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View Poll Results: Has Phoenix become the #2 city of the western US?
Yes 11 15.71%
No 59 84.29%
Voters: 70. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 04-01-2023, 10:34 AM
 
4,222 posts, read 3,738,502 times
Reputation: 4588

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Voebe View Post
Importance? Based on what? My impression is that we're lagging in health, lagging in education, lagging in serious culture. We've been mocked by much of the country for our political wackiness. We don't have a top teaching hospital. We don't have a top museum. We don't have a decent newspaper. I can't even find a good Chinese restaurant. The main interest for most people seems to be sports.
Say what? You're talking like we're Albuquerque now.

- Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix has been ranked in the top 12 museums in the United States. Hall of Flame in Phoenix since 1974 in is the world's largest historical firefighting museum. Children's Museum of Phoenix was recognized as one of the top three children's museums in the United States.

- BASIS Chandler is the 11th best high school in the country. While Scottsdale and Peoria BASIS locations also land in the top 30. https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...ional-rankings

- St. Joe's is rated as a Top 5 Teaching Hospital by Fortune. https://fortune.com/2022/06/30/top-t...2022-merative/

- I'll stay away from politics too much but we currently have 2 democrat senators and a democrat governor.

- As for good Chinese, there's a ton of all Asian restaurants here. I've found multiple that I like from Korean to Vietnamese. https://www.asiandistrictmesa.com/ but my favorite might still be China Chili. https://chinachilirestaurant.com/home-page

- And lagging serious culture? Not even sure what that means, but Roosevelt Row is our clear culture heart and it's thriving and expanding into Grand Ave. Places like Alwun House, Walter Studios, and Lost Leaf are just a few gems.
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Old 04-01-2023, 12:11 PM
 
Location: Prescott Valley, AZ
3,409 posts, read 4,638,553 times
Reputation: 3925
The guy probably thinks Panda Express is gourmet Chinese food.
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Old 04-02-2023, 09:17 AM
 
4,222 posts, read 3,738,502 times
Reputation: 4588
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hschlick84 View Post
The guy probably thinks Panda Express is gourmet Chinese food.

Right? I don't see how we lack in the food department. Sure, it's not as pronounced as New York, SF or Houston but you can find basically anything you want in the valley.
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Old 04-02-2023, 10:00 AM
 
Location: az
13,770 posts, read 8,014,399 times
Reputation: 9418
My wife is Japanese and likes to shop here in Mesa:
https://mekongplaza.com/
https://asianamarket.com/


I've been here a couple of times to buy snacks.
to https://cutieaz.square.site/


My fav.:
https://cutie-mesa.square.site/produ...p=false&q=true
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Old 04-02-2023, 10:17 AM
 
Location: Brooklyn, NY
10,083 posts, read 14,458,372 times
Reputation: 11269
I'd rank the west/mountain big metros like this:

10 Salt Lake City, UT
9 Sacramento, CA
8 Las Vegas, NV
7 Portland, OR
6 San Diego, CA

5 Denver, CO
4 Phoenix, AZ
3 Seattle, WA
2 San Francisco-San Jose, CA
1 Los Angeles, CA
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Old 04-02-2023, 07:17 PM
 
Location: In the hot spot!
3,941 posts, read 6,729,815 times
Reputation: 4091
Quote:
Originally Posted by locolife View Post
I disagree, I live in Tempe and meet friendly people all the time, I was walking my bike down the south mountain summit road a few weeks ago, I had a mechanical issue that I couldn't fix with the tools I had. It was dark on a week night, not a lot of cars but 2 stopped and offered to help, including driving me down and even to give me a jacket (as it was pretty damn chilly). When we first moved into our neighborhood the weeds we're a total disaster in the front yard, a neighbor two houses down saw us working away and came down to help us, we've returned a few favors with yard work over the years since then.

Spending a lot of time on the trails around the various preserves in the valley, I've met so many friendly people out hiking or cycling, any time I've had a flat or other bike issue nearly every person that passes asks if I need any help. People have given me spare tubes or let me use a tool they happen to have that I wasn't carrying at the time. I've returned the favor countless times now as well. We met some new friends at a spring training game last weekend, a couple we sat next to in the grass. We connected when they offered to take a photo for us...

