If Phoenix is that hot, why do so many move there? (Sierra Vista: lease, cabins)

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

ONLY when a monsoon storm rolls through, then it gets swampy humid, and when the sun comes back out its back into triple digits. oooh ahhhh LOL Such a "break". Face it, summers here are the pits. IMO, anything south of the 40th parallel has garbage summers (for the most part).

Sounds like a matter of preference. I think 2 months of really hot is easy to deal with, plenty of air conditioning and shade and pools, it really doesn't interfere with my life. Cold is far more difficult to me, comes with extra maintainece, special clothes and considerations, all sorts of business closures et. Its terrible.


You know what I do when its 85 and sunny? Sit in the pool and drink beers. Do you know what I do when its 115 and Sunny? Sit in the pool and drink beers. What do you do when its 55? 25? -5?

And some of you northerners really don't understand the effect humidity has. 90 and humid is WORSE than 105 and dry. It is absolutely stifling with humidity but even up to the high 90's with no humidity and a breeze is actually quite pleasant.


If you aren't someone that likes to hang out in pools or are very overweight I can see why the cold might be more appealing but Its simply not that way to me.

[Tokinouta]

Phoenix Was Second-Fastest Growing City in 2017 | Phoenix New Times

There is a reason. Notice the top five are all pretty warm.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

ONLY when a monsoon storm rolls through, then it gets swampy humid, and when the sun comes back out its back into triple digits. oooh ahhhh LOL Such a "break". Face it, summers here are the pits. IMO, anything south of the 40th parallel has garbage summers (for the most part).

Did a monsoon storm roll through at the beginning of June last year? Because we had several days on the 90s then? I don’t think so...

As always the heat is exaggerated. I’m not saying our summers aren’t hot but we get breaks from the 100s every single night, we live at the base of the high country. We’ve got pretty good options for making a drive to plenty of breaks.

Flagstaff and San Diego are both south of the 40th parallel and have great summers. Technically so is Denver, another pretty nice summer city.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

The entire valley does not leave, though the traffic jams and accidents that clog the roads leading north make it seem like it, and also make that option ever more unpleasant with each passing year.

Yeah, I was exaggerating of course cause it does feel that way frequently. Point is we’re lucky to have that option even if it’s a PITA sometimes, living in the northeast in the winter provides little drivable options for a break.

[mlulu23]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948

i love AZ its near CA and its like being at the beach without that stupid beach crowd.

Well, except for "Where did you hide the ocean?" And the rattlesnakes, and scorpions were not at any beaches I've been too, lol. But keep talking the OP into moving because I'm listening too .

I guess the OP did move there at some point. This is a super long thread, and I've just started the journey. Many good points so far, thank you all.

[mlulu23]

Originally Posted by garxhap

I'm not saying EVERYONE in Houston goes out and plays in the blazing summer sun, but believe me, plenty of people do it and don't mind it a bit.

"Mad dogs and Englishmen", it's the title of a famous song by Noel Coward, satirizing the unwillingness of English people to adopt the custom of taking a siesta during the heat of the day in tropical climates."

(I think it's safe to say that Houston is miserable enough in summer to be used as an example for this song )
https://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_...sages/121.html

Mad Dogs and EnglishmenNoël Coward

In tropical climes there are certain times of day
When all the citizens retire
To tear their clothes off and perspire
It's one of those rules that the greatest fools obey
Because the sun is much too sultry
And one must avoid its ultra violet ray
Papalaka papalaka papalaka boo
Papalaka papalaka papalaka boo
Digariga digariga digariga doo
Digariga digariga digariga doo

The native grieve when the white
Men leave their huts, because
They're obviously definitely nuts!
Mad dogs and Englishmen
Go out in the midday sun
The Japanese don't care to
The Chinese wouldn't dare to
Hindoos and Argentines sleep
Firmly from twelve to one
But Englishmen detest a siesta
In the Philippines
There are lovely screens
To protect you from the glare
In the Malay States
There are hats like plates
Which the Britishers won't wear
At twelve noon the natives swoon
And no further work is done
But mad dogs and Englishmen
Go out in the midday sun
It's such a surprise for the Eastern eyes to see
That though the English are effete
They're quite impervious to heat
When the white man rides every native hides in glee
Because the simple creatures hope he
Will impale his solar topee on a tree
Bolyboly bolyboly bolyboly baa
Bolyboly bolyboly bolyboly baa
Habaninny habaninny habaninny haa
Habaninny habaninny habaninny haa

