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I have been to Oregon and back to Phoenix a few times. I have spent most of the time in Phoenix. Not by choice. I have my mother and sister out here. I have gotten into a lot of trouble in Phoenix as a youth. Not much for teens to do out here, except drugs. I did not get into it too heavy, but 99% of my friends did, and I no longer have them as friends. Phoenix more geared toward middle aged adults. Lots of things to do for a single mother, but not much for the kid.
I will say I love Oregon, the weather, the people, the forest! I will be moving back up there this June. I suggest visiting during the summer.
Be sure you really do enjoy fishing in man made lakes (unless you go up a few hours for natural ones).
Be sure you are ready for aggressive drivers(something I really missed from Oregon).
Sales tax(pretty high in Scottsdale, Surprise, other cities I cannot remember).
Red light cameras and Speed camera , pretty much everywhere you go( to help pay for the deficit the state is in)Phoenix Arizona Red Light Cameras Map
I have been to Oregon and back to Phoenix a few times. I have spent most of the time in Phoenix. Not by choice. I have my mother and sister out here. I have gotten into a lot of trouble in Phoenix as a youth. Not much for teens to do out here, except drugs. I did not get into it too heavy, but 99% of my friends did, and I no longer have them as friends. Phoenix more geared toward middle aged adults. Lots of things to do for a single mother, but not much for the kid.
I will say I love Oregon, the weather, the people, the forest! I will be moving back up there this June. I suggest visiting during the summer.
Be sure you really do enjoy fishing in man made lakes (unless you go up a few hours for natural ones).
Be sure you are ready for aggressive drivers(something I really missed from Oregon).
Sales tax(pretty high in Scottsdale, Surprise, other cities I cannot remember).
Red light cameras and Speed camera , pretty much everywhere you go( to help pay for the deficit the state is in)Phoenix Arizona Red Light Cameras Map
I have been to Oregon and back to Phoenix a few times. I have spent most of the time in Phoenix. Not by choice. I have my mother and sister out here. I have gotten into a lot of trouble in Phoenix as a youth. Not much for teens to do out here, except drugs. I did not get into it too heavy, but 99% of my friends did, and I no longer have them as friends. Phoenix more geared toward middle aged adults. Lots of things to do for a single mother, but not much for the kid.
I will say I love Oregon, the weather, the people, the forest! I will be moving back up there this June. I suggest visiting during the summer.
Be sure you really do enjoy fishing in man made lakes (unless you go up a few hours for natural ones).
Be sure you are ready for aggressive drivers(something I really missed from Oregon).
Sales tax(pretty high in Scottsdale, Surprise, other cities I cannot remember).
Red light cameras and Speed camera , pretty much everywhere you go( to help pay for the deficit the state is in)Phoenix Arizona Red Light Cameras Map
Also ASU is very well known for being party and std capital of universities Trojan ranks ASU #137 on sexual health - News (http://media.www.asuherald.com/media/storage/paper898/news/2008/04/28/News/Trojan.Ranks.Asu.137.On.Sexual.Health-3353244.shtml - broken link)
There are a lot more about Phoenix you should know about but I'm at work and don't have the time to list them all. Good luck
At least get your facts right! That article is about Arkansas State
I live in the West Valley. If I could afford it..i would have chosen the east valley. I think its prettier but the really nice parts are too expensive for me. I am from the east coast and hope to move back there because......i love the forests, rivers, lakes & streams!
BUT the desert is beautiful and monsoon season is really neat. I hope we have a wicked one this year. I also like that everyone here is from everywhere else so there is a really good mix of cultural and political backgrounds.
I have been to Oregon and back to Phoenix a few times. I have spent most of the time in Phoenix. Not by choice. I have my mother and sister out here. I have gotten into a lot of trouble in Phoenix as a youth. Not much for teens to do out here, except drugs. I did not get into it too heavy, but 99% of my friends did, and I no longer have them as friends. Phoenix more geared toward middle aged adults. Lots of things to do for a single mother, but not much for the kid.
