Should I move to Arizona?

steveinaz

Phoenix is not a good representation of Arizona, Tucson is more like it. Tucson has all the conveneince of a major city, but maintains that southwest/desert town feel. Me, I prefer to be in Cochise county/Santa Cruz county; far more rural. Phoenix reminds me of friggin LA.

steveinaz

MikeC78 wrote: »

Nah, you guys have no idea what HELL is! Make a trip over here to Iraq during the middle of August. I have many pics of a thermometer well over 140...

Seriously, Baghdad is becoming the new tourist destination. I'll make sure I pick you up at the airport.

I'm a desert storm vet, I'm well aware. What makes southwest Asia worse, is the damn humidity added to the incredible heat. No wonder those people are so angry...LOL

MikeC78

Nice! Arizona is cold in comparison. I actually thought Kuwait was warmer yet, if that was possible.

shack

Will the witness protection folks let you move there?

cnh

I haven't lived there but I've spent a number of weeks in both Phoenix and Tucson at various conferences over the years. The Freaking traffic in Phoenix is very L.A. like..it's over built up, and you have to 'drive' everywhere! I prefer Tucson, though it can get hot there as well...my apologies to our veterans above...but I am not familiar with Mid-East Desert heat! Have been on the edge of the Gobi desert, and in Arizona...in the summer but haven't done the Lawrence of Arabia desert crossing. Don't wish that on anyone!

I'm not sure I would move there? New Mexico, very nice, but being overtaken by New Age silliness and eccentric wealthy retirees.

Washington state? Well at least there's not much rain and A LOT OF SUN in Arizona?

cnh

bobman1235

snow wrote: »

driving down the freeway if you were to open your window and stick your head out it would be like sticking your head into a giant hair dryer stuck on the high setting.

The crazy thing for me about being in Phoenix is I took a bike out (motorcycle) and I swear it was the only time that going faster actually made you MORE hot. Usually on a hot day the breeze on the bike will cool you down, but somehow the air was so hot and dry that the wind made it worse.

steveinaz

You think Phoenix is bad, visit Yuma in July.

stuwee

Having briefly skimmed the above posts. Please, Please do not move down here, I'm sure you and the wife are lovely folks but, Big But, we are in a severe financial crisis, nobody is safe, we don't have enough water for those of us who are already here....etc....

Please do visit and spend $$'s I'm soundingharsh, not my intent! PHX is only nice because they have a NASCAR track, next weekend, WooHoo! You'll not see my lilly white a$$ up there any other time, never, ever, God Awfull ugly city that made sense 25 years ago but now....sucks bad.

Craig in Tucson AZ

zingo

MikeC78 wrote: »

I thought Arizona was the "nursing home" state? Anyone 50+ migrates over there, right?

Luckily, that's the industry I'm in.

I-SIG

Didn't see this until right now so I'll chime in.

Overall, as someone that lives in AZ, I think Steve is the closest. I live in Tucson and feel it is a nice compromise between a big city and a small town or larger exurb. I would certainly recommend Mesa and more specifically Chandler over Apache Junction and Phoenix.

I grew up in metro Atlanta and got to witness the traffic and such get worse throughout the 90's and early 2000's. Personally, I don't think Phoenix traffic is all that bad, especially compared to Atlanta.

I'm not sure what other areas you may have lived in Zingo, but climate-wise, I'll take the Tucson summers over the "cooler" but far more humid summers in Georgia. Phoenix flat out sucks the fat one in the summertime, thanks to the heat island effect from all the asphalt and tile roofing. Tucson hoovers right around 100 through most of the summer. Can it hit 110? Sure, but it can also be 90 or 95 since Tucson still experiences a monsoon season, mostly unlike Phoenix.

The illegal situation is definitely bad here, but other places like Atlanta aren't much better.

Wes

dorokusai

Yes, move now.

capecodder

I am originally from Philly and went to grad school at ASU (Tempe) between 1979-1982. I loved my stay and experience in the arid west and would go back to visit or travel any opportunity I had to do so. Absolutely some of the most spectacularly scenic environments you will find in the US. As Steve has indicated, you can travel in any direction and find a different climate/environment. My wife and I even had a small side business of quality native american jewelry because we became friends with a supplier who was one of the first woman wholesale dealers to deal directly with the artists. To this day the area is very special to us and our house has many examples of soutwest art and artifacts. I miss many, many things about the area.

HOWEVER, you couldn't pay me to live there. Others have mentioned the summer heat and until you live it it's hard to describe. Too hot to sit by a pool and enjoy yourself sometimes. The biggest drawback to me is actually more the "feel" of the neighborhoods. Maybe I'm just an east coast guy but I don't care for the "cookie cutter" fenced communities of the modern western suburbs (not they don't exist here as well). The urban sprawl of Phoenix and many other AZ communities has been beyond obscene the past two decades and the developments just don't seem to have any character, history or life to them. One thing that I never got used to was not being able to find that special local corner pub you can walk to. The one that had been there a hundred years or more, had a unique look and smell and felt like your favorite well worn hat. TGIF just doesn't cut it as an alternative.

As has been mentioned, portions of Tucson has more character and admittedly I don't know that area as well. Mesa, Chandler, Apache Junction and surrounding areas don't do it for me however. They are also going to have to deal with one heck of a lot of resource issues in the near future as well.