I grew up here. What its really like.
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2/8/2012
I grew up in in Phoenix during the 70's. It was a nice place to be as a kid with all the friendly people and tight nit communities. We all knew the neighbors and kids all played together. The weather didn't seem to hot as a kid growing up. I remember we would take Cave Creek Road up North to Bell Road, which was out of town then.. We would ride motor bikes and watch the trucks play in the mud. Phoenix was pretty small because it was really an under developed undiscovered place. I think by the late 1980's things really changed. As the years past more and more people moved here from places like California and back east.. Usually people trying to get out of their cold weather cities and into the sun. The Phoenician population was still in place really, but we now had a melting pot as far as population. People got ruder and ruder as more and more people moved in. People started to live in a "Bubble" and nobody knew their neighbors anymore, nor do they have the time to speak to anyone. Traffic became a major issue*but when you compare it to other bad traffic places its not really that bad*. I think what makes Phoenix traffic so frustrating is when its 115 degrees outside and your air conditioning is on max...the air conditioner can barely keep up to keep you cool and you sit behind traffic waiting waiting and waiting moving inch by inch. In Phoenix during hot months (~ Mid April-October 31) You're not going to walk to grocery stores or malls unless you want heat stroke. During the huge economic boom in the 90's things were great, but more and more people moved in and it got worse and worse. Phoenix expanded wider and wider. When we had all this extra work needing to be done illegals moved in to pursue their dreams. Soon after gangs took over and drugs were rampant. Crime rose and people became even more angry and frustrated in their Valley of the Sun. Now the economy went to hell and we have all of these extra people and little work to go around. Wages used to be good, but were driven down because anyone is thankful to just have a job. There really isn't much union presence being its a right to work state. It's real tough to find a native Phoenician because they have moved out. If you're lucky enough to find a real native then they will still be pretty friendly. Like most other Phoenician's I moved out around 2010 because I couldn't take it anymore. The Heat seems worse, the pollution, over population and basic respect is gone. Not much to do really in Phoenix because after you've done it a few times there isn't much to replace it with. Lot's of bars and shopping. Some mountains to trek, but they're pretty jagged so be careful. Stuff that can survive the desert is pretty mean and tough...usually poisonous.
All in all I would say it was a wonderful place to grow up in, but that was in the 70's. It is so bad today that I wouldn't even consider raising a family there anymore. There are other places in AZ that are probably still pretty nice, but it won't be anywhere near Phoenix, AZ.
Bp | Mountlake Terrace, WA