Living in Arizona
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6/10/2006
I have lived here over ten years and I dont really like Arizona - married to a native. I think of it as endless suburbia, a concrete jungle built for machines (automobiles) not people. Its rare to see people outside, everyone is in their car. Even if there were more places to walk its too hot from May to September. The summer is crazy hot, not in a good way. But I am in the minority because most people who live here LOVE it. People I know like the weather, the desert hiking, cost of living (compared to big cities) and the desert landscape. I think the people here are great. There are quite a few wonderful lakes, owning a boat makes the summer much better. I like the city of Tempe because it has Mill Ave where you can actually walk along the street with shops ect. You dont have to drive to a mall.
There is tons of development, so many nhoods are behind walls. Not sure why, maybe it seems exclusive. But it makes it feel like Stepford, too planned and EVERYTHING looks the same. There are older nhoods with interesting buildings, but they are rare and not in the best places.
If you dont mind going EVERYWHERE by car and you like hot weather. This is your place. I have lived in 4 countries and many cities and for me, this is the worst. However, its the first place I have been where owning a house, a nice car, boat ect... is pretty common and atainable.
Sam | Tempe, AZ