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I am sorry, I just stumbled onto this site from SSP and SSC (both of which has not nearly as much bad stuff to say about Phoenix as this website does.) I have never in my 22 years of living in Phoenix met people that hate it this much or regret moving here. I have also lived in Bay Area, New York, Chicago, New Jersey and Boston and I do not regret moving to Phoenix (I currently live in Scottsdale.)
Where exactly (steve22 for one) do you people live? I read this forum and I am shocked that this many people absolutely hate it here. Even my friends that grew up in New York City find a charm in Phoenix. Im sorry, but for 22 years I have never experienced crime. I don't know the exact numbers and maybe it has changed, but for many years Phoenix was NO WHERE near the worst in crime among major metropolitan areas. I have never experienced a gang fight and I haven't just lived in Scottsdale forever. My friends live throughout the valley and no one I know has experienced/seen crime to anything worse than stolen goods. Murders are low in Phoenix, gang violence is also relatively low.
Traffic? Have you been to other cities? I feel like I am the only person to read this forum and have lived in other cities. If you think Phoenix traffic is bad, go live somewhere else and tell me again. SF, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, LA, NY, Chicago, Detroit, everywhere I have been has much worse traffic.
Pollution? Im sorry but we are far from the most polluted city. New Jersey in general is much worse. NYC for many years barely passed the standards. Phoenix's suburbs have great clean air. Perhaps the city itself isnt the greatest (which I know it isnt), but generalizing the entire metro area isnt fair.
There are many great places to live, and I find Phoenix one of them. Every major city has their problems. NYC is attractive for a period of time. SF has its beauty, but Phoenix has many pros that outweigh its cons. Yes, its lacking culture. Yes its lacking an urban feel. However, in many of these cases, Phoenix is drastically improving. So before you all (which I think many of these people are actually the same person posting the exact same opinions) bash Phoenix to those who are considering moving here, maybe you should TRY giving an impartial view weighing the pros and cons.
Steel87, I have to agree with you on this one. I would like to know also. I have been here 5 years, you know, im one of those "transplants" from the middle east, (I dont consider anything east of the eastern Indiana line the "mid-west"), and I love it here.
I too have yet to see all this "horrible crime rising at alarmingly high rates" and blah, blah, blah.
All those things do exist here, as they do in every city. Some things are worse than other cities as well.
It was a shock reading all of these negative posts at first, but now its almost entertaining. Arizona's problems are getting waaay blown out of proportion, and are being backed up by meaningless, contradictive, and sometimes even fraudulent statistics. Also, anyone who tries to contradict one of these posts is never correct, no matter what.
Makes you wonder if it is just one posting under 4 different names-- or someone that isnt even from AZ just posting because they have nothing better to do.
Everyone IS entitled to their opinion, but this is absolutely ridiculous.
I live in the Maryvale Terrace neighborhood, fyi, thats Camelback and 59th. Basically GLENDALE'S very own Maryvale.
Traffic may not be as bad as OTHER cities, but at least
most of them have the public transit to make up for it.
Pollution? Well, pollution is bad, no matter how much of it you have. We are more polluted than quite a few cities, but there are a select few that are worse.
Phoenix has a few pro's. But, I for one, like rain, and hate the 300+ days of sunshine. =)
But, I'm a native, and I'm stuck here for a while longer. So I just have to learn to deal.
I live in condos close to Mill in Tempe. I moved here about a year ago for school and miss the East Coast dearly. There are some things nice about Phoenix. The winter weather is nice, but I miss the falls and springs back east. Women here are pretty but generally less sophisticated and seem to care more about the number of tattoos you have and the type of motorcycle you fly around in. Two words: white trash. I love northern Arizona and the Grand Canyon but the desert around Phoenix is generally bland and ugly. I also miss the city and being able to walk to my deli, grocer, and neighborhood pub. Please don’t tell me Mill Ave. has all that because it doesn’t.
I came out here for grad school and thought this would be a good place to settle down, buy a house, etc. I thought that because it seemed to be a popular place for people to move and because the real estate prices were cheap, it would be a good place. Huge mistake. I’ve found you get what you pay for and I’ve had it with this dust bowl.
Speaking of....dust storm coming through right now and it is 108 outside. This place is hell.
Last edited by Marka; 08-22-2006 at 01:50 AM..
Reason: merged
Speaking of....dust storm coming through right now and it is 108 outside. This place is hell.
Hmph, there's a cool breeze blowing out at my house east of you. It's raining now that the wind/dust storm has passed through and it's pretty nice. About the desert being ugly, that's a matter of personal taste. I think the desert here is beautiful. I just don't like to spend my time in it in the Summer.
Sadie (my dog) is glued to my hip, she doesn't like storms. The cats are all a tad nervous too. I opened my doors to let the breeze blow through. I don't think they're enjoying it as much as I am.
