Why are SO many Illinois folk attracted to Arizona? (Chicago: living, shop)

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by BUalumni

I may not be a geologist, but sand is sand in my book.

I think you're vastly understating the ecosystem a desert maintains. And regardless of the sprawl in Chicago (no i do not like it), why do you feel its a good idea to have millions of people living in a desert with next to no available long term water source?

[desert student]

Originally Posted by via chicago

I think you're vastly understating the ecosystem a desert maintains. And regardless of the sprawl in Chicago (no i do not like it), why do you feel its a good idea to have millions of people living in a desert with next to no available long term water source?

Why do people invest in any large metro area? Seattle, Portland, every major city in California, Houston, Miami, Chicago, New York, Philidelphia, Washington D.C., and Boston, all have factors associated with mother nature that could destroy them. Even though Phoenix has a water problem, I would rather have the possibilty of a drought, rather than an earthquake, hurricane, tornade, flood, etc. At least you can plan for a drought decades before it happens, just like Phoenix is doing. It isn't like people are going without at this point in time. Virtually every big city in the world has at least a good chance of having massive devastation due to weather, since many cities are close to water. Not to mention the fact that we live in the 21st century, and like it or not, the threat of an attack is a very real issue. People are no more "vastly understating" issues of desert life, than others that don't see eating up farmland that cannot be replaced as a pressing concern. I think more people in the world care about eating rather than making sure the people in Phoenix have water. It will be the ignorance of places like metro Chicago that will cause far more problems, then the growth associated with Phoenix.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by BUalumni

Well if it came down to sand or world class soil, which one would you feel less guilty puting your house on?

Believe it or not, sand is hard to come by in AZ.

[desert student]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Believe it or not, sand is hard to come by in AZ.

But you can't eat sand.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by desert student

But you can't eat sand.

My brother did. We were at the Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan and my bro was running full force down the dune and face planted. LOL What made it worse was that he had braces at the time. A month later back in IL we were eating dinner and he was still crunchin on sand from time to time. LOLOL Ill never forget that. LOL

[desert student]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

My brother did. We were at the Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan and my bro was running full force down the dune and face planted. LOL What made it worse was that he had braces at the time. A month later back in IL we were eating dinner and he was still crunchin on sand from time to time. LOLOL Ill never forget that. LOL

OK, well you shouldn't eat sand.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by desert student

OK, well you shouldn't eat sand.

Sooner or later in Phoenix, you WILL eat sand.

http://www.wunderground.com/wximage/...y=#slideanchor

[BUalumni]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Sooner or later in Phoenix, you WILL eat sand.

http://www.wunderground.com/wximage/...y=#slideanchor

Well as bad as a dust storm may be, I don't think it quite compares to the collective powers of the weather in Illinois. Tornados, blizzards, ice storms, hail, and flooding just seem to be much worse than a cloud of dust. You can clean up after that in a few days. When a tornado or comes along a takes out a whole town, that is a little bit harder to deal with. Say nothing of the weather that all of the state is going through right now!

[Havasu]

Compare Arizona to Illinois
Arizona--- http://www.alec.org/fileadmin/newPDF/Arizona.pdf (broken link)
Illinois---- http://www.alec.org/fileadmin/newPDF/Illinois.pdf (broken link)

[Chicago60614]

But in the end, the chances of a tornado ACTUALLY tearing down your house or community is SOOOOOOOOOOOO small. I mean they happen ever year, but we're talking about hundreds of thousands of square mile in the midwest where they take place. I grew up in Iowa and we had a few dozen tornadoes every year, but no one ACTUALLY thought one would hit my community (it never has). You just go downstairs and then an hour later you come back up.

I know for Illinois, on average .00003% of people in the state are killed by tornadoes each year. That's a 1 in 3,250,000 chance.