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Exploration is indeed a passion. I have made it clear the environment of PHX fails to meet my passion for other areas of the state. However I utilize my free time to make it happen. Grateful for the many ecoregions throughout the state or I would of left by now.
I love Tucson almost because so many people here aren't pretentious. Tucsonans are down to earth and friendly, and don't keep up with the Jones. Scenery is prettier too. Many Phoenicians are... How do I put this... Downright awful from my experiences. And twenty one years of living there and more to come probably should say something.
The elephant and the dog analogy ie the elephant isn't concerned with the little dog who is barking and following after him. Phoenicians don't compare themselves to Tucson residents. We aren't concerned with Tucson residents. And this leads me to my point.
The thing I found most annoying about Tucson residents is their inferiority complex. When you tell them you are from Phoenix, the first thing they do is criticize your city. They say it is too hot or overcrowded or polluted. Tucson residents never had a nice thing to say about Phoenix. On the other hand, Phoenix residents speak highly of Tucson and call it a nice getaway with cooler weather and more down-to-earth people. And this inferiority complex extended to ASU. You could not find ASU hats, t-shirts, or other memorabilia in Tucson. It was almost a sign of petty civic pride to exclude ASU material throughout the city. Meanwhile, you can find University of Arizona anywhere in the Phoenix metro including Tempe. Tucson would also not televise a lot of Phoenix pro sports like certain D-backs and Coyotes games. I'm not even originally from Arizona. I have no reason to dislike Tucson. However, I began to get really annoyed with their insecurity after a while. It's like shut up already we get that you don't like Phoenix, can you talk about anything else?
It's clear that Tucson residents feel they have something to prove to Phoenix residents. Look if you guys like your city so much, why do you constantly compare yourself to Phoenix and it's residents. Just enjoy your city for what it is.
Last edited by azriverfan.; 06-18-2016 at 12:19 AM..
Tucson and Albuquerque are very similar in a lot of ways. I prefer both those cities to PHX for having deeper culture , better weather and better scenery at their doorstep. Love the Catalinas and Sandias. As stated before...income and job opportunities is the main wildcard that keeps Phoenicians Phoenicians despite preferring other regions of the SW.
Tucson and Albuquerque are very similar in a lot of ways. I prefer both those cities to PHX for having deeper culture , better weather and better scenery at their doorstep. Love the Catalinas and Sandias. As stated before...income and job opportunities is the main wildcard that keeps Phoenicians Phoenicians despite preferring other regions of the SW.
I've disagreed with you until this post. This is absolutely true.
Tucson and Albuquerque are very similar in a lot of ways. I prefer both those cities to PHX for having deeper culture , better weather and better scenery at their doorstep. Love the Catalinas and Sandias. As stated before...income and job opportunities is the main wildcard that keeps Phoenicians Phoenicians despite preferring other regions of the SW.
How does Tucson have deeper culture? Phoenix has much more diversity and more to offer in that regard than Tucson. Hinduism is the second largest religion in the Phoenix metropolitan area behind Christianity. An Indian friend of mine was telling there are close to 20 Hindu temples in the Phoenix metro and only one in Tucson. With regard to scenery, it is the same. Phoenix is so spread out, you have the mountains and hilly element in Fountain Hills and the lakes in Chandler and the grass and trees in Tempe. The only advantage Tucson has over Phoenix is it 10 degrees cooler. However, Phoenix trumps Tucson in every other regard. Phoenix has much more to do in terms of dining, shopping, theater, museums, pro sports, travel (better airport), proximity to the western cities (LA, Vegas, San Diego) and the north (Flagstaff, White Mountains). Phoenix is also just a much better designed city. Tucson has no freeways so commuting is a pain. Phoenix has a light rail system that is expanding. No, most people don't choose Phoenix over Tucson due to job prospects alone. The reality is Tucson can't be compared to Phoenix. It's like comparing a small town to a large city.
I live in Florida but keep a house in Phoenix. There is a lot more that I like about Phoenix now than the past. I really like what they are doing with downtown Phoenix and midtown. The area is thriving and a lot of development is going there. I don't see anything similar occuring in Tucson. Rather the Tucson economy is quite poor and if the city didn't have the University of Arizona, it would probably be like Yuma.
Last edited by azriverfan.; 06-18-2016 at 01:47 AM..
