After a month..the good and bad.

[Foreverking]

I think even Charles Barkley got to spend a little time in Tent city

[azriverfan.]

Originally Posted by PoppySead

South Phoenix, West Chandler on Baseline by the freeway and mall. Just take a grocery shopping trip into the Safeway on Baseline and Kyrene. You have to go through metal detectors to grab a loaf of bread.

But, large cities everywhere have this, it's to be expected in some areas.

(1) Chandler doesn't touch Baseline, that area you are describing is Tempe.
(2) spray painting a few numbers or gang symbols isn't the same as an entire bridge or wall composed of gang symbols, and murals in neon colors that you see in large cities.
(3) I've been to that Safeway on Kyrene and Baseline and it's not anyting close to what you describe. Sure, it's not a Whole Foods, but it's hardly gang territory either.
(4) People haven't lived in large cities to know what real crime is like or what true graffiti looks like or people are exaggerating as usual

Originally Posted by Chanygirl

In many neighborhoods south and west of the 10....
On the west side between the 17 and the 101 south of say..Bethany Home Road. Thats north and south of the 10.
Some parts of Mesa
If you stay in Scottsdale you should be safe...But you will miss so much of what makes Phoenix special.

And that describes 1/20th of the Phoenix Metropolitan area so it's fair to say that bars and graffiti is a pretty rare thing in the Valley. Phoenix is criticized for lacking an urban presence however the positive is it also lacks many of the ghettos and barrios associated with other cities with larger developed downtowns.

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

The only thing I could come up with when I saw that is that either he does not know good Mexican food when it bites him in the tongue or he just has been to some very bad Mexican restaurants. Heck, those people in Minnesota think fish soaked in lye is delicious, so who knows. Nearly half the people here are of Mexican origin or heritage. Saying the midwest Mexican food is better than PHX Mexican food is like saying Thai food is better in MSP than it is in Bangkok. Sounds like someone who likes that New York City salsa!

It's similar to people making claims that we only have chain restaurants because that's all they see from the freeways. A lot of people eat at Abuelos, On the Border and Macayos and think our Mexican food is horrible compared to what they have back home. They haven't gotten to know the city and gone to places like Los Dos Molinos, and the hundreds of authentic taco shops dispersed all over the city like La Condesa.