The Power of Place; where you live does matter (Phoenix: how much, living)

[AZgarden]

A new book is out entitled, "Who's Your City" and it expresses a whole different way of looking at the place (city) you live in.

According to the author Richard Florida, cities have different personalities with many different positive and negative aspects. He says like people tend to "cluster" and if you are unhappy where you live now, you probably are not in the right cluster where you belong. Where you choose to live will affect everything in your life from your job choices, your mate choices, the people you associate with and your future children.

I have read the book and find it fascinating. I always believed a person could be happy anywhere and the place would not basically change them at all.

I now think I was wrong. Truly we should stop telling posters who are unhappy here that they are dumb. Maybe they really are smarter than us cause they know Phoenix is not what they need in a place. And they are choosing to move somewhere else........

[LordBalfor]

I have to say that I suspect you are right. The characteristics of where you live CAN go a long way towards making you either happy or unhappy - certainly the physical characteristics can (the weather here in Seattle is the reason I'm eventually retiring to Arizona) - but I think that other, harder to define aspects (such as political or philosophical bent) can do that too.

Ken

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by PhxBarb

A new book is out entitled, "Who's Your City" and it expresses a whole different way of looking at the place (city) you live in.

According to the author Richard Florida, cities have different personalities with many different positive and negative aspects. He says like people tend to "cluster" and if you are unhappy where you live now, you probably are not in the right cluster where you belong. Where you choose to live will affect everything in your life from your job choices, your mate choices, the people you associate with and your future children.

I have read the book and find it fascinating. I always believed a person could be happy anywhere and the place would not basically change them at all.

I now think I was wrong. Truly we should stop telling posters who are unhappy here that they are dumb. Maybe they really are smarter than us cause they know Phoenix is not what they need in a place. And they are choosing to move somewhere else........

I was with you until the last paragraph. I don't see many posts here telling unhappy Phoenix residents they are dumb, and if someone said something like "I just don't Phoenix is right for me and need to look for another opportunity elsewhere," I'd have the utmost respect for that person. Unfortunately, posts of that type are rare here. Instead, we have people who don't like it here but either cannot or will not move. They don't work to address the deficiencies they see in Phoenix but instead wallow in their own negativity and inflict it upon others. Likewise, there's a cadre of bitter ex-residents who haunt this site with their rants about how much they hated things here. Those people made a wise decision to move but followed it up with a bad decision to haunt this board. I agree that different cities fit different people, but that's no excuse for the exaggerated and unproductive negativity frequently exhibited here.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by silverbear

I was with you until the last paragraph. I don't see many posts here telling unhappy Phoenix residents they are dumb, and if someone said something like "I just don't Phoenix is right for me and need to look for another opportunity elsewhere," I'd have the utmost respect for that person. Unfortunately, posts of that type are rare here. Instead, we have people who don't like it here but either cannot or will not move. They don't work to address the deficiencies they see in Phoenix but instead wallow in their own negativity and inflict it upon others. Likewise, there's a cadre of bitter ex-residents who haunt this site with their rants about how much they hated things here. Those people made a wise decision to move but followed it up with a bad decision to haunt this board. I agree that different cities fit different people, but that's no excuse for the exaggerated and unproductive negativity frequently exhibited here.

Amen! Double amen!!

[ArizonaBear]

Hence my leaving the Wash DC area back in 1978, never to return.

Bad weather
Women who thought they were too good unless a man had $$$
Rusty nasty cars that were only 4 years old

Thinking back on it: I left DC for additional reasons but was not consciously aware of them at the time.

OTOH: California of 30 years (despite is serious problems back then) was 1,000% better than the DC area.

And; for me at least, I have done pretty well here in Arizona.........most of my problems here I brought upon myself hindsight being 20/20.

[azkylady2]

Originally Posted by PhxBarb

A new book is out entitled, "Who's Your City" and it expresses a whole different way of looking at the place (city) you live in.

According to the author Richard Florida, cities have different personalities with many different positive and negative aspects. He says like people tend to "cluster" and if you are unhappy where you live now, you probably are not in the right cluster where you belong. Where you choose to live will affect everything in your life from your job choices, your mate choices, the people you associate with and your future children.

I have read the book and find it fascinating. I always believed a person could be happy anywhere and the place would not basically change them at all.

I now think I was wrong. Truly we should stop telling posters who are unhappy here that they are dumb. Maybe they really are smarter than us cause they know Phoenix is not what they need in a place. And they are choosing to move somewhere else........

Thanks for posting this, makes perfect sense to me. there are a couple locals here that hang in community and say negatives to any that find Phoenix not to the taste. well the word dumb might not have actually been used but things are said as bad. We need to understand that people really don't learn from being told, they learn from experience, so many people land places they thought would be great, only to find after spending time ACTUALLY living there its not a good fit. I don't really understand getting personally upset with a person's opinion of the city you live in, just silly! lol

[ZonyPony]

Originally Posted by silverbear

I was with you until the last paragraph. I don't see many posts here telling unhappy Phoenix residents they are dumb, and if someone said something like "I just don't Phoenix is right for me and need to look for another opportunity elsewhere," I'd have the utmost respect for that person. Unfortunately, posts of that type are rare here. Instead, we have people who don't like it here but either cannot or will not move. They don't work to address the deficiencies they see in Phoenix but instead wallow in their own negativity and inflict it upon others. Likewise, there's a cadre of bitter ex-residents who haunt this site with their rants about how much they hated things here. Those people made a wise decision to move but followed it up with a bad decision to haunt this board. I agree that different cities fit different people, but that's no excuse for the exaggerated and unproductive negativity frequently exhibited here.

Excellent post, Silverbear! Its the continual negative posting which seems most incredible to me as well.

[AZgarden]

Well okay. Maybe "dumb" wasn't the right word, but it was a little kinder than some of the other terms I have seen residents being called when they obviously feel frustrated and unhappy in Phoenix. If you have truly found your "place", why not be a little more sympathetic toward those of us who haven't? And are still looking?

[borborygmi]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

Women who thought they were too good unless a man had $$$

And that's different in Phoenix how??? That's almost a universal truth in any large city anywhere- but the west coast, Phoenix certainly included, doesn't defy this generalization at all in my experience.

[twiggy]

Very nice post Phx! And maybe your remembering when I was called an "idiot and should just move somewhere else if I wasn't happy with Phoenix" comment I have received. I think idiot is very close to dumb, maybe even worse.
This is exactly what I always try to explain to people when they know I want to move. It's not Phoenix, it's just not the destination I feel comfortable in anymore.
Once did, now with kids and change of how I look at the world, it is not.
Hope I find my cluster.