I am sure you have received many replies to your inquiry over the last seven months. Let me add mine to the list. I grew up in Westchester County, New York. I have lived in Boston, Boise, San Diego, Hendersonville, North Carolina and Catskill, New York and traveled extensively in the US and to several European countries. I moved to Prescott about five years ago to be closer to my widowed mother. I currently work at the local community college so I have a lot of contact with people in the town. 1- Cost of living is outrageous and getting worse. It's not just housing, but professional services, food, gasoline. While the numbers may look good, compared to New York, keep in mind that if you have to work your wages will be very, very low regardless of your experience or training unless of course you are a doctor, lawyer etc. 2- If you do have to work, remembe this is a "right to work state" which basically means it is a right to fire you state without reason. tHere are few if any protections for the working person. Even if that does not affect you directly, it has a serious impact on the quality of employees Prescott can attract. 3- The town has become a haven for individuals recovering from drug and alcohol abuse. The West Yavapai Guidance Clinic got a grant in the millions of dollars several years ago to increase their services. In addition there are numerous private clinics and the VA Medical Center. It is impossible to invite so many people with addictions into a "small" town and not have an impact. Combine this with the fact that most actually do not recover and never leave because the weather is tolerable even for a homeless person in the winter and there are so many social services available and you have a recipe for disaster. Remember I said I work for the local community college. I see people in desperate situations on a daily basis. It is not pretty. 4- All those addicts and the great disparity betweent he have and have nots leaves a lot of room for crimes of all sorts. 5- The population of the tri-cities (Prescott, Prescott VAlley and Chino Valley) is projected to reach 150,000 in the next five years. The town is literally tearing down the mountains to build new overpasses and wider highways and every other blight on nature that you can imagine. 6- Speaking of nature, no one has figured out where all the water is going to come from for all these people. The town of Prescott has systematically given away water to developers with no reimbursement to the city citizens for same. Farms have closed down and gone to other states because the cost of water for them was so high. The town would rather have big box stores and mega housing developments instead of locally grown produce. Prescott Valley is bound and determined to accept any viable business that wants to come here no matter how negative their impact on the economy, the ecology or the social fabric of the community. 7- One New Yorker to another, the overall intelligence quotient here is pretty low especially among the locals. Even if they are intelligent, getting them to talk and actually articulate their ideas is a struggle. 8- Speaking of community there is no sense of that here. If you are retired and want to pay $400,000 + for simple shelter, come on down. If you have a drug problem and want to suck off the system, come on down. If you are a regular working class person who wants a quiet place to call home - look elsewhere and let me know what you find.
Abhd | Prescott, AZ | Report Abuse

the guy named "S" has wrapped his tinfoil too tight. I will try not to be biased either way here and keep[ it short. Housing is cheaper than most of USA, wages are average but good paying jobs are few-no big industry here. There is tons of competition in market so good prices on services and merchandise. 2 walmarts and 3rd on way which always drives down groceries and etc. Costco w/gas which also helps drive down gas prices which are lower than average-maybe Missouri would have cheaper gas. Crime is very low, notably violent crime. I could easily see people here as being racists against black people but there are plenty of native American and Hispanic that you do not see racism toward them to a large degree - people fear what they are ignorant of and there are very few African Americans. It does appear that there is a above average amount of HOA's here. I have traveled the world, lived in Iowa, Missouri, illinois, colorado, california, and Arizona and can say Prescott has very easy going, polite, non agressive people. The 'right to work state" issue is nothing more than politics for or against and will affect you in no way. Anyone who says different and is for or against it is just trying to stuff their politics down your throat. As far as politics Prescott is mostly conservative but enough liberals to keep some balance I think. You really should spend a good week here to know if it is for you. It is a place that someone used to big city like New York or LA could get bored fast I think.
jon | Pueblo, CO | Report Abuse

Bouncing off from what "S" said: That sums it up quite accurately! I lived there for about 18 months back in 2004/2005 and couldn't get out of Prescott fast enough!! I'm sorry to say that because I thought that I found the perfect place to “eventually” retire and live for the rest of my life. My grandmother lived there for decades, before passing away, and as a kid (in the 70's & 80's) I thought that I'd like to live there when I got older. I moved from the Hawaiian Islands to Prescott to live and buy a home and wanted to enjoy life in the town, but found myself being called the "N" word more than once on separate occasions! By the way, I'm a Scotch, Irish, Italian and Choctaw Native American male with a medium tan! I'm back on Kauai now and living well. Aloha.
Mark | Kapaa, HI | Report Abuse

After reading the previous response I had to reply. This person has a very inflated view of themselves. For someone that seems to put themselves on a superior intelligence level to the rest of us, I expected more accurate information. It doesn't take a PhD to know that being a "Right to work" state refers to the right to work for a company and you don't have to join the union to do so. I am sure the respondent meant to say we are an "at will" state which means either the employer or the employee can terminate that relationship at any time for any or no reason. I live here in Prescott and don't believe it is costly at all. Of course, Prescott is ranked at a cost of living of over 20% higher than the National average. I love it here and think that the people putting Prescott down would have to be people that are failures and have to place blame on anything available and I guess their town is last on the list. Pretty sad. It's beautiful here. The climate is awesome. The crime rate is very low. The price for housing is high and as more people visit and consequently move to Prescott the prices will continue to go up. Prescott Valley and Chino Valley are much more affordable, but remember, you get want you pay for. Prescott is land locked and that of course promotes higher property values. Prescott also has more mountain views and an historical feel to it. My two cents and I am just one of the lower intelligent people.
Tom | Prescott, AZ | Report Abuse