The 90's are coming! (Phoenix, Tucson: live in, statistics, car)

[JohnSoCal]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

That's great for you, but I wouldn't move some place where I didn't know a soul. It just seems to alien to me. I prefer to be close to friends and family, but not too close.

Every move I have made has been to some place where I didn't know a soul. That started when I was 19 and moved to Los Angeles. I didn't know anybody and had never been there. It was the same for my moves to Portland OR, Phoenix, Mexico, San Diego, San Jose, Fort Lauderdale FL, and Venezuela.

[ElleTea]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

I definitely agree about personal happiness, but I can't understand how a person can be happy with a slack job, little ambition, and struggling to make ends meet. The attitude about "getting a job most anywhere" is basically saying, "yeah, I can work a low wage job, but I don't care about my career, just as long as I can worship the sun." That kind of mentality is one of the reasons why the Phoenix area generally lacks ambitious, business oriented people, and why the pay scales tend to be on the low side compared to other major cities. I've found that many who are here only for the weather/climate don't contribute very much to the economy or making it a better place.

I haven't had a "slack job" since high school and wouldn't do it now unless I had no other option. Thankfully I have job skills to make a decent living regardless of where I work, I bought a house, etc. Anyone who lives and shops here is contribution to the economy regardless of what their income or wage class is.

And before anyone puts down McDonald's or Home Depot or other retail, managers actually make pretty decent money. I know of Produce Managers making about 75K a year. Nothing "slack" about that.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Phoenix area generally lacks ambitious, business oriented people, and why the pay scales tend to be on the low side compared to other major cities. I've found that many who are here only for the weather/climate don't contribute very much to the economy or making it a better place.

Those are fighting words VN! If we lack ambition then why are we regularly ranked well on hardest working cities in America? How does putting in long hours and holding multiple jobs relate to lacking ambition or not being business oriented?

https://wallethub.com/edu/hardest-wo...america/10424/

Does this sound like a city that lacks business oriented people? The 6th largest city in terms of general population has 28,707 small business entrepreneurs.
https://smallbiztrends.com/2016/06/t...epreneurs.html

Many of the valley's cities rank quite well for wages, thank you very much. Especially when you factor in the wages combined with our moderate cost of living.

If you're a native who has never left the valley perhaps you should, you seem to have a very skewed mentality of Phoenix and are painting other cities grass to be a lot greener then it really is.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by locolife

Those are fighting words VN! If we lack ambition then why are we regularly ranked well on hardest working cities in America? How does putting in long hours and holding multiple jobs relate to lacking ambition or not being business oriented?

No fight intended, Locolife ... however, you seem to have taken this in a different direction. What I said was: those who are here only for the weather/climate are the ones who seem to lack initiative and ambition on a business level. Unfortunately, since there are a fair share who fit this description, it makes Phoenix in general appear a little too laid back, and that doesn't do anything positive for our reputation. In no way were my comments directed at you personally, so I'm unsure why you're taking offense.

Originally Posted by locolife

Does this sound like a city that lacks business oriented people? The 6th largest city in terms of general population has 28,707 small business entrepreneurs.
https://smallbiztrends.com/2016/06/t...epreneurs.html

Fine and dandy, but keep in mind that a small business can be anything from a tech startup to a backyard mechanic. Small businesses make up a good part of the economy, but there comes a time when it becomes overkill ... especially when there's a definite lack of large corporate businesses in a city this size. It bothers me that many people seem to be content with this, and would rather have lower paying jobs, and/or be outside by the pool or getting their dehydrated butts carried off a mountain than doing something productive for the economy.

Originally Posted by locolife

If you're a native who has never left the valley perhaps you should, you seem to have a very skewed mentality of Phoenix and are painting other cities grass to be a lot greener then it really is.

All I can say at this point is: if you're content with small business and new 5 to 10 story buildings, and thinking that's what the 6th largest city should consist of, I believe you're the one with a skewed mentality. Sorry, but I think it's high time that Phoenix permanently dumps the small town mentality and aims for higher goals without trying to be a clone of NYC or L.A. Sometimes what I say may not be what you want to hear, but that's life.

[BIG CATS]

Looks like areas of the Valley tomorrow might be within sneezing distance of triple digits. The other day on the ride home I was on Central and Camelback, my car read 99 degrees. I'm sure the ambient air temp was a few degrees cooler, but still hot nonetheless.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

No fight intended, Locolife ... however, you seem to have taken this in a different direction. What I said was: those who are here only for the weather/climate are the ones who seem to lack initiative and ambition on a business level. Unfortunately, since there are a fair share who fit this description, it makes Phoenix in general appear a little too laid back, and that doesn't do anything positive for our reputation. In no way were my comments directed at you personally, so I'm unsure why you're taking offense.

All I can say at this point is: if you're content with small business and new 5 to 10 story buildings, and thinking that's what the 6th largest city should consist of, I believe you're the one with a skewed mentality. Sorry, but I think it's high time that Phoenix permanently dumps the small town mentality and aims for higher goals without trying to be a clone of NYC or L.A. Sometimes what I say may not be what you want to hear, but that's life.

I was half-joking about the fighting words part, hard to get a personality to shine through over a chat board like this. I get what you're saying relative to folks who are here for nothing but the weather, as you can tell I moved well beyond that a long time ago and have never looked back. I'm all for Phoenix being as economically successful and viable as possible. And believe it or not I do love skyscrapers and would 1000% support taller buildings coming to downtown, a skyline along the lines of Philadelphia or Seattle would be killer but unlike you I do see how we can perfectly successful without tall buildings, as many other cities around the world are. Some people don't like that we don't like every other big city and I'm kind of okay with being non-conforming, you can have density without majorly tall buildings on every corner and that will still bring character with it.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Looks like areas of the Valley tomorrow might be within sneezing distance of triple digits. The other day on the ride home I was on Central and Camelback, my car read 99 degrees. I'm sure the ambient air temp was a few degrees cooler, but still hot nonetheless.

Wait a minute, weren't you complaining about the cold a few months ago???

[JohnSoCal]

Originally Posted by locolife

Wait a minute, weren't you complaining about the cold a few months ago???

Some people are just never happy.

[New Horizons]

How-bout this dry weather, isn't it wonderful! Right now it's 7% humidity and a 16 degree dewpoint. Even at 87 degrees there is a coolness in the air. It feels better now than it did in the winter.

I also like seeing the muted desert colors return. All that green stuff that grew this winter turned yellow, then brown, and I guess it becomes part of the dirt eventually. Even the flower blossoms are dying off.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by New Horizons

How-bout this dry weather, isn't it wonderful! Right now it's 7% humidity and a 16 degree dewpoint. Even at 87 degrees there is a coolness in the air. It feels better now than it did in the winter.

I also like seeing the muted desert colors return. All that green stuff that grew this winter turned yellow, then brown, and I guess it becomes part of the dirt eventually. Even the flower blossoms are dying off.

I just returned from 5 days in the still cold northeast and couldn't wait to get back to the dry desert air. It was nice to visit but I'm always happy to be back home