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Old 06-02-2012, 08:14 PM
 
Location: Bordentown
1,705 posts, read 1,608,631 times
Reputation: 2533

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June marks my 1 year anniversary here in the valley. I moved from the NYC metro area.
Here are my impressions of Tempe, the East Valley, and AZ in general.

The positives:
1) People are warm and friendly here. Much less rude than back East.
2) The weather is paradise. (I don't like the cold at all.) Even the AZ summers beat the humid 100 degree NYC summers.
3) The night time sky is beautiful. (I am an amateur astronomer). It is an astronomer's haven here.
4) "Traffic" on the 101 at rush hour (in and out of Chandler) and on the I-10/I-17 still moves... compared to NYC traffic!
5) They say the air quality is poor. However, my allergies and overall respiratory health (asthma) improved since I moved out here.
6) People are very active and are more health and green conscious.
7) Everything is so clean!
8) No tolls on the "freeways". (It took me a while to get used to saying "freeway". People on the east coast say "highway".)
9) I like that I see a bigger mix of liberals and conservatives living together. Yes, there are a higher number of conservatives here than in NYC but everyone seems to be civil about it.
10) everything has a more small town feel
11) people are much more civil on the road.
12) No one obnoxiously honks at you as soon as the light turns green.
13) There are places to park. You don't have to drive around 30 minutes looking for parking.
14) The mountains! Wow! The view of the mountains is incredible!
15) over 300 days of sunshine
16) Real estate is affordable. You get more "bang for your buck" here.


The negatives are:
1) the "flakyness" of 3 different real estate agents I worked with. I felt they were not "go-getters". I hope this isn't a reflection of the standard of how business is conducted.
2) all apartments have wall to wall carpet.
3) I feel as if getting an education is not appreciated as much,here. Teachers get paid very low salaries and many more students opt to go straight to work from high school. Perhaps this isn't such a bad thing since we do need unskilled workers and college isn't for everyone.. but it's the idea of striving for what's best, in my opinion.

Perhaps everything is still "new" to me but I'm enjoying AZ very much!
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Old 06-02-2012, 08:39 PM
 
73 posts, read 270,114 times
Reputation: 39
I love this. Thanks for posting!
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Old 06-02-2012, 09:20 PM
 
1,429 posts, read 2,427,218 times
Reputation: 1975
I'm guessing you're not a conservative, right?!

I just moved back to AZ (I'm a native so I can say this next comment with authority) and I find that people are not that friendly here anymore. They are way more friendly in TX and I thought people we're more charming in the DC area as well.
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Old 06-02-2012, 09:43 PM
 
Location: Bordentown
1,705 posts, read 1,608,631 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by breakingbad View Post
I'm guessing you're not a conservative, right?!

I just moved back to AZ (I'm a native so I can say this next comment with authority) and I find that people are not that friendly here anymore. They are way more friendly in TX and I thought people we're more charming in the DC area as well.
Well, I'm neither But where I live, of course there are heated debates but they seem more civil. It could be because I live in the ASU area.
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Old 06-02-2012, 11:59 PM
 
197 posts, read 455,452 times
Reputation: 162
Like the way you think most people who move here always mope and complain about Phoenix. But they're just so unsatisfied wih their own pathetic lives, even after they move and yet they come back to this forum and bash Phoenix. Love it here! So do the other people that are making the best of it right now instead of complaining. The ones that make up our 6th biggest city in the u.s.
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Old 06-03-2012, 12:48 AM
 
Location: Chandler, AZ
453 posts, read 1,631,657 times
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being from the midwest, I think that people are not friendly here and I laughed when poster stated no one honks when the light turns green, they always honk, everyone is in a hurry here. I had one nut follow me from scottdale to fh cussing me for not turning when the arrow turned green. Places to park--yea but not under the trees.
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Old 06-03-2012, 12:56 AM
 
2,781 posts, read 7,224,484 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pallas_Athena79 View Post
Well, I'm neither But where I live, of course there are heated debates but they seem more civil. It could be because I live in the ASU area.
Like I said in the other thread, I'm interning at ASU for the summer and living just off campus. Compared to the east coast, I dont find Tempe/PHX metro friendlier at all.

