Curious as to what people think concerning these two places and what they are like. I visited them both briefly a couple of weeks ago when I was down for an interview. Now I have a job offer and we are debating whether to relocate or not.

Schools, crime, family activities are a few things that we are curious about. It's obviously a hot desert area, which isn't really my type of terrain. I'm use to forested mountains and like to hunt, fish, camp, etc. If I took the job are we going to be lost as far as enjoying what we like to do or are these found within reasonable distances from the towns?

Any input would be much appreciated.

boating on the river, atv in the desert. winter great, summer less so. ice fishing is OUT!


Sycamore

my cousin lived in BHC, he said it was HOT

The heat is something that really turns me away, I would miss having grass.

Kingman is about 30 miles and 3000' higher than Bullhead City.

paint the sand in front of your house green

I believe BHC is one of the hottest places in the US on average. winters are nonexistent compared to UT, but unless it's a temporary point for you to jump up to a better job somewhere else, I wouldn't look to make it a long stay based on what I heard. that's just me though. hard to pass up opportunity in this day and age. have you looked at work in the dakotas?

Thanks for the input CO. I view it more as a jump coming out of school as my ideal desires are different. Could be a three year jump though if I were to take the sign on bonus.

No but I think I left my liver there.

I lived across the river in Laughlin for 8 years. Our standing joke was Bullhead City- the genetic tree never branched or the definition of foreplay in Bullhead was "Hey dad, get off me you're crushing my smokes" Never cared for the town. My ex still lives there. I'm a little biased. Rent, don't buy. John

But it's a Dry heat...



Went thru BHC/Laughlin once on the way to CA in Summer. Heat was downright miserable. Walking across the asphalt parking lot of the casino, shoes were sticky...

I'd suggest visiting during the Summer to see if you can put up with the heat,..not for me.

Any different opinions towards Lake Havasu? Or are you as familiar with it?

I think St. George, UT is too hot in the summer. I can only imagine how much worse it is down there.

I remember being amazed that there were new buildings going up in Bullhead City. I couldn't imagine that people actually moved there. It and Green River, Utah are on the top of my list of places to never live.

I grew up in az and thought i loved the dry heat. Worked on Piranaha the movie in Lake Havasu and when i left there about the 10th of June it was 101 at 5 am and when i saw Havasu in the rear view mirror at 3:30pm it was 121. Don't think it can't get cold along the river as well. You can get to mountain areas fairly quickly but be forwarned there are only two seasons. Summer and Christmas.

YMMV Fred

Where is your job located, GE?

LHC is much more modern, cleaner, and more shopping than BHC. Also has hotter women. Also is more expensive....in everything.

Both are equally HOT weather wise but with nice winters. BHC has some run down neighborhoods but the Ft. Mohave/Mohave Valley area south of town is nice with newer subdivisions amongst alfalfa fields along the river.

Laughlin.......right across the bridge from BHC.......has lots of good nookie in the casinos on weekends. Plenty of California honeys there. Lot's of action if you want it.

If your job is in BHC, you may want to consider living in Kingman and commuting. Kingman's highs are 105 in July as it is 3,300 ft elevation versus BHC at 500. Kingman has little shopping and a TON of meth and wackos. Henderson is only an hour away, tho, courtesy of the Hoover Dam bypass bridge.

Dunno what else your asking about.

Very little "community" in BHC and even less classy culture. A busy place with plenty of goods and services - somewhat of a tourist economy - not many folks seem to put down roots. Seems like plenty more bars and hangouts than churches.

LHC has a little bit more community of the aspects and, in my limited experience, nicer housing and schools overall.

It's the Colorado Lower Basin - hot and desolate low desert split by a river slowly being sucked dry - and the towns reflect that - maybe an OK place to be for a while if young and on the move.

It'd have to pay BIG money for me to even consider the heat. There's hot and then there's miserable. Those places are miserable.

I haven't been there in awhile, used to work there and Laughlin for the concrete company at different times in the 80s and 90s.

It's hot, the hottest I've experienced was 126, weather is the same for either location.

Water sports on the river and Mohave, Lake mead fishing. There's some good things. Kingman is cooler and 40 minutes away.

It is one of those places where the people of walmart come to life though... LOL

Kent

The pay and benefits are definitely good. Gonna try and take the family down soon to get a better perspective.

For me Havasu would be better for kids, Bullhead is more the Nevada gambling scene.

Decent fishing, waterfowl, Dunes not to far, Disneyland and beaches less than 4 hours, Phoenix less than 3.

Kent

I think Kent has pretty much covered it.

Sycamore

Havasu and bullhead are desert communities built alongside the colorado. The airport at havasu was a army air corp strip during WWII when one of Patton's desert training commands was at bouse, just to the south of parker.
Hotter then hades in the summer, but i have been told if you go up river in some of the canyons by boat, you can find cool air.
Winters are not winter per say, it is high desert. Having said that, there are pines to the south and big game, and certainly outside of kingman.
I think the current cities buildout was basically a result of people wanting to flee california, across the river. When the real estate market fell apart a few years ago, it just about killed those two cities. I was up there at the time to see a guy who was running a electricians business. At the heighth he had 30 people working for him, at the time i saw him there were two.
Kingman isn't much to draw to, when i was a kid the story was cold and windy in the winter, hot and windy in the summer, basically a old railroad down on old rte 66.
Having said that, there are worse places to live. One other small item is my understanding from friends in the area is that youth gangs are there, so is a lot of drug usage.