It seems such a shame
When the English claim
The earth that they give rise to
Such hilarity and mirth
Mad dogs and Englishmen
Go out in the midday sun.
The toughest Burmese bandit
Can never understand it
In Rangoon the heat of noon
Is just what the natives shun
They put their Scotch or Rye down
And lie down in a jungle town

Where the sun beats down
To the rage of man and beast
The English garb
Of the English sahib
Merely gets a bit more creased
In Bangkok
At twelve o'clock
They foam at the mouth and run
**** mad dogs and Englishmen
Go out in the midday sun
Mad dogs and Englishmen
Go out in the midday sun.
The smallest Malay rabbit
Deplores this stupid habit in Hongkong
They strike a gong and
Fire off a noonday gun
To reprimand each inmate
Who's in late

In the mangrove swamps
Where the python romps
There is peace from twelve till two
Even caribous
Lie around and snooze
For there's nothing else
To do in Bengal to move
At all is seldom, if ever done
But mad dogs and Englishmen
Go out in the midday sun

Songwriters: Noel Coward

Mad Dogs and Englishmen lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

[grad_student200]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

I would agree with this. You don't need to do anything special to go out in the heat - no jacket, no window scraping, no shoveling the driveway. It is sunny all the time not depressing gray and windy so your mood is better. People go to the lakes, have pool parties at night, play golf, softball leagues - I played in a volleyball league for years in the summer - night games. Sure it would be nice if it were moderate temps all year, but there are few places like that in the world. To my thinking, a sunny hot summer beats a cold dreary winter as the downside of an annual weather pattern. Obviously not everyone agrees and some who come find getting through the desert summer worse than the midwest winter.

BTW, the heat is nothing like the swamps of Houston. It's much more bearable. As for allergies, it's a guess. If you have mold and dust mite allergies they will improve here, but there are enough other things around that you probably won't get real relief. People who are allergic manage to find something to react to just about anywhere they live.

I agree. Houston is very humid like much of the Gulf stretching from East Texas to the FL Panhandle.
I've driven that I-10 route may times via Houston. I lived in Florida for over a decade. The humidity was awful after it rains - especially after a tropical storm. I am glad I did not have to worry about TS Alfredo.

Phoenix does get "really hot" but only for about 5-7 hours of the day. People who have acclimatized maintain outdoor activities by (1) doing it in the morning (e.g. before 11 AM) or (2) at sunset/early evening. For example, back in the 1990s there was a record heat day in Phoenix at about 120+. I knew teens who did not venture outside at all for the entire afternoon. But at night they played pickup basketball - usually about 9 PM or after when it cools off (relatively).

I hike Piestewa Peak throughout the summer by going before 11 AM. It's a fierce hike in the mountains of Central Phoenix. But it's doable with acclimatization and proper planning. My limit is about 100 F. There are people who go up when it's hotter than that. They are used to it but plan and train carefully - acclimatize. By about 2 PM the temperature shoots up to 110 or higher. But I am usually off the mountain well before then.

However, it's also easy to just go up the mountains in the summer to escape the heat. The Mogollon Rim at about 6 to 7 thousand feet is just about 75 miles northeast of Scottsdale. It's much cooler up there. Flagstaff is only about a 2.5 hour drive in the summer to 7000 feet or higher at the ski basin. I like to go to my childhood range in the mountains of Eastern Arizona in the summer to similar higher elevations (5 to 7 thousand feet). It cools off significantly above 5000 feet compared to Phoenix low in the desert.

There are people who never get used to the heat and leave after a year or so. But there are also many who stay. The "Valley" is growing all the time. It grew tremendously while I was gone in FL for about 14 years.

[BIG CATS]

I don't get the whole "we get to escape the heat to the higher elevations" BS. Sure, if you want to spend time and money driving just to cool off for a few hours before you have to jump in the car and come back to the furnace.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

I don't get the whole "we get to escape the heat to the higher elevations" BS. Sure, if you want to spend time and money driving just to cool off for a few hours before you have to jump in the car and come back to the furnace.

Prescott and Flagstaff make awesome summer day trips. Or even better, a quick overnight.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

Prescott and Flagstaff make awesome summer day trips. Or even better, a quick overnight.

On weekdays maybe. Weekends the traffic will leave you wishing you had just stayed home. I-17 is a hot mess anymore with traffic snarling accidents more the rule than the exception. 87 to Payson is a little better with respect to accidents, but it goes to Payson where the temps really are not much of an improvement over Phoenix and you can't find a place to park your car on weekends.

The easy weekend escape to the high country used to be a part of living in Phoenix, but with all the people who have moved here it is now just a distant memory.