The Phoenix "haters" (Scottsdale, Sedona: hotel, house, schools)

[Spuggy]

Originally Posted by locolife

I’ve said this for years and a great local resident named Grady Gammage Jr. wrote a book on this exact topic, Phoenix has been and remains one of the most misunderstood places in the country, if not the world. I travel frequently for work and get a deluge of questions and comments almost everywhere I go.

1. People think it’s 120+ for 9 months out of the year, when I mention we have a fireplace for the winter months people’s minds are usually blown.

2. Generally it’s hard for people to understand heat is a function of temperature and humidity, the only data reported regularly on tv is temperature, but that only tells part of the story, the heat index would be a better stat to review.

3. The fact that Arizona has a high country is not well known, almost nobody realizes Phoenix is 120 miles from an Alpine environment. When I tell people I can be skiing in about a 2 hour drive it’s an interesting reaction.

4. Deserts in general aren’t well understood in the U.S., mainly because most people only see them on TV, when I tell people a few facts like Phoenix and El Paso are different deserts they’re usually lost.

5. People, in general, focus on the extremes, they know the high temps but rarely the lows, yeah it’ll be 96 or whatever at the peak time of day today but it’s a glorious 65 when I’m out on my morning walk/run/ride.

6. Much like point 5, people know it’s likely to be above 100 from 6/1 to 9/30 but have a hard time realizing the other 8 months are at or below temps you experience in most other major cities throughout the year.

7. Virtually nobody understands this is a river valley, a river that historically flooded out early settlers creating the need for the dams north and east of Phoenix.

Wonderful post I didn’t come with much in the way of preconceived notions but I love the desert landscape more than I expected. The heat kind of scared me but having lived with the humidity in Ohio I will take the dry heat over the misery of humidity.

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by 49erfan916

I will admit that I was one of these haters. I am from California, and last year, my friend told me she was moving to phoenix for nursing school. I laughed at her and said, ''good luck.'' I looked down at Phoenix as a 3rd world country.

Earlier this year, it was time for me to move. California has gotten too crazy and expensive for me. The options were: nashville, raleigh, indianapolis, and phoenix. On paper, Phoenix looked the most attractive due to many reasons: I knew a couple of people out here already, all my sports teams play here at least once a year, and alot of the stuff I'm into usually stops in Phoenix.

I came out here in January ( i actually made a thread about this) and fell in love with this place. Phoenix is nothing what I have imagined. It's alot cleaner than any place I have been to/lived. I really enjoyed my time here, so much so, that I didn't even bother checking out the other cities. Then I applied to five jobs in the phoenix area, got one interview and they hired me. Now I live in Scottsdale!

One thing that really surprised me is how much "bang for your buck" you get out here. While Phoenix isn't the lowest COL city in America, your dollar goes way farther than California. And even if California's pay is somewhat higher, California's expenses/taxes are even higher, which makes it a moot point. When I told my friends/family that I was moving to Phoenix, they all had that same general reaction: "You're moving to Phoenix? Eww!!!" But I am happy that some people have this negative misconception about Phoenix. If they didn't, it would easily double in size...and maybe in price as well.

Dude, you get it.

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by cornsnicker3

From the perspective of someone who lives in (and loves living in) almost literally the opposite location of Phoenix (Duluth, MN), but still loves Phoenix (even in summer), I think it boils (no pun intended) to the fact that it is a mismatch for what they prefer and they feel compelled to be negative. Sort of like a person that likes Vanilla Ice Cream saying chocolate sucks. It is really all opinion and preference. The actual negatives are weapons they use to try to tear it down.

My in-laws live in Bullhead City and we travel to Phoenix when visiting. I think it is a wonderful location and offers a beautiful contrast to the boreal forests of the north. My wife and I have visited in summer even and the desert heat is appropriate for the terrain. It is comfortable in a masochistic sort of way.

I see it as an equal with its own unique set of pros and cons, just like every other city.

Well put.

I like the masochistic part.

You understand what makes Arizona so TERRIBLE.

[DougStark]

Last comment by me, the OP, on this post.

Your comments were all great, but I still can't determine to what degree our state's reputation as a republican stronghold influences people's attitudes to our state and Phx. Who isn't biased to some degree? I will admit to disliking SF for its politics, not its fog or chilly summers, haha. Therefore. I probably would choose to vacation elsewhere.

When one recalls the past decades in Arizona politics, you'll recall corrupt or incompetent governors, initial resistance to the MLK holiday, Sheriff Joe and all his baggage, the alternative fuel scandal, SB1070 and the perception we're racists (wrong), etc.! I'm sure I'm missing more political headlines from here.

My point is, people are often reluctant to be honest about their political leanings, and Arizona's political history and consevative reputation may slant a person's opinion of Phoenix as a desirable, major metro area. BTW. I'm dating myself, but does anyone else remember when Alice Cooper wasn't "allowed" to give a concert in Phx? Kids had to drive to Tucson for the show. Laughable now, but ir's all part of who we are as a place.

