If you are reading this first, you’re doing it backwards. Start with the introduction over in the sidebar or, if you’re on mobile, the top menu. I. Economy, Employment, and Cost of Living This section addresses the claims made in “Chapter 1: The Job Market Mirage” regarding the local economy,…
We have taken you on a tour of the real Bisbee, the one that lies beneath the clever slogans and the colorful paint. It is a town of profound contradictions: a place that sells history but has no future, a community that markets weirdness but demands conformity, and a landscape…
If you have read this far and are still entertaining the notion of moving to Bisbee, then this final chapter is not about the town; it’s about you. The problems with Bisbee are objective and quantifiable—failing infrastructure, a dead economy, environmental toxins. But your desire to overlook these red flags…
There will come a day, perhaps a few months or a few years after you’ve moved to Bisbee, when the spell breaks. It might happen when you’re dealing with another water main break, or when a tourist walks into your living room “by accident,” or when you realize you haven’t…
Perhaps after reading all this, you’ve wisely decided not to move here, but you’re still tempted by the idea of a quirky weekend getaway. This chapter is for you. It’s a public service announcement to save you your time, your money, and your romantic notions. Your weekend in Bisbee will…
The allure of a remote, peaceful life is a powerful one. You imagine quiet mornings, starry nights, and a blissful disconnect from the noise of the modern world. In Bisbee, you will get the disconnect, but it is far from blissful. It is a state of profound, inconvenient, and expensive…
If you are a young person, or if you have children, or if you are even considering starting a family, your research into Bisbee should stop right here. Cross it off the list. Put a giant red “X” through it. Because for all its marketing as a haven for free…
If you believe that the quirky, artistic nature of Bisbee translates into an enlightened and functional local government, you are in for a brutal awakening. Small-town politics is a notoriously vicious blood sport, and in the isolated, claustrophobic confines of Bisbee, it reaches a level of dysfunction that would be…
Life in Bisbee operates on a starkly divided schedule. From Monday morning until about noon on Friday, the town is deceptively peaceful. There is a quiet hum of residents going about their business, a slow-paced existence that feels like the very thing you came here to find. You can find…
The fantasy of moving to a small, quirky town often includes visions of an instant, welcoming community—a place where you’ll find your tribe among fellow artists, free-thinkers, and eccentrics. In Bisbee, this utopian vision shatters quickly against the hard reality of a deeply fractured and insular social landscape. This isn’t…
