Arizona - not a livable state

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Judging people by their clothes is a classic eastern bias behavior and another reason why I would not want to live anywhere east of the Mississippi (except the UP of Michigan). Imagine having to wear a tie to eat in a restaurant .

Very well put.

I am a jeans and T shirt person; admittedly I 'clean up' well, just that I feel like a phony all dolled up-------it simply is not me.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by irwin

Possibly...that is some of it.

But I have to say that the culture and livability in places like San Francisco, Seattle and even Portland seem much more in line with back east than Arizona.

I think this is especially true in regards to the people who seem much more educated, intellectual, driven, and ambitious. I think this rubs off on their children who are much the same and thus generally much more successful and intelligent. There were simply too many fools walking around Arizona with tattoos all over their arms, hats turned sideways, over-sized athletic jerseys, and shorts hanging off their rear ends; would never want a child of mine to end up like that. You see that back east but really only in the hood. In Arizona you see it in Scottsdale.

Please be a realist: yes, our housing prices have hit disgusting levels (and are finally crashing), but, some of us blue collar working people would actually like to be able to own a home. San Francisco Bay Area is flat overpriced with Seattle/Portland not all that much cheaper--------or, the commute is ghastly.

No thank you; give me my quiet albeit somewhat 'rough looking' communities like Kingman, etc.

NOTE: I am a Wash DC native and that place, aside from the Smithsonian, etc. ranks barely above a toxic waste dump in livability. Harsh words but my opinion.

Sorry; the natural greenery ain't worth it.

And; before you trot out the fact that many places in '4 season' country are inexpensive, my comeback would be that I despise that nasty slushy winter crap-------the main reason I left DC in 1978 was due to the above. One need not shovel heat.

[davfar]

I hate the slush myself...imagine stepping out of your car into deep wet cold slush...bleh! However, it's worth it to suffer through that! It's only a quarter of the year, the rest of the year is great...especially autumn!
I'll be going down to Tuscon next summer to visit my brother (just moved there in April). Probably a bad time of year to go down there, but it's an experience! I'll have to bring pictures of home to remind him of what he's missing....he says it's the best move he's ever made though.

[Bill-]

Originally Posted by irwin

I think this is especially true in regards to the people who seem much more educated, intellectual, driven, and ambitious. I think this rubs off on their children who are much the same and thus generally much more successful and intelligent. There were simply too many fools walking around Arizona with tattoos all over their arms, hats turned sideways, over-sized athletic jerseys, and shorts hanging off their rear ends; would never want a child of mine to end up like that. You see that back east but really only in the hood. In Arizona you see it in Scottsdale.

It's obvious from a post like this that you are only comfortable within a very narrow and conformist strata of society and you're obsessed with packaging. It's no surprise that you weren't able to overcome your own prejudices and adjust to a culture other than "Urbanis Starbuckis".

[willnotreturn]

If your working and raising a family, the it appears the only time a neighborhood is good is when it's new. Because you have to tend to the children and their school activities, your not always available to fight the crime. And when you just absolutely must, your threatened with your life. So, how far can you live away from crime and still be able to commute to your job. Well, if you move over 30 miles away your definately going to loose the time with your children, and not always a phone call away when the school calls when little Johnny got hurt. You will have a 45 to an hour drive to get to him. So, what do we do. We vote out all the elected officials who don't want to be tough on crime to begin with, then maybe we stop being so politically correct, and let parents raise their kids and not the government. Whom, I might add keep weazzling their way into to telling us how to do it. Then we, put the creator back in the schools and maybe, just maybe, we will have a school of morals again. We could look at what has happened to the youth by what we have done in the school and the curriculum. The teaching of realtionships between partners has never been so difficult. Where does morals fit in to good neighborhoods. I guess it don't. If I say that I am prejudice. Because I would like for all mankind to love one another and quit being haters because of the color of our skin. And then the entitled ones who use the color of their skin. Where does this stop? It don't. It's a me, myself and I society. And you can thank the school for that. I say move far out of the city, and HOME SCHOOL! And keep moving till there is no where to go. Then hopefully by then, the Father will come for you.

[MotleyCrew]

If San Francisco tops your list for "culture," then Phoenix would not be a good fit for you. It is one of the dirtiest cities we were forced to visit twice a year for conventions. Stepping over human waste, and humans that are wasted was too much.The smell of bleach in the morning with my coffee did not cut it for me either. Phoenix might not have the Bling you need, but it is a clean, vibrant city in my opinion and just coming into its own.