When will Phoenix surpass Houston as the 4th largest city? (Mesa: transplants, for sale)

[_Charles_]

Phoenix is light years friendlier and more livable than Denver. And I base this statement on a lifetime of first hand experience.

Phoenix has been and remains OZ to me.

[jd433]

Originally Posted by _Charles_

Phoenix is light years friendlier and more livable than Denver. And I base this statement on a lifetime of first hand experience.

Phoenix has been and remains OZ to me.

Are you saying that Phoenix is like some mystical magical dream world like the land of OZ????

[borborygmi]

Personally, two big things I find attractive about Texas over AZ:
1. No state income tax;
2. Aggressive tort reform. As a physician in training, those things will factor big-time into my decision as to where to live. And because the environment for physicians in AZ is so lousy, I wouldn't settle down here.

Beyond that, regarding Houston in particular- I don't really care for the pollution or the climate (hate the humidity, hate the bugs), and topographically speaking that part of the country is pretty ugly. I certainly prefer the mountain west to that part of the country. But on the positive side, its downtown and overall "city" feel blows Phoenix away. As pointed out above, Houston has a world-class city feel to it that Phoenix lacks.

I've always felt that there are so many nicer cities out west than Phoenix. The desert's beautiful, and some of the landscape and scenery around Phoenix is nice. But as for the city itself- sorry, but I don't think Phoenix is all that great. The city itself is ugly, sprawl-eroded and boring, really. Kind of a morbidly obese version of Albuquerque, I've always thought- but with much more uncomfortable summers. Nice winters, though.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

But, like, oh my gosh, in Phoenix you can totally buy a used BMW convertible, shop at Desert Ridge and buy a Prada purse, and like, sooooo get a tan while doing it. Tee hee hee.

And in Chicago I can become amongst the most obese people in the country eating fattening food and sitting inside during the long winters...and I can't get a tan while doing it.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by houstoner

Rice University | Rankings

Rankings & Kudos : About UT : The University of Texas at Austin

And as long as we're cherry-picking rankings...

Rice was ranked #17; UT Austin #44; Texas A&M #62; SMU #67; Baylor #75; and TCU#108 by U.S. News and World Report in the "National Universities: Top Schools" category.

University of Arizona #96 and ASU #124.

That's 5 Texas universities in the top 100 as opposed to Arizona's 1.

Unless your planning to obtain a general B.A./B.S. then these rankings do nothing for you.

Bottonline, most students choose a discipline and major...in which case, ASU has far more programs ranked in the top 10 (ASU has 10 Schools ranked in the top 10 of its program) and no Texas U can compete with that.

UT in Austin is the only school that is comparable to ASU's programs as they are ranked in the same top tier, for the most part. ASU's top 10 programs still outnumber even UT's. And lets not forget, while ASU and Thunderbird (ranked number 1 in the World) are in Phoenix and Phoenix/Glendale. UT is in Austin...not Houston.

[borborygmi]

Originally Posted by fcorrales80

Unless your planning to obtain a general B.A./B.S. then these rankings do nothing for you.

Oh yes, these rankings are actually quite significant. You'll find that in the real world, where you obtained your undergraduate degree will either open doors for you- or not. Try competing for ultra-competitive graduate school spots, or jobs in east/west coast cities, against kids with degrees from the likes of Baylor, Rice, or other highly-ranked universities with a degree from ASU, and see how you do. It'd be an eye-opener for you, I suspect.

While ASU does have some solid programs individually, it does not have an elite reputation nationally, or anything close to it. Its party school reputation is quite well-deserved. Sorry, but TX beats the daylights out of AZ in terms of quantity of elite national universities.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by borborygmi

Oh yes, these rankings are actually quite significant. You'll find that in the real world, where you obtained your undergraduate degree will either open doors for you- or not. Try competing for ultra-competitive graduate school spots, or jobs in east/west coast cities, against kids with degrees from the likes of Baylor, Rice, or other highly-ranked universities with a degree from ASU, and see how you do. It'd be an eye-opener for you, I suspect.

While ASU does have some solid programs individually, it does not have an elite reputation nationally, or anything close to it. Its party school reputation is quite well-deserved. Sorry, but TX beats the daylights out of AZ in terms of quantity of elite national universities.

All of this is based on opinion. If you look at acceptance rates for ASU grads you will see that an undergraduate degree from the university is very competitive. I didn't complete my undergrad a ASU but ASU's reputation is not a party school and hasn't been in some time, and TX only beats AZ in terms of quality "elite" (LOL) U's in your mind.

[fcorrales80]

Here you go: UT Austin is a top 10 party school:
Party Schools: The New 2008 "Best 366 Colleges" Rankings on The Princeton Review

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by fcorrales80

And in Chicago I can become amongst the most obese people in the country eating fattening food and sitting inside during the long winters...and I can't get a tan while doing it.

Choo sooo funnay!

[borborygmi]

Originally Posted by fcorrales80

All of this is based on opinion. If you look at acceptance rates for ASU grads you will see that an undergraduate degree from the university is very competitive. I didn't complete my undergrad a ASU but ASU's reputation is not a party school and hasn't been in some time, and TX only beats AZ in terms of quality "elite" (LOL) U's in your mind.

It's not in my mind, it's in the minds of those who rank national universities for the USNews- considered the benchmark, and the one most top-notch employers & grad school admissions boards pay attention to. Doesn't matter what I think. But what they think counts. And they don't think much of ASU, apparently. Or U of A either, for that matter.