery is fantastic. Not only are there the famous red rocks, but there's plenty of attractive vegetation.
- Mobile phone reception is very good almost everywhere in Sedona. I have AT&T and have been very pleased. I get 22 Mbps down and 4 Mbps up. Verizon is the more dominant carrier here, and it's said that reception is even better on Verizon.
- It seems that most of the people in Sedona are here because they want to be here and in many cases went out of their way to be here. There don't seem to be many people who are somehow stuck in Sedona and are looking for a way to get out.
- Shopping hasn't been a problem for us. There are two decent-sized traditional grocery stores (Safeway and Basha's), and several health-food stores, including Whole Foods. There are plenty of gas stations, auto repair shops, etc. We rarely find ourselves having to go even as far as Cottonwood (19 miles). Admittedly, we often order from Amazon. (US Mail, UPS, Fedex, etc., are all quick and reliable here.)
- The restaurants seem plenty good to me, and there are a lot of them. I'm not sure what inspired another commenter to criticize Sedona restaurants.
- The library is beautiful, and well-supported by the community.
- I see a complaint about Sedona air pollution on this site, but I am not aware of any evidence for that claim. The air seems great to me. No doubt it's worse when there are forest fires, but AFAIK there haven't been any of those since I've moved here.
- There are a lot of retirees in Sedona. Since I'm approaching retirement age myself, that's fine with me. However, young people might find their social options more limited than expected for a town of 10,000.
- It's hot in the summer, but not Phoenix-hot. In fact, quite a few people who live in Phoenix come to Sedona in the summer to cool off. That is somewhat mind-boggling given the 97-degree temperatures here in the summer. But with the low humidity, I find summers here to be not much worse than in Wisconsin, where I moved from.
- Be aware that during July and August ("monsoon season"), it rains almost every day for a short while. It clears up quickly, and I haven't found it to be a problem. I do carry a plastic bag for my mobile phone, to protect it in case I get caught in the rain.
- There don't seem to be lot of professional-type jobs here. I work from home for a company located over 1000 miles away, and many of the other "professionals" I know have similar arrangements, or are self-employed. There are plenty of restaurant, hotel, and retail jobs. But if you plan on having some other type of job while living in Sedona, you'd be smart to arrange something in advance.
- The middle-income housing options do seem to be limited. There are luxury homes and trailers, and not so much in between. Surprisingly, some of the best views of the red rocks are from less-than-spiffy trailers. I don't understand the economics behind that.
- The traffic on 89A is heavy, and you need to take 89A to get just about anywhere. There's a bottleneck just west of Uptown; at certain times of the year or day, this will add several minutes to your drive if you are driving between West Sedona and Uptown (which are two different, informally-designated areas of Sedona). But I bicycle almost everywhere, and with the bike lanes on 89A, I am reliably able to bypass any traffic jams.
** I see that over 40% of the readers disagree with this review. It would be useful if you'd comment on what aspects of the review you disagree with. Thanks.
Mark | Sedona, AZ