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Old 06-27-2015, 11:51 PM
 
Location: AZ
2,090 posts, read 3,785,923 times
Reputation: 3736

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Quote:
Originally Posted by State_Hopper View Post
I created an account just to say that AZ, while fun for awhile, became a never-ending sun bath. After 6 years of living in Tempe/Scottsdale 101 loop corner off Pima Princess, I lost it. I think my breaking point was during Thanksgiving of '13. I was sitting there with the AC on and it was still in the 90's. That was also a dry year I believe so there was no variation in weather(no rain, no clouds, etc). Honestly, I don't know why they employ weathermen in that state. I guess they get some action 3-7 times a year when a monsoon or haboob rolls in. Anyways, I don't want to rant so I digress. I originally came from Seattle so I knew a life outside of AZ. Like most people on this thread, I fled the never-ending rain and cold to get the never-ending sun. AZ turned out to be like a crappy relationship almost. There was the initial romanticizing period where I loved every second of being there (great weather, great women, lots of malls, etc). This lasted about 2-3 years I'd say. This was followed by minor annoyances such as people always talking about their state of origin like it's some holy land or having to change my tire in 118 degree heat. It all culminated in a deep desire to leave. Not back to Seattle, but to somewhere where there's seasons and variation. I ended up in Minnesota where my wife's originally from and I love it. Honestly, I could still be in the romanticizing phase right now (it's been about 2 years), but I love having an actual winter, spring, summer, and fall. It's great! Not to mention the fact that people overall love this state and don't talk about other states as if they're desperate to move back. I will actually be transitioning to NYC in August for a new job so we'll see how it pans out there, but I would move back to Minneapolis in a heartbeat. However, I tell my wife that it'd take a very, very high salary offer to get me to move back to AZ (an unrealistic salary). The heat just beats on your soul like a switch till you just can't take it anymore, which was 6.5 years for me. I'd say give it a shot. My parents are actually moving there for their pre-retirement so I'll always be connected to the state in some way. I'll only be visiting them though between the months of December and February. Best of luck to all those enjoying today's sandstorm and to those looking to move to AZ, please have some foresight into what the state might be like post-romanticizing period.

P.S. Don't listen to the locals on moving advice. Most have never lived outside of AZ so they don't really have any sort of baseline and are very loyal to their roots (not a bad thing).
While Az isn't for everyone why do you and others feel the need to exaggerate the temps? The high temp for Nov 28 2013 was 71 and the record high was only 80 in 2014.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Mean Temperature 60 °F
Max Temperature 71 °F......80 °F (2014)
Min Temperature 48 °F ......35 °F (2005)


I'm glad that Mn weather works for you but personally I can't stand all the rain and dreary weather that comes along with it not to mention the long cold winters. Everyone's tolerance to hot or cold is different and while the cold never bothered me while younger,I can't stand it now. I'm not thrilled about extreme heat either but for me it's the lesser of the 2 evils. Maybe in the future I'll feel the same about the heat and move on somewhere else but for now I'm looking forward to calling Az home in the near future.

 
Old 06-28-2015, 06:33 AM
 
9,673 posts, read 11,030,809 times
Reputation: 8386
Quote:
Originally Posted by LongNote View Post
I'm really not sure what you're arguing... Phoenix is too hot and too dry for my taste... Phoenix is much hotter and drier than most metros in the world. Have you actually ever been in Phoenix other than to visit?
I thought I was pretty clear. I proved that your statement was exaggerated based off of YEARS of temperature records. After all, this site is called "City-Data". It was proof that you were wrong. Yet you threw it out out because the only thing that mattered was your visit. Well, that is like a person who experienced a statistical outlier of several days of rain (which happened last year before the Superbowl). Can you easily see that you cannot describe Phoenix as "rainy" just because it happened to the people who visited during an odd occurrence?

To answer your other question, I live in the Phoenix area 6 months a year. All 6 of those months are awesome and below 90 degree average temps. In fact, 7 out of the 12 months average below 90 degrees. You have every right to ignore facts and refuse to see that you are wrong. Now if your point was that any 90 degree weather is too hot for you, fine. No one is arguing with you on that point.
 