I will say I love Oregon, the weather, the people, the forest! I will be moving back up there this June. I suggest visiting during the summer.
Be sure you really do enjoy fishing in man made lakes (unless you go up a few hours for natural ones).
Be sure you are ready for aggressive drivers(something I really missed from Oregon).
Sales tax(pretty high in Scottsdale, Surprise, other cities I cannot remember).
Red light cameras and Speed camera , pretty much everywhere you go( to help pay for the deficit the state is in)Phoenix Arizona Red Light Cameras Map
Also ASU is very well known for being party and std capital of universities Trojan ranks ASU #137 on sexual health - News (http://media.www.asuherald.com/media/storage/paper898/news/2008/04/28/News/Trojan.Ranks.Asu.137.On.Sexual.Health-3353244.shtml - broken link)
There are a lot more about Phoenix you should know about but I'm at work and don't have the time to list them all. Good luck
Well I've been to Phoenix and back a few times as well. I have spent most of my time in Oregon. Not by choice. I have my 81 year old mother, brother and daughter here and I take care of them all. I've been here over 20 years so I think I'm qualified to speak with a little authority on the subject. As I said in this original post, I was hoping this would be a positive thread.
I know much of the problems that life in Phoenix would have and I have done my research about moving to the desert so perhaps I should enlighten you to my world here in Oregon so you can be warned of what life is like here and maybe you can understand why someone would want to move to that hellish place like Phoenix.
I went to my daughters parent/teachers conference last night. Btw, my daughter is doing great. 4.0 gph, honor roll and she is #1 scholastically in her sophmore class and both her and I intend to keep it that way regardless of what school she attends. As a sophmore, she is already taking college courses and excelling at them.
You see, I believe that parents have just as much role in childrens education and the schools and teachers do. A lot of parents are using the school systems as a daycare service and that's why many good kids perform so badly in school. It's the parents responsibility to ensure a good education. It's actually easy if you start early so I don't worry too terribly much about the schools in Phoenix. The school my daughter attends has almost no sports programs now, no shop classes, no school counselors, the school week has been cut to 4 days and many if not more of the cuts that you have experienced in your school systems, we have long ago cut because the logging industry long ago was killed in Oregon because of "political correctness".
You speak of the drug problem there. Here in Oregon is a mecca for the drug trade. Please let me enlighten you.
THE DRUG PROBLEM IS EVERYWHERE.
Even in a small town in Oregon. Neighbors growing pot all over their yard because "they can". I know people that gave their kids, for their 13 birthday party, a pound of pot and smoked it with them to educate them about the benifits of that lifestyle. As you can surmise, it usually leads the kids to more powerful drugs, crack houses, drug dealing for a living, teen pregnancies, school dropouts, crime, alcoholism, etc.
Yes, Oregon is certainly a beatuful state. Unfortunately, you can only enjoy it perhaps 10 weeks a year. It rains so much that it's impossible to plan or do anything outdoors unless you have a rainsuit on over your thermal underwear and heavy coats. People end up looking like the Michelin man or the Pillsbury dough boy because of all the winter gear you have on. Your cars and homes turn green from the mold, interiors of anything get black mold simply by existing if they aren't heated 24/7. You can't enjoy a nice walk in the woods because of all the blackberry bushes.
We have a somewhat unique problem here in the northwest. Everything grows too much. If I don't mow my 6 acre lawn at least once a week during the summer, I need a machete to cut it down so I can get the riding mower thru it.
I'm wondering if you saw the news story about the most unhappy city in the nation. They based this survey on suicide rate, divorce rate, unemployment, weather, etc. Guess what place took the top honors????
PORTLAND OREGON.........
The city is dirty, crime ridden, drugs rampant, the roads are horrendous, the traffic is terrible and housing is absolutely rediculous. If I had to live in Portland I'd just stick my head in the oven and forget about it all.
