Monday, March 1, 2010

Canadians Love Phoenix

Over 7000 residential properties in Maricopa County have Canadian addresses listed as their primary residence. The five primary reasons for this are:
1. Timing: the Canadian dollar is high, bargains abound in the valley, boomers have retirement money and oil bonuses in Canada.
2. Similar architecture to what the Canadians are used to, as well as similar amenities
3. Arizona weather: winter seems to last from September to June in Canada. It's not just the snow and cold, but the lack of greenery for 8-10 months a year in many areas.
4. Outdoor lifestyle: Canadians are used to an outdoor lifestyle, and they love to bike, hike, golf, shop, attend sporting events and spend days by the pool, not to mention just dining al fresco.
5. Easy travel: most Canadians only have to change one or at most two time zones to get here, and it's an easy non-stop three hour flight from western Canada. It's only a 24-28 hour driving time from most points in western Canada, a bit more hauling a trailer.
The winter visitors' bureau estimates 90,000 Canadians live in the valley permanently (that's the ones who don't take out US citizenship-- likley twice as many who are now American citizens) Another estimate is 600,000 Canadians who visit the valley for at least part of every year, coming in by plane. The don't keep track of those coming by car, so double that number and you'll see why there seem to be a lot of Canadians around here.

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