AZ seems to have some people willing to pass laws to protect themselves if martial law is invoked. Don't know if this will happen, but protecting States Rights by secession seems to have been done before.
Anyway - the reason I would like info on AZ is that we will probably spend several winter months there while it is safe to do so, the first year spent in a mobile while scouting out areas. Kind of partial to the SE part - the NE has no soil except in the valleys which are all "taken", being really rocky and treed. The NW seems to be mainly desert with a real water problem, solved by trucking it in...not a solution at all. The North central is colder in winter, too cold for we snowbirds.
SE AZ seems to have some valleys with soil, higher plateaus and enough sun to go solar. I believe it gets windy too, so maybe a windmill would work. If anyone has any practical ideas for living in the high desert valleys or any suggestions of particular places, please suggest away.
Coming from Alberta one would think we would like mountains and trees, but I am a "flatlander" enjoying watching the weather change and seeing the horizon, we both know we need shade trees. And surface water seems so rare in AZ unless you want to pile up with eveyone else on the River.
Although not the resident experts on Arizona,we have lived here 13 years and for now feel quite comfortable and secure. AZ is a big state with large areas of desert, mountains, forests, lakes, rivers and streams, large and small canyons, and after the next big California quake we may even have beachfront property. If someone is looking for a place to ride out the "coming attractions", over the next few years, here are my thoughts:
You'd do well to take at least a couple of weeks, and preferably a month or more, to reconoiter the state. You might base yourself in Phoenix or one of the smaller cities to the east, and scout out the East Valley, Prescott and Chino Valleys, Payson, Showlow, and Snowflake, and possibly the Sierra Vista area, and the S.E. part of the state, all in different directions from Phoenix.
In view of your interest in strategic relocation, I think you would find more like-minded people in the East Valley and the S.E. part of AZ. We noticed that during the Y2K panic period, mutual support groups worked together quite well in organizing food and water storage, local power generation, etc. These efforts were mostly organized thru various church groups, but some more isolated communities got their acts together pretty well.
I don't think AZ will secede from the USA, but the point was well made; lots of folks here value their Constitutional rights. The 2nd Amendment is a hot issue here. On that subject, you could still discreetly get what you need thru newspaper adverts or at shows, but I wouldn't procrastinate.
On the down side, there is a large and growing element here that, when the feathers do start hitting the fan, will likely increase their criminal activities. And drive carefully in AZ. We are almost as bad as Utah drivers.
I've spent a lot of time in the past 20 years in the area south of Tucson and like it alot. I'd considered retiring in Bisbee, Payson or Prescott but decided to relocate to northern Calif. from the LA area. It appears that there's now a lot of trouble in Cochise county, specifically in the Douglas area, due to huge hordes of illegal aliens and drug traffickers. Prescott seems to have been "discovered" in the past few years and real estate prices have increased substantially. Still, it's a great state and I like their political orientation better than california's!
I have lived here for quite some time. Here is some food for thought.
-Arizona is one of the fastest growing states.
-There are a number of military bases here.
-The gun laws are great! Very liberal.
-Counties to avoid due to high taxes: Pima, Maricopa Yavapai.
-S.E. AZ has good deals on land: 40 acre plots for $200-250/acre.
- S.E. AZ has a cooler desert climate, with occasional snow in the winter.
-There is currently a proposition going to the voters for folks who are not AZ residents to be able to sue AZ folks for using their own private property in a manner that does not suit the out of staters (setting your 40 acres up, dropping a well and doing small scale agriculture.
-There are also increasing regulations/ordinances on what you can do on your land. (Pima County for instance, you can not burn your trash in a burn barrel, even if you live out in the middle of nowhere, you cannot even burn yard waste. Only "tumbleweeds") as a firefighter, i've had to issue warnings on this matter and do not agree with it.
Arizona is indeed a beautiful state, but do your homework first before making any commitments.
Good Luck!
LDSParamedic
An acquaintance just sent me an email stating that Clinton created a wildlife refuge for the gray wolf which extends from central Mexico, up through the central part of Arizona to which NOBODY is to venture. The allegation stated that it is to be a hiding place for thousands of Chinese Troops.
I have heard and read speculation of the Chinese invading the US thru Mexico. I cannot bring myself to take it seriously, mostly because we live in Mesa, Arizona, and have seen or heard nothing about it. It is a possibility, I suppose, especially in view of Clinton's history of acts of treason. I will venture to say, however, that I believe this part of the country will come more and more under the control of foreign elements with foreign idealogies, and intend on extracting all they can from the wealth of the USA. I am becoming increasingly uncomfortable living here, even though there are lots of good, like-minded folks here as well. I would not recommend this area as a place to settle, as I once did.
You never know, Ralph, what might be in your state—or under it. Here’s a story I read about AZ on Sept. 14, 2003. Police in Mexico have uncovered another tunnel equipped to smuggle drugs under the border and into the US state of Arizona . . .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3106864.stm
I have lived here in AZ for 28 years and have seen many changes take place. It is a fast growing metropolitan area with a growing number of illegal aliens. For me, I believe the southwest is not the place to be in the coming future. One only needs to read MEChA's manifesto (Google search: MEChA's). They believe the southwest is the "mythical" homeland of Aztlan and they will take it back from the United States. They believe in Aztlan, where the repatriated states include: Colorado, California, Arizona, Texas, Utah, New Mexico, Oregon and parts of Washington. Latinos are now realizing the power to control Aztlan may once again be in their hands. My writing this is not of racist origins, but one of separatist beliefs. When one thinks of survival and finding a place to live that might be void of Nuclear or natural disasters, they should also think of ethnicity.
You might want to read Thomas W. Chittum's "Civil War Two The Coming Breakup Of America". The book is distributed by American Eagle Publications, Inc. Post Office Box 1507 Show Low, Arizona. For my wife, son and me, we're out of here!
ftnwo
Arizona apprehensions higher than other border states combined
According to the latest statistics released by the US Border Patrol, more illegal immigrants were apprehended in Arizona during the fiscal year than were caught in California, New Mexico and Texas combined. While that distinction is a first for the state, the Border Patrol's Tucson, Arizona, sector has led the nation in apprehensions for the past seven years. Since 1994, the share of apprehensions along the Mexican border reported in the Tucson sector grew from 14 percent to more than 43 percent. Along the entire Arizona border, the number of apprehensions grew from 16 percent to 52 percent.
http://www.team4news.com/Global/story.asp?S=2615761
We've been here 18 years now, and still feel reasonably comfortable amidst a lot of other like-minded people, many in various stages of "preparedness". As things seem to be shaping up, I think the USA, Canada and Mexico will be merged into a single political and economic unit long before the Atzlan sods get very far. They wouldn't know what to do with the place if they did take it over. They made a royal mess out of Mexico. All they could do here is try to steal and plunder. Or I should say increase those efforts. It's the preponderance of like-minded neighbors that makes us feel as safe here (Mesa, AZ) as we would anywhere.