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Over the last couple years I have taken two trips out west. One was to LA, then a year later one to Phoenix. I spent a week in each city to just to relax and see how I liked each city. Numerous times in LA I remember saying to myself, "no need to look any farther, this place is it". And I really meant it too, with conviction. I mean the place was just crowded and overstimulating. My neurons hadn't fired so hard since my hard drug days. And then I went back home to FL and as time went by, LA became a distant memory. I only remember how I said to myself, "this place is for me".
I year later I take a scouting trip to Phoenix. It was still beautiful in March, lows in the 50's, highs at about 80. Low humidity and the most amazing golden sunlight and blue skies I've seen. I could be happy there too. Maybe own a little house even. PHX had a more Midwestern feel to it. Just look at the Phoenix forum, it sounds like a King of the Hill episode. All talking about what AC filters they use and how many chlorine pucks they use in the pool. And their is nothing wrong with that, I could go that route too. When I hear that wonderful crunchy sound of that dirt gravel in Arizona, it's almost mediation like to me, it clears my head. Or, is it better to put myself right in the middle of LA? Maybe an old apartment right around Hollywood and Western? Maybe a hardcore urban living experience will jolt me into manhood? I never went into the army, maybe this would be the next best thing.
Like I said I cold go either way, it's almost a question of which environment do I insert myself into. Which city will be better for my own well being and growth?
Last edited by New Horizons; 05-13-2012 at 09:57 AM..
Some people have the most twisted perceptions of Phoenix. Phoenix has some very nice areas and some very not-so-nice areas, just like every major American metropolitan area. Phoenix has that California vibe and whenever I'm there it's like being in inland Southern California and in the Desert Empire. The city is clean, safe (maybe safer than L.A.), and is reputable if not for its sports, shopping, and nice suburbs - Scottsdale, Chandlor, etc. No, it is not the anchor of a 22 million megaregion, but yes it is an up and coming city with a megaregion of it's own.
That aside, I choose L.A. The beach, if not anything else, wins for me and I'm not one of those people that would have to worry about the cost of living. This isn't to say I would despise living in Phoenix.
And one last thing: people shouldn't group Phoenix and Las Vegas against Southern Californian cities. They're miles apart. It's similar to say Portland and Seattle vs Vancouver.
I went to Phoenix for the first time a few weeks ago... For one, Phoenix did not seem to be as 'bad' as so many people on C-D make it out to be. However, the idea that it is a "mini-LA" does not seem like a very accurate description. Superficially it has a little in common, but for the most part is much more similar to somewhere like San Bernardino or Riverside.
Completely agree. I don't find Phoenix to have the urban density or tight walkable areas that are characteristic of certain areas in LA (K-Town, Little Tokyo, South Park, WeHo, Westwood etc). The Inland Empire is much closer in terms of sprawl, low density, sfh type housing stock, climate, etc.
L.A. has done all those things as well, and more frequently. The only thing L.A. doesn't have is Spring Training... which.... not sure if that's very important.
Im not sure about the importance of spring training either, but doesnt the Dallas Cowboys have their spring training in Thousand Oaks, which is in the LA area?
Im not sure about the importance of spring training either, but doesnt the Dallas Cowboys have their spring training in Thousand Oaks, which is in the LA area?
Yes, they used to do their training camps at Cal Lutheran, my alma mater. Built most of the older dorms in fact. Then they moved it to Oxnard, then back to Texas and (I believe) are now back in Oxnard again.
Phoenix is far from the ocean, WAY too dry, plus it has that monsoonal weather that makes the extreme summer heat even more unbearable. LA has better weather, and is near the beaches for when the weather does get unpleasantly hot. It's also true that Phoenix is a bit cooler in the wintertime. Both places are smoggy. I wouldn't choose either to live (both as good vacation spots), but if I had to pick one, LA.
LA by a lot! Phoenix to me is one of the worst cities ever! Yes surrounding landscape is beautiful, but as a city?! It's really quite terrible. I still don't understand how people like that place. The city lacks soul, culture, is ugly, extremely unsustainable, suburban, dead, and overall ugly architecture. It really is like hell!
I was once telling someone (in San Diego) that a cousin of mine had moved to Phoenix. He said "You don't move to Arizona, you get sentenced to Arizona."
LA has serious environmental problems. Phoenix has catastrophic ones. See Andrew Ross' Bird on Fire: Lessons from the World's Least Sustainable City.
Maricopa County (the county Phoenix is in) has elected racist, immigrant-hating sheriff Joe Arapio five times, and may vote him in for a sixth term on Tuesday. But their crime rate is still higher than Los Angeles'. LA has had some good elected officials and some bad elected officials, but nobody like that in a major elected office since Sam Yorty was defeated in 1973.
A house in Phoenix designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright may be demolished so a developer can build two houses on the lot. The city is trying to save it, but essentially can't declare it a landmark because of "property rights" legislation.
Phoenix did save a lot of mountain land for parks, I give them credit for that.
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