Anyone around Kingman, AZ, or anyone thats just up and moved away?.....

Kinda an open ***le, huh?

Looking to see who is from the Kingman AZ area and second, who has just up and moved far away to see what's out there.....

I'm 27, live in Iowa....really don't have much here...some family but we're not real close.....and Im really thinking, and have been for years about moving....to Arizona.....Kingman Arizona....and I've never even set foot in the state...lol

Anyway, I just think its time, I have thought about it...I wanna be down south.....west...near Las Vegas....not too far from Cali....and somewhere where rust free cars exist and two lane desert highways. I think this is me..... Its scary to think about just up and moving, trying to figure out if I should sell my house/ rent it out...sell my cars, etc. Who will I know there and all that stuff, but I think it could be worth it. I have never really been anywhere, just here...and to be honest, it's a pretty large area...and Im fairly well known around here. I managed the local speed shop for 5 years and I have built numerous cars and have always been a part of the car show scene, which is good here. If I move i will know noone and probably be lonely...but a lot of my friends here have started families and whatnot so I find myself with less and less buddies all the time to hang out with....

I dunno....old wise ones, talk to me......

.....and those from around Kingman...tell me about it please....I'm sick of snow and cold....and rust everywhere...

 

a co-workers parents just moved there about a year ago, they like it. he's visited a few times and he likes it. also C9 lives there...........

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=217810

 

go visit.. I cant say I have ever been to Kingman but I live in Tucson,Az and as far as weather goes it can't be beat(IMO) Yea it is hot, hot, hot in the summer but the rest of the year is nice.

 

Kingman has a constant breaze. You are fairly close to Vegas and about 30 minutes to Laughlin, and both have good shows. You are also close to the grand canyon as well as the play portion of the Colorado River. Minimal snow, dark side only. The town has a small town mentality, and the typical problems that go with small towns. Huge meth problem there, so research where you relocate to. Kingman has a few decent shows each year as well as the street drags. It isn't a bad place to live, but it definately isn't for everyone.

 

stay in the midwest homie! theres alot of kool shows and**** here too...just move from where your at! davenport is pretty damn run down anymore!

 

You better visit there first. It ain't purty.

If you like bare red rock mountains and 120 degree heat in the summer (no exaggeration) you'll love Kingman

My wife's brother and sister-in law live between Kingman and Havasu in Yucka...I mean Yucca. We like to visit there in spring and fall but ...

The Ford proving grounds are in Yucca.

The last time I was there (in April, this year) 4 of us guys went to a wrecking yard in Kingman. It was pretty kewl, they had some Edsels, 50's Ford and Chevy trucks and they had a 3 door Suburban, I'd never seen or heard of a 3 door Suburban.

Right next to the wrecking yard was a lot full of 50's and 60's driveable cars for sale.

After we toured the wrecking yard/vintage car dealer we went out to Mid Fifty F100 parts store not very far away in Golden Valley, where I bought some king pins for my 56 F100....Then when we got back to the house we did some target practice with our guns...It was a great day.

 

was it a late 60's early 70's one with 2 doors on the p*** side and 1 on the drivers?.

 

MeanYellowZ, First do yourself a favor and go vist the place. IMO it's crazy to move to a place you have never set foot on. Come armed with lots of questions. Housing costs, day to day, monthly and yearly expenses, jobs, crime, etc. A good place to start is www.city-data.com .
Your post sounds like you have some romantic ideas about the southwest ("somewhere where rust free cars exist and two lane desert highways. I think this is me"..... ) Nothing wrong with that. Just be open that things out here are way different in so many ways from the midwest, and not just the weather and landscape.
We moved to Phoenix from Wisconsin 24 years ago at about your age. If you move, you will find your buddies from 'back home' will forget about you the instant you move. Look forward, think about the new ones you'll make, not the old ones left behind.
Metro Phoenix and Tucson are where the jobs are at (mostly Phoenix) Kingman is not that big a town.
If you have the time on a vacation check out other areas of Arizona before commiting.
Good Luck.

