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Well I am glad you have found a great place to live your life...I found it in Phoenix. Love the people, especially natives and new transplants who love to interact. I love nights when D-Backs play mid-Western teams because I have neighbors from Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis, etc. It is extremely friendly in this part of town.
I would suspect that people in those areas of Phoenix are secluded in their neighborhoods but probably have friends that live elsewhere making it SEEM rather unfriendly in their neighborhood. When neighbors don't interact, then it does seem cold. I can't walk around downtown, North Central, Uptown, the gayborhoods, etc. without saying hello to strangers thousands of times. People even WAVE to each other in traffic here and let people into a lane! I know right!!!
I couldn't care less about the heat, but I hate the sprawl of PHX. I think Phoenix is a city that is just made for the opportunity to become a truly great American city and even a world city.
Wonderful climate year-round (besides late June to early September, the weather is actually quite pleasant. I'll take three months of rough weather and nine months of heaven)
Beautiful scenery (the sonoran desert has tons of wildlife and plants and interesting species like the saguaro, not to mention the mountains)
Relative proximity to both snow and ocean
Smooth gradient
Amazing sunsets
This place really could be awesome. But the sprawl is killing it.
I couldn't care less about the heat, but I hate the sprawl of PHX. I think Phoenix is a city that is just made for the opportunity to become a truly great American city and even a world city.
Wonderful climate year-round (besides late June to early September, the weather is actually quite pleasant. I'll take three months of rough weather and nine months of heaven)
Beautiful scenery (the sonoran desert has tons of wildlife and plants and interesting species like the saguaro, not to mention the mountains)
Relative proximity to both snow and ocean
Smooth gradient
Amazing sunsets
This place really could be awesome. But the sprawl is killing it.
The sprawl factor is my #1 complaint about this place. Although in all fairness; since I vastly prefer living in the enclaves built prior to ca. 1960, sprawl is a moot point.
since there is so much land out west, sprawl was/is inevitable....cheaper to build out than up.....
apparently, the majority of people want a cheap house to live in, so cheap means going further out to the cheap land and building.....
only when it's a crisis or enough people give a damn will the politicos make moves to limit it.....but then you get into private property rights and that ends up in court and..........
The sprawl factor is my #1 complaint about this place. Although in all fairness; since I vastly prefer living in the enclaves built prior to ca. 1960, sprawl is a moot point.
I agree. I didn't see the dangers of the sprawl at first but now it's becoming more evident as places that used to thrive in the interior are becoming wastelands because everything keeps spreading outward. The Fiesta Mall/Dobson Ranch area used to be really nice and the area is dying. Granted it wasn't a posh or upscale place by any means but it was nice and a place people wanted to live in, now it's gotten kind of run down. There are more examples of this all over the city but this was one I'm familiar with. Now, I'm seeing this phenomenon approach my area as the north side of Elliot near I-10 is becoming barren. It just seems to be a common theme here. A new subdivison/shopping area wll emerge and in time it too will eventually die as something newer and bigger will be created further outward. You just don't see this happening so fast in other cities because the nice areas are relatively stable and remain that way for a long time. As all of you know, I love Phoenix and it's my home but this is an issue we have to address. A month ago, we were discussing City North and I agree with Silverbear that there was no reason for a shopping area like that to go up there and instead more should be done to address downtown and the interior. People didn't ask a very simple question: what happens to the old developments when new ones keep emerging further away from the city...they die as we can see.
I dont want to start a riot here, but after having lived in Phoenix for 3 years, I felt like it was a big mistake, so I wanted to warn people that might be thinking about moving to Phoenix. When I first visited Phoenix, it was kinda neat, the palm trees, the desert etc, but when you actually move there, it is a different story.
The heat, it does not matter how much ppl try to say that it is a "dry heat", it is just horrendous! I am currently living in Minnesota and not even a -15 F winter day in Minnesota is worse than a 115 F day in Phoenix. Because Phoenix is mostly a transplant town, it is a place with no culture!
Im confused. How does the temperature relate to it being a transplant town? Half the people in my college class were born and raised in Phoenix or Tucson. Even my teacher is a native!
Anyway, It's a big city of course people aren't going to say hi to you. What if someone said hi and showed their glock to you? People are polite saying excuse me and sorry when they did something wrong. It is the few that truly **** people off.
One of those transplants pissed off my wife asking what is taking her so long to finish loading her groceries. Wow. I didn't know NASCAR was in an isle in walmart.
There is a lot of culture, you only need to look at the Arizona historical website.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lukeache
People dont say hi, how are you or good morning, and try saying Hi to people, many will look at you like you are out of your mind. It is a very plastic place, men made lakes and very superficial people. If you go to the "upscale" areas like Scottsdale, it is mostly 30K millionaires with leased BMW's trying to impress you with their mindless talk. Also, Phoenix similarly to Vegas is a "crap magnet", for whatever reason, all the trash from the South goes to Phoenix, thinking that they are going to strike gold, this migration only creates an underclass of homeless people, strippers, white supremacists,criminals, shady people, drug dealers, meth addicts, white trash etc! It is just horrible!!
If you stay away from south Phoenix or pocket crime areas of any city, you can avoid those problems.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lukeache
I dont know how the economy is now, but a few years ago, it was very weak, even jobs with the state of Arizona paid 9-10 dollars/hr, terrible!!
