Do your homework before you come to Prescott
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11/17/2018
I have live in Prescott since October of 2015 and my experience here has been mix. I would lean more on the negative than anything else. For one, this town is the worse for dating and meeting women and people in general. If you enjoy going to the bars then maybe you will have some luck or go online, but the quality of women is horrible. Most are single mothers out here that have had kids from multiple fathers. Many have high expectations considering what little they have to offer. Most are average at best. The ones that are decent looking are either getting knocked up at 18 or have already left town for the bigger cities ( can't blame them). The ones in their 20's and even 30's seem already busy with kids from multiple men and are delusional of what kind of man they can attract. Jobs are another issue. Unless your going get something with the city or at the hospital (and by the way, good luck) more than likely you will be working food and retail. Most only want to to pay min. wage and if your lucky maybe a little more than that. Another issue is housing. Housing is really expensive even for retirees (depending which states they are coming from). Younger people that are here are even struggling even more thanx to more out of state money flowing in. More land lords know they can ask higher rent prices which are just beyond most people's paychecks. Most landlords are horrible out here. Another issue at hand is the drivers here. There is many drivers coming from out of state and many native Arizonas here as well and let's say it does it mix. Most people don't know how to drive out here and get into accidents that would be very easily avoidable. The city council has pass a new ordinance banning cellphone usage behind the wheel which is great. Unfortunately, there is one more sad problem with this town and that is its drug problem. I personally feel no matter where you go you won'tget away from this. Most people theorizethat people get bored here and that's why they do it and maybe that might be true for some I don'tbelieve that represents every case. For a good while there Prescott and Prescott Valley had a huge surge of drug rehab facilities and unfortunately it brought many of these addicts here with their problems and they never left. Thankfully, both town cracked down on these places and many have closed shop but both town do feel the aftermath of this. If you are coming from high cost states where you can sale your house for a lot then you won't have many problems finding a house here of your dreams. This is not really a cheap place to live. Northern Arizona is more expensive than the Phoenix areas, so if your looking for cheaper than you would want to head south. (But be prepared for the heat and more people.)
Now the positives. For one this is a very easy place to get around. Whether you need to go to Prescott Valley or Chino Valley, you day will not be eaten up on the road unless theres bad weather or an accident. The weather here is really awesome for the most part. The summer can get hot, but not as hot as Phoenix by any means. We do get the monsoon during this time all the way in to Sept. So beware, but the lightning storms are awesome, if you love that sort of thing. The winters do get cold and can get snow. It normally melts off the next day, unless we have unusual winter or storm system that comes in. The spring is pretty mild and the best time to plan hiking trips and camping trips. Bust not to camp in the summer mainly due to the monsoon and flash flood risk. Unfortunately we have had people die in the area (whole family in payson), so it's no joke. There is a lot of small shops to check out, tons of nice restaurants as well. There is plenty of medical facilities around plus if your a veteran there is a VA hospital near by.
In closing, this town is great for retirees that can afford it, but horrible for anyone under 55.
James | Prescott, AZ