Yes Oregon is a wonderful place. I hope you are happy when you move here but for my money, I'll take the sun and heat, the beauty of the desert landscape, the open spaces any day of the week.
Here on the Oregon coast, if you had the exact same weather report for 365 consecutive days, (rain, winds at least 15 to 25 mph, below 55 degrees) you would be correct better than 75% of the time. 119 inches of rain is the AVERAGE per year.
I see you are planing to move in June. That's a perfect time of year to move. Yes, I also suggest you VISIT during the summer. That 8 to 10 weeks is the only time of year it's tolerable. The weather is FINALLY improving and it only rains occasionally and I'll agree, there is no place more beautiful than Oregon during July and August. It's warming up, the mountains carpeted with lush forests, the lakes, rivers and ocean are sights to see. Unfortunately, come September or October, you better huddle up in your warm cars and homes for a brutal winter consisting of incessant driving rain, cold blowing winds and months of no sunshine whatsoever. Have you ever tried doing ANYTHING outside when it's blowing hard sideways rain??? Drenched and cold and your inside pretty quick regardless of what needs to be done.
During the winter, it's not uncommon to get a major storm that blows in with 120+ mph winds on the coastal headlands. I laugh when I hear of the hurricane force winds in the midwest on the news. 60+ mph winds???? Sheesh!!! with only winds of that magnitude, we are still going to the store to get stuff for dinner, going to the movies, bowling. (Notice how everything I just mentioned is INDOORS?) Just going from the store to your car is an adventure.
Even the hardy pioneers, those durable people that crossed this great country of ours on foot to get to the promised land, after crossing the great plains, after crossing the rockies, after dealing with the natives and all the hardships of getting to the Oregon territory, if you read their diaries, their biggest complaint was not the trip, not the bears or the natives attacking their villages, not leaving their families in the east, it was the short growing season and the incessant, constant pouring rain.......
Allow me to address your concerns about my welfare individually.
I enjoy fishing on any waters. Rivers, natural lakes, and yes, even manmade lakes. I don't fish to catch fish, I fish to enjoy the natural beauty this world offers, it's my way of getting away from it all. If I can put a few fish in the boat, that's only a plus.
When it's pouring rain, when the wind howles, when the high temp for the day is only going to hit 45, you'll find me in my home watching history channel. Since it's like that pretty much 10 months out of the year, my boat doesn't see much time on the water. As a matter of fact, I took the cover off my boat just yesterday and I had to clean all the green slime off the interior. I had grass growing out of the carpet.
Agressive drivers??? It's the same around here. Much like crime, you'll find aggressive drivers everywhere. If you let aggressive drivers get to you, then it's your problem. I drive the way I drive and I'm teaching my daughter how to drive. The first thing I teach her is to not let other drivers influence how you drive. If they want to pass, let them pass and forget about it. If they cut you off, give them some room. I grew up in LA so I'm very familiar with aggressive drivers. Let them do their thing and I'll do mine.
Sales tax???? Sure, we don't have a sales tax here in Oregon. Take a look at our property taxes and you'll see why. The state will get their share from someplace. Personally, I think Oregon should institute a sales tax to take advantage of our largest industry right now. Tourism. Anybody from out of state can come here and enjoy what Oregon has to offer with very little of their dollars going to keep the infrustructure in shape. Our roads lately are decaying and almost none of the tourist dollars spent here are taxed. It's all on the backs of the property owners.
Red light and speed cameras? Nope, we don't have those yet but they are talking about it. Doesn't really matter. Every governing body is looking for ways to get more money in the coffers. I'm sure Oregon will come around to accept the cameras if they haven't already done so. In the meantime, they have stepped up the troopers ability to write as many tickets as possible. Oregon just approached it a different way. I'm not opposed to the officers doing their jobs on the street, I'm opposed to the governing bodies not encouraging those officers to work on the drug problem in addition to bringing dollars in. It's not the officers fault, they only do what they are asked to do. I know some of the officers in my area and I've asked them why they don't do anything about the known drug dealers in the area. As it turns out, they don't have any incentive to do so. If they bust somebody for drugs, there is no money in it for the different government bodies. Some fancy lawyer will get them off on some technicality, the person busted usually has all their money hidden so there just isn't any "FINANCIAL" reason to aggressively go after the drug problem. It saddens me that the cities, counties and state officials think like this.