Old 06-28-2015, 11:02 AM
 
81 posts, read 82,531 times
Reputation: 112
Quote:
Originally Posted by State_Hopper View Post
I ended up in Minnesota where my wife's originally from and I love it. Honestly, I could still be in the romanticizing phase right now (it's been about 2 years), but I love having an actual winter, spring, summer, and fall. It's great! Not to mention the fact that people overall love this state and don't talk about other states as if they're desperate to move back.
Tastes differ, I guess... I was in Minneapolis for nearly 25 years (moved from NY for school). Never loved it. For the first couple years I slightly enjoyed the novelty of it, although I thought the people were a little off ("Minnesota Nice" and standoffish - all my friends were other transplants). I tolerated the cold and the weeklong stretches of gray days. I tolerated the boredom of having nowhere interesting to go on weekends--Duluth, Iowa, and Wisconsin held little appeal. I endured being cooped up for months in the winters and scraping ice off my car and seeing nothing but snow and brown dirt out the window for half the year. Honestly, I was change-averse and it took a trip to AZ with my husband to shake me up and make me realize we could move somewhere else.

We're in Phoenix now and love it. Endless sun, heat... Interesting desert vegetation and palm trees (landscaping must be cheap here, because everywhere we look, it's gorgeous). On weekends we can do road trips up north and once we've gotten our fill of Sedona and Prescott we'll try Nevada, New Mexico, San Diego... This weekend we saw the Boyce Arboretum. It's magical. Stopped at a little roadside Mexican place for lunch. It's so different here. People are friendlier. Streets are cleaner. I'm sure eventually I'll miss crisp, cool fall days a little but otherwise, the climate suits me fine. The heat only bothers me if we're out on a hike and stay out too long. The dryness helps a lot. Going from chilly air-conditioned spaces to a blast of dry heat and back again actually feels nice.

Overall, to anyone, I'd say - if you hate endless heat and don't mind cold and gray days, try MN. If you hate gray/cold and don't mind heat, try AZ. If you hate both extremes, try California, I guess, if you can afford it...
 
Old 06-28-2015, 11:37 AM
 
717 posts, read 1,050,139 times
Reputation: 2250
Quote:
Originally Posted by cherrylimeade View Post

Overall, to anyone, I'd say - if you hate endless heat and don't mind cold and gray days, try MN. If you hate gray/cold and don't mind heat, try AZ. If you hate both extremes, try California, I guess, if you can afford it...
I think way too many people make the mistake of thinking that you have to have one extreme or the other. There are places all over this country that don't require one to endure endless days of sub zero temps in winter or months of 100+ degree weather in the summer. It doesn't have to be wild extremes or California. I think if people were a little more calculating in their move planning (when possible) it would make for less fanatical and polarized reactions to places like Phoenix.
 
Old 06-28-2015, 04:54 PM
 
375 posts, read 604,378 times
Reputation: 576
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maroon197 View Post
I think way too many people make the mistake of thinking that you have to have one extreme or the other. There are places all over this country that don't require one to endure endless days of sub zero temps in winter or months of 100+ degree weather in the summer.......
I think you just described "Prescott".
But you better be retired or bring your job with you.
 
Old 06-29-2015, 06:29 AM
 
9,673 posts, read 11,030,809 times
Reputation: 8386
If the weather is perfect, that means it's expensive and incredibly crowded. San Diego and (to a lesser degree) the Bay Area comes to mind.

It is much cheaper for me to have two homes (one in MN and one and AZ) versus 1 home in San Diego. But my housing/location strategy is kind of a PITA. Moving every 6 months is a pain as well as the up-keep/updating 2 places gets old fast.

For me at least, locations in the middle of the country like Colorado is still too cold in the winter months and I really am done with snow. But I could certainly live there without too much trouble. But there is no shortage of wind in the Denver area. As we all know, it's always about trade-offs. Also, anything that has ideal winter temps will have some severe trade-offs in the summer months including thick humid weather which I despise even more than the cold and snow.

So like all subjective decisions, there are trade-offs and people who can more easily tolerate one category or the other will struggle to grasp how other people can do it. Additionally, there is a phenomena of people needing a new set of problems. For instance I served 48 winters which got tougher and tougher. This is no different that people in PHX moving to MN to freeze their arse off. They can handle it because it is a new set of problems.

Last edited by MN-Born-n-Raised; 06-29-2015 at 06:51 AM..
 
