I have lived here in Tucson for almost 30 years and I love it,your first summer will be rough,cuz you are not use to it.Winters will be awesome.I find them alittle chilly,sometimes downright cold,but not like you are used to

I think you should seriously look into how secure your retirement funds are, how many more years you plan to work, how long you can survive without working, the cost of living there, the housing market (how fast you can sell your house and how much profit you'd make) and the job market. Would it be possible for you to take a 30 day leave of absence and go West to check out the housing and job markets? I wouldn't go into a move like this blind but I'd sure be using this snowy winter to do some checking. And yes, if there was any way possible to move I'd do it.

Nope, you are not crazy. DH and I did just the same thing 16 years ago. BUT, I would check out the jobs and housing online before you jump in the car. We moved from NY and the vehicle registration and inspection is different and more expensive, heating and cooling is generally a little less expensive, no heavy winter coat needed unless you are going to the 'high' country, when it rains people are stupid just like the first snow there, and of course there are lots and lots of people where we are. We are in the Phoenix area. I have grandkids back in NY and it was a hard decision to stay here instead of move back to be a daily gram there. I just couldn't do it...... DH and I are in the medical field and I had a hard time finding a new job in 2009 and I have never had a hard time finding work in 35 years.....

So good luck on your decision and if you do get out here give a shout, we'll try and get together.

Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! do find a job if u can, before the move!

I don't think it's crazy at all! Just do your homework first :D
Good luck!

This gave me a big chuckle. We've debated this question on and off for the past 2 years. We have lived in rainy Oregon for 16 years now and just bought a house in Arizona. We're tired of little sunshine and dreary days for too many months of the year. Don't get me wrong. Oregon is incredibly beautiful and we even thought of buying again up here (we've been full-time RVers for 6 years) and spending winters in Arizona (with kids, grandkids and great grandkids). But we bought in Arizona and will instead spend our summers in Oregon. Now I just hope I can find some quilting friends when we move in March.

As a transplant from MA to NH and loving the snow and cold and getting up in years..I would make a move even to warm climates to be near my DD (no GK yet) . I am stand in mom for 2 GNeices here and they need me till they are on their own. Family is what would make me move.
along with everyone else...have a vacation in AZ and look at the situations the new situations.
MAybe you could rent out in raymond if buyers are scarce.
I am in Rindge and stuff has been moving here. good luck

Nope not at all. We moved to florida 25 years ago from up north and we love love love it here.

Heck no! Go for it! I live in PA and the winters suck! I can't handle the gray days, the cost of heating oil, just being housebound for weeks at a time. Their are no jobs here and it doesn't look to promising any time soon.

Dh and I have decided to move to Fl. Youngest son graduates in June and leaves for the Marines in September. Oldest son is married and has a baby, whom I love dearly, but they have no intetions of moving for a few years. Her family is here. Middle son is in the Marines and stationed in NC.

My dh is an over the road truck driver so we don't see too much of each other. We want to change that. We want to go to a place that suits our needs now. I have a funny feeling that my kids will follow. Even if they don't, we have to do what is best for us, and the Florida move is it.

Go for it! Why stay someplace you don't like? It sounds like you have a good plan going, financially planning, and I am sure you could find a job in AZ. Good luck!

Not crazy at all.. I quit my 10 year job making GOOD money and moved 100 miles east. Found a job and am making it just fine. (well besides the medical issues) Check out the market for your job interests and the cost of living expenses. Do some major research on the unemployment rate in the area first tho.. Good luck.. oh yeah by the way.. I heard it snowed in Az this winter.. :shock: