What is Phoenix? (live, floor, granite)

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by matt345

silverbear, thanks for posting the link to that article. It was a very interesting read and it has only increased my interest in Phoenix. It seems like the city is on the cusp of something special right now, about to totally reinvent itself. I think it's great that there are individuals who are so passionate about being a part of that transformation. So many are ready to just dismiss Downtown Phoenix as having "nothing to do", yet these people see the potential that exists there and ultimately will play a part in bringing the doubters back to the downtown area.

Perhaps I'll pay a visit to Phoenix in the near future and check out the city for myself. I really can't explain why the place interests me so much. Maybe it's because it's a city of over 1 million people, metro area of almost 5 million, and yet I have absolutely no mental image or preconceived notion of what the actual city is like. As zenkonami mentioned, most of my images are the golf courses and resort spas. But I like to experience the real culture and pulse of a community. e.g., "Disney World's great and all; but what's Orlando like?"

And in the case of Phoenix, I just keep on thinking, This is a metro area of over 4 million - that's alot! There's got to be interesting stuff out there. Perhaps someone could post pictures of Phoenix? Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, but I have a difficult time finding photos that show the actual communities of Phoenix, or new development projects going on around the city.

What you need to do is plan a trip to the Phx area---------and, for God's sake; 'read the tea leaves'.

I am referring to things like either roadblocks in your path (which would indicate you should reconsider visiting) or 'doors opening up'.........which are telling you Phx would be a good place to consider.

[garisonthebull]

First off Kudos to Zekonami what an excellent excellent post. By far and away one of the most enlightening reads I have had the pleasure of letting my eyes drift from left to right reading.

Now it is my turn to let fly my description of this valley of the sun post.

Weather: Phoenix can play the rolls of your typical suburbia tile roof mall filled place. It too can be said it is hot hot hot. Yes for the majority of the year our weather can be claimed boring. But not always we do have the monsoon with its intimidating dust walls rolling in from the outskirts, its violent and beautiful lightning displays and microbursts that can tear airconditioners right off of roofs. But that is not all Our weather has been known to SURPRISE! Just last year it was mid spring and temperatures nearly froze, about eight years ago on Christmas eve it snowed nearly a half inch. During a monsoon in the early ninties a mega microburst practically destroyed all of the North central corridor roofs AC units patios cars trees telephone poles all snapped under natures power from 83rd ave to 40th st from beardsley to peoria.

Mountains: It is true that Phoenix is surrounded by dessert mountains but this description does little justice to describe their beauty so with a few words I will give it a try. Let me start with the Phoenix mountain presserves. Piestewa peak is obviously an ancient dead volcano with its granite skeleton pearing out from its sand and slate skin. It has its little brothers and sisters the rest of the preserve flanking it casting heat relieving shadows across the north valley in the late afternoon. Camelback and Papago, You will look upon these and wonder to yourself how did those cubbies and caverns erode from the face of these clay icons. Superstitions blended with tall cliffs and flattened sandstone they let a mind race at their artistic sculpted features. The Four Peaks they are comperable to any of the rocky mountains soring peak majestic mountain ranges, though quite a distance from the valley you still see their snow caps on a clear winter morning. Pinnacle Peak is a wonderment of granite stacking, huge granite boulders seem to defy gravity on the northern most outpost of the Scottsdale/Cave Creek border. The McDowells these four mountains hover over the north east valley looking down as if waiting for something to happen in the valley. Their width is grand and the strength impression you are given by them is aweinspiring. The White Tanks surrounded by intense security between two different proving grounds and the Luke Air Force Bases security patrols one only wonders what really goes on out there. In its nest by its limited access park is one of the finest waterfalls Arizona has to offer but with little rain you must be quick to witness the fall after a rain. South Mountain The largest municipal park in the country. It has a road that lets you drive to its summit from there one can look out over the entire valley and watch the sunset and the city light up into a sea of diamonds.

Culture: OK we are not yet on par with other metropolises our size but neither are we as bland as many paint us out to be. When discussing our culture one cannot not start with our most famous museum The Heard Museum. It is without comparison the finest Native American art exhibit in the nation. We have The Herberger Theater though it is no Broadway it is personal with its small cozy atmosphere every one feels as though they have a front row seat to the show. It is very well first class in design and feel. The Phoenix Art Museum from time to time some of the roving displays travelling fine art across the nation make their way here. It is a nice building recently gone from 60s to state of the art. The Phoenix Convention Center currently itself under a face lift it is seeking out a new identity. Already this center was one of the most popular in the nation amongst fortune 500 companies looking for a host to their world business conventions. The Arizona Science Center with the most state of the art planetarium in the country It has one of only three high definition full color planetariums in the world. The suburbs of Phoenix too have nice cultural venues as well, namely Scottsdale with several art boutiques and the Scottsdale Center For the Arts and it hosts the Scottsdale art walk a national event bringing high dollar art transactions for dealers everywhere.

Entertainment: Well we have lots of musicians in this valley and many are worth their salt. You can always find in the entertainment paper the New Times some good act playing somewhere in this valley. We are a town with lots of suburban malls with theaters spread all over, so catching the newest blockbuster film is never too difficult with a short drive and normally equaly short lines. If you are looking for action, no, downtown Phoenix does not have it but it can be found on Mill avenue in Tempe which is very close to the Phoenix/Tempe Border. This college party street is always hoping with your joe cool type of people, great bars and street performers on every corner willing to give their best for your dollar in their tip jar.