I've been here for around 7 years, moved here when I was 18. My main reasons for moving were the weather, had family in the area, and wanted to experience a big city. I'm from the Midwest and I can't stand the area. Talk about no culture, horrible winters, humid summers, etc; nothing positive.
I love it here; the desert is beautiful, the summers are HOT but tolerable because of the low humidity, the winters can't be beat, I've found the people to be great, and I don't plan on moving for a long time. Currently reside at Grayhawk in N. Scottsdale, I love it! I bought when the real estate was cheap so the prices of homes aren't my concern.
I find that the pros outweigh the cons.
Traffic: Sorry, every city has it. Many have worse.
Climate: Personal preference, I can stand 3-4 months of 110F temps better than 3-4 months of temps of 20F or below.
Crime: Again, every city has it. Be smart, don't walk alone at night, and just use common sense.
Pollution: Look at L.A., NYC, New Jersey, etc
Irwin- Do you think that part of the reason you don't like it here is because you live in Tempe?
Nicole-
At heart, I am a city person. I like living in a place where you can walk to most things you need (work, school, shopping, entertainment, etc) or take public transport. I generally only like using my car for special situations (maybe getting furniture or big ticket items). Here, people drive everywhere. It doesn’t seem like there is anything of a neighborhood feel.
I chose Tempe because it was close to school and close to Mill Ave which at the time seemed like the closest thing to the “city” feel in the area. I still think I am making the best of a bad situation. There are certainly are other places where many young professionals live (e.g. North Scottsdale). Yet, it is still a place a place where everything is centered on driving. Living in a gated, 5 year old apartment complex next to strip mall after strip mall does not interest me. That’s simply not me.
I've never lived in AZ. However, I had friends who lived in Phoenix for six years (Chandler, then North Phoenix) from 1994 to 2000. They moved back up to Colorado for business reasons. I visited them 2-3 times a year. Also, my ex-husband had family in Phoenix and we went down there several times. All these people really liked living there, and I loved visiting. My ex's family moved from San Francisco. They could have afforded to move back, but chose Phoenix.
So, as a frequent visitor, here's my impressions:
Crime. Don't recall that ever being discussed as a problem. My friends were burglarized once when they lived in North Phoenix. FWIW, they caught the guys (a neighbor got the license number of the car) and it wasn't the much maligned "illegals" or gangbangers. It was some white guys who knew my friends and knew they had some very expensive computers and stereo equipment.
Traffic. Yes, horrible. Not that much different to other big cities I've been to. Traffic is horrible in big cities, get used to it.
Climate: Personal preference. Some people like lots of hot sunny days, some like the seasons and hate hot weather. Seems no matter where anyone lives, they'll complain about weather! Personally I liked visiting but wouldn't like to live with that heat, but I still enjoyed visiting.
Desert. I loved it!! We hiked tons, even in summer. I thought it was beautiful and there's so many places to hike, and open space, in and around the city. It was a relatively short drive to the mountains and forested areas too. I also thought it was cute the way people decorated cactuses for Christmas.
Speaking of short drives, I liked that it was close to the border and we went to Puerto Penasco a few times - spent Christmas there once. I remember sitting in a hot tub on Christmas eve, drinking margaritas and watching dolphins in the ocean. Thinking, ahhhh - this is the life!
Restaurants - all those wonderful Southwestern and Mexican restaurants! Yum. Also, there seemed to be things going on just about every weekend, various festivals and events and so on. Always something to do. Not as good as Denver, WAY better than SE MI, where I am now.
I also liked how so many people had pools. Even when my friends lived in North Phoenix - which they said wasn't as "nice" an area and their house was smallish and older, just about everyone in that neighborhood had a pool.
Pollution: I lived in Denver for 14 years. I assure you it is much worse there, with the inversion and frequent "brown cloud." Anyone who lives there knows about the brown cloud.
Things I didn't like about it - no proper "downtown" and how it was all spread out; tons of malls and chain stores. Malls and chain stores everywhere now it seems, though. Being poor and not able to afford air conditioning in the house or car would suck.
I have noticed that these forums generally seems a bit overwrought about crime and illegals.
Women here are pretty but generally less sophisticated and seem to care more about the number of tattoos you have and the type of motorcycle you fly around in. Two words: white trash.
Hmm...I don't know who you hang out with/where you go to hang but that definitely does not describe most Phoenix women.
Quote:
At heart, I am a city person. I like living in a place where you can walk to most things you need (work, school, shopping, entertainment, etc) or take public transport.
Heh, well Phoenix is the sprawl capital of the US. Downtown Scottsdale might be the closest to that, but its much more expensive. Really I don't know what to tell you, you have expectations that there is just no way in hell Phoenix could satisfy. But when you graduate and move to NYC and are looking for places to live, I would be glad to help you. Spent most of my days there in midtown and TriBeCa. Sister currently lives in upper east. Great city for hte bustling youth.
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