Scottsdale

•Scottsdale is really the best place to go for public education. Scottsdale is one of the most overall attractive big cities that I have ever seen!! In fact, I have never seen a city the size of Scottsdale have such an amazing feel to it. Clean, clean, clean! It is also amazing that a city with almost 250K people in its limits can have such a high standard of living at the same time. The Old Town area of Scottsdale is gaining more and more interest, and of course the city has endless things to do being an international tourist "hot spot" for years. You do pay to live there, but it is well worth it. They keep saying good things about Surprise, which will be interesting to see what happens. I wouldn't invest in it just yet though.

•You may also want to look into moving to Scottsdale, it's not that far from Camelback Mountain and there are some good hiking and biking trails there.

More on Tempe

• The Gilbert area has lots of homes within your price range (250+), and so does the south Tempe area, although some of the homes in that price range may be older in Tempe.

• Want to live East of the office so that you drive to and from work away from the sun

• My favorite is Tempe Town Lake with local art, lots of trails, water activities, buisness parks, shopping, etc. Tempe does tend to have some not so nice parts. But these are older areas, not ghetto. The city also has some beautiful master planned communities. When I think Tempe though I think location. It is right in the middle of all the action in the metro area, and you have very easy access to everything. I have heard that schools overall are good, but it really just goes school by school.

• Personally, I would choose Tempe -- primarly because it is more centrally located, with good access to several freeways, the airport, and the light rail line under construction. It's also a place with interesting restaurants, recreation, scenery, and cultural attractions all within its borders. Perhaps the biggest benefit of Tempe is that there are nice neighborhoods that are not far removed on the edges of the community. The Lakes area, just south of Baseline Road, for example, is an attractive suburban neighborhood within a short drive of downtown Tempe.

Extracts about Tempe Arizona

•Want to live East of the office so that you drive to and from work away from the sun

•Tempe is where ASU is so it's straight up college town. Mill Avenueis in Tempe and that's where we go to party. College is on one sideand city is on the other.

•Tempe city is ghetto and Tempe High Schoolis super ghetto. They tried to bus in other kids to improve theschool but it's kind of a disaster. I don't know how long you plan on being there and if the kids are going to go to school. You could set up shop in tempe and stage there to look for other districts.

•You really want to be in districts with good schools.Corona Del Sol, Mountain Pointe, Desert Vista are all the goodschools.

•If you like countryside go with Gilbert. if you like upscale high lifeliving like SouthPark, then you'll like Scottsdale. Tempe is verycentral for staging. Make sure you check to figure out which is the bad part and which is the good part of Tempe. You want to be in the Ahwatukee and Foothills region. Maricopa is the county but there is also Maricopacity and Mesa. The city sprawl is blowing up so you can find plenty of places. It's hard to recognize the place everytime we go back because the highway system is growing so much. I do love the airport by the way.

•My thoughts on Phoenix? I have wanted to end up in Phoenix since I was16 years old. I've always liked the city. There is so much to do andthe weather is great. I don't care about the heat, I love thesunshine. Also, there's lots of talk about Phoenix becoming thesports capital of the country so that will be exciting. If we don'tmake it out there soon, we'll most likely retire from the Army and end up there.

Solar Panel Types

Tried and True Monocrystalline...
For many years monocrystalline solar modules have been the mainstay of the solar market. Those iridescent blue faced panels you have been seeing on rooftops are probably of this type of panels. They have distinct rounded individual solar cells visible from all angles stacked in very uniform rows. This type is produced from a single silicon ingot or crystal. Manufacturing costs are very high because of this process making them the most expensive solar modules on the market. They are, however the most space efficient type of solar panel making them the correct choice when space is at a premium. Monocrystalline cells have a life expectancy far exceeding 25 years, probably over 50 years. The only real problem with this type of cell is it's fragile nature making it a requirement that it be mounted in a very rigid frame.
Polycrystalline...
Polycrystalline modules are manufactured from a block of multi-crystalline silicon. They are usually square and have a varied, almost mosaic-like appearance. Only slightly less efficient than monocrystalline modules they are cheaper to manufacture and thus cost less money. You can expect the same great lifespan as monocrystalline cells too.
Thin Film...
Recently a new product was introduced into the market that could provide some much needed answers for solar power users. Amorphous silicon PV or thin film technology could make rigid solar panels obsolete if some better research is done. Thin film panels are produced by applying silicon material on glass or stainless steel, or more commonly between two pieces of flexible laminate material. Solid or rigid thin film panels are in use by flexible laminated thin film panels are more popular.

