Any Arizona/New Mexico Residents?

[a cliche affair]

I'm a born and raised Minnesotan, but as each year passes, i'm getting more and more sick of the cold and snow, the horrible road conditions etc. I'm contemplating moving south, at least to try it out after college. I'll be done with school in a little over a year so I have plenty of time to think about it, just thought i'd get some opinions from residents of these states.

What are good places to live, what do you like about it etc.

I'll be looking for a fairly big city (i'm a paralegal, looking for a big firm). Generally speaking, the bigger the firm, the higher the earning potential.

Also, how is the housing market down there?

Thanks much.

[Jeff_T]

I grew up in Tucson, Az and lived there for 19years then went to college in Flagstaff, Az. Phoenix is the largest market in that area and will def. have what you're looking for. I personally hate Phoenix, but I know a lot of people that really enjoy it. Tucson is a nice substitute for Phoenix, although it's much smaller (probably just over 1mil. people). Because I grew up there I wanted something different and wanted to get away from all the sun and 100/110+ temps in the summer. For like 6 months out of the year the temp in Tucson is perfect and you can do outdoor activities year round. The coldest is gets in Tucson is right around freezing, not very often though (Phoenix is usually a few degrees warmer).

[Jeff_T]

Forgot to add in about the housing market. I know the market is down in both Tucson and Phoenix, making a good time to buy. The market in Phoenix was hit harder than the market in Tucson, mostly being of the booming growth in the phoenix metro area. About a 10 months ago a friend of mine got a house in Scottsdale, a nicer suburb of Phoenix for a little under $200k. It's a big house probably 2,500+ sqft with a huge backyard, pool, bbq/patio area that was foreclosed. Nothing really wrong with it, he just repainted the interior and it looks great. There are definitely some good deals in both of those markets.

[Amn_sinclair]

I was born and raised in New Mexico and i always thought it was a shit hole until i left. really though it is a good state depending on where you live, and what part of town. This year ive heard that it has been a little chilly but it never gets really below 32 during the day. i liked it in the winter some days you could wear shorts and still go to sandia peak and snow board on good snow, still wearing your shorts it was that nice out. i wouldnt suggest it though unless you know that you wont be falling all day lol. the housing market in los lunas is really good right now and albuquerque is half an hour drive away...

ah damn i just noticed you want a big city i dont know how you define big but heres the wiki thing about alb and population
The city population was 521,999 as of July 1, 2008, according to [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._census"]U.S. census[/url] estimates,[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuquerque,_New_Mexico#cite_note-Census_PopEst_over_100.2C_000_2008-1"][2][/url][/sup] and ranks as the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population"]34th-largest[/url] city in the U.S. As of June 2007, the city was the 6th fastest growing in America.[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuquerque,_New_Mexico#cite_note-autogenerated1-4"][5][/url][/sup] With a metropolitan population of 845,913 as of July 1, 2008,[sup][url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuquerque,_New_Mexico#cite_note-Census_PopEst_MSA_2008-2"][3][/url][/sup] Albuquerque is the [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_metropolitan_areas"]59th-largest[/url] [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_metropolitan_area"]United States metropolitan area[/url]. The [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albuquerque_metropolitan_area"]Albuquerque MSA[/url] population includes the city of [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Rancho,_New_Mexico"]Rio Rancho[/url], one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. Roughly half of the population of the state of [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico"]New Mexico[/url] lives in the Albuquerque area.


oh and we arrested bill gates once too