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Old 11-13-2014, 04:31 PM
 
Location: Chicago, Illinois
3,047 posts, read 9,003,939 times
Reputation: 1385

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Take it from me, I'm moving from Crook County to Gilbert in 9 months.

One of the worst thing about Chicago is the people! They're mean, closed minded, jaded, always have their guard up, etc. examine the demographics between the 2 areas. Then all the taxes and corruption, forget about it!! The scenery is amazing. Instead of driving several hours to get to the middle of Iowa or Green Bay, maybe boring Southern Illinois, you can go to Las Vegas or LA. Instead of Lake Michigan, how about the Pacific Ocean!

I'm so done with Chicago, I'll miss my family and maybe the woods but if I want to see some trees I'll drive up to Sedona.
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Old 11-14-2014, 10:03 AM
 
Location: Lake Arlington Heights, IL
5,479 posts, read 12,200,734 times
Reputation: 2847
Southern Il is boring?!?! Our definitions of boring must be different. And the Pacific Ocean is at least a 4 hour drive while Lake Michigan is 45 minutes or less. I get that the desert mountain landscape has beauty and is different. But trees do it for me more than open vistas and this area has far more wooded areas. And weather is a trade off; do you want a crappy winter and pleasant summer or a pleasant winter and crappy summer?! Trade offs, life is full of them and the AZ or Chicago question is no different; trade-offs- not a clear slam dunk. Your mileage may vary, we are all differnt and our desires and priorities reflect that.
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Old 11-14-2014, 10:23 AM
 
1,774 posts, read 2,298,643 times
Reputation: 2710
I have a house in Tucson.
I don't think there is that much too it. Midwesterners like AZ because it is sunny, dry, warm and cheap. The poster above needs a geography lesson, it's 5.5 hours to the Pacific Ocean and nobody in AZ does that on a regular basis.
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Old 11-14-2014, 11:03 AM
 
Location: Chicago, Illinois
3,047 posts, read 9,003,939 times
Reputation: 1385
Quote:
Originally Posted by cubssoxfan View Post
Southern Il is boring?!?! Our definitions of boring must be different. And the Pacific Ocean is at least a 4 hour drive while Lake Michigan is 45 minutes or less. I get that the desert mountain landscape has beauty and is different. But trees do it for me more than open vistas and this area has far more wooded areas. And weather is a trade off; do you want a crappy winter and pleasant summer or a pleasant winter and crappy summer?! Trade offs, life is full of them and the AZ or Chicago question is no different; trade-offs- not a clear slam dunk. Your mileage may vary, we are all differnt and our desires and priorities reflect that.

Chicago doesn't have much of a fall either, it's like 2 weeks of fall and then snow and cold like it is right now outside even though winter doesn't officially start until the winter equinox on December 21st.

And yes, the 6 hour drive from chicago to southern illinois is a snooze fest!
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Old 11-14-2014, 11:10 AM
 
Location: Chicago, Illinois
3,047 posts, read 9,003,939 times
Reputation: 1385
Quote:
Originally Posted by rzzzz View Post
I have a house in Tucson.
I don't think there is that much too it. Midwesterners like AZ because it is sunny, dry, warm and cheap. The poster above needs a geography lesson, it's 5.5 hours to the Pacific Ocean and nobody in AZ does that on a regular basis.
First off, you don't know everybody in Arizona to be able to surmise that "nobody drives to the Pacific Ocean." It was in the context of equating a drive to Green Bay, the middle of Iowa, or Southern Illinois which have similar time frames. Bottom line, that's the point since you lack basic comprehension ability and severely missed the point, the Chicagoland area and the Midwest is boring. Why do you think everyone calls it flyover country?

These are opinions and everyone has one but he's a fact for you:

Illinois is the 2nd flattest state in the USA behind Florida which is surrounded by ocean water on 3 sides.

The weather, cost of living, the Illinois residents' attitudes (as evidenced by this thread), taxes, corruption, population density, landscape, and healthier citizens are all reasons why chicago area residents move to AZ. That answers the OP question and if anyone is offended by the accurate answers given to question as to why people flee this area for AZ, it kind of proves that they have doubts about this area too.

Lastly, Chicago summers are NOT pleasant. The humidity is horrid. I'd rather have 110 degrees in dry heat, jump in the pool and be dry in 5 minutes while getting a tan, over 90 degrees and Horrible humidity.