I don't consider this an unfriendly place at all. Maybe some folks give off less friendly vibes and perceive it as a problem with the place?
I have to agree with this. I can't remember an unfriendly encounter here in the more than 20 years we've lived here.
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Old 04-02-2023, 07:43 PM
 
Location: az
13,770 posts, read 8,014,399 times
Reputation: 9418
Quote:
Originally Posted by goolsbyjazz View Post
I have to agree with this. I can't remember an unfriendly encounter here in the more than 20 years we've lived here.
Here in Mesa, I find people are friendly. More friendly than other places I can't say but I don’t recall anyone being rude to me.

Last edited by john3232; 04-02-2023 at 08:51 PM..
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Old 04-03-2023, 05:32 AM
 
9,746 posts, read 11,169,688 times
Reputation: 8488
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hschlick84 View Post
I'm still surprised New Mexico hasn't exploded in population with retirees yet considering some of the state has a decent climate and lower cost of living. If they adopted a no income tax policy, that would change.
I looked at NM for about a minute. I saw the crime ranking (2nd highest in the USA) on C-D and thought no thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ex New Yorker View Post

Especially some people from the Northeast. Not us I've always wanted to live in the Great American Southwest, Arizona in particular. Now it feels as though we were born and raised here. We're proud of our adopted state and proud to call it home.
Agreed. Even though I summer in MN, AZ feels like home, not MN. I love it here!
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Old 04-03-2023, 10:48 AM
 
717 posts, read 1,058,894 times
Reputation: 2250
LA, SF, Seattle, denver, Portland, and San Diego are all better cities overall. Most of them are more urban and cultured, and San Diego has an infinitely better location and weather. Phoenix feels like a grotesquely overblown suburb with an Air Force base. It appeals to the same general kind of tourists as Vegas (namely midwesterners whose idea of a good time is getting plastered at a cheesy bar and hanging out by a swimming pool).

It’s been neat to see Phoenix developing more urban spaces over the past decade; it’s been less neat to see the entire metro become traffic choked 7 days a week. Housing costs have been skyrocketing everywhere in the US, but the costs in Phoenix now significantly outpace what this place offers as a metro. Prices in San Diego have gone nuclear, but Phoenix now costs about what San Diego used to cost when people accused it of being totally unaffordable to the average person.

Being an area of low taxes and low regulation is a great way to attract businesses and also a Great way to destroy livability for average citizens.

Last edited by Maroon197; 04-03-2023 at 11:27 AM..
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Old 04-03-2023, 12:59 PM
 
Location: Arizona
8,273 posts, read 8,662,411 times
Reputation: 27680
Quote:
Originally Posted by locolife View Post
Say what? You're talking like we're Albuquerque now.

- Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix has been ranked in the top 12 museums in the United States. Hall of Flame in Phoenix since 1974 in is the world's largest historical firefighting museum. Children's Museum of Phoenix was recognized as one of the top three children's museums in the United States.

- BASIS Chandler is the 11th best high school in the country. While Scottsdale and Peoria BASIS locations also land in the top 30. https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...ional-rankings

- St. Joe's is rated as a Top 5 Teaching Hospital by Fortune. https://fortune.com/2022/06/30/top-t...2022-merative/

- I'll stay away from politics too much but we currently have 2 democrat senators and a democrat governor.

- As for good Chinese, there's a ton of all Asian restaurants here. I've found multiple that I like from Korean to Vietnamese. https://www.asiandistrictmesa.com/ but my favorite might still be China Chili. https://chinachilirestaurant.com/home-page

- And lagging serious culture? Not even sure what that means, but Roosevelt Row is our clear culture heart and it's thriving and expanding into Grand Ave. Places like Alwun House, Walter Studios, and Lost Leaf are just a few gems.
Thats not all that much for the size of the metro. Places with 1/4 of the population offer more in places like Cleveland and Pittsburgh.
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