Who really enjoys the heat in Phoenix? (college, cost of)

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

That was not my point. I would not want to live in MSP either based on weather alone. I don't want a discussion about the pros and cons of weather in other cities. The point is, if I have to point it out, that a day or two of a summer heat wave in MSP does not equal or lessen the misery of months of relentless heat in Phoenix.

That is why it is so hard to "enjoy" the heat. It is insufferable in its duration. It goes on and on and on. When you finally start to think it might end, like now at the end of August, it comes back - 115-120 temps we have never seen here this late before.

I have roots that run 50 years deep here. I'm not going. But I am going to be honest about how hard it is to live in this place anymore and advise people to stay away.

50-years is a long time anywhere. But what do you think makes life easier elsewhere? And that's an honest question. Other than coastal California, which I realize many long term/native valley residents equate to "elsewhere", most other places aren't all that "easy" to live in versus Phoenix. I've moved around and travel pretty extensively for my career, most places still get hot, and it gets cold, it's gross out many days, you still get sw*mp ass, there's more bugs, your car is still hot, the rain gets old and can be annoying when it washes out the entire weekend, shoveling snow can be really burdensome, arctic blasts paralyze cities and knock out power. Why do you think living somewhere else is going to be easy versus Phoenix?

I just don't find it all that hard to live here but I've lived elsewhere, not on the coastal west coast, and just didn't find life in 4-season climates that easy. Nor do I find it to be a harder life living here.

But fair enough to tell people it's terrible here, there's still an entire forum thread dedicated to how terrible Arizona is. We certainly have no shortage of people here.

[KO Stradivarius]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

It has definitely been a bad summer in many parts of the world. I know somebody who went to the French Riviera, and it was unusually hot there (no A/C in the hotel rooms). Paris is hosting the Summer Olympics next year, and this is a city that has been as high as 109 degrees just a few years ago. The Olympics will likely still go on regardless of heat or weather conditions. With that in mind, doesn't it make you wonder why Phoenix hasn't hosted a Summer Olympics? No pun intended, but we should at least be in the running for it by now.

This is stretching it. It takes a firm commitment by the city and businesses to bid for the Olympics. It would require massive investments in infrastructure, hotels, sports facilities like stadiums, arenas...I mean we're likely talking tens of billions of dollars, much of which is likely to be taxpayer funded. And when it's over you are left with these stadiums and hotels that may be underutilized. And you of all people should cringe at that reality.

The point you made is a huge stretch because there are myriad reasons why a city may not even want to make the leap to host the Olympics. So many other factors than just weather.

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/eco...-olympic-games

The 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo highlighted the ongoing debate over the costs and benefits of hosting such a mega-event...The multibillion-dollar bill Tokyo faces in the aftermath of the games is not unique: other former host cities still struggle with the debts they incurred, leading some candidate cities for future games to withdraw their bids or scale down their plans.

Countries such as China, Russia, and Brazil have been eager to use the games to demonstrate their progress on the world stage. However, these countries invested massive sums to create the necessary infrastructure. Costs spiraled to over $50 billion for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, $20 billion for 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, and $13 billion for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

These costs have led to renewed skepticism, and several cities withdrew their bids for the 2022, 2024, and 2028 games over cost concerns. Beijing had little competition for its 2022 bid, with both Oslo, Norway, and Stockholm, Sweden, backing out upon realizing that costs would be higher than estimated. Boston withdrew from consideration for the 2024 games, with its mayor saying that he “refuse[d] to mortgage the future of the city away.” The 2024 finalists, Budapest, Hungary, Hamburg, Germany, and Rome, also withdrew, leaving only Los Angeles and Paris. In an unprecedented move, the IOC chose the 2024 and 2028 venues simultaneously in 2017, with Paris and Los Angeles, respectively, taking turns hosting due to the lack of candidates.

Also problematic are so-called white elephants, or expensive facilities that, because of their size or specialized nature, have limited post-Olympics use. These often impose costs for years to come. Sydney’s Olympic stadium costs the city $30 million a year to maintain. Beijing’s famous “Bird’s Nest” stadium cost $460 million to build, requires $10 million a year to maintain, and has sat mostly unused since the 2008 games. Almost all of the facilities built for the 2004 Athens Olympics, whose costs contributed to the Greek debt crisis, are now derelict. Gangwon, the South Korean regional government responsible for most of the 2018 games’ infrastructure, is expected to incur an $8.5 million annual deficit due to upkeep of unused facilities.

[wilberry]

ever been in Colorado springs a t 600 ft above sea level when its 95 - 99 ? it feels worse than 10 5 in Phoenix

[wilberry]

I mean 6000 ft

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by KO Stradivarius

This is stretching it. It takes a firm commitment by the city and businesses to bid for the Olympics. It would require massive investments in infrastructure, hotels, sports facilities like stadiums, arenas...I mean we're likely talking tens of billions of dollars, much of which is likely to be taxpayer funded. And when it's over you are left with these stadiums and hotels that may be underutilized. And you of all people should cringe at that reality.

The point you made is a huge stretch because there are myriad reasons why a city may not even want to make the leap to host the Olympics. So many other factors than just weather.

