[senior citizen]

...............

[DianeM]

Having lived in both, I'll opt for Florida. The arid desert is brown except in springtime. The air is so dry that noses bleed and lungs can burn. Within a week if moving to Florida I personally felt better as if my skin and body rehydrated. You don't miss rain until you haven't seen if for months. I still have family in scottsdale and they leave every summer for at least three months because of 120 degree days.

[chuckinca]

S/B: HOT, HOT, HOT Dry Arizona or Hot Humid Florida.

You can't go outside in Arizona when the temp is 115 for 6 months of the year.


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[aussiemom]

We lived in Phoenix for many years and loved it. The heat can get to you after many years. After retirement moved here to Florida because it was too dusty in Phoenix for husbands breathing problems. The humidity here helped that however after he developed Rheumatoid Arthritis after we moved here and found the humidity isn't good for that and Arizona with the dryer heat would be better. Love TV and you can't find the lifestyle in any development anywhere in the US........so we will suffer with humidity and stay here. But if I had my way.............I would be back in Arizona (or Utah, NM) with the dryer heat in a minute. You can avoid the extreme heat of Phoenix and live a little further north in Prescott, etc where the weather is much cooler. It's probably 6 of one, half dozen of the other. Me, give me the West any day.

[BarryRX]

I am always afraid that someday I will hear "yes, it's hot down here in hell, but at least it's a dry heat."

[kittygilchrist]

an earlier year, I was going to Arizona for the first time from Florida...people told me not to worry, it's dry heat....yeah, it's dry heat, just like a turkey in an oven...don't worry....

[manaboutown]

By posting on this forum you will be receiving mostly pro Florida posts since most posters have chosen or hope to live in The Villages.

If I had a serious health issue which would be alleviated by moving to a particular climate I would do so. My father did, he (we) moved for his health and he lived to be 94.

[Quixote]

I really like the hot weather; in fact, when it drops below 60 degrees, my body starts hurting. However, I remember once walking out of a probably too heavily air conditioned hotel into 114 degrees of dry heat in Phoenix and felt like I was walking into a blast furnace. Yes, there is a/c everywhere there much as it is everywhere here in FL. But to get even to the car was an exercise in breathing. I too will stick to FL, which I find much more moderate.

[gomoho]

I would suggest spend 6 summer months in each of the places mentioned then decide for yourself where you feel better. I've lived in Arizona and am currently in TV. Truth be told, if The Villages' were available in Arizona I would be there in a Minnesota minute! Then I could have free golf for life along with free hiking in the desert.

[Golfingnut]

I have been to the Verde valley and Phoenix. Ill take Florida any day.

[redwitch]

The humidity really does hurt the RA, no question. But breathing in the searing heat just to go from store to car hurts, too. I prefer dry heat -- a lot less pain. But, I still chose Florida (although my reasons had nothing to do with the weather, which was actually a huge minus when considering whether to move here).

So, I'd say it depends on your health issues. If asthmatic, have COPD, Florida would be the better choice. If mobility issues, consider Arizona. Also factor in that Florida has more allergies here. However, I think you also have to factor in TV. That is a lifestyle you won't find anywhere else (unless the Morses go through with the plan to build a TV in Texas).

[De Lis]

I have lived in both states, and after a certain temperature, hot is HOT. In both places it becomes the same, running from the airconditioned home to the airconditioned car.

[zonerboy]

I grew up in Phoenix, and also spent many years there recently. So I really don't mind the dry heat and find the humidity of Florida oppressive. 90 plus degrees in The Villages is way more uncomfortable than 110 degrees and 10 percent humidity in Phoenix.
My wife, who grew up in Indiana, feels just the opposite. She says the lack of humidity in Arizona dries up her skin, her nose, even her eyes. She likes it much better here.
I suppose dry heat might be better for arthritis than constant dampness, but haven't been here long enough to tell for sure.
By the way, in the old days growing up, Phoenix temperatures used to cool off a lot at night. Now it's so big, the asphalt and concrete sucks up heat all day from the sun, and releases it at night. So sometimes the LOW temp for the day can be 85 degrees at 6 am. Tucson is not so big and is a much better choice for those considering Arizona.

[manaboutown]

I flew into PHX at about 5:00 pm three days ago, on May 21. It was 99 degrees F!

Although it is still arid there, the humidity in the Phoenix area seems also to have increased over the years, more swimming pools, lawns and irrigated farm land in surrounding areas.

Over many years several people living in the west I have known who were retiring moved to the Green Valley area south of Tucson which contains many 55+ communities. On the other hand most of my east coast and midwest friends look forward to retiring or already have retired in Florida. The Mississippi River seems to divide the country that way.

It seems to me that people who have experienced hot humid summers over most of their lives are accustomed and acclimated and can deal with high humidity at 90+ degrees. Those who have spent most of their lives in low humidity areas feel washed out in high humidity high temperature environs.

When I moved to Coastal Orange County, CA another man where I worked had just moved there from Philadelphia. He kept commenting on how dry the air was. I had come from New Mexico so on the contrary I found the air in coastal Southern California rather humid. It is all what a person is used to, I guess.

I agree that The Villages could be anywhere having a relatively decent climate since it is a lifestyle community and simply outshines its competitors in so many ways.

[justjim]

We never lived in Arizona but have a first cousin who does. In addition, looked at various retirement communities----Saddlebrooke (Robonson community) just 20 miles north of Tuscon interested us the most----a beautiful place with the mountains in the background. But it was no TV!! The winter mornings are cooler there, most everything is "brown tone", it's hotter than "hell" for several months and anybody that can----leaves in the summer----we had lots of people tell us that and they were not joking. It was 113 degrees on June 1, when we were there. However, "different strokes for different folks". It didn't take us long to make up our minds but if I had a health problem that I believed might be helped with the hot/dry climate I would rent me a place for a year and give it a try. Good luck.