I would say stay away from the greater Phoenix are unless you are into extreme heat (Tucson is usually 10 degrees cooler) and near L.A. type traffic and crowds. There are some nice places fairly close to Phoenix though. I would look north...Payson, Prescott, and Wickenburg are nice small towns within 1.5 hours of Phoenix. Also Sierra Vista is a nice small town east of Tucson. Tucson is nice and Larger than the other places I mentioned but much smaller than Phoenix. Of course it all depends on what you plan on doing for work also. If you come down to check things out let us know...maybe we can get together.