 

Actually, that is changing. There are many, ok several, Las Vegas developers that are anticipating the completion of the Hoover Damn byp*** bridge. Land values in the northern Mohave county have skyrocketed. The idea is with Vegas housing as costly as it is, if you offer lower cost housing (compared to Vegas) that people will be willing to comute. Yes, the realestate market has fallen, but the bridge is scheduled to be completed in 2010 and many market ****ysts think it will be back up then. Do a simple Google search for Jim Rhodes, White Hills Group, Leonard Maridan (sp) and you will find articles everywhere about it. So, real soon, you can expect construction jobs to be on the rise, and a decent job market forming in a couple years.

 

That's the only time frame they were made in. Before that they were 2drs and in 73 they went to 4 drs.

 

Check out Flagstaff, Its more seasonal

 

I moved from Wyoming to AZ. I was tired of cold...glad I did. Only place I like better than Az was Ventura Ca...but the wife was cold...(snottsdale queen). Az aint perfect but it still a great place. In my experience live where you can make a nickle. You can have fun anywhere, but good weather helps.

You can get used to the summers...i did.

 

The desert here has it's own beauty.




Sometimes the beauty is close up and sometimes it's far away.


Plenty of different things to do.


Lotta nice - and mostly empty roads.


Train chasing is interesting for those interested in trains.
Aside from being a crossroads of America, it's a railroad town to a great extent . . . eventually there'll be a large marshalling yard here.


Going shooting is never a problem.
We have a nice range and other places to shoot.


Like Jeeps, 4x4 and exploring?


Where else can you drag race on city streets?
In serious cars with the blessing of the city?


Or line your street runner up against a funny car?


Or haze the tires in high gear at 85 in front of a friendly crowd?



Seriously, neat place.
Lot's to do.
Helluva hot rod presence.
Yesterday, sort of a regular day; spin the roadster over to donuts with the gang at the donut shop, go to a local very skilled rodder's house (6 of us) help him flip a pickup cab from nose-down to right-side-up and set it on a dolly.
Hit a couple of garage sales, get a set of brand-new never used offset box wrenches USA made for $5.
Hit the swap meet, lot's of good stuff there.
Home for some garage clean-up and some more site grading for the carport.
Took a nap.
Dinner, up to a casual Saturday night car show at the Caddy dealer.
Left there, cruised over to What A Burger and saw some more hot rod stuff.
There's a hot rod presence in this town not to be believed.
New car's spotted last nigt, the most beauteous black, Hemi powered two door Road Runner I ever saw and heard.
Along with an MG-B with 350 Chevy power.
An ok car, but perhaps not as fast as the 2nd or 3rd or whatever the heck it was owner since the engine swap thought it was.



If you like hunting, we have deer, elk, antelope, upland game birds, varmints - four legged ones - and large tracts of land you can get lost in.

One good thing about this state is all the Hollywood ***holes haven't bought up m***ive chunks of land like Ted Turner did in Montana and then close it off.

We are a bit of a frontier state, but politic's here is way more conservative than other states from what I can see.

Remember this as I write the following sentence; I am not a racist, grew up with a lot of Mexican kids, belonged to a mostly Mexican car club and later on a Mexican-American (M.A.G.A.) golf ***ociation and still have a lot of Mexican friends. They were like us and simply California kids, liked girls, car's and the beaches in about that order.

Due to Arizona getting tough on employers, the illegal - read that again - the illegal alien presence is lessening in this area.
You read all about American's won't do the work the Mexican's will, but when I moved here38 month's ago, construction crew's, road workers and the like were predominately caucasian.
Over about 18 month's it turned to mostly illegal alien.
Now, these crews are mostly American as far as I can see and few employer's will risk the wrath of the state where illegal's are concerned.

