If Phoenix is that hot, why do so many move there? (crime, safe)

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by KurtAZ

Well...it did start out as a parkway. Used to be the Dreamy Draw Parkway...not so much anymore

Prior to it being a limited access freeway the part that goes through the Dreamy Draw may have had that name but I never heard it. I always heard it referred to as Northern Avenue. As soon as it became a freeway it was called the Squaw Peak Parkway.

[asufan]

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by KurtAZ

World Class Cities still get smog

For sure, that was never debated. If youre going that route, PHX's air is worse than Chicago's. I see the brown cloud nearly every day, its gross. I know we're in a Valley, but all of CA's pollution seems to travel here and stay trapped. Considering Chicago's metro area is about twice PHX's, it just illustrates how bad the problem is here.

Most Polluted Cities - State of the Air 2014 | American Lung Association

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by asufan

hardy har har

In all honesty, downtown Chicago is probably the safest big city downtown youll ever stroll. I felt far safer there than downtown Phoenix. Now, the neighborhoods on the southside of Chicago? Horrible. Worse than anything here by a long shot.

[KurtAZ]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

Prior to it being a limited access freeway the part that goes through the Dreamy Draw may have had that name but I never heard it. I always heard it referred to as Northern Avenue. As soon as it became a freeway it was called the Squaw Peak Parkway.

Yup, you are correct...the official name was the Squaw Peak Parkway and, if I remember correctly, the original speed limit was 45MPH...but we always called it the Dreamy Draw since that was the original road's name...again if I remember correctly. Which I may not be...that was way back in the 80s.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

hardy har har

In all honesty, downtown Chicago is probably the safest big city downtown youll ever stroll. I felt far safer there than downtown Phoenix. Now, the neighborhoods on the southside of Chicago? Horrible. Worse than anything here by a long shot.

Everything is better in Chicago. We have all heard it a million times. No need to repeat it.

Why is it that so many threads start turning into "Chicago, this, Chicago that?". FIBs being FIBs, I guess.

[jp03]

Originally Posted by Gixxer1K

There was snow yesterday,July 28, in Wyoming ! Yes, I'd say some parts of the country see a good 6 months of winter

LOL..thats the mountains ..so no counting that.

[jp03]

Originally Posted by Montanama

In Montana snow is expected at least October through April (no, not constant snow, but it's normal in any of those months, certainly not surprising in May and has been seen in June). The temperatures are what most of the country would call wintry for at least those months. Spring is iffy, and one definitely does not plant a vegetable garden or put out annuals until MEMORIAL DAY. Fall (September) can sometimes be lovely and might stretch into October with intermittent snow not unusual at that point. I've trick-or-treated in a parka and in short sleeves.

If wintry weather was only six months in Montana I wouldn't be spending all my time in Phoenix

But Montana does not stay cold through the whole winter as there are many mild spells..where as in Phoenix...well...you could fry that egg from April to October nonstop.

[Java Jolt]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

For sure, that was never debated. If youre going that route, PHX's air is worse than Chicago's. I see the brown cloud nearly every day, its gross. I know we're in a Valley, but all of CA's pollution seems to travel here and stay trapped. Considering Chicago's metro area is about twice PHX's, it just illustrates how bad the problem is here.

Most Polluted Cities - State of the Air 2014 | American Lung Association

Phoenix has an air pollution problem mostly because of dust.

Car exhaust and industry contribute to it too but dust is the main reason, which makes sense because this is a desert.

Notice how nearly all the metropolitan areas with the worst pollution are in the sunbelt.

Places having more sunny days than rainy days tend to be high on the list, frequent rainstorms have a way of cleansing the air.

[R_Cowgirl]

I moved here in the summer from Hawaii. My dogs looked at me like I was insane! "I'm wearin' FUR!!!"
But the thing I remember the most is marveling at how quickly the towels, laundry, my hair, and everything dried out so quickly. Living in Hawaii for decades, I had just resigned myself to things being damp. When I moved out of my Honolulu house, I looked in the back of the closet and was horrified at the mold along the walls that had been covered up with clothes.

I brought a dresser with me and noticed some termites, so I set it outside on the patio. Turns out those Formosan Hawaii termites are no match for the heat here. I thought I only had a few and was going to try and fumigate the furniture the next day. No need. I walked out in the morning to piles of little dead Formosan termites with their feet in the air. Lovely sight.

So now when I sigh about the "dry heat," I try and remember how nice it is to dry off with a towel after a shower, hang it up, and the next morning the towel is DRY! Yay! It's nice to wash my hair and have it dry and ready to go in 15 minutes instead of hours.

See? Everywhere has it's good points.

Yeah, it's not always easy here in Phoenix. But it's still beautiful most of the year. I count summer as 3 months (mid-June to mid-to-late August) because no matter how hot it gets in early June and late September, the nights are cool. That balances it out. So does travel to the coast and getting up early, taking a siesta around 3pm, staying up late when it cools down. Not that I drink all that much but, in this heat, Margaritas, Limoncello (made it fresh this year!!!) and Tequila shots help too!

(I love that line from Birdcage when the Senator says, "I don't really drink all that much." And Hagadorn says, "Yeah, well now is a good time to preten'!"