A request: please stop referring to Phoenix as "the desert" (Tucson: to live in, prestigious)

[Valley Native]

I've seen plenty of threads on this forum, and heard quite a few comments (mainly from people who don't live here) referring to the Phoenix metro area as "the desert". Sportscasters on national TV networks are guilty of this as well. What is it with the insistence of calling Phoenix "the desert"? Once & for all: Phoenix is NOT a desert ... it's a large city located in a desert region.

Maybe it's just me, but calling Phoenix "the desert" seems degrading. It's also ridiculous to refer to a large city or a metro region as the geographical landscape that surrounds the area. Do we call New Orleans "the swamp"? Do we call Minneapolis "the prairie"? Do we call Denver "the mountains"? Do we call New York City "the coastal plain"? The answer to all this is NO! So please: no more "desert" references when describing Phoenix!

[Jukesgrrl]

You seem to be implying that the word "desert" is a pejorative. It's not. The desert is a fascinating and unique eco-system we Arizonans should be proud of and take care of.

I've often heard New Orleans referred to as The Delta, which it is, and Denver referred to as The Rockies, which is appropriate, and while I can't say I've ever heard Minneapolis called a "prairie," I certainly have heard Omaha called the Prairieland and Iowa referred to as The Corn Belt. And, by the way, I spent most of my life in Pittsburgh, known nationwide as The Steel City. Yet there hasn't been a working steel mill within the city limits of Pittsburgh for many decades. Pittsburghers are proud of the name, though, since it speaks to the region's heritage and work ethic.

You should be proud to live in a place that is so unlike many others in this great land of ours.

[katie45]

Since Phoenix is located in the Sonoran Desert and has a subtropical desert climate, I guess one could refer to it as a desert area with lots of blacktop and concrete.

[Ghengis]

Phoenix is in the desert, and some of the desert is in Phoenix

[dvxhd]

What a ridiculous complaint to have. Some of the greatest cities in history were located in deserts, including Babylon, Thebes (now Luxor), Alexandria, Persepolis, Gao and Karakorum, all of which were major powers at their times, and deserts have played instrumental roles in human history. Even today, some very large and prestigious cities just happen to be in deserts, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Mecca, Riyadh, Marrakesh, Doha, Cairo, Jaipur, Lima, Alice Springs and more.

Why referring to Phoenix as a desert is insulting to you is beyond me. It's in a desert. While I'm not big into sports, I can't think of any other US cities located in deserts that also have professional teams... which might be why sportscasters say that. Why would they refer to New Orleans as "the swamp" when Houston and Washington are both technically on swamps? Don't those two have professional teams too? And why would they refer to Minneapolis as "the prairie" when Dallas and Kansas City are also both on prairies? I believe they have pro teams as well.

If "desert" is too harsh of a word for you, then we should be sensitive to your needs and create a cumbersome, verbose and politically correct term, such as "ecologically precipitation-deprived, humidity-deficient, caliche-based biosphere with abundant ultraviolet resources." That has a ring to it! Let's go picket ESPN and Rand McNally to change that insidious D-word.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

I must be missing something. I've never read or heard someone call it "the desert"; even on this forum. But then again, I am not sensitive to it. BUT, New Orleans has "Swamp tours" New Orleans Swamp Tours - New Orleans Online . Denver has "Mountain tours Colorado Tours. Denver, CO Based Rocky Mountains Tours , and yes, PHX has "desert tours". Actually in Scottsdale no less https://www.pinkadventuretoursscotts...PAYaArbp8P8HAQ . The reason is because Phoenix is in the desert!

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

I've seen plenty of threads on this forum, and heard quite a few comments (mainly from people who don't live here) referring to the Phoenix metro area as "the desert". Sportscasters on national TV networks are guilty of this as well. What is it with the insistence of calling Phoenix "the desert"? Once & for all: Phoenix is NOT a desert ... it's a large city located in a desert region.

Maybe it's just me, but calling Phoenix "the desert" seems degrading. It's also ridiculous to refer to a large city or a metro region as the geographical landscape that surrounds the area. Do we call New Orleans "the swamp"? Do we call Minneapolis "the prairie"? Do we call Denver "the mountains"? Do we call New York City "the coastal plain"? The answer to all this is NO! So please: no more "desert" references when describing Phoenix!

Never really thought about it, VN.

I suppose there are those out there that truly want to disparage Phoenix, and will cold-heartedly refer to it as "desert". There are others who truly have no animosity, and just say desert because they parrot what everybody else says. However, I have to agree with Jukesgirl and believe it's just another way to refer to Phoenix in a wonderfully respectful way.

[locolife]

HUH? Who Cares? The Sonoran Desert is foreign to most people in the US, it's one of the greatest attributes of Arizona and also one of the most beautiful regions in the world. Just my .02 though.

[DougStark]

OP, I agree that referring to Phoenix as "the desert" is a bit ignorant, but it's not one of my top gripes. Lots of other US cities are in "the desert", such as Albuquerque, El Paso, Tucson, Las Vegas, Reno, Salt Lake, etc, etc.

In fact, San Diego and Los Angeles are not technically in the desert, but darn near close to it in terms of annual rainfall.

[AZgarden]

Some people need to get a hobby. LOL