Flagstaff?

[crustychief]

I am still a member of PSUP since there doesn't seem to be much in my field in So Cal, it gets crazier here every week, I have started thinking about escaping. A good friend of mine has offered a position in Flagstaff Az. I have never been a big fan of temperatures less than 70, especially if it involves snow. I was wondering if I could get some unbiased info here rather than the Flagstaff website and my friend, both of them seem to want company there. Some questions:
1. How often does it snow / rain how long does it last?
2. What kinds of legal activities are there for teenage kids? Hobby shops?
3 Are the schools any good?
4. My wife likes to shop, are there any malls or such with Macys, Crate and Barrel , the list goes on..?
5. Is the surrounding area nice, any bad areas?
6. Cost of housing?
Thank you in advance,
Sandy

[Rick Lee]

This is where you want to look.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/arizona/

Flagstaff housing is very expensive by AZ standards, but probably not by CA's. It's a college town, so there's lots to do for young folks. It's gorgeous country up there, lots of snow in the winter. It's really not a big city and I don't think there's much around it either. Williams is very nice, but touristy, Grand Canyon is another 60-90 minutes from there. Most of what's east of Flagstaff is Navajo Naitons. I-40 is closed down for snow or wind almost regularly. Last time I was there was in late April and it was almost too windy to ride on the hwy. Still snow on the peaks then too.

[RWebb]

great place

lots of outdoors stuff to do - no sea kayaking is the drawback

fairly cool b/c of the elevation

not much cement block store shopping - a BIG benefit!

low crime (drunk frat boys) & good schools due to NAU being there

NAU is a lot better re faculty than one would expect b/c of the env'l amenities - I tried to get a biol. prof. job there but they never had any openings - guess why...

if you like smaller college towns, it is a top notch one