Sports: Did you know that Phoenix is only one of just a handful of cities that can boast it has all four major sports, five if you count the WNBA? Yeah the Cardinals have been not the most headlining of NFL teams but the Suns have and the Diamondbacks and Coyotes go in spurts of mixed success seasons. All of these teams have very high end arenas The Cardinals with the Jumbotron TV retractable field and new facility. The Chase field with its indoors outdoors ability and great hot dogs and drinks available all over the stadium. The Suns just a couple of years ago updated the Purple Palace, why one may never know, as it was still one of the finest NBA arenas in the league. I guess they want to stay on top. We also host the Cactus league which has major baseball teams from everywhere come to get in shape, so catching your favorite players is just a short drive away in the spring.

Suburbia: Wow we really are a city of tile roofs and stucco walls cornered by grocery stores and peppered with malls. But there are somethings to see despite this. In old town Phoenix you can find some historic homes that still sport their sleeping porches ( Ask Me Later ) In the Town of Paradise Valley you will see grand mansions, Porches and Mercedes Benzes dolting back and forth on their trips to the fine dinning in Scottsdale. But for the most part yes stucco and tile fill the sea of desert that is Phoenix.

Down Town: No we are not as cool as Manhattan or Chicago. Not as Entertaining as Vegas or Diego but it is what it is. There are some architecturally interesting things in the central corridor. We have the Ernst and Young building with its modern feel twin buildings with a spaning bridge between the twins on the fifteenth floor. We have the Hyatt Regency hotel with its bowler hat revolving restaurant abord its top. We have a bank that looks like someone flipped a pyramid upside down and shooved its top in the ground. It is pretty cool in copper square you just need to view the corridor as a work in progress and let your patience dictate your opinion.

Travel: YOU NEED A CAR!!!!! Phoenix is sprawl. We have a defunct public transit system and we are working to fix it with an ever growing bus system and light rail. We are trying but may be too far behind to ever catch up without drastic measures. Sad I know.

All in All: Phoenix is a city that is under its deserved reputation. It has not come of age but it is well on its way to coming of age. It is a city that thinks in the philosophy of "If you come we will build it" not "If I build it they will come"

[Hotinthecity]

no culture. stupid people. strip malls everywhere. heat well into October (still 92 degrees). no jobs. nothing to do. lots of cement.

what was I thinking?

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by Hotinthecity

no culture. stupid people. strip malls everywhere. heat well into October (still 92 degrees). no jobs. nothing to do. lots of cement.

what was I thinking?

Leave---------especially with our growing unemployment rate, we need jobs for those people who can at least tolerate living here.

[matt345]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

What you need to do is plan a trip to the Phx area---------and, for God's sake; 'read the tea leaves'.

I am referring to things like either roadblocks in your path (which would indicate you should reconsider visiting) or 'doors opening up'.........which are telling you Phx would be a good place to consider.

Well, I'm not really planning to move to Phoenix. I'm actually quite happy right now in LA. It's just that I love visiting different cities and after having been to New York, Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Miami, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and of course Los Angeles, a trip to Phoenix sounds very interesting to me.

[JakeInSoCal]

Originally Posted by matt345

Well, I'm not really planning to move to Phoenix. I'm actually quite happy right now in LA. It's just that I love visiting different cities and after having been to New York, Washington DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Miami, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, San Diego, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and of course Los Angeles, a trip to Phoenix sounds very interesting to me.

I like the way you live, for I too love visiting other cities. Especially International ones.

[ebuch]

How's the nightlife in phoenix?

[zenkonami]

Thanks to those who commented about my post. I'm humbled and will try to keep all my posts as even-handed, knowing that I haven't always in the past. Plenty of other people have made fantastic posts on this thread and I hope this thread helps people considering visiting or moving to / from Phoenix.

How's the nightlife in phoenix?

Depends on where you are. There are spots that hop at night like Mill Avenue (though not so much in the summer), several of the major shopping centers / malls, and there are some good pubs / bars all over town, but unfortunately are spread out all over the place. Phoenix doesn't really have a good "Main Street" where the nightlife lives. It's just not a pedestrian town, which is a shame because night time is the perfect time to be walking around in the city.

Maybe some other people can offer some more specific locations that are a bit more lively, but when I lived there we'd usually have to pick our destination for the evening, drive there (club, bar, theater, etc...) and that pretty much rounded out the evening. There often wasn't an option to follow up as most places were isolated by roadways, parking lots and just the shear size (area) of the city.

[garisonthebull]

Zeko every now and again you find that you are blessed with a masterpiece. Do not concern yourself with an even hand. For no masterpeice can exhist when you tie your opinion. Speak freely and opinionated. For I have no doubt after the post here that all of your writes will be something to read for sure.

[aughra]

Well... Phoenix is hot in the summer. We hit the triple digits somewhere around the middle or end of May. That lasts until about mid Sept and then we get mid-high 90s til maybe beginning of oct then its starts going down. Winter is usually 60s-to70s chilly at night with our own little winters here and there, freezes occasionally and we cover our plants etc. The only good thing about summer is that winter is on its way. The climate is very very dry, with the exception of the summer rainy season and a brief winter rainy time. Then the humidity goes up a bit but if you are use to humidity it's nothing. Housing is cheap right now, a house that two years ago cost 500 gs is now about 225 g. Lots of shopping etc. stuff to do etc. jobs you would have to check your field. One thing about phoenix, is its location. 5 hour drive to la. 2 hours and you are in the high country and cooler weather. in the winter 2 hours to skiing. 5 and half hour drive to vegas. you get the pic.