Chicago Summers are all over the map with dramatic 30 degrees temperature swings during the same day. It's rare to have calm, non-windy, sunny, clear, hot, days during Chicago summers. Often it is rainy with large amounts of mosquitos, tornado warnings, and wide temperature swings that makes it nearly impossible to have 1 week straight of beautiful sunny, calm, clear weather.

Last edited by At1WithNature; 11-14-2014 at 11:29 AM..
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Old 11-14-2014, 11:32 AM
 
Location: Phoenix metro
20,004 posts, read 77,147,451 times
Reputation: 10370
This thread makes me laugh to myself. I now reside in AZ (moved for the wife's health), and looking back at my posts, I think I exaggerated things about Phoenix, but was also dead accurate on others. Ill still stand by the fact that Chicago is eons above Phoenix in most aspects besides taxes and COL. Its just a superior city, simple as that.

Now, about Phoenix and the burbs... Here are my observations since Ive relocated here.

- The suburbs (spare a few like Fountain Hills and Carefree) all look virtually identical.
- Downtown Phoenix has come a long way, but its still basically a dud. There are decent restaurants, but... its not Chicago.
- Crime here in the burbs seems to be worse than Chicago's burbs, but then again I was in the far western burbs.
- The streets and cities seem to be cleaner overall, but with more grafitti.
- It gets cold here. Not Chicago cold, but Ive needed ice scrapers some mornings after a frost.
- Monsoon season is awful. Heat mixed with humidity and bugs. Even tons of mosquitos, which theyll say dont exist here.
- Flooding. I never had flood damage in IL in 36+ years of living there. Ive been flooded twice in AZ. Lovely.
- Drugs are a major problem here. Ive never seen such a problem before. Ive found needles on the sidewalks. Scary.
- Dust storms arent super bad. Theyre gross, but generally blow over pretty quick.
- I wash my car here more than IL. Why? Dust. I hate dust. 3-5 days after a wash, theres a brown layer over your car.
- Schools? Horrible. Just as bad as the news reports say. They were ranked worst in the nation not long ago. I see why.
- Tempe is on the upswing, downtown is clean and lively.
- The West Valley is the definition of cookie-cutter tract homes.
- Palo Verde beetles are the stuff of nightmares. Big, spiky beetles that are palm-sized that fly in the night.
- The nature park/preserve systems here are top notch.
- Most out-of-state plates come from CO, IL, TX, MI, PA, IN, OH, UT, NM, and the VAST majority are from CA.
- The "dry heat" is really only dry in June, when its blazing out. July, August, and half September is quite humid.
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Old 11-14-2014, 11:33 AM
 
1,774 posts, read 2,298,643 times
Reputation: 2710
Quote:
Originally Posted by At1WithNature View Post
First off, you don't know everybody in Arizona to be able to surmise that "nobody drives to the Pacific Ocean." It was in the context of equating a drive to Green Bay, the middle of Iowa, or Southern Illinois which have similar time frames. Bottom line, that's the point since you lack basic comprehension ability and severely missed the point, the Chicagoland area and the Midwest is boring. Why do you think everyone calls it flyover country?

These are opinions and everyone has one but he's a fact for you:

Illinois is the 2nd flattest state in the USA behind Florida which is surrounded by ocean water on 3 sides.

The weather, cost of living, the Illinois residents' attitudes (as evidenced by this thread), taxes, corruption, population density, landscape, and healthier citizens are all reasons why chicago area residents move to AZ. That answers the OP question and if anyone is offended by the accurate answers given to question as to why people flee this area for AZ, it kind of proves that they have doubts about this area too.

Lastly, Chicago summers are NOT pleasant. The humidity is horrid. I'd rather have 110 degrees in dry heat, jump in the pool and be dry in 5 minutes while getting a tan, over 90 degrees and Horrible humidity.

Chicago Summers are all over the map with dramatic 30 degrees temperature swings during the same day. It's rare to have calm, non-windy, sunny, clear, hot, days during Chicago summers. Often it is rainy with large amounts of mosquitos, tornado warnings, and wide temperature swings that makes it nearly impossible to have 1 week straight of beautiful sunny, calm, clear weather.
Thanks for the recap, wikipedia brown.
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Old 11-14-2014, 11:41 AM
 
Location: Chicago, Illinois
3,047 posts, read 9,003,939 times
Reputation: 1385
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago60614 View Post
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.