We are a mixed society, but not mixed up.

There's a drug problem with drug's, but drug's are a problem wherever you go.

Weather's pretty good.
We are at 3300' elevation on average with some homes in the foothills at 4000' or so.
That means when The River (Bullhead City, Laughlin) is 115 we're about 95 which ain't bad.

Downside to all this, it is an economically depressed area.
If you or your wife are an RN you can earn a good living, but most other job's are fairly low paying.

If you have your retirement et al set to go, this is the place for you.
Occupation-wise, it can be cheaper to live, but you don't make as much money.

 

Cool pics, C9. No place is going to make you happy, MeanYellow. Remember what they say-"no matter where you go, there you are." But-if there's no future where you are, maybe you need to where yours is. If you're're gonna go, go before life's obligations tie you down. Good luck, God bless.

 

geesh....now you have me wanting to move....you work for a travel agency??? great pics btw!!!!

the only time i was e ver in az, was in july in pheonix...that ****ed! hotter then the hubs of hell.....but when we were comin in [on a bus ] we had a bit of a layover in flagstaff....it was bootyful! always said i would ge back and see it....that was in 91 ill get there again with my kids this time...but not in july!

 

I live in a similar small city in AZ, at the opposite corner of the state. We have similar weather to Kingman, since we're at a pretty high elevation (over 4000 ft). It doesn't get hot here like it does in Tucson or especially Phoenix...100 when it's dry is not uncomfortable, and it hardly ever makes it over 100.

First thing to do is go visit....although if you visit now, you'll see it at the "best" weather. Maybe all that dry, dead land will be a turn-off? It's pretty barren up in that area, even by Arizona standards.

Jobs are a problem, Kingman doesn't seem to have much in the way of outside money flowing in. Here in Sierra Vista we get a bunch of federal money as paychecks for employees of Ft Huachuca. Might be a dealbreaker if you can't find work. Although overall, the state is doing very well with low unemployment, in the past month or two it tied the 40 year old record low.

And all 67-72 Suburbans are three doors. 67 was they year they changed from short wheelbase to long wheelbase.

 

Far as real estate goes, housing prices are in a slump here.

The big developer's may just be dreaming.
Water's the problem and they're having a tough time getting a source to their projects.

The Colorado River is at it's lowest point in the memory of more than a few old-timer's.

The local paper is The Kingman Daily Miner.
It's on the web.
Just add a dot com or do a search.

I work for me and do a little side work for a few friends.
No $$ changes hands, just network/favors kind of stuff.

Aside from hot rods, there are a lot of other things to do.
If your sweetie is open to new things, she won't have any problems with recreation interest's and other stuff.

My wife wasn't looking forward to moving, but she really likes it here.
She does Swim Club - my name, her name: excercise cl*** - three times a week, group meetings, she'd like to be a Pink Lady volunteer at the hospital again, but with her bad back she's not gonna be doing that.

Two golf courses.
Couple of museums.
Interesting small towns not too far away . . . some ghost and some half ghost & half folks that are still kicking up dust.

I used to hit garage/yard sales in Sunny California, but got sick and tired of seeing nothing but coffee cups and old clothes.
Yard sales here are something else.

You won't find an old Remington 22 LR in pretty good shape many other places for only $80.
A recent acquisition.



Plently of room at the dry lake.


Did I mention I have an unmarried daughter?


The test will be difficult.
Not so much from me, from her.
She's a bit of a toughie....

 

That's exactly what it was...a 68 I think. The floor was rotted out a little in the cargo area is all.

 

from what i've seen of kingman, it's a pretty good place. i've been through there several times since my fiancee's fam lives in phoenix. it's actually on the list of possible places to move for me and my girl. since her fam is in phoenix and most of mine is in utah it's a decent inbetween place.

C9-i always look for that car of yours when i go through there, but no such luck yet.

 

now go try to find a "4 door".

