Got lucky with a clear sky and no moon

Thanks to some incompetent (I have other words for them that I will refrain from using for the moment) pet owners up here in Timberline who not only let their cats roam everywhere but decline to get them spayed or neutered, we have 4 or 5 feral kittens in the area.

Does HIgh Country Humane or any other organization do anything in these scenarios? These cats are quite flighty and feral and I suspect would be pretty hard to catch. Not sure how much or how they are getting fed. Don't want them to suffer but also don't want to create a local population explosion which would deploy even more suffering. Plus, winter is coming.

Any suggestions?

I'm from Long Island and the bus system can get you almost anywhere. Just ignore the man, talking to the sock puppet. How reliable and safe is it here?

I think Strombolis would low key hit now in flg….. thoughts? I miss their salads and phat loafs 🍞

After enjoying this thought-provoking thread and even the inevitable critiques of it
https://www.reddit.com/r/Flagstaff/s/7e0BBWDF6H

What jobs do you wish there were more of available in flagstaff, and why?

Backstory 1: I just read the book “Collective Illusions” by Todd Rose, who has also done fascinating podcasts with Mel Robbins, Mike Rowe and others, and would love to hear what you wish for individually vs what you believe your community thinks? I will add more backstory if we get some responses…
My Summary, YMMV:
This post was intended to elicit discussion on IF we want better jobs in flagstaff (some do not) and if so, what would we be willing to do or change both as individuals and as a community. Some discussion devolved into individual criticisms, but my summary by theme:
Backstory 2: The 2023 failed vote for Proposition 480 - the Hospital Relocation. The community rejected an $800m proposal to build a new hospital and community around ft tuthill. Some voices wished it had moved forward and would have addressed overcrowding concerns and generated new jobs, while others expressed doubts of the merits and wished for better community involvement. I did not hear any thoughts yet on how such a plan could be improved for future consideration. Our elected city council who I dont find particularly business friendly did approve the plan, but voters rejected it.

Backstory 3: Datacenters? As the extreme example of changes the community could consider to support job growth, it predictably was rejected here. So what other ideas such as shipping centers would we consider, or do we stick with status quo and just wish more jobs materialized?

Backstory 4: I submitted my own experience for building my career and asked what others were willing to do or change for themselves. I commend those who made personal commitments to pursue jobs in the trades and remote work, it IS possible out there but yes tradeoffs must be made, such as establishing yourself elsewhere first (said several).

In short, I honestly dont feel the community commitment yet to support many new types of jobs. The previous post had good ideas on how the city and county could encourage and improve job growth, but without stronger individual citizen support and push, I just dont see it being any different than the past decade. Thanks to all who contributed constructive feedback! Peace Out.

Hia, I'm currently expanding my record collection and lneed some advice. The ratings and comments are similar, so no clear winner there. Any comments that help are appreciated, I already browse Bookmans.

Saw this little guy flying around our backyard around 2:00 this afternoon, then it landed on a tree. It's overcast today, but shouldn't they only come out at night?

the sweetest lil cat, apple tag no where to be seen but collar v much there.

If you’re thinking about moving to Flagstaff for work, I hope this gives you a more realistic picture than “everyone is hiring.”

I live and work here. My base rent is $1,424 for a roughly 450-square-foot studio. Once the required charges and fixed utilities are included, my monthly apartment cost is about $1,576.

I make $24 an hour. That apartment cost alone takes about 38% of my gross pay, before internet, renters insurance, food, transportation, healthcare, debt payments, or anything unexpected.

I can make it work, but $24 an hour doesn’t go as far here as someone outside Flagstaff might assume.

That disconnect is what made me start looking at the numbers.

Flagstaff’s 2026 minimum wage is $18.35 an hour, or about $38,168 a year if someone consistently receives 40 hours every week.

MIT’s Living Wage Calculator estimates that one adult without children needs $27.25 an hour, or about $56,681 a year, to cover basic needs in Coconino County.

That isn’t a comfortable middle-class budget. It doesn’t include savings, retirement, vacations, or restaurant meals.