[Spuggy]

Originally Posted by DougStark

Last comment by me, the OP, on this post.

Your comments were all great, but I still can't determine to what degree our state's reputation as a republican stronghold influences people's attitudes to our state and Phx. Who isn't biased to some degree? I will admit to disliking SF for its politics, not its fog or chilly summers, haha. Therefore. I probably would choose to vacation elsewhere.

When one recalls the past decades in Arizona politics, you'll recall corrupt or incompetent governors, initial resistance to the MLK holiday, Sheriff Joe and all his baggage, the alternative fuel scandal, SB1070 and the perception we're racists (wrong), etc.! I'm sure I'm missing more political headlines from here.

My point is, people are often reluctant to be honest about their political leanings, and Arizona's political history and consevative reputation may slant a person's opinion of Phoenix as a desirable, major metro area. BTW. I'm dating myself, but does anyone else remember when Alice Cooper wasn't "allowed" to give a concert in Phx? Kids had to drive to Tucson for the show. Laughable now, but ir's all part of who we are as a place.

We didn't give one second thought to the political leanings of Arizona in our decision to move here and frankly don't care. What counts is our grandchild is here, it's beautiful where we live, the quality of life is wonderful, great amenities, and the people very pleasant in general, drive like bloody maniacs BUT that's another story People always have strange perceptions of places, not just Phoenix, and it's not always due to hate, but just misunderstanding, misconceptions due to exaggerations they have seen in books or movies. Some of the questions or statements I get about the UK over the years have left me totally gobsmacked, and the hilarious thing is they have NEVER been to the UK so they are regurgitating myths they picked up from tv shows, films, books, social media. Likewise people do that with Arizona.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by DougStark

Last comment by me, the OP, on this post.

Your comments were all great, but I still can't determine to what degree our state's reputation as a republican stronghold influences people's attitudes to our state and Phx. Who isn't biased to some degree? I will admit to disliking SF for its politics, not its fog or chilly summers, haha. Therefore. I probably would choose to vacation elsewhere.

When one recalls the past decades in Arizona politics, you'll recall corrupt or incompetent governors, initial resistance to the MLK holiday, Sheriff Joe and all his baggage, the alternative fuel scandal, SB1070 and the perception we're racists (wrong), etc.! I'm sure I'm missing more political headlines from here.

My point is, people are often reluctant to be honest about their political leanings, and Arizona's political history and consevative reputation may slant a person's opinion of Phoenix as a desirable, major metro area. BTW. I'm dating myself, but does anyone else remember when Alice Cooper wasn't "allowed" to give a concert in Phx? Kids had to drive to Tucson for the show. Laughable now, but ir's all part of who we are as a place.

Politics has very little to do with it. States like Texas and Georgia tend to be even more conservative than Arizona (especially on social issues), but you see very little hatred toward Dallas, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, or Atlanta. Even if politics was remotely a factor, Phoenix is not exactly a conservative Republican mecca ... in fact, the city itself leans in a moderate/liberal direction, and has had Democrat mayors for over a decade.

The main reasons people tend to dislike Phoenix are:
* the seemingly endless heat for at least 4 or 5 months
* the seemingly endless suburban sprawl development
* not a great deal of big city attractions for being the nation's 5th largest city
* a rather small skyline for as large as we are
* our lingering reputation for being largely a retirement destination

[KurtAZ]

Y'all need to cut it out and let them believe that Arizona sucks...all of it...there are no redeeming qualities. We can't even pay our teachers or stop them from walking out.

[DougStark]

Native, good comment in reminding me about Texas metros, etc.

[More Rock]

Outsiders use "Phoenix" and "Arizona" interchangeably.

And they conflate Arizonans, Arizona the state, and Arizona the land.

[ServoMiff]

I've been to PHX probably 3-4 times in the last 4 years and every time I keep coming back to how much I enjoy it there. Granted, I haven't been during the summer months, but I lived in the East Bay of SF where temps would be in the high 100's to low 110's on occasion, and my only real complaint about that type of temp is the sun burning the top of my bald spot while I was waiting for a bus. Not sure about PHX, but in the East Bay you'd have 40-60 degree swings once the sun went down sometimes. I recall it being 112 one afternoon and was 62 by 10pm. That's totally tolerable. It's the 100 degree heat of Orlando with evening temps of 78 and 82% relative humidity that killed me. I didn't enjoy walking out of my home to go to my car in the morning feeling like I walked into a can of soup.

I really love the Scottsdale area and really enjoyed the zoo on our last trip. Also found one of my favorite casual restaurants in the entire country, Chino Bandito on 19th Ave & Greenway. Absolutely amazing lunch!

My only complaint is the job economy doesn't seem to offer me much (I work in banking and financial services at a Director/AVP/VP level). My wife has been begging me to find a job there but I can't seem to get anywhere at the moment.