Ready to Seek "Smaller" & "Greener" Pastures
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6/22/2006
Moved to Phoenix about 3.5 years ago. Here's the lowdown on the "good, bad, and the ugly" of living here. As a bit of a profile on who is sharing this point of view, it's coming from a semi-retired (self employed) couple in our mid- and late- 50's. We're homeowners and have some income property here as well.
Anyway, first the good. This is a really well run city. Real people actually answer the phone and return calls when you call a public agency. We were astounded when we went to the Motor Vehicle Dept. to get our licenses and register our vehicles. It took about a half hour compared to the day one has to dedicate to the same process in California. It's not that it's that much smaller, it's that they've invested in a much better system for running the department.
Trash service -- in addition to the normal pick up of trash and recycleables, four times a year they come by and pick up bulk items. So what that means is that unlike CA where if someone doesn't have the capability or money to pay the fee to haul something to the landfill and instead use alleyways and canyons as their dump sites, Phoenix assumes the responsibility -- an asset to all concerned.
This city is creative and actually very artistic in their approach to public spaces, freeway on- and off-ramps, sound barrier walls, and even things like bus stop shelters (though "traveling" these freeways is another subject all together). A lot of emphasis on design, line, color, public art. Here an on or off ramp isn't just another way to access the freeway system, it's more often an artistic statement as well.
People are generally friendly, there is a strong sense of neighborhood within the more established residential districts. When we were visiting Idaho people described Phoenix (and AZ, in general)as being populated with "rugged individualists." Not so far from the truth in my opinion, and from my perspective, that's not a bad thing. There's a strong mid-west influence here as well, which I find quite comfortable.
So, now for the bad (again, only my opinion). Phoenix and all it's outlying area is a kind of "one trick pony" when it comes to what industry makes it run (maybe two ....). Development/Construction and tourism. There's a lot of talk about diversifying the economy by drawing bio- and high-tech to the region, but the truth is that when the overall economy slips, when "construction and development" slow, and tourism drops off, this place is really hard hi
nancy | Phoenix, AZ