Questions about living in the Phoenix metro...

[Climacus]

Traffic can be heavy but it's mostly limited to Rush Hours, and a few localized areas (places with construction, Rural and Mill near ASU, downtown Phoenix after a ballgame gets out, etc). The key is to live close to where you're going to school and/or working, as opposed to trying to commute from miles and miles away. In other words, if you're going to ASU, then you should live in the Tempe-Scottsdale corridor that vegaspilgrim mentioned.

It is annoyingly true that Phoenix does not cool down as much at night because of the asphalt and concrete 'heat island'. If you drive onto the Salt-River Pima reservation (east of Scottsdale) on a summer night you'll notice it feels about 10 degrees cooler than the city itself.

It's only really recently that I've discovered ethnic food in the valley (aside from the obvious Mexican food which is essentially 'native' rather than 'ethnic') but there's a pretty good diversity. West Mesa has all sorts of different asian restaurants, Tempe and Scottsdale seem to have more of a middle eastern influence from what I can tell.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by Climacus

It's only really recently that I've discovered ethnic food in the valley (aside from the obvious Mexican food which is essentially 'native' rather than 'ethnic') but there's a pretty good diversity. West Mesa has all sorts of different asian restaurants, Tempe and Scottsdale seem to have more of a middle eastern influence from what I can tell.

Reading this makes me hungry. Agree with Climacus on the notes about food. Dobson Road in Mesa and Chandler is good for Asian. There are several good Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean restaurants up and down the stretch from Main to Chandler Boulevard. Apache Boulevard in Tempe has a several good Middle Eastern places.