Completely disagree with the weather not being as bad. Yeah, there's no humidity, but 110+ is still 110+. I dont think it gets above 100 in Philly and NYC and even around there, I dont think it's any worse. Hot is hot. We're not talking swampy Florida or Louisiana here. I personally hate the weather here in Tempe. Maybe it would be different if I had a car, rather than walking 1 mile to and from my internship, but I doubt it.
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Old 06-03-2012, 02:55 AM
 
Location: Metro Phoenix, AZ USA
17,915 posts, read 43,533,110 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JHG722 View Post
Like I said in the other thread, I'm interning at ASU for the summer and living just off campus. Compared to the east coast, I dont find Tempe/PHX metro friendlier at all.

Completely disagree with the weather not being as bad. Yeah, there's no humidity, but 110+ is still 110+. I dont think it gets above 100 in Philly and NYC and even around there, I dont think it's any worse. Hot is hot. We're not talking swampy Florida or Louisiana here. I personally hate the weather here in Tempe. Maybe it would be different if I had a car, rather than walking 1 mile to and from my internship, but I doubt it.
Not having a car will definitely negatively impact your perception of the summer weather here. You will like it once summer's past, but that seems a long way off now, I know.

Most people here are perhaps not friendly like one might see in Texas or the southern states (and DC is a southern city). I try not to overgeneralize about people in such a large metro area. You will find all ranges of people here, from the overly outgoing to the downright reclusive. Several things at work here, especially this time of year. People aren't walking around their neighborhoods much, and they are driving into their garages and closing the door. We don't have front porches here, all the recreation is in the back yard. The onset of summer makes a lot of people a bit grumpy. Then, you get what you give. You are not likely to have a neighbor show up at your door with a pie when you move in, but if you are friendly to people, for the most part, they will respond at least somewhat in kind.
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Old 06-03-2012, 06:02 AM
 
Location: AZ
2,097 posts, read 3,820,395 times
Reputation: 3749
Quote:
Originally Posted by JHG722 View Post
Like I said in the other thread, I'm interning at ASU for the summer and living just off campus. Compared to the east coast, I dont find Tempe/PHX metro friendlier at all.

Completely disagree with the weather not being as bad. Yeah, there's no humidity, but 110+ is still 110+. I dont think it gets above 100 in Philly and NYC and even around there, I dont think it's any worse. Hot is hot. We're not talking swampy Florida or Louisiana here. I personally hate the weather here in Tempe. Maybe it would be different if I had a car, rather than walking 1 mile to and from my internship, but I doubt it.


110 is much better than the heat and humidity on the East coast. It was 96* here last Monday and it was horrible. The humidity made it so you could barely breath and you are soaked within minutes of stepping outside,dewpoints were high 60's. I also disagree that it's not "swamy hot" like Fl. At least in parts of Fl you'll get an ocean breeze if you're close enough,here it's just dead stagnant air. Having a vehicle would make it more tolerable in the heat but with the low humidity and dew points you're not soaked with sweat as soon as you walk outside.

I'll agree with you that some here are less friendly than back East. When I sold my house last summer back East and moved into my new place I had several of the new neighbors go out of their way to introduce themselves. I was in Az. back in March I noticed that almost everyone came home,shut their garage door and never came out. They don't seem to go out of their way much to initiate even a conversation. True most live in their backyards in Az. but besides a few neighborhood kids their wasn't to many people out. But I've also met some really great friendly people too so it's all what you put into it.
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Old 06-03-2012, 06:03 AM
 
214 posts, read 403,696 times
Reputation: 271
This is good to read. I like to see the positives.

Funny, people complain about Charlotte traffic, (area where I live now), but they have no idea really what traffic is until they have lived in NJ/NY metro area because, like you said, at least here the traffic MOVES. You couldn't pay me to move back there, although I am considering Phoenix. And, you never have to shovel rain or sunshine. Although the humidity in summer here is lousy, although not as bad as NOLA.

And the rudeness factor, I think once you get out of the NY/NJ metro area, everyone is more polite. How can you put up with all that traffic and the high taxes/cost of living? Even if we cross PHX off our list after our visit, our motto here is "still better than Jersey." No offense to Jersey people, it's just not the same Jersey I grew up in.

I'm sure a lot of older PHX natives may feel the same way. It also may be somewhat generational.

Every place has positives and negatives. You have to strive to be happy wherever you may live.

Thanks for this thread. I would like to see more positives, if anyone cares to post them.
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