Gym Memberships do well in November

So I hit the gym tonight after work. I saw Mike Scotto, the head personal trainer, at the Birkdale Fitness Center. It seemed busy and I asked Mike how the gym was doing and he said exceptionally well. He said that they were booming right around Thanksgiving whereas usually they wait till Christmas and the New Year to boom. I wonder if they are up because the population is still exploding here or because existing residents are spending more money on health? Anyways, if you want to join the gym, ask for Mike and now is the best time of the year to do so because they roll out the best incentives. I reccomendd the personal training if you have never worked out before.
The news is full of contradicting reports and for the most part the village feels slower but I can't tell if that is a normal fall slow down after school starts and the weather cools or if that is the economy. I wonder how the Birkdale stores performed on black Friday? I guess that all depends on the weather. My friend that works at Barnes and Nobles says that they are doing well. I find that amazing because the place is never really packed. This past weekend in NJ, we went food shopping and the lines were twenty deep at the registers. I don't think that I have ever waited in any line around here (except maybe at Starbucks). The point of all this rambling is that I wonder how the stores are doing?

The Manhattan Effect

First off, Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We are enjoying it at my parents house in New Jersey. This morning I read the papers and it is amazing how many letters and editorials were decrying the property taxes up here. A few of these authors claimed that the entire middle class of New Jersey was fleeing or wanted to flee to North Carolina or Florida because of the horrendous tax burden. I thought that it was interesting as more and more people that I know from NJ are considering moving South (especially to Charlotte).
Additionally, my parents live in Jersey City which is directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan. Being only one subway (PATH) stop from Manhattan, Jersey City has boomed. When I went to high school it was abandoned railroad yards. Now it is miles and miles of condominiums, offices, and mixed use spaces. I think 50,000 residences have been built here between the Bayonne and George Washington Bridges. Where do all these people come from that can afford half a million dollar plus condos? Everyone I meet is an immigrant (smart ones working in banking or such) or from the mid west. Right on our street are so many people who are aspiring actors or investment bankers. Its amazing.
Anyways, I read article after article stating that Manhattan along with a few other signature cities has continued to surge ahead in property values because of 1) Big Wall Street Bonuses (Yes they still got $32 Billion worth this year) and 2) Overseas investors taking advantage of the weak dollar. Well, additionally, Jersey is booming because even though a 600 sqft 1 bedroom condo costs $800,000, that is only 40% of the price it would cost in Manhattan. Absolutely amazing!
Anyways, as prices and taxes continue to rise here so many non-investment banking people, are considering moving. I think that by extension (or third order effect) that Charlotte will continue to do well. The only question that I have is whether enough people will continue to move to Charlotte to offset the number of new homes built on former farm fields. I keep watching that Charlotte Observer which says that new home permits are way down, but are they down enough? Here’s hoping and a Happy Thanksgiving!

Stratford Forest Not A Great Deal

Well, unfortunately, our friends won’t be buying that house in Stratford Forest. It turns out that the home needed $30,000 worth of work on its inspection report. This is simply amazing. As I understand it the houses in Stratford forest were built about 20 years ago (give or take). Additionally, they were made entirely of wood (especially the siding) which is all starting to rot and the plumbing is in a class action lawsuit so that may all need to be replaced. This is unfortunate because this is the second home buyer that I know of that was scared away from Stratford forest because of the deteriorating condition of the homes. On paper it may look like a great deal compared to Birkdale but the homes seem to be crap.
All of the homes in Birkdale were built with Fiber cement siding and PVC piping. Saussy Burbank and Lyllian Floyd areknown as great area home builders so I think that we are safe from the same type of 20 year deterioration that Stratford Forest has experienced.
Our friends are now back to looking at homes in Birkdale because they feel that Birkdale is the only place that will hold its value if the market continues to worsen. Does anyone else know of any other areas that they think will hold their value well?