Hmm. Arizona is the "dumbest" state??? Personally, I don't totally agree with that. Perhaps the school system or should I say the legislature has let down the students of your great state but again, parents should take some responsibility for this as well. We as parents need to budget our time wisely when it concerns our children. School isn't just a place for kids to sit until parents come home from work. School isn't just a daycare center that a child might pick up a few things of interest. It isn't the states responsibility to "teach" our children. It's the states responsibility to provide the infrustructure for our children to learn and grow. A childs ability to be taught something is a personal choice that parents have a huge role in. A child has to be excited about school and learning. I've always told my kids to have fun in school. To enjoy this time of your lives before you get to the point where you're worried about "getting ahead". Go have fun, do well in school and your life is in your own hands. You don't have to follow the pack and it's perfectly ok to not buy into the "peer pressure" thing. If kids don't like you or respect you for not doing something they want you to do, then that's their problem and if they choose not to be friends with you, there are plenty of other fish in the sea. Frankly, my daughter does so well, is so well liked, that she could probably pee in the aisles and not much would be said. If you're a trouble maker, then all eyes are upon you and you'll be scrutinized by everyone waiting for you to do the wrong thing so they can disciplin you. It's all about attitude. I think every child has the ability to do well, very well in school but they have a bad attitude that ultimately stems from the parents. Also, I think as a parent, I have the right to question a teacher about their actions as well and I have done this a couple of times when I thought it was necessary. Don't get me wrong, I have a LOT of respect for teachers. Good teachers anyway. They do an extremely tough job with many kids that just don't give a hoot about anything and they do it for moderate pay and little recognition of the role they play in so many poeples lives. With that said, teachers are human too and make mistakes like all of us so when I see something wrong or an injustice I get involved because it's my daughter future at stake. When my daughter was 8 years old, just after her mother was in the car accident and things were bad, one of her teachers told the entire class that they " were taking stupid pills". My daughter came home crying. I was furious so I called the principle and he wasn't going to do much about it which upset me even more. As things went, I saw the teacher in the bank the next day. As he walked into the bank, I walked over to him and backed him into the corner and asked him what the hell he was doing. After I explained what I was miffed about, he said the kids took it out of context. My response was that they are 8 years old. They have an authority figure telling them they are stupid. I don't think they are concerned about what the teacher views as context. Guess what??? It got around school that I did this, my daughter respected dear old dad for standing up for her, the kids thought it was great, the teacher respected me for getting involved and apologized to the kids for being rude and insensitive and just plain wrong. They aren't stupid or dumb.
My point is folks, GET INVOLVED in your kids education. Take the time. You won't regret it. Everyone, even kids need to feel special, loved and respected.
ASU is a party and std capital. Ok. Fine. Self worth. Respect, dignaty, personal responsibility. Again, mostly taught by parents. See above.......
There is a lot more about Oregon you should know but I'm comfortably sitting at home and, while I do have the time to list them all, I don't have the desire. lol.
Good luck to you in Oregon my friend. You'll need it come winter in the northwest.
Yes, there are many things I appreciate about Oregon but much like you, I'm burned out here so I'm sorry I was so negative. That wasn't what I wanted out of this thread. I wanted to know the good stuff. What people LIKE about Arizona and the Phoenix area. Not what you hate about it. That's easy to find and there are many, MANY threads about that so lets get back on topic and tell me the GOOD STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's what I really want to hear about. What do you find interesting, what do you find fun and exciting about desert living, what is "cool" about Phoenix and what you do there????
Give me some good stuff to tell my daughter about what kind of life we could have there???
Last edited by maverick974; 04-16-2009 at 11:57 AM..
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