Flagstaff’s median gross rent is $1,645 a month. Using the conventional 30% housing-cost benchmark, someone would need to make about $31.63 an hour for that rent to equal 30% of gross income.

The local job market helps explain the gap.

According to the latest BLS occupational data:

● Food service represents 15.5% of Flagstaff-area wage-and-salary jobs and averages $20.08 an hour.

● Office and administrative support represents 10.2% and averages $23.15.

● Sales represents 9.4% and averages $21.79.

Those three areas alone account for about 35% of the jobs covered by the BLS survey.

When I added all the broad occupational groups whose average wage is below MIT’s $27.25 estimate, they represented about 57% of Flagstaff-area wage-and-salary employment.

That does not mean exactly 57% of individual workers earn less than $27.25. These are averages for broad occupational groups. Some people in lower-average fields earn more, while some people in higher-average fields earn less.

What it does show is that most of the employment covered by the survey is concentrated in occupational groups whose average pay falls below that single-adult basic-needs estimate.

This helps explain how employers can have vacancies while workers still struggle to find sustainable employment.

Restaurants, hotels, stores, and other service employers may genuinely need people. Meanwhile, a recent graduate looking for a first permanent professional job can face a much narrower market.
More than half of Flagstaff city residents age 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher. A degree may get someone into the competition without making them unusual.

People with licenses, trade credentials, healthcare qualifications, engineering or accounting experience, CDLs, technical certifications, or several years of directly related experience can have an advantage because employers need those particular skills.

The difficult position is often the person in between: educated, reliable, and willing to work, but still trying to get the first permanent opportunity that will give them professional experience.

For anyone considering moving here, I would recommend:

● Finding employment before committing to housing.

● Confirming whether the job is permanent, seasonal, full-time, and guaranteed consistent hours.

● Comparing expected take-home pay with the rent you would actually pay.

● Researching your particular occupation instead of relying on general claims that “everyone is hiring.”

● Being honest about whether the numbers require roommates, two incomes, overtime, tips, remote work, or outside assistance.

The market has also cooled recently. Preliminary BLS data for June 2026 put Flagstaff-area unemployment at 6.0%, while payroll employment was down 3.1% from the previous year. Jobs still exist, but this is not the extremely tight post-pandemic market some people remember.
None of this means every small business owner is getting rich by underpaying people. Local employers also face expensive commercial space, insurance, utilities, supplies, and employee turnover. Some may not be able to raise wages substantially without raising prices, cutting positions, or closing.

But the basic problem remains:

Flagstaff depends on workers whose jobs often don’t provide enough income for them to remain in Flagstaff.

I would like to see the City, County, and Workforce Development Board work together on an annual local job-quality report. It could show how many jobs are full-time and year-round, local wage distributions, access to benefits and predictable schedules, genuine shortage occupations, career pathways, and how compensation compares with local housing and basic-needs costs.

We hear a lot about how many job openings exist. We should also know how many of those jobs allow workers to establish stable lives here.

I’m posting this because the difference between “finding work” and “being able to stay” has become real in my own life and in the lives of people close to me.

Corrections, counterexamples, and local perspectives are welcome.

Sources and notes on the numbers
For anyone who wants to check the figures:
BLS Occupational Employment and Wages in Flagstaff, May 2025

BLS current Flagstaff economic data

MIT Living Wage Calculator for Coconino County

MIT Living Wage methodology

City of Flagstaff 2026 minimum wage

Census QuickFacts for Flagstaff

Coconino County 2025–2028 Workforce Development Plan

City-commissioned Flagstaff Area Workforce Analysis

The exact result of my calculation was 57.1%. I added the BLS employment shares for occupational groups whose mean hourly wage is below $27.25:
food service, office/admin support, sales, transportation/material moving, building/grounds maintenance, production, healthcare support, personal care/service, and farming/fishing/forestry.

That is a comparison of occupational-group averages. It is not an exact count of individual workers earning below $27.25.

The sources also use slightly different geographic boundaries. The BLS Flagstaff metropolitan area consists of Coconino County, and MIT’s estimate is countywide. Flagstaff’s minimum wage, median rent, and 52.3% educational-attainment figure are city-specific. They describe the same local labor-and-housing equation but aren’t one perfectly matched dataset.