Old 06-29-2015, 08:26 AM
 
81 posts, read 82,531 times
Reputation: 112
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coop01 View Post
I think you just described "Prescott".
But you better be retired or bring your job with you.
Yes, that's a good point. If you're in a field that has jobs everywhere, like nursing or teaching, you may have more flexibility. We're in IT (business analysis and UX), which pretty much limits us to major metro areas. My field is more specialized than my husband's, so when we looked at a map of where a decent concentration of jobs are for me, our relocation choices were hot and dry (Phoenix), hot and humid (Texas), cold and snowy at least part of the year (Denver, Chicago) or insanely expensive (New York, Bay Area).

Quote:
Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised View Post
If the weather is perfect, that means it's expensive and incredibly crowded. San Diego and (to a lesser degree) the Bay Area comes to mind.

. . . .like all subjective decisions, there are trade-offs and people who can more easily tolerate one category or the other will struggle to grasp how other people can do it. Additionally, there is a phenomena of people needing a new set of problems. For instance I served 48 winters which got tougher and tougher. This is no different that people in PHX moving to MN to freeze their arse off. They can handle it because it is a new set of problems.
Also good points. I spent a couple days in San Francisco last week. A 2BR apartment in the neighborhood my budget hotel was in (North Beach), where there's trash in the streets and I got threatened by a belligerent shoplifter a half hour into my visit, costs literally over a million dollars. It's insanely expensive there, along with other tradeoffs. (Tip: if you see a slightly deranged-looking guy shoving bottles of nail polish under his t-shirt in Walgreens, don't turn your head even slightly to look.)

I love that metaphor of "serving" 48 winters. I served 24 in MN plus almost as many in my home state of New York. I am done shoveling snow, scraping ice, bundling up to go anywhere, and sliding all over the road. I'd rather deal with sweltering heat than endure another bad winter. That probably sounds nuts to someone who's recently moved from the desert to MN and still thinks (as I initially did) that the winters are manageable. It just wears you down over time. Maybe heat does too, but I think heat is easier to deal with.
 
Old 06-29-2015, 09:09 AM
 
Location: Sonoran Desert
38,955 posts, read 50,875,947 times
Reputation: 28134
Quote:
Originally Posted by cherrylimeade View Post
Yes, that's a good point. If you're in a field that has jobs everywhere, like nursing or teaching, you may have more flexibility. We're in IT (business analysis and UX), which pretty much limits us to major metro areas. My field is more specialized than my husband's, so when we looked at a map of where a decent concentration of jobs are for me, our relocation choices were hot and dry (Phoenix), hot and humid (Texas), cold and snowy at least part of the year (Denver, Chicago) or insanely expensive (New York, Bay Area).



Also good points. I spent a couple days in San Francisco last week. A 2BR apartment in the neighborhood my budget hotel was in (North Beach), where there's trash in the streets and I got threatened by a belligerent shoplifter a half hour into my visit, costs literally over a million dollars. It's insanely expensive there, along with other tradeoffs. (Tip: if you see a slightly deranged-looking guy shoving bottles of nail polish under his t-shirt in Walgreens, don't turn your head even slightly to look.)

I love that metaphor of "serving" 48 winters. I served 24 in MN plus almost as many in my home state of New York. I am done shoveling snow, scraping ice, bundling up to go anywhere, and sliding all over the road. I'd rather deal with sweltering heat than endure another bad winter. That probably sounds nuts to someone who's recently moved from the desert to MN and still thinks (as I initially did) that the winters are manageable. It just wears you down over time. Maybe heat does too, but I think heat is easier to deal with.
I've served over forty summers in the desert and the heat does wear you down. Avoiding it becomes a preoccupation. One that usually results in an extended stay in the house, bored, miserable because it costs too much to run the AC at a truly comfortable setting, and wishing you were anywhere but here. A MN (well maybe not MN, but something a little more temperate) winter sounds inviting and easier to deal with than another summer here.
 
Old 06-29-2015, 09:28 AM
 
Location: AriZona
5,229 posts, read 4,568,524 times
Reputation: 5507
Quote:
Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised View Post
"If the weather is perfect, that means it's expensive and incredibly crowded..."


"...For instance I served 48 winters which got tougher and tougher..."
The first part above sounds right.

I'm beginning to wonder if you actually meant survived in the second part?
 
Old 06-29-2015, 10:37 AM
 
Location: In the hot spot!
3,939 posts, read 6,677,005 times
Reputation: 4091
I had to laugh when I read this line: *"The heat just beats on your soul like a switch till you just can't take it anymore," not disagreeing, but I had never heard it described that way.
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