(Newser) – Sarah Palin will like life in Scottsdale, Arizona, just fine ... so long as she can cope with the sun and steer clear of snakes and scorpions, say the Alaskan's new neighbors. Palin—whose purchase of a house in the desert community is being taken as a sign that she plans a 2012 run—"can come on over for a horseback ride anytime," and her politics won't be an issue, the manager of a ranch down the road from her new $1.7 million home tells the New York Times. As for what she's getting herself into, one PR exec describes Scottsdale as "a unique combination of cowboy country, open spaces, sophistication, snobbery, resorts, arts, golf, spring training, and plastic surgery."
There are plenty of celebrities in Scottsdale and Palin will probably be left alone, residents say. A woman who raises horses across the road from the Palin home is glad to have a new neighbor and plans to bring her cookies, although she worries that the news helicopters are spooking her horses. The Arizona Democratic Party’s spokeswoman offered a welcome message of her own. In Arizona, "you’ll find good neighbors, great locally owned businesses and stunning natural wonders,” she says. "You won’t, however, find any successful presidential candidates."
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