Being a host city for any major event requires a massive amount of investments ... thus, the old saying "it takes money to make money" is absolutely true. Consider how much was spent to have the Phoenix area host the Super Bowl this year, and how much revenue resulted from it. Who benefited the most? Some of the profits were generated locally, but a good share went back to NFL's HQs. However, the argument is: hosting a major event shines a positive spotlight on the host city/state, and it has a way of generating more tourism to the area. The Olympics have a similar effect.

While your statements are correct about the financial aspect, I was referencing the Olympics based on the subject of the thread (summer heat in Phoenix). For decades, we've heard the same lame excuse about why Phoenix can't have major theme parks (TOO HOT), why we can't host the Summer Olympics (TOO HOT), why we can't have sufficient year round tourism (TOO HOT), why downtown is a dead zone in the summer (TOO HOT). Other cities are not only hot, but very humid, and they still manage to host events without incident. Vegas can be just as hot as Phoenix, but the Strip can be just as busy in July as it is any other time of the year. You're right about other factors besides weather being involved, but weather seems to be the #1 excuse here much of the time.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

Being a host city for any major event requires a massive amount of investments ... thus, the old saying "it takes money to make money" is absolutely true. Consider how much was spent to have the Phoenix area host the Super Bowl this year, and how much revenue resulted from it. Who benefited the most? Some of the profits were generated locally, but a good share went back to NFL's HQs. However, the argument is: hosting a major event shines a positive spotlight on the host city/state, and it has a way of generating more tourism to the area. The Olympics have a similar effect.

While your statements are correct about the financial aspect, I was referencing the Olympics based on the subject of the thread (summer heat in Phoenix). For decades, we've heard the same lame excuse about why Phoenix can't have major theme parks (TOO HOT), why we can't host the Summer Olympics (TOO HOT), why we can't have sufficient year round tourism (TOO HOT), why downtown is a dead zone in the summer (TOO HOT). Other cities are not only hot, but very humid, and they still manage to host events without incident. Vegas can be just as hot as Phoenix, but the Strip can be just as busy in July as it is any other time of the year. You're right about other factors besides weather being involved, but weather seems to be the #1 excuse here much of the time.

The thing about TOO HOT in Phoenix is that is the image, the perception of the place - a godforsaken inferno in summer. While all you say about other cities hosting events is true, their most outstanding and recognized attribute is not the heat. Phoenix is renowned for its heat and little else. It is a very hard sell to convince even tourists to come here in summer much less the Olympics. We have gotten a MLB All-star game or two, and should be grateful for that.

Back to the thread title: very few enjoy the Phoenix heat. Out time is winter. We have the golf tournament, Barrett's, the Rock and Roll Marathon, Super Bowl, NCAA tournament. That's enough.

Hang in there Phoencians! It's only a few weeks more now.

[Burning Madolf]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

The thing about TOO HOT in Phoenix is that is the image, the perception of the place - a godforsaken inferno in summer. While all you say about other cities hosting events is true, their most outstanding and recognized attribute is not the heat. Phoenix is renowned for its heat and little else. It is a very hard sell to convince even tourists to come here in summer much less the Olympics. We have gotten a MLB All-star game or two, and should be grateful for that.

Back to the thread title: very few enjoy the Phoenix heat. Out time is winter. We have the golf tournament, Barrett's, the Rock and Roll Marathon, Super Bowl, NCAA tournament. That's enough.

Hang in there Phoencians! It's only a few weeks more now.

What surprises me most (I guess I never paid close attention) is that the slight changes are very noticeable even over these past few hot days: The early morning heat-up takes place at a much slower rate; the sun not being quite so high makes peak temp feel less ominous; and the earlier sun sets bring the relief of darkness. All these combined feel like they are jumping out at me (and my plants) screaming "it's over."

[Veritas Vincit]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

The thing about TOO HOT in Phoenix is that is the image, the perception of the place - a godforsaken inferno in summer. While all you say about other cities hosting events is true, their most outstanding and recognized attribute is not the heat. Phoenix is renowned for its heat and little else. It is a very hard sell to convince even tourists to come here in summer much less the Olympics. We have gotten a MLB All-star game or two, and should be grateful for that.

Back to the thread title: very few enjoy the Phoenix heat. Out time is winter. We have the golf tournament, Barrett's, the Rock and Roll Marathon, Super Bowl, NCAA tournament. That's enough.

Hang in there Phoencians! It's only a few weeks more now.

I actually don't think your perception matches that of the rest of the world. Phoenix is famous of course for being in the desert and in the sun, but I don't think it actually hurts its reputation. The city has just kept growing and growing for decades, and it's not because people think of it as a hellish inferno.

[phetaroi]

Originally Posted by wilberry

ever been in Colorado springs a t 600 ft above sea level when its 95 - 99 ? it feels worse than 10 5 in Phoenix

I didn't find that to be true in my 9 years there.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by wilberry

ever been in Colorado springs at 6000 ft above sea level when its 95 - 99 ? it feels worse than 10 5 in Phoenix

I know what you mean (been in CO Sprngs many times). But maybe a little higher than 6,000 feet. For instance, I was in Telluride, CO this past week. It was 72 degrees and sunny. At 10,000 ft elevation and sunny, the solar radiation (which turns into IR heat) makes it feel 15+ degrees hotter!

BTW, if anyone (VN???) is looking for a world-class mountain town vacation to cool down, look at Telluride! OMO, it's the best-looking mountain town. The natural beauty is off the charts! I digress....