Phoenix
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6/8/2009
I moved to Phoenix from Michigan in 2005 and am a bit disappointed by my experience. Phoenix has some strong negatives. The heat is unbearable from late May to most of October. I don’t find the people to be very friendly either, and they don’t seem to have any desire to get to know you. Too many people seem reserved, unfriendly, uninteresting, materialistic, snooty and unhappy. Housing is not very attractive, where everything looks the same. I don’t know how people can tell their house from their neighbors. And then there is the bad air. Phoenix is not the best place for those suffering from bad allergies. Air pollution is especially bad in the summr. The crime is also high, due to the huge presence of illegal immigrants. Its hard to find someone who speaks English in McDonalds anymore—incredibly annoying. People in the Valley also have bad driving habits and road rage. Good paying jobs are few and far between, and the cost of living is way out of balance with incomes. The education is HORRIBLE (perhaps this explains the few good jobs available). I don’t understand why so many people want to move her. To me, Phoenix is just a fat concrete oasis in the middle of the desert.
With that being said, it wouldn’t be fare to trash the place, so I will give some of the positives. Phoenix is near many outdoor recreational opportunities. Northern Arizona has lots of camping in the summer and skiing in the winter. Flagstaff is a nice town and many towns along Old Route US 66 are really neat to see. Winters in Phoenix are very mild, but nighttime temps can get into the 40s. Even though the housing is practically identical everywhere in the metro area, its newer. And there’s also a lot of really swanky places—many in Scottsdale. Phoenix is only about a 6-hour drive to the ocean in L.A. or San Diego to cool off, much closer than most places in the country.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give Phoenix a 4.
Darren | Phoenix, AZ