The elephant and the dog analogy ie the elephant isn't concerned with the little dog who is barking and following after him. Phoenicians don't compare themselves to Tucson residents. We aren't concerned with Tucson residents. And this leads me to my point.
The thing I found most annoying about Tucson residents is their inferiority complex. When you tell them you are from Phoenix, the first thing they do is criticize your city. They say it is too hot or overcrowded or polluted. Tucson residents never had a nice thing to say about Phoenix. On the other hand, Phoenix residents speak highly of Tucson and call it a nice getaway with cooler weather and more down-to-earth people. And this inferiority complex extended to ASU. You could not find ASU hats, t-shirts, or other memorabilia in Tucson. It was almost a sign of petty civic pride to exclude ASU material throughout the city. Meanwhile, you can find University of Arizona anywhere in the Phoenix metro including Tempe. Tucson would also not televise a lot of Phoenix pro sports like certain D-backs and Coyotes games. I'm not even originally from Arizona. I have no reason to dislike Tucson. However, I began to get really annoyed with their insecurity after a while. It's like shut up already we get that you don't like Phoenix, can you talk about anything else?
It's clear that Tucson residents feel they have something to prove to Phoenix residents. Look if you guys like your city so much, why do you constantly compare yourself to Phoenix and it's residents. Just enjoy your city for what it is.
When you live two hours away from another big city you are stuck getting compared to it. I'm sure people in San Diego are sick of being compared to LA. Baltimore to DC. Philly to NYC. Portland to Seattle. And I have never met a Phoenician who talked positively about Tucson. This is because they never actually spent time in Tucson but driven through it at most (or go to ASU) and the I-10 runs through the worst parts of Tucson, so that's all they see. It's like meeting one dumb blonde and then calling all blondes dumb. In fact some of the other native Phoenicians that go to school with me still talk negatively about Tucson even though they live here. The Californians who go here are even worse about trashing Tucson so Tucsonans are just on the defensive after hearing their home being trashed on constantly by non-locals. How would you feel if on this forum there was troll post after troll post talking trash about Phoenix by people who have literally not even put a toe in the city or spent more than a pit stop in town? People who don't even know what it would be like to live here? It gets old and it probably turned Tucsonans for the worst permanently in this scenario. I think if you lived in Tucson and you heard people from Phoenix say, "Send Tucson back to Mexico" you might take that pretty personally. By the way, that phrase is REALLY common from Phoenicians.
My point about Phoenicians hating Tucson can be traced back towards the state's founding when they created Phoenix to trump Tucson's power because they hated the amount of Hispanics and the prominence of the Spanish language here. That's the only reason why Phoenix exists today was because of racism (back then Phoenix was all farms for the most part). I'm serious and you can fact check this history on Google. The Phoenix to Tucson hate has existed for about a century now. And it is also why Arpaio is so popular the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by magnum0417
Tucson and Albuquerque are very similar in a lot of ways. I prefer both those cities to PHX for having deeper culture , better weather and better scenery at their doorstep. Love the Catalinas and Sandias. As stated before...income and job opportunities is the main wildcard that keeps Phoenicians Phoenicians despite preferring other regions of the SW.
ABQ seems like a wonderful place. I'm considering moving there simply because it's colder than here but still similar to us, but again the job opportunity problem. I also found out Tucson has some of the New Mexican chains that I haven't seen in Phoenix. Like Blake's Lotaburgers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by azriverfan.
How does Tucson have deeper culture? Phoenix has much more diversity and more to offer in that regard than Tucson. Hinduism is the second largest religion in the Phoenix metropolitan area behind Christianity. An Indian friend of mine was telling there are close to 20 Hindu temples in the Phoenix metro and only one in Tucson. With regard to scenery, it is the same. Phoenix is so spread out, you have the mountains and hilly element in Fountain Hills and the lakes in Chandler and the grass and trees in Tempe. The only advantage Tucson has over Phoenix is it 10 degrees cooler. However, Phoenix trumps Tucson in every other regard. Phoenix has much more to do in terms of dining, shopping, theater, museums, pro sports, travel (better airport), proximity to the western cities (LA, Vegas, San Diego) and the north (Flagstaff, White Mountains). Phoenix is also just a much better designed city. Tucson has no freeways so commuting is a pain. Phoenix has a light rail system that is expanding. No, most people don't choose Phoenix over Tucson due to job prospects alone. The reality is Tucson can't be compared to Phoenix. It's like comparing a small town to a large city.
