Phoenix - a great place to work and live! (Tucson: transplants, living)

[PNWGuy]

Not sure where you folks are seeing so much humidity, the only times it gets humid is the day of or after a summer storm, and those days amount to less than a dozen a year.

[kytoaz]

Originally Posted by MaggieZ

I may need to visit, the heat scares me off..I lived in Florida and suffered for 5 years so now I worry. "But it's a dry heat" 100F is 100F...The different climate would be better for my health so I really need to make life more liveable if I can.
I'll continue to check it out...

100 here is NOTHING compared to 100 in florida.
I've lived in phoenix for almost 2.5 years now via Louisville and I absolutely love it. I'm never moving away from the valley. My wife and I both found the best jobs we've ever had and we have a huge group of friends here. Life is good.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by Heath V

The whole dry heat argument is a joke, and it's not always a dry heat at all! And even if it was, 117 is still 117! There are times of the year when it will be 105 - 110 and it feels like a swamp outside, the air feels so thick that you can cut it with a knife and it's impossible to stay cool or dry off. You're just sticky, wet and miserable all day.

Again, great place to live, affordable cost of living and very family friendly if you can deal with the heat.

Originally Posted by MaggieZ

exactly, I think heat is heat although the humidity is hard to handle. I'm thinking of visiting and maybe trying other areas out too...

At the risk of steering this off in the direction of yet another heat thread, there is absolutely a difference between dry heat and humid heat. I find our heat far more tolerable than lower temperature heat in say Florida or Texas. There, I'd be a sweaty mess. Here, not nearly as much. It's the sweatiness and stickiness that makes heat unbearable. It's not like that here.

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by Renegade007

New York, Chicago, Philly, L.A... take THAT in your pipe and smoke it!

While I adore Phoenix, no amount of stupid polls or surveys will ever put it above cities like NYC. Ever. The problem with Phoenicians is that we're all a bunch of stupid sun-worshippers. We think that sunshine trumps all, and is the be-all-end-all of life. We can sit here, look at NYC and its endless culture, cuisine, architecture, institutions, influence, nightlife, Alpha class designation, public transporation, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, and then moronically proclaim we're "better" because we have more sun and hiking.

The ONLY things PHX can boast over NYC is outdoor hiking, no snow (if you like that sort of thing), less traffic, and less COL. Ok, we have nicer roads, too, but thats it.

Please, fellow Phoenicians, dont make us look dumb by telling NYC to go shove it because we ranked higher than them in some obscure online article. Just... dont... embarrass us. We aren't even a blip in their eyes, nor on a world scale.

[DougStark]

IMO, in order to tolerate the heat, keep out of the sun (including your car.) That's essential.

[goillini8]

Phoenix is okay, but for rankings like this, the only thing that matters is jobs/economy; maybe educational quality, but that will vary greatly over any metro region. All the rest is personal preference. So, a publication saying that any city is a "great place to live!" is clearly just trying to get clicks. Phoenix IS a great place to live - if you like what Phoenix has to offer and feel the positives outweigh the negatives. This is true for ANY city.

City rankings are a dime a dozen. Best Cities for Families, Best Small Cities, Best Cities for Millenials, Best Cities for African-Americans, and on and on - it never stops because people love rankings and love to discuss, debate, and complain about rankings (thus they love to hate rankings).

[kytoaz]

Originally Posted by PNWGuy

Not sure where you folks are seeing so much humidity, the only times it gets humid is the day of or after a summer storm, and those days amount to less than a dozen a year.

some people here equate 25% to "high humidity" lol

[goillini8]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

At the risk of steering this off in the direction of yet another heat thread, there is absolutely a difference between dry heat and humid heat. I find our heat far more tolerable than lower temperature heat in say Florida or Texas. There, I'd be a sweaty mess. Here, not nearly as much. It's the sweatiness and stickiness that makes heat unbearable. It's not like that here.

There's definitely a difference. My grandparents, before they died, had moved out to Phoenix in the mid 1990s, followed by my parents a few years later who have since lived in Phoenix part of the year ever since (first Mesa, now Chandler/Sun Lakes). So, I've visited Phoenix maybe 50 times over the years and always find the heat/weather "interesting".

Temps in the 70s sun can seem somewhat chilly, never mind those desert nights when it's still in the 60s or high 50s, and it feels much colder than in a more humid climate.

On the high end, obviously 110 or 115 with humidity would feel much worse than it does in Phoenix. But, the notion of "dry heat" really ends for me once you get up into those very high temps. It's not that it doesn't feel different, but it doesn't matter. It's still too hot, IMO.

It's that mid range, maybe 80-100 where I see the biggest differences. Particularly for exercising ( I run a lot when I'm in Phoenix). The lack of humidity makes it much more bearable to be very active, but it sure dries you out (still not used to how quickly my mouth gets dry when running).

I will say, the one thing that I really notice in Phoenix is the intensity of the sun. Even if it's only, let's say, 87 (which is perfectly pleasant walking around weather in PHX), I still try to run at twilight or at night. That intense sun can sap energy unlike in other parts of the country. I can't explain it. It seems to sit lower in the sky and really beat down on you. I'm sure many PHX residents get used to it, but whenever I go out there, it's always a readjustment.

[ajonesaz]

Seattle tops "cost of living" ranking??

I have family up there that will tell you otherwise.

[ajonesaz]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

While I adore Phoenix, no amount of stupid polls or surveys will ever put it above cities like NYC. Ever. The problem with Phoenicians is that we're all a bunch of stupid sun-worshippers. We think that sunshine trumps all, and is the be-all-end-all of life. We can sit here, look at NYC and its endless culture, cuisine, architecture, institutions, influence, nightlife, Alpha class designation, public transporation, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, and then moronically proclaim we're "better" because we have more sun and hiking.

The ONLY things PHX can boast over NYC is outdoor hiking, no snow (if you like that sort of thing), less traffic, and less COL. Ok, we have nicer roads, too, but thats it.

Please, fellow Phoenicians, dont make us look dumb by telling NYC to go shove it because we ranked higher than them in some obscure online article. Just... dont... embarrass us. We aren't even a blip in their eyes, nor on a world scale.

New York is a great place to visit, would never want to live there. To me its not a livable city.

culture: Can be nice, but you can see museums on a vacation just as well
cuisine: overrated, good food can be found anywhere, for every great restaraunt in NY 100 are mediocre, the pizza is overrated (queue gasp)
architecture: Anywhere on the east coast trumps the west coast, I love old architecture, NY doesn't even have the best of it
institutions: schools or prisons?
influence: how does this affect livability?
nightlife: it is pretty good here these days, bars and clubs are all the same really
Alpha class designation: There is no middle class in NY, to be in the alpha class you better have millions public transporation: Hate it, I would rather have my car in any city

My neighborhood is full of ex NY'rs - they don't miss it