Sorry but....how can you stand to live in PHX!? (Phoenix: income, cost)

[OurNextAdventure]

Originally Posted by Ritchie_az

To give a further explenation to the in my above post...

It was specifically to this statement:

"The heat keeps our population (already too large) down. If it wasn't for the almost unendurable heat, we would be larger than New York. We're far too big already, thanks to all you effete transplants."

If there were no "effete transplants" Phoenix would be a very small desert/agriculteral town. It would be very stale, and not even Arizona Mike would want to live there. Phoenix would be an over-sized Gila Bend, and not much more.
I guess I don't understand how someone could enjoy all the benefits of the "effete transplants" and yet complain about them, as well. Do you like your job? House? The park down the road? Sky Harbor? Diamondbacks and Cardinals? Spring Training? The museums? Movie theaters? The malls? Super Target? The restaurant you visit a couple times a month? Whatever else it is you enjoy in the area? Guess what? Those don't exist without the "effete transplants".
Also, a final point, at some point Arizona Mike's family (parents? grandparents?) were "effete transplants" and that fact does not seem to bother him.

Thats the way it should be. A nice quiet place to realax and enjoy life. Watch the sunset, then see the billions of stars at night. Can't do that anymore. You can barely drive anywhere in the desert now without seeing city lights in some direction.

[Finger Laker]

who's to say the way something "should" be ...... something often should be the way it is, as it ended up that way for a reason ...... not 100% of the time, but more often than not

you can still watch sunsets and see stars in the phoenix metro ..... they even have stargazing hikes at estrella regional park

[Ritchie_az]

"Thats the way it should be. A nice quiet place to realax and enjoy life. Watch the sunset, then see the billions of stars at night. Can't do that anymore. You can barely drive anywhere in the desert now without seeing city lights in some direction."

There lots of towns in Arizona like that. But why do only a few hundred or a few thousand people live there? Because their local economy can't support any more than that. In other words, if Phoenix was as you wish it to be, you wouldn't live in Phoenix because there would be no job for you.

[Arizona Mike]

Despite what my many detractors say, the hot dry air can be very good for you. A lot of lung disorders respond well to dry air, which is why people with tuberculosis used to come here to live - like Boyce Luther Gulley, who moved here from back east for relief from the humidity that made it difficult for him to breathe and work. He built Mystery Castle, the amazing piece of vernacular architecture at the base of South Mountain. Doc Holliday came out to Arizona for the same reason, and he could be frighteningly effective, as the McLaury and the Clanton brothers learned at the O.K. Corral. Bethany Home Road was named after the Bethany Home, a tuberculosis sanitarium at 15th Avenue and Bethany Home Road, and Cactus Road was named after a more downscale TB camp made of tents and shacks. Even today, a lot of asthma sufferers do better when the air is hot and dry.

The rest of you should just cowboy up.

[blisterpeanuts]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

People should have a right to grow whatever they want. The government should not be making laws about this. If someone is allergic they should take an anti-histamine and stay in the house. People had been growing mulberries and olives here for decades till all these people from the midwest moved here and started whining. It is the human transplants not the vegetative ones that have degraded the quality of life here. If you have allergies here and can't live with them, go back where you came from.

Damn straight, Pondy. I'm gonna get me some poison ivy seeds and just plant'em all over the place! It's my right to grow whatever I want, right?

[Glittergurl]

are there palmetto bugs all over arizona or just some locations? Phoenix? Tempe? Tuson? thinking about relocatting--phobia of this bug. want to avoid it at all cost

[glennwih]

You are 110% right!

[rockybird]

What a pompous and pretentious attitude the op has. Euroamerican? What the hell is that? I just turned down a high paying job in Portland to stay in Phoenix. While PDX is nice, I prefer Phx...the endless sunny days, the gorgeous desert, the mountains...I love the orange trees, the grapefruit and lemon trees in my yard. I can mtn. bike out my back door and be on the trails in the desert in minutes...and I live in Central Phx. I like being able to road bike every day of the week. I love the cacti, the fact that birds are always singing outside (did not hear any in cold PDX) and wearing shorts almost any day of the year. I also enjoy watching Phx. change before my eyes...the development of the downtown, the new rail system.

California? WHere the marginal tax rate is soon to hit 60%? No thanks. I prefer a state that fosters business growth, not penalizes it. I have spent time in SF. I was happy to get home. I spent a week at a medical conference there. The weather in late Aug./early Sept. was cold and damp The airport was filthy. Transportation was expensive. I did not find people friendly. The tourist attractions were dirty and ... what is the word you used..."contrived?" People talked about living in tiny one room studios for incredibly high rents. Sales tax was high. It seemed crowded and congested. THe only way to live in SF is to have money, lots of it. But to each and to his own.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by rockybird

What a pompous and pretentious attitude the op has. Euroamerican? What the hell is that? I just turned down a high paying job in Portland to stay in Phoenix. While PDX is nice, I prefer Phx...the endless sunny days, the gorgeous desert, the mountains...I love the orange trees, the grapefruit and lemon trees in my yard. I can mtn. bike out my back door and be on the trails in the desert in minutes...and I live in Central Phx. I like being able to road bike every day of the week. I love the cacti, the fact that birds are always singing outside (did not hear any in cold PDX) and wearing shorts almost any day of the year. I also enjoy watching Phx. change before my eyes...the development of the downtown, the new rail system.

California? WHere the marginal tax rate is soon to hit 60%? No thanks. I prefer a state that fosters business growth, not penalizes it. I have spent time in SF. I was happy to get home. I spent a week at a medical conference there. The weather in late Aug./early Sept. was cold and damp The airport was filthy. Transportation was expensive. I did not find people friendly. The tourist attractions were dirty and ... what is the word you used..."contrived?" People talked about living in tiny one room studios for incredibly high rents. Sales tax was high. It seemed crowded and congested. THe only way to live in SF is to have money, lots of it. But to each and to his own.

No arguments from me.

And in all fairness; central Phx has that 'Midwestern/1950's SoCal' look with neat older homes, large trees, grass, etc. so you are having your cake and eating it as well

I live very close to the Mormom Temple here in Mesa that has a very similar physical ambiance.

Besides: a decent house today may set you back $250K whereas a comparable house/area would be at least twice that in the SF Bay area.

[_Charles_]

And in all fairness; central Phx has that 'Midwestern/1950's SoCal' look with neat older homes, large trees, grass, etc. so you are having your cake and eating it as well

Zactly!!! It would take a seven figure income to have anything similar over in So Cal and these days it still would not be as nice! The great neighborhoods of central Phoenix are some of the Valley's best kept secrets.