It's a ZOO on 3 day weekends with boater/skiers. Big party town during summer too. Lots of pretty wimmens though. If you have kids it might be kinda dead end for things for them to do year round. And it is HOT. Usually starts before memorial day to Thanksgiving.

Thanks for the input. I have three young kids. They wouldn't be in school but not being able to play outside much is certainly a downer. Sounds like the consensus from what I gathered is LHC wouldn't be too bad if it weren't so hot.

I thing I did come across was the large growth over the past little while. Guess I kind of know the reason behind it now.

And there is, of course..........Needles.........

don't let that heat thing throw you too much, i have been in 120plus temps on the desert and okay with it.
Much better than in florida in 90degree weather with 100%humidity.
You actually get use to the heat and adapt around it, early morning, evening activities. I grew up in north central arizona and still have a home there. Would I want to move back there full time, no.
I like the desert and its moods just fine.

This cannot be overemphasized. We have maybe a couple weeks at most in the summer over 110, that's really hot, but some years it's not even that bad. When it's only 105, that's not especially uncomfortable in the shade. At that temp, when you get out of the pool, you'll get a chill because it's so dry. Beat's the living crap out of 90+% humidity some places all summer, IMO.

Haven't been over that way often, but last time I was there visited a couple neat gun stores, to me that means lots of old used guns. But I can't remember if they were in LHC or somewhere else on the way.

Thanks for the perspective with the heat.

I worked in NV for about 30 years, 3 months out of every year. Never got use to the heat. You work outside during the day and you burn yourself picking up tools.

Go to water sports and that hot desert wind blows down on you and the water is pee warm.

You lean in side your car, start it up, turn the AC on and let it blow out before you drive away.

We would go to BHC and Laughlin every once in awhile ,and it was worse yet.

If you are not living right, you will get an idea what hell is like before you make it there.

Dittos. We moved from the midwest to the desert of SW Utah in the middle of last summer. Love the climate here, and don't miss the extremes of heat and cold combined with humidity in the least. Even the summer heat is bearable, and it helps that I'm an early morning person.

With regard to saddlesore's post, if you work outdoors, it is a completely different story.

Paul

a long time ago in another life, i worked heavy construction in the phx area. That came to mind a crew working on my house recently with some heavy concrete work. Nothing has changed, like me a long time ago, they often started at 4am in the hot months, done by noon. You adapt.
I guess there is a reason why they call people desert rats.
But i would much rather deal with a couple months of high heat with a/c etc that the long hard winters i hear described on these forums. Humidity is the one thing i can't stand.

Preach it, brother!

Paul

Green River at least has Rays Tavern, their steaks are great....

I think any place in UT is on my list of places to never live.

Why?

I'm not challenging you, just curious.

I lived in Colorado for about 25 years. Clearly, it's no longer the place I loved and called home. Utah is still new to me, so time will tell. As already noted, I love the desert climate in the SW.

Paul

Yep, a couple really hot months, a couple hot months and 7 great months. I've worked concrete here for 37 years, besides just being raised in it.

Funny that the 122 deg record day in Phx I had to work till 3:00 pm on a school job and the 126 day in Bullhead we had to work till about the same. Most summer days we are done by noon but concrete controls you, not you it, you're not done till it is.

Folks who come out from cooler states during the heat feel it much worse. It takes awhile for the body to acclimate, in heat the body produces more blood vessels and another pint to dissipate internal heat better. That also makes me colder when I go to cold country.

It's best to start here in the cooler months and as it heats up your body adapts. Few can come here in the summer and just start working outdoors.

There's a culture on the river that many like, mostly outdoor activities. The caravans of Californians and Arizonians heading to the river and dunes with toy haulers, quads, buggies, jetskis and speed boats is amazing most weekends.

The desert is a great place... but reminds me of the song...

some girls don't like guys like me... but some girls do...

Kent

Just about an hour ago I spoke with a neighbor who has his house up for sale, moving back to Washington state. Can't stand the heat here, and apparently is OK with humidity.

Go figure. Different strokes and all that.

Paul

Luckily, in the case of heat, my job will be indoors. I really appreciate everyone's correspondence. My wife and I have made plans to go visit Lake Havasu towards the end of the week.

Geeeeezzzz, you Arizona desert dudes are on here talking about 126 degree summer temps and quitting outdoor work by noon and hating the northern-type winters. I'm struggling a bit to process all of this.

Here's my place 2 hours drive east of BHC/LHC/Kingman in January 2010. 54" in 5 days.........no kidding. I've had enough.......I'm moving to Fargo......

Burger and cold beer, after a river trip (Deso-Gray) hard to beat Rays Tavern!

Sycamore

those pictures of flag bring back memories, my family moved there in the 1890's and i graduated from nau. I remember putting a case of beer on the porch one night, it was frozen about 30 minutes later. BUT, i can drive up there when i want to freeze my azz off, but then come back to the desert. People don't see that in arizona, that you can be in a blizzard in the morning, and turning on the a/c in the car in the afternoon.

I remember that storm! That was the week decided my snowblower didn't make me a sissy, it was worth its weight in Ibuprofen!

I had to hit the driveway about every 6 hours. By the end of it, the damn thing would barely clear the berm it had built!

Sycamore

Back in the day we used to drive up 3 hours to snow skiing one day, then water ski the next... just cause we could.

Kent

www.girlsofhavasu.com