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Cool, somebody already revived this post so I won't be the guilty one! I'm absolutely torn between Phoenix and LA. I kind of like the looks of PHX even more and I know it's certainly cheaper. I've always dreamed of owning a home too, maybe an old one in central Phoenix. As somebody whose finishing college kind of late, I need to prioritize the employment opportunity. With that being said: Of LA or Phoenix, which city would I be more likely to find an entry level accounting/bookkeeping job? And to keep the comparison purely focused on employment opportunities, lets just say cost of living was not a factor either.
I don't think LA is a great city by any stretch of the imagination, but Phoenix is unquestionably the worst major city in the United States. Go to LA and you can actually see some nifty stuff -- the Queen Mary, the Pacific Ocean, Hollywood, the mountains. There's a lot going on there. It can be a dirty, violent place, too, and ridiculously hot and poluted at times, but since those are some of my lesser complaints about Phoenix, they don't hurt LA in the slightest.
Move to Phoenix if you want to drown in elderly people/hispanics who are unwilling to integrate, root for pathetic sports franchises with bandwagoning fans, spend all day staring at dirt-colored mountains with no trees and no snow, and wait for 9 months out of the year to get to the 'good' months that everybody raves about. Seriously, all anyone ever talks about here is how WONDERFUL the winter weather is. How, precisely, does that justify the 100 degree temps for the other three quarters? Oh, oh, and my favorite; absolute favorite is: 'it's a dry heat.' That's like calling skin cancer 'body art.' It doesn't make the problem go away.
Which city is better to live in? Depends, but for me, it's LA. More to do, more people, overall more things to experience. better sports? Lakers > Anything Phoenix has better fun? LA again, it just offers more stuff to do. better quality of life? Phoenix, less expensive, less hassle, it's a bit more laid back...
LA is more cultural and has the beach. But if you're looking to avoid the problems that tend to force people out of Los Angeles - traffic, smog, congestion - a lot of people view Phoenix, particularly Scottsdale, as a close alternative.
I don't think LA is a great city by any stretch of the imagination, but Phoenix is unquestionably the worst major city in the United States. Go to LA and you can actually see some nifty stuff -- the Queen Mary, the Pacific Ocean, Hollywood, the mountains. There's a lot going on there. It can be a dirty, violent place, too, and ridiculously hot and poluted at times, but since those are some of my lesser complaints about Phoenix, they don't hurt LA in the slightest.
Move to Phoenix if you want to drown in elderly people/hispanics who are unwilling to integrate, root for pathetic sports franchises with bandwagoning fans, spend all day staring at dirt-colored mountains with no trees and no snow, and wait for 9 months out of the year to get to the 'good' months that everybody raves about. Seriously, all anyone ever talks about here is how WONDERFUL the winter weather is. How, precisely, does that justify the 100 degree temps for the other three quarters? Oh, oh, and my favorite; absolute favorite is: 'it's a dry heat.' That's like calling skin cancer 'body art.' It doesn't make the problem go away.
I like both LA and Phoenix and it is obvious to me that there is more to do in LA than in Phoenix.
Having said that, maybe YOU spend all day staring at the walls or dirt-colored mountains (if that is the way that you see Phoenix), but it seems pretty obvious to me that you need to get out a little more often as there is no shortage of things to do here...either that or perhaps find a new group of people to hang with...and no, PHX is not just littered with elderly people or hispanics who are unwilling to integrate. What a horrible generalization for you to make.
I moved to Phoenix back in August -- would definitely pick it again over LA.
LA is too expensive. The quality of the freeways is horrid. People there are very fake, and pretend to be more important than you because they live in LA.
Phoenix is great. The highways are all paved with rubberized pavement, and they're some of the smoothest roads I've ever driven on. If you plan your living / work arrangement well, you never have to worry about congestion (I've never really been stuck in bad traffic here). There's plenty to do -- several lakes, mountains to hike, day trips to be had. If you want to escape the heat for a weekend, you can drive up north, into the mountains. In the winters, the weather here is amazing, and you can be on a ski slope in a couple of hours!
Earlier, someone said that Phoenix is LA without the beach -- and that's pretty much spot on. And, without the beach, you don't get the stigma that comes with the beach. You get a cheaper cost of living, less tourists, and friendlier people. While palm trees aren't native, they grow well here, so there's plenty lining the streets. Anywhere in Phoenix, you get beautiful mountain views on the horizon. If you ever have to fly out of Phoenix, you'll find Sky Harbor airport is a LOT easier to navigate than LAX, with almost no lines for security, and friendly staff. Flying out of LAX took me three hours from door to gate. It took me less than 30 minutes at Sky Harbor.
I can't speak for job markets, but I think LA might have Phoenix beat here. While there are plenty of jobs in Phoenix, there's more people in LA, and more companies, so probably more accounting / bookkeeping jobs.
And don't listen to ShrikeArghast about the heat. It's the beginning of May, and we haven't seen the hundreds since last October. Because of the lack of humidity, 110 degrees here feels like 85 in Florida. There's maybe 2 or 3 months that are constantly above 115 degrees, and that's when it starts to feel just plain hot. I'd say 115-120 degrees here is about comparable with 90-95 degrees in Florida. Though at night, in the winter, people don't mention that it's a dry cold! 60 degrees at night in the desert feels like 30 degrees elsewhere! Summers in LA don't reach as high temperatures as Phoenix, with highs peaking in the low hundreds, but LA is more humid than Phoenix, so you'll be feeling that 100 degrees.
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