I live in Florida but keep a house in Phoenix. There is a lot more that I like about Phoenix now than the past. I really like what they are doing with downtown Phoenix and midtown. The area is thriving and a lot of development is going there. I don't see anything similar occuring in Tucson. Rather the Tucson economy is quite poor and if the city didn't have the University of Arizona, it would probably be like Yuma.
I suggest spending some time in Tucson. Like actually spend time here. Not just go hiking in the mountains but spend time on 4th Avenue, in Downtown, on 6th and 6th, meet some locals, eat out of a Sonoran food truck (these things are everywhere), visit the numerous missions near by (btw Phoenix has none of those), visit the museums, the two Saguaro National Parks, etc. Your perception really will change. Tucson is an older city and because of that has more history. Don't judge a book by its cover...
It's not about quantity. It's about quality. And Phoenix can keep growing and getting bigger but the quality isn't necessarily going to change with people who don't really care about living in the Southwest but just want dry air and cheap housing and warm winters. They will keep going to the same chains they get at home, do the same things they can do at home, watch their favorite Chicago sports team on ESPN, and nothing will change except a bigger house for cheap. The only thing I think amenity wise Phoenix is truly better on is the airport, the Tucson airport sucks. Bigger is not always better.
Phoenix has no unique culture of its own which is really sad, but Tucson does. And you'll see that whenever you actually spend some time here instead of driving through it. Tucson is a hidden gem, you won't be able to figure this out in your car. You probably like Phoenix because it is Americana in the desert, Tucson is a true Southwestern city, which is ok because it's a culture shock for someone from Florida and not a lot of people like change. Again, you'll see it on a vacation here when you can actually compare the two for yourself.
And this inferiority complex extended to ASU. You could not find ASU hats, t-shirts, or other memorabilia in Tucson. It was almost a sign of petty civic pride to exclude ASU material throughout the city. Meanwhile, you can find University of Arizona anywhere in the Phoenix metro including Tempe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by azriverfan.
The reality is Tucson can't be compared to Phoenix. Rather the Tucson economy is quite poor and if the city didn't have the University of Arizona, it would probably be like Yuma.
I feel the main reason you find so much UofA "stuff" in the Phoenix metroplex, is because a ton of people living there went to UofA. I'm sure you've heard of the joke or saying, "You go to Tucson for school (UofA perceived being better than ASU, I'm not saying it is) and then you go to Phoenix for jobs after you graduate." Of course it is not an absolute, but with the Phoenix metroplex being 4x larger and having more/bigger companies than the Tucson metroplex, there of course will be more opportunities in Phoenix.
I feel the main reason you find so much UofA "stuff" in the Phoenix metroplex, is because a ton of people living there went to UofA. I'm sure you've heard of the joke or saying, "You go to Tucson for school (UofA perceived being better than ASU, I'm not saying it is) and then you go to Phoenix for jobs after you graduate." Of course it is not an absolute, but with the Phoenix metroplex being 4x larger and having more/bigger companies than the Tucson metroplex, there of course will be more opportunities in Phoenix.
U of A a far better campus for beauty and character besides its academic superiority to ASU. Living in Tempe ASU is not easy on the eyes...Cramped and full of concrete..Not easy on the eyes for a family spending 10s of thousands.
U of A a far better campus for beauty and character besides its academic superiority to ASU.
I always find the academic comparisons between the two schools bizarre. Both schools are large, comprehensive public research universities...and both schools are very poorly regarded on a national level. Being ranked 105 instead of 120 (or whatever they are these days) isn't exactly a major bragging point for anybody in my eyes.
U of A a far better campus for beauty and character besides its academic superiority to ASU. Living in Tempe ASU is not easy on the eyes...Cramped and full of concrete..Not easy on the eyes for a family spending 10s of thousands.
As a graduate of both.
UA is a lot prettier than ASU in a historical, character esque fashion.
Academics, ASU has passed UA handily in most categories. UA has a lot of issues at the top, I learned that when I was an adjunct.
Tempe is a nice city, it's one of my favorite in the State. I love Tucson, but it's an economic non-starter. I tried, but I still have work down there so I'm there a lot.
ASU is a crazy job creator, it's a behemoth. UA is traditional.
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the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree, right?
