Detroit or Phoenix? (construction, live, most dangerous)

[Brent85]

I think Arizona is more scenic, and nothing compares to the grand canyon of course. Btw, is it too long of a drive from Las vegas to the canyon and back? Only thing I disagree with are there being a major difference between an ocean beach and lake beach. I've been to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and had the same as experience as Lake Michigan, and Superior. When I took a charter boat on Lake Michigan it's just such a huge lake, that it feels like your on the ocean. But yeah those lakes in the Bloomfield area don't compare to ocean beaches.

[sweettearose]

Originally Posted by Brent85

I'm not trying to be rude but what has Phoenix really done for this country? Detroit has influenced America and the world with the automobile, music, and during WII was called the "arsenal of democracy" because hard working Detroiters built the Sherman tanks, planes, jeeps needed to win the war. People kick Detroit now that it's down, but in 1928 before the depression nobody knew such a prosperous city that reached almost 2 million would decline so much. I'm sure Phoenix won't boom forever, at least not with having major problems in the future.

In 1928, air conditioning didn't exist let alone interstate highways and major commercial airline travel. Since the development of those things, people have moved to warmer areas of the country whether you are talking about Florida or Arizona. This trend will continue for a long time.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by sweettearose

In 1928, air conditioning didn't exist let alone interstate highways and major commercial airline travel. Since the development of those things, people have moved to warmer areas of the country whether you are talking about Florida or Arizona. This trend will continue for a long time.

To run with your ball a bit further; the High Desert locales like Kingman, Cottonwood, Globe, Bisbee, etc. are not all that hot-----100F here ain't the same as 90F east of the Rocky Mountains. The humidity there can be a killer, literally.

Low Desert like Phoenix, Tucson and in particular the Colorado River communities can be rough in the summer admittedly.

[TurcoLoco]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

To run with your ball a bit further; the High Desert locales like Kingman, Cottonwood, Globe, Bisbee, etc. are not all that hot-----100F here ain't the same as 90F east of the Rocky Mountains. The humidity there can be a killer, literally.

Low Desert like Phoenix, Tucson and in particular the Colorado River communities can be rough in the summer admittedly.

I know this may sound a bit odd but before I relocated to Phoenix (7 months ago) all the derogatory talk was about the Sun & the Heat in Phoenix, now after moving and living here 7 months, the Sun & the Heat became the least of my worries...

[steve22]

Originally Posted by joninaz

You must be a shock and awe teaser writer for some local TV news station... "Coming up next: Will Mad Max save the Southwest?"

The Santa Barbara residential water rate costs 65 cents more per unit than the comperable amount in Phoenix. 65 cents. And that's not per gallon. That's per 748 gallons. So in both cities, for less than a $3 cafe mocha, one can get 748 gallons of H20. To imply that costlier water slowed the growth of SB is just crazy. It aint the cost of water, it's the cost of housing/land because it's a playground for the super rich. If one can afford a $50 million house like Oprah bought in the area, or one of the more modest (avg. priced) ones for $1 Million, the tapwater bill isn't a deciding factor in the buying decision to live there.

That cost per gallon you refer to reflects average cost of water for Santa Barbara from ALL the H2O sources S.B. utilizes. The water for S.B. isn't exclusively from the desalination plant; they actually get it from numerous sources, which are listed here:

City of Santa Barbara - Government - City Departments - Public Works - Water Supply Sources

Since the drought has ended, there are more sources now and water is cheaper. If the desalination plant were the only source, as was essentially the case 20 years ago during the drought, it would be very expensive as it was then, and would also be in Phoenix if that wwere to become the Valley's main source of water- which was my point. The costs of desalination in S.B. aren't accurately reflected so much in the utility costs as they are in the tax rate increases. The majority of the cost of desalination for Santa Barbara is more reflected in the rather exorbitant city taxes.

And, on top of that, as I mentioned before, in AZ you'd have to pay for transportation costs on top of the processing costs to produce it. Trust me, it'd be VERY expensive if Phoenix were to come to depend on desalination as a main souce of fresh H2O.

[blisterpeanuts]

Originally Posted by steve22

And, on top of that, as I mentioned before, in AZ you'd have to pay for transportation costs on top of the processing costs to produce it. Trust me, it'd be VERY expensive if Phoenix were to come to depend on desalination as a main souce of fresh H2O.

true enough, but I suspect desalination will never play a major role in Arizona. It will simply lower the demand for Colorado River water in California, freeing up more H2O for Arizona. The less water the Californians need from the states east of them, the more H2O we have, simple as that. Just my amateur opinion; maybe there's an Interior or Army Corps engineer out there who can set me straight on these things.

Regarding Detroit--as the other poster pointed out--it was once the industrial powerhouse of the world, true enough. Now if the Big Three car makers would just design better, safer, more efficient cars and the unions become more flexible and less prone to strikes, Detroit would be a prosperous and powerful city once more. The Japanese have opened many car plants all over the U.S. and are doing just fine, thank you. What happened to you, Detroit? Why don't you make the cars that Americans want to buy anymore? Sorry but you gotta face facts: it's a fallen city and it's not going back to the glory days on the strength of a couple of artsy neighborhoods and funky bars.