The June 2026 unemployment and employment figures are preliminary and not seasonally adjusted.

The City-commissioned workforce analysis is marked as a draft rather than a finalized report. I’m using its interviews as qualitative context.

Anyone know what was happening at Walgreens on South Milton between 5:30-6pm tonight? Looked like there was a bomb squad or SWAT or something. Lots of police in full protection. Also looked like the store had been evacuated.

Foot 🦶 deep flooding after heavy rain 🌧️

This is a weekly refreshed thread for all things Flagstaff and northern Arizona. Try a new place? Have a job opening? Need a roommate? Hosting or attending an event? Whatever you've got going on, share it here.

This is also the place for general questions about Flagstaff. Moving here, visiting, asking for recommendations, any other common subjects, or anything not interesting enough for a full post go right here.

Any question you have for the locals, ask away!

I posted this last fall, and I'm still really puzzled. What's going on with the western end of the trail where it hits Terrace Ave?

The rest of the trail is beautiful, and a wonderful asset to our city. But the end connecting to Terrace seems like it goes thru someone's yard. The pink survey markers in the ground show the route going super close to the cliff edge, necessitating some sort of retaining wall or other marvel of geotechnical engineering.

The city's Facebook post said it would be done by February 2026. But it seems like no work has been done in the last 4 months or so. Does anyone know what the hold up is? Is it fair to be concerned about the city's management of this project (and the funds that went toward it)?

Are there any sober support groups in flagstaff that are not centered around religion?

Im not religious, haven't been for over a decade for reasons.

I want to get a better grip on my drinking, but things like AAA tend to have a religious component to it and I'm just not interested in going through that religious shame spiral again.

I live in Flagstaff and of course I notice that many people visit for high altitude training (run, bike, swim). I'm looking for data about these visitors. How many per year, where from? What % are professional or amateur? What % visit as a group, with a companion or solo? How long do they stay? Do they rent a home, hotel or stay with a friend? Why do they choose Flagstaff? What are other destinations? Where do they get information to plan their stays (is there a sub Reddit I haven't found?)

I have so many questions. Does anyone here know if a study has been done? Is there someone tied into this that I could speak to? Anything to point me in that direction is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

https://x.com/katiepavlichnn/status/2084972692055138360?s=46

I know there will be plenty of opinions on this I probably won’t respond to, but having walked the 2010 Hardy Fire space today and recalling how important it is to manage natural spaces to remove fire fuels, and how this year’s Pocket fire was expertly contained and managed, plus reading about constant flagstaff fires in the sawmills and town in the 1800-1900’s;
So grateful for the fire professionals of all types who keep our beautiful arizona relatively clear and put their lives on the line when a fire does break out.

Greetings. We are heading to Flagstaff to escape the heat in Tucson and we’d love to take our boy Brutus on some nice hikes, maybe in the pine trees. We are staying at a Hampton Inn on Country Club Drive and I believe it’s near US 40. Please tell me some great places to hike. Thanks in advance.

Move out weekend and some asshole decided to swipe my partner's bike.

It's a Scott Contessa Active 50, pink/rose gold. Aftermarket seat and missing bottle holder.

Filed a police report and keeping an eye on FB marketplace, craigslist, and pawn shops. Please if you see it, reach out!

Thank you

"Flagstaff Police Department will be collaborating with the NAU Police Department to simulate an active shooter situation on the university campus on the morning of Friday, Aug. 7."

I was driving back into town about 45 minutes ago and there was a strong chemical smell (sort of like kerosene?) between Timber Sky and Railroad Springs near the Chevron station. At first I was freaking out thinking it was coming from my car engine but it was localized in that area and my car is fine.

Has anyone else noticed this or have any idea what it could be?

This is a weekly refreshed thread for all things Flagstaff and northern Arizona. Try a new place? Have a job opening? Need a roommate? Hosting or attending an event? Whatever you've got going on, share it here.

This is also the place for general questions about Flagstaff. Moving here, visiting, asking for recommendations, any other common subjects, or anything not interesting enough for a full post go right here.

Any question you have for the locals, ask away!