Why does Phoenix Suck? (Tucson, Mesa: new home, casinos, living in)

[aboveordinary]

Originally Posted by leavingIL

lol what are you talking about? im WISH i was still in college. and no life experience? who the hell are you to say anything about aomeone drom whom you have read some forum posts? i just started the thread to try an get someone to bring me down to earth about phoenix and two people started fighting about whether cali being liberal or az being conservative was worse... which had nothing to do with my original question. clearly, this indicates that i am not only young and inexperienxed, but also in college.

I kind of think they were referring to me, but I'm not sure? anyway yeah I'm kinda hard on Phoenix. I like it, I really do, but those were my opinions on why I don't like it.

[believe007]

Lol I'm glad I read the whole post through;
I know so many people who absolutely love Phoenix....
All I hear is how amazing it is, how many people from here are moving there, etc.
And of course- they suggest that I should follow suit

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by aboveordinary

Um no. Culture as in lots of ethnic neighborhoods and restaurants to choose from.

Sorry but L.A. is not like that. I'm a Mexican American who grew up in L.A. L.A. is not like NY or SF when it comes to culture and ethnic diversity. It's pretty comparable to Phoenix. There are a lot of Latinos and some Asian communities but it's not as diverse as you suggest.

And the nightlife in L.A. that is better than Phoenix can't be afforded by most people in L.A. It's a very small elite scene. The rest of the night life is pretty ghetto in my opinion The night life in Phoenix much classier and more upscale overall despite it being smaller.

[magnum0417]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

This has to be one of the least informed and intelligent comments I've read on here in a long time. Phoenix is one of the least dense cities in the United States. And for the amount of land that it occupies, it could easily accomodate many more people. There are far more cities that accomodate more people and are smaller than Phoenix. I have no idea how you came to this conclusion. Obviously you have not traveled to many other cities in the United States if you came to this conclusion. There are so many more cities that are more densely populated and crammed. I live in the Miami metro and that is truly congested. The entire city is developed. There isn't enough parking. There are long lines everywhere because there are too many people that live here. To illustrate how off your comment is, the area of Phoenix(517 sq miles) is larger than Los Angeles (502 sq miles) yet L.A. is over twice as large in terms of population.

The city is surrounded by mountains hence the term "Valley" so it's anything but flat. And the only redeeming quality of Connecticut is that you can claim it's nicer than New Jersey. Both are just glorified suburbs of NYC that have nothing to offer on their own except that they are cold and boring. That's why everyone from your state moves to Phoenix but you don't see people from Phoenix choosing to move to Conn.

Yes, there are a lot of Mexicans in Phoenix. I am Mexican American and find your statement to be racist. But then again, this is why I hate places like Jersey and Conn, there are too many trashy meatheads whose accents make them sound like cave men.

I'm a Native NYer and admittedly wore out my welcome there after 40 years. I love Arizona and its ecologic and climatic diversity but Phoenix while suitable for me as someone of working age, wouldn't be my ideal place to retire. As I've said on other threads, 3000-4500 ft is the banana belt for climate in Arizona and can see myself in a town at that altitude eventually.

I like many Californians who move here grew tired of NY's left wing politics and just the entitlement mentality of many NYers. Some from a lazy welfare perspective and others thinking that New York City is the greatest thing and everywhere else can't hold a candle to it. New York State itself has been losing people for many decades. Back when I was a kid, we had the most electoral votes in the country. Now I believe NY is 4th behind CA,TX and now FL. The only reason it isn't worse is a ton of immigrants are still setting up shop in NYC which largely contributed to the population rising from 7 to 8 mil. But statewide, cities like Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse have been dying for 50 years a slow painful death with brain drains as well to the South.

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by azriverfan.

Sorry but L.A. is not like that. I'm a Mexican American who grew up in L.A. L.A. is not like NY or SF when it comes to culture and ethnic diversity. It's pretty comparable to Phoenix. There are a lot of Latinos and some Asian communities but it's not as diverse as you suggest.

And the nightlife in L.A. that is better than Phoenix can't be afforded by most people in L.A. It's a very small elite scene. The rest of the night life is pretty ghetto in my opinion The night life in Phoenix much classier and more upscale overall despite it being smaller.