[Lovegun]

Originally Posted by tscrilla

I've lived in Phoenix for 5 years and have been to Detroit a couple of times. I can't stand the desert and without going into a LONG list of reasons why, I'll just tell you that you had better like the heat almost all year long. I found myself turning on the air conditioning in the car during all months of the year, even December. I can't stand the a/c.

Don't believe people who say that the heat only lasts for 3 months...more like 6-7 months (April - October, even the 1st part of November) of real heat (which in my opinion is 80+). I had a GREAT job, lived in a nice house in a superp area, BUT, I hated every day of life that I spent in that dreadful desert. After I visited home, which has 4 seasons, I told myslef that I have to get out of Phoenix and I have to do it ASAP. Well, I did that nearly two years ago and have never been happier. Sure, I could have a better job but my sanity isn't worth a few bucks. I can't believe how much the dryness of the desert depressed me. I still am sick of the sun and look forward to cloudy and rainy days. No need to wear stupid sunglasses every freakin' day or to put on sunblock.

I feel so free now! Sorry to go off but that is how I feel

Your right. Even in December we have had the a/c on here at work. Weather isn't everything. If you like feeling super hot and being outdoors come to Phoenix. I recently got back from the Detroit area and I found the people there are so much nicer then in Phoenix. Even at the mall people were making small talk with me in line. Here in Phoenix they could care less about you. It seems to be all about image here so minus the weather I would say Detroit.

[Stumblina]

Originally Posted by sweettearose

Wait a second... ...

There is a major difference between an Ocean beach and a Lake beach. We have lakes as well but that's not what he was referring to. Phoenix is 2.5 hours from Rocky Point Mexico and 4 hours from San Diego. Let's be honest, a 4 hour car trip to San Diego is much nicer than driving 15 minutes to some beach on a random lake. And many of the lakes you are referring particularly in West Bloomfield are not even true lakes but oversized ponds. Many of those lakes are shallow and barely 20 ft deep. Phoenix has lakes like that as well in addition to large lakes like Lake Pleasant. Laka Havasu is a major recreational resort lake that many high school and college students drive to all over the country to party; there is no such lake resort like that with the same recognition in Michigan. And the hiking and biking trails are far superior in Arizona whether you are talking about nationally famous trails such as the ones found in the Grand Canyon and Sedona to less known but fun ones in Camelback mountain and Flagstaff. I've been skiing at Crystal Mountain in Michigan. It was about as nice if not better than Sunrise or Showlow in terms of size and development. The difference is the weather conditions make the skiing far less pleasurable in Michigan beause it's much colder and offers less sun. And unlike you guys, we are only 4 hours from Big Bear resort in southern California which trumps those resorts in Michigan any day. What famous ski resort can you leave for on Saturday morning and get there by the afternoon?

Once again, your comparing the the State of Az to the State of MI. This is supposed to be a comparison of Phoenix to Detroit. But, since you bring up large bodies of water, every hear of the Great Lakes? We have three of them surrounding our state.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Stumblina

Once again, your comparing the the State of Az to the State of MI. This is supposed to be a comparison of Phoenix to Detroit. But, since you bring up large bodies of water, every hear of the Great Lakes? We have three of them surrounding our state.

To be honest, I find MI to be just as beautiful as AZ, if not more in some areas. But youre correct, this is a DET or PHX thread, not Az or MI.

[Brent85]

Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts

true enough, but I suspect desalination will never play a major role in Arizona. It will simply lower the demand for Colorado River water in California, freeing up more H2O for Arizona. The less water the Californians need from the states east of them, the more H2O we have, simple as that. Just my amateur opinion; maybe there's an Interior or Army Corps engineer out there who can set me straight on these things.

Regarding Detroit--as the other poster pointed out--it was once the industrial powerhouse of the world, true enough. Now if the Big Three car makers would just design better, safer, more efficient cars and the unions become more flexible and less prone to strikes, Detroit would be a prosperous and powerful city once more. The Japanese have opened many car plants all over the U.S. and are doing just fine, thank you. What happened to you, Detroit? Why don't you make the cars that Americans want to buy anymore? Sorry but you gotta face facts: it's a fallen city and it's not going back to the glory days on the strength of a couple of artsy neighborhoods and funky bars.

Agreed Detroit didn't make the best quality cars, but in the last few years that's been changing. The Cadillac cts is motortrends car of the year, although it's made in Lansing, not Detroit. I think the main reason Detroit lost so many auto jobs was because of automation involved in the factorys, plus trade policys. The rouge river complex once employed 100,000, now it's just 6,000. It'll never be 1.8 million again, i'm hoping the city will settle around 500,000 and become a nice clean city someday.