Is Phoenix the best alternative city to Los Angeles for Millennials?

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by Phil P

Most of non-coastal California is undeveloped or has plenty of room to expand, particularly the northeast. You would have to trade in the mega-urban experience of LA though if you lived there.

To me, that sounds like a more attractive option than the southwest US, because I don't know that climate change is going to be nice to that area and the mountain west a prettier area geographically. But if a person's not outdoorsy, then it's just the nearest big cities (Pheonix Austin Dallas...)

If climate change follows what happened in Phoenix this year, then Phoenix will be wetter, and as far as Koppen classification goes, Phoenix will no longer be a hot desert climate and actually become semi-arid, just like your city of Denver. Phoenix already straddles the line between desert and semi-arid anyway. Our summer monsoons and the heavy amount of rain we got in October almost all come from hurricanes that happened due south of us in Mexico. If Mexico sees more hurricanes on its west coast then we will see the fallout of those a lot of the time. Climate change points to more storms and natural disasters in general, who knows if that includes hurricanes in western Mexico.

If Phoenix does become wetter, then Phoenix will deal with a lot more flash floods. The hard soil in Phoenix is not very good for quick absorption of rain, especially since there is no native grass in the region, and as a result a lot of the rain goes into the washes and arroyos of the surrounding area. Many have been paved over depending how far in town you are and Phoenix hasn't invested in a good stormwater drainage system in the city because frankly we don't really need one. The result of putting in said drainage system and economic fallout of the flash floods (no one can get anywhere by car on a lot of roads and freeways) could be very negative.

Phoenix receives half if not more than half of annual precipitation in the months of July and August. We get a bit of a winter rain but it's miniscule. October 2018 was a huge anomaly, but there is the chance it's the new norm.

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by Prickly Pear

If climate change follows what happened in Phoenix this year, then Phoenix will be wetter, and as far as Koppen classification goes, Phoenix will no longer be a hot desert climate and actually become semi-arid, just like your city of Denver. Phoenix already straddles the line between desert and semi-arid anyway. Our summer monsoons and the heavy amount of rain we got in October almost all come from hurricanes that happened due south of us in Mexico. If Mexico sees more hurricanes on its west coast then we will see the fallout of those a lot of the time. Climate change points to more storms and natural disasters in general, who knows if that includes hurricanes in western Mexico.

If Phoenix does become wetter, then Phoenix will deal with a lot more flash floods. The hard soil in Phoenix is not very good for quick absorption of rain, especially since there is no native grass in the region, and as a result a lot of the rain goes into the washes and arroyos of the surrounding area. Many have been paved over depending how far in town you are and Phoenix hasn't invested in a good stormwater drainage system in the city because frankly we don't really need one. The result of putting in said drainage system and economic fallout of the flash floods (no one can get anywhere by car on a lot of roads and freeways) could be very negative.

Phoenix receives half if not more than half of annual precipitation in the months of July and August. We get a bit of a winter rain but it's miniscule. October 2018 was a huge anomaly, but there is the chance it's the new norm.

That is true about flooding. I think AZ is one of the worst states in the nation for flood damage due to the erraticness of the rain.

Tuscon gets 12 inches of rain, Denver gets 14-16, so I don't think Phoenix would look like Denver or Texas with more water, I think it'd still look Sonoran, just maybe lusher.