? for those that live, or have lived in Arizona.

genjuro1

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I've lived in Phila. and South New Jersey all my life, and I feel like I need a change of atmosphere. I've met some people who have lived in Arizona, and have heard mostly good things. My cousin moved to Arizona a few years ago from Phila. and still lives there. I'm seriously considering moving, but I want to get as much feedback/info that I can. I'm leaning towards Tuscan. So anybody that can give me some feedback (cost of living, jobs, night-life, environment, how the people carry themselves, etc.) it would be greatly appreciated.
 

Loopz

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I've lived in Phila. and South New Jersey all my life, and I feel like I need a change of atmosphere. I've met some people who have lived in Arizona, and have heard mostly good things. My cousin moved to Arizona a few years ago from Phila. and still lives there. I'm seriously considering moving, but I want to get as much feedback/info that I can. I'm leaning towards Tuscan. So anybody that can give me some feedback (cost of living, jobs, night-life, environment, how the people carry themselves, etc.) it would be greatly appreciated.

As a resident of Tucson for nearly a third of a century, I can tell you this much:

Cost of living: Pretty damned cheap.
Jobs: Shitty. It's a college town with an Air Force base, mostly service. I don't know what your specialty is, but most of my friends ended up doing IT or something similar.
Night-life: Quirky. There are some cool clubs and bars downtown and near campus, you get a lot of small, "it" sort of bands that wander through...but you will seldom see a "big" act come through. Lot of art galleries downtown. If you like sports, you get to see the UA Wildcats take on a lot of good PAC-10 teams when football season rolls around. Basketball used to kick ass here...not so much now.
Environment: Tucson is surrounded by a lot of pretty scenery, and if you're into the outdoor thing, there's a ton to do very close by.
People: I really think people in Tucson are extraordinarily friendly. People are dicks on the road but I think it's like that everywhere. Also, there are still a lot of cool Mom n' Pop businesses to frequent, and this attitude prevails at these places.
Weather: The spring and winters here RULE. There really is no fall through, and the summer is 7 months of pain. If you don't mind hot and dry, you'll be alright.
 

MilkManX

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Just to add what Loopz has pointed out.


Lots of cheap sports clubs(Soccer,Karate,Roller Hockey,