HOT! In the summer especially…

Yet beautiful what with the wild desert flowers!
Fun, if you jog while drunk and hit those gigantic cactuses along the way!

I have a brother in Scottsdale and he loves it for the weather, above 100 degrees (dry heat) most of the time…says it good for his asthma. The food and night life are good also, and if you’re into golfing you will love it there. One of the things he dislike is the people there absolutely cannot drive.

It’s hot. It’s a desert so there is a lot of sand. That makes all the people have a pissy attitude. So they are governed by a lot of angry, narrow minded, assholes.
So, I guess a good comparison would be Iran.

Great place to live or visit. Two hours north of Phoenix you can have lots of snow in the National Forrest. Totally different from the desert of Phoenix.

I would stay away from the border towns. They can be very dangerous.

@filmfann Have you ever been there. It’s more rock than sand. AZ has all types of weather in fact our cabin just got 9 inches of snow a couple of weeks ago.

@missingbite Went thru Winslow, Flagstaff, and Pheonix on a bus in 1971. What a shitthole.

@filmfann Wow! 40 years ago you rode through on a bus and determined that all of AZ was governed by “a lot of angry, narrow minded, assholes.” What can I say…we have a winner!

Well, no. The trip from 40 years ago gave me an idea of the topography.
The newspapers tell me about your elected officals.
Their governor is a piece of work. She has actually become the “death panel” incarnate that we were warned about with Obama-Care.
McCain switches his position any time he comes close to agreeing with the President.
There are a lot of people overly concerned about keeping Mexican illegals out of the state, to the point of challenging any hispanic looking citizen.
Nice place.

I spent four weeks in Arizona inspecting hotels in several of the major cities. It was a wonderful experience all around. The state is just stunning! Tucson is where I saw uncultivated cactus and tumbleweeds….very much a desert area. Phoenix is pretty much the same as far as weather goes…hot! A few hours north is Flagstaff, and at a higher elevation, it is known for their pine forests and snow in the winter months.

Keep heading north, and you’ll find yourself in Native American country, which is predominately Navajo. A little further north, and you hit the Grand Canyon. Sedona is also an interesting city, as it is known for their New Age culture. Both Sedona and Kayenta in the north are well known for the utterly stunning landscapes.

The people I ran into were very nice. Arizona does get a fair amount of transplants due to health reasons or retirement. It makes me wonder if they have good medical care, as well. The only negative information I’ve heard is about the plethora of scorpions and snakes in the desert areas.

There doesn’t seem to be much in Tucson. Are you interested in the spot to go to school or to move there to live?

Phoenix is touted as a major metropolis but really it’s a small downtown surrounded by endless suburbs. The food is good if you go to upscale restaurants but good, varied, mid priced food is hard to come by. Tons of fast food chains though. Cheesecake Factory, Red Lobster and Outback are considered near fine dining.

Up in the mountains is beautiful but jobs are scarce unless you’re a student, real estate agent or out of the home insurance agent or… retired. The weather is truly atrocious in the Phoenix greater valley during the summers and even what most people considered springtime is actually above 90 degrees and dry. If you love trees, flowers, grass then AZ is not for you.

I live in Tucson and I think it’s pretty great. We’re very different from Phoenix in a lot of good ways. Don’t expect miles and miles of suburbs, golf courses, and resorts like in phoenix. Tucson is more down-to-earth and homey.

A lot of Tucson feels like a university town, and as such most people are politically liberal, interesting, and intelligent. I find that tucson has everything I need in a city in terms of stores and resources, while still being easy to get around without much traffic or congestion. Yes, it’s hot in the summer and that’s no fun. But the other 9 months of the year are just beautiful. It’s the kind of place where you can rely on being able to ride a bike to school or work pretty much every day.

The desert is a beautiful place once you get used to it. It’s not all rock and sand, check out some photos: this one. and another. Just outside of town is the Coronado National Forest featuring, among other things, Mount Lemmon, home to the southern-most ski destination in the US. In other words, you can drive for about 45 minutes and go from 100+ desert weather to 65 degree pine forests (or go to the snow in the winter). There’s lots of great hiking, bike riding, and camping nearby.

Cost of living is really low, but of course the salaries match that.

Caveats: the Tucson school districts have some serious problems. The state government is a little crazy, and the summers are HOT.

On second thought, don’t move here, we don’t need any more people in our paradise.

All I remember is how beautiful and green Mesa was and all those Mormons! I went into a Mormon bookstore in Mesa and bought several cookbooks. where are they? I know! “He” threw them into the burning hole with my stereo!”

I love the desert ecosystem. The plants, wildlife, etc. are really interesting and beautiful.

There is a lot of Tex Mex for food. It is wonderful.

The dry heat is much more bearable than humidity, but you have to get used to carrying water with you and drinking a lot of water.

I grew up in Vegas and we traveled to Phoenix every year. I also lived in Flagstaff for a year as a toddler, my brother has lived in Kingman for the past 20 years, my niece grew up on the Navajo Indian Reservation, and one of my sisters has lived in Sedona for the past 10 years. I’ve traveled the entire state, and I can tell you it is one of the most beautiful states we have in this country. If you like the heat and outdoor activities, especially hiking, boating and golf, then this state is for you.

I can tell you my family that lives there are not narrow minded assholes. Neither are any of their friends or the people I have met. You’ll find great food too.

I’ve been stuck in AZ for nearly 6yrs now and it still doesn’t feel like “home”. Most people I know agree that this a postcard beautiful place to live if you’ve the means to live where you can afford $400+ a/c bills 9 months out of the year, a safe gated community and money to enjoy the lakes and mountain time recreations. Otherwise it’s what you imagine hell to be.

Your own jewelry will burn you when outdoors, everything rots from extreme dryness and heat. Car batteries die at about 1½ years, everything on the car made of rubber rots about the same, tires are destroyed by half life, outdoor furniture is destroyed in one season, animals can’t walk outside because their little feet burn, the water tastes atrocious, road construction has been a constant adding to gridlock, the payscale is half about what you’ll find on the west/east coasts, groceries are more expensive than west/east coast, drunk drivers are rampant to the point it’s one of the most dangerous states to walk or ride a bike/cycle.

Oh and did I mention this is a poster state for meth/crack?