Yes but everybody is affected when trees are uprooted, power lines blown down, etc. Tornados are accompanied by vast, powerful storms that make the radar look like a red marker exploded all over it! Those powerful storms effect everyone, just some to greater degrees than others.
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Old 11-14-2014, 11:44 AM
 
Location: Chicago, Illinois
3,047 posts, read 9,003,939 times
Reputation: 1385
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve-o View Post
This thread makes me laugh to myself. I now reside in AZ (moved for the wife's health), and looking back at my posts, I think I exaggerated things about Phoenix, but was also dead accurate on others. Ill still stand by the fact that Chicago is eons above Phoenix in most aspects besides taxes and COL. Its just a superior city, simple as that.

Now, about Phoenix and the burbs... Here are my observations since Ive relocated here.

- The suburbs (spare a few like Fountain Hills and Carefree) all look virtually identical.
- Downtown Phoenix has come a long way, but its still basically a dud. There are decent restaurants, but... its not Chicago.
- Crime here in the burbs seems to be worse than Chicago's burbs, but then again I was in the far western burbs.
- The streets and cities seem to be cleaner overall, but with more grafitti.
- It gets cold here. Not Chicago cold, but Ive needed ice scrapers some mornings after a frost.
- Monsoon season is awful. Heat mixed with humidity and bugs. Even tons of mosquitos, which theyll say dont exist here.
- Flooding. I never had flood damage in IL in 36+ years of living there. Ive been flooded twice in AZ. Lovely.
- Drugs are a major problem here. Ive never seen such a problem before. Ive found needles on the sidewalks. Scary.
- Dust storms arent super bad. Theyre gross, but generally blow over pretty quick.
- I wash my car here more than IL. Why? Dust. I hate dust. 3-5 days after a wash, theres a brown layer over your car.
- Schools? Horrible. Just as bad as the news reports say. They were ranked worst in the nation not long ago. I see why.
- Tempe is on the upswing, downtown is clean and lively.
- The West Valley is the definition of cookie-cutter tract homes.
- Palo Verde beetles are the stuff of nightmares. Big, spiky beetles that are palm-sized that fly in the night.
- The nature park/preserve systems here are top notch.
- Most out-of-state plates come from CO, IL, TX, MI, PA, IN, OH, UT, NM, and the VAST majority are from CA.
- The "dry heat" is really only dry in June, when its blazing out. July, August, and half September is quite humid.

Excellent points, thanks for your input!

The difference for me is that I'm by Harvey, Chicago Heights, Ford Heights, etc. so I guarantee any suburbs will be better than those towns.

Can you elaborate on the schools? As a former teacher who left for monetary gain in another field, I have a lot of contacts from CPS to Kankakee who have shared their combat pay stories...
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Old 11-14-2014, 12:10 PM
 
Location: Phoenix metro
20,004 posts, read 77,147,451 times
Reputation: 10370
Quote:
Originally Posted by At1WithNature View Post
Excellent points, thanks for your input!

The difference for me is that I'm by Harvey, Chicago Heights, Ford Heights, etc. so I guarantee any suburbs will be better than those towns.

Can you elaborate on the schools? As a former teacher who left for monetary gain in another field, I have a lot of contacts from CPS to Kankakee who have shared their combat pay stories...
Depends on where you end up. Gilbert is pretty nice! Mesa, however, steer clear of many areas of town. Just like IL, every city around here (spare a select few) has good and bad areas. The bad areas of towns around here are newer than older, established Chicago burbs, so they dont look quite as run down for the most part, but theyre still dangerous. Phoenix in general I would avoid. There are nice areas in pockets up north, but theyre small. Most of PHoenix's housing stock is not desireable at all, IMO. Lots of boarded up homes, grafitti, and the most homeless people youll ever see. Theyre absolutely everywhere.

Im not very familiar with the south suburbs that youre coming from, but I have a feeling Gilbert will be a big step up for you. But for people like me who lived in the Wheaton, St. Charles, Geneva, Naperville area, the suburbs here are actually a step down. Scottsdale is nice, but expensive, and I love it, but towns out here dont have much character at all, they all look extremely similar.

AZ public schools have been the subject of much debate. A few years back they ranked dead last amongst the states, even beating out Mississippi for the title. There are a few decent schools. One of the reasons we chose Scottsdale was for the public school system, but we werent impressed at all. Our son is now homeschooled because of it. Lots of drugs, bullying, and teachers that just didnt seem to care. We planned on sending our son to Chapparral HS, but thats a no-go, too, as the stories we've heard from parents just affirm what we've feared: even AZ's better schools are too plagued with issues that we will not put our son in the system. Sad. Illinois' schools are vastly better. Our son only attended one school back home that we werent impressed with, and that was in undesireable West Chicago anyways.
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