The Rocky City
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8/7/2011
I've been in Phoenix since November 1998. I can't believe I'm still here. I had originally intended on staying a year or two and then moving on to Austin, TX. Each time that I've tried to leave, something has stopped me. Literally. I've had my bags packed and moving van scheduled several times now. I'm beginning to think the Universe is conspiring against me. Phoenix is interesting but only if your favorite color is brown and you love extremely hot weather, which lasts here seven months out of the year. The cost of living is low but so are the wages. It's not uncommon to be offered $8.50 to $10 per hour to start for an average job and for this they want the moon. In my line of work, accounting, I could easily make $50-60K per year in a city this size anywhere else in the U.S. (Phoenix is the sixth largest city in the U.S.) but here I'm lucky to make $36K. The water quality is one of the worst in the U.S. (and increasingly scarce with the ever growing population) as is the air quality. Traffic is horrendous and getting by without a car is very difficult if not impossible in some areas. I don't happen to have this problem but I know others who do. Coming from San Francisco, where I could leave my car in the garage if I wanted to and easily get to anywhere I needed to go using public transportation; I have found public transportation here dismal at best. Not to mention trying to walk from point A to point B in the heat. The ground is as hard as cement here so growing a garden is not an easy thing to do, combined with the lack of water. We knew we were in trouble when we bought our first tree and the nursery arrived with a jackhammer to dig the hole in the back yard to plant it in. Yes, a jackhammer. Afterwards, the poor tree grew at a 20 degree angle (from vertical) because the ground was too hard for its roots to grow down into. As a result, many trees have an extremely shallow root system and topple over on to cars and buildings with the slightest provocation. Ask me how I know. There's very little grass anywhere in the Valley, other than golf courses, with mostly "rock" yards both front and back. I suppose I should be grateful that I'm not still living right on top the San Andreas Fault but I've never really liked Phoenix and doubt I ever will. I would love to move somewhere else but the cost of living keeps me here. At least I can live in a decent house and not have to pay the $1,500 a month that it would take in another part of the country. This is the only thing that keeps me here.
Sonsa | ,