 

C-9 You should work for the tourest information people as you do a good job of selling your area which I agree is all you say but the shameless plug at the end for your un-married daughter was ............ well.......... shameless.

Ha Ha or in computer lingo lol
Mike

 

That was good what you said about the difference between Mexican citizens and illegals. You're so right on about the change in the work force and the fallacy of "doing work Americans won't do" I think most of us in Cal. who grew up here could echo your sentiments exactly.

 

Yeah, like anyplace else, you gotta get off the beaten track a bit.

Lot's of good restaurant's here as well as down the hill at Laughlin, NV - about 33 miles away.


Give me a heads up, I use the 32 almost every day.
It was covered in dust when I hit last night's car show so I waited till after dark to go....

 

Shameless is as shameless does.

Like Sweetie says, "You have no shame."
And like I say, "Yeah . . . and ain't you glad."
End of that story.

I gotta get me some guy's into this family.
Got two daughters, two granddaughters and one great-granddaughter.
And before you comment on my advanced age, note that I used to know a 29 year old grandmother so maybe you ain't so young either.

No weenie ***ed, don't like hot rods, machinery or guns snivelers need apply....

 

wow.....thanks guys for the replies, way more than I expected already. I guess to answer or comment on some of your response....

First, I really don't *think* Ill mind the heat, just not one of those poeple that mind it really, it was 95-100 quite a few times here this summer with 110% humi***y, everyone says its different there.

I have always planned on going first, I wouldn't just move without going there first, I might try and make it to the area this spring soon and rent a car and just check it all out.

If I did move I would rent an apartment for a while and really get to know the area. One thing I am worried about is the housing market doesn't look like around here at all, or maybe I'm just not looking in the right places. I don't see much for cheaper houses with garages, hell I dont see many garages period. I would be giving up my nice two bedroom house with 24x30 garage here....I would eventually need something decent like that to not go nuts.

As far as the job market, the last few years I have worked both in parts and I am currently a service writer at the local Detroit Diesel dealer, it looks like there are a handful of truck dealers around there including DD so that is what I would be aiming for to start off. I don't really have a "profession" really, so that is another thing I am thinking about since I would be alone out there, maybe I could concentrate better and work on furthering my education.

Im not sure, I know I would miss being so well known around here, but I still think it may be time. I want to be close to Cali but without all the emissions **** to worry about, etc.

Anyhow, love the responses AND the pics....the barren desert appeals to me...keep em coming.

 

Maybe if I do make it there I could pose as your long lost son or something I'm really not a gun guy though but I'll try and make up for it in the hot rod department

 

C9---It snowed an inch here last night---Get your guest bedroom ready---I'm coming down for the winter!!!---Brian

 

There is emissions **** to deal with in Tucson and Phoenix, but the rest of the state just doesn't have an air pollution problem, so there is no testing anywhere else in the state. The mountains hold the smog over the big city valleys...seems kind of wierd if you're from the flatlands but that's how it works.

 

My favorite town in Arizona you may want to check out is Prescott and the surrounding area. Beautiful country. Prescott proper is a little pricey and higher end, but Chino Valley, Prescott Valley, and Dewey are all close by. No vehicle emissions and only 90 minutes to the center of Phoenix via 4 lane highway & freeway for trips things Prescott doesn't offer (like a dragstrip). Climate is cooler than Kingman in the summmer and does get some snow now and then in winter, nothing like the midwest, and spring comes early.
http://www.prescott.org/
http://cruisinarizona.com/

 

ariz is nice moved here from kcmo 35 years ago. not so sure about kingman for myself but eveyone is different. i have a friend that told me one way he checks out a new community is to look in the yellow pages and count the number of gun shops compared to the population,a good way to gauge the pluse of the place.any how check out prescott,cottonwood,flagstaff, lots of diversity here besides the monster of phoenix.the wind blows to much for me in kingman one of the reasons i left the midwest.