After spending a good deal of time in NYC through the years and visiting L.A. more than a few times, I couldn't agree more.

[jdahunt]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

I will agree with some of political viewpoint, especially the freedoms, after having spent time RVing the east coast this summer. Everywhere you go on public lands there it seems you are are greeted with signs forbidding this that or the other. No guns, no pets here and there, no parking on the grass, no everything. I even took a picture of a sign in a park in upstate new york that looked like the Thou shall nots of the 10 commandments.



On the other hand, the politics of this state can be downright embarrassing. The constant harangue against the illegals, against gays, drug testing people who lost their jobs, chopping education, and it goes on and on. We have a terrible reputation around this country as something that we are not - a western version of mid-50s southern state. I saw that too. Both of our college bowl events lost their corporate sponsors this year. Corporations just don't want their names associated with Arizona anymore. Our brand is stained and you never know what the kooks on Jefferson are going to pull out of the hat in the next legislative session. I just wish our legislators better reflected the way most of the people here truly are - tolerant, and live and let live.

When people are laughing at states the big target is Illinois....we've sent 4 of the last 7 gov to prison and the one we have now is under Fed investigation....Phoenix should be so lucky.

And we get that with crappy weather.....very high taxes..my house is Illinois is 4 times the amount of my house in Phoenix....and 2 years ago we had a 67% increase in income tax in one year....now they are working on another tax increase and property taxes are projected to double.....oh yeah.

Ponderosa..ever think that you are very intolerant of other peoples intolerance...who's is better....better yet...who gets to decide?

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by magnum0417

I'm a Native NYer and admittedly wore out my welcome there after 40 years. I love Arizona and its ecologic and climatic diversity but Phoenix while suitable for me as someone of working age, wouldn't be my ideal place to retire. As I've said on other threads, 3000-4500 ft is the banana belt for climate in Arizona and can see myself in a town at that altitude eventually.

I like many Californians who move here grew tired of NY's left wing politics and just the entitlement mentality of many NYers. Some from a lazy welfare perspective and others thinking that New York City is the greatest thing and everywhere else can't hold a candle to it. New York State itself has been losing people for many decades. Back when I was a kid, we had the most electoral votes in the country. Now I believe NY is 4th behind CA,TX and now FL. The only reason it isn't worse is a ton of immigrants are still setting up shop in NYC which largely contributed to the population rising from 7 to 8 mil. But statewide, cities like Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse have been dying for 50 years a slow painful death with brain drains as well to the South.

I have friends who live in upstate NY and can't wait to escape for the reasons you mention. They all want to either go south or west to states like AZ....but they are all stopping short of California.

[magnum0417]

Originally Posted by stevek64

I have friends who live in upstate NY and can't wait to escape for the reasons you mention. They all want to either go south or west to states like AZ....but they are all stopping short of California.

Phoenix does have decent shopping, not the best, but decent for all walks of life. I dig the New Mex Green Chile stuff as opposed to Sonoran Mex and highly recommend Carlsbad Tavern in Scottsdale for New Mex food. Besides shopping and food, I honestly don't do an awful lot in PHX proper. As a nature lover, I leave The Valley every chance I can to discover the state. The people I hear complain about PHX never bother to seek out adventure and confine themselves to Valley strip malls and casinos. I'd be bored too if that was my lifestyle. I've only been here 3 years and what is available for adventure statewide is what makes me work hard to stay a Zonie hopefully for life. Citywide, I prefer Tucson and Albuquerque due to my love for SW culture as well as what I feel are better mountains and climates in those two cities. However, PHX is where the best employment is in the desert SW so people as myself choose PHX not because it's the best place in the SW, but because in order to entertain oneself you have to work and PHX is the best city by and large for that in the desert.

[thinkalot]

Originally Posted by leavingIL

lol what are you talking about? im WISH i was still in college. and no life experience? who the hell are you to say anything about aomeone drom whom you have read some forum posts? i just started the thread to try an get someone to bring me down to earth about phoenix and two people started fighting about whether cali being liberal or az being conservative was worse... which had nothing to do with my original question. clearly, this indicates that i am not only young and inexperienxed, but also in college.

I wasn't talking about you! How could you think I was?

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by thinkalot

I wasn't talking about you! How could you think I was?

By quoting Steve, who was referring to him, you were. Take another look.