Get a worth while degree then. Start your own business, why is this so hard to fathom? There are plenty of jobs that pay minimum wage to 14 an hour starting. If you achieve a degree in math,science, and most any career field you can achieve much more.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lukeache
This is by far the most plastic, soulless, cultureless, cookie cutter city in this country. If you are looking for a "lower cost of living", Dallas and Houston are much better than Phoenix, bearable heat and much better job market. Phoenix in 20 years will be just like LA, even the gangs have moved to AZ because the laws are less stringent, it is a very chaotic metro area growing outwards without planning and infra structure..I most certainly do not recommend this metro area to anybody!
Then you go on about Texas. Trust me Texas is not a fun place to live. A lot of soulless, unforgiving, pompous people live in Texas. Large amount of humidity, hurricanes, a large car theft problem that seems to be ignored. I hope you never have kids and get divorced because you will never see your kids ever again. This is another popular thing in Texas.
Maybe you don't understand but I understood after living in Arizona for 10 years. This state is hugely more deserve then any state in the United States. It's ridiculous. The media predominate section is Hispanic, but what the news doesn't cover are the large amount of native Africans, east Europeans, middle eastern, specifically Iran, coming into Phoenix. There are also many large reservations of apache, pima and others im sure i can't name. Its intense. It isn't like California where race is the big factor. It is more of a class structure and that is ok with me.
Im confused. How does the temperature relate to it being a transplant town? Half the people in my college class were born and raised in Phoenix or Tucson. Even my teacher is a native!
Anyway, It's a big city of course people aren't going to say hi to you. What if someone said hi and showed their glock to you? People are polite saying excuse me and sorry when they did something wrong. It is the few that truly **** people off.
One of those transplants pissed off my wife asking what is taking her so long to finish loading her groceries. Wow. I didn't know NASCAR was in an isle in walmart.
There is a lot of culture, you only need to look at the Arizona historical website.
If you stay away from south Phoenix or pocket crime areas of any city, you can avoid those problems.
Get a worth while degree then. Start your own business, why is this so hard to fathom? There are plenty of jobs that pay minimum wage to 14 an hour starting. If you achieve a degree in math,science, and most any career field you can achieve much more.
Then you go on about Texas. Trust me Texas is not a fun place to live. A lot of soulless, unforgiving, pompous people live in Texas. Large amount of humidity, hurricanes, a large car theft problem that seems to be ignored. I hope you never have kids and get divorced because you will never see your kids ever again. This is another popular thing in Texas.
Maybe you don't understand but I understood after living in Arizona for 10 years. This state is hugely more deserve then any state in the United States. It's ridiculous. The media predominate section is Hispanic, but what the news doesn't cover are the large amount of native Africans, east Europeans, middle eastern, specifically Iran, coming into Phoenix. There are also many large reservations of apache, pima and others im sure i can't name. Its intense. It isn't like California where race is the big factor here. It is more of a class structure and that is ok with me.
I just had to step in on this one. Texas is a sh#@hole. I tried to move there years ago and I absolutely hated it. The most unfriendly state I have ever seen in my life. I agree completely with what you said.
I agree. I didn't see the dangers of the sprawl at first but now it's becoming more evident as places that used to thrive in the interior are becoming wastelands because everything keeps spreading outward. The Fiesta Mall/Dobson Ranch area used to be really nice and the area is dying. Granted it wasn't a posh or upscale place by any means but it was nice and a place people wanted to live in, now it's gotten kind of run down. There are more examples of this all over the city but this was one I'm familiar with. Now, I'm seeing this phenomenon approach my area as the north side of Elliot near I-10 is becoming barren. It just seems to be a common theme here. A new subdivison/shopping area wll emerge and in time it too will eventually die as something newer and bigger will be created further outward. You just don't see this happening so fast in other cities because the nice areas are relatively stable and remain that way for a long time. As all of you know, I love Phoenix and it's my home but this is an issue we have to address. A month ago, we were discussing City North and I agree with Silverbear that there was no reason for a shopping area like that to go up there and instead more should be done to address downtown and the interior. People didn't ask a very simple question: what happens to the old developments when new ones keep emerging further away from the city...they die as we can see.
Note though once an area reaches about age 50; then it tends to start improving since the riffraff also moves in bands.
My G/F just bought a house near the Mormon Temple here in Mesa and everyone I have spoken with locally stated that things are getting better.
Another interesting fact about the Phoenix metro area is that, it is not set out like your "normal city"., it is spread west-east wards instead of in a round like manner, like 99% of American cities, therefore, there are no loops that go around the metro area. To go from extreme East(Goodyear) to extreme West (Apache Junction), you have to drive 55 miles! Yes, you heard it right, 55 miles to get from one extreme to another!! If you live in Tonopah and work in Apache Junction, we are talking about an 88 miles commute each way. In 10 years, as it continues to spread west-east wards, it will probably take 100 miles to go from extreme to extreme
Sorry, just can't stop myself! If you need to travel from Goodyear to AJ on a regular basis then maybe, just maybe YOU picked the wrong part of town to live in. Just a thought...
my family and i are moving to phoenix next year. and i have to say from reading most of your comments i'm a little intimidated. my husband will be going to school at the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute. we would like to find a place close to his school. not too sure what kind of neighborhood it's in. do you have any advice as to which neighborhood to stay away from? we have a son who's almost 2 now, so we're looking for a kid friendly area. we've been looking at apt. but a house would be nice as well. as long as it falls into our budget. ADVISE PLEASE
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Its intense. It isn't like California where race is the big factor. It is more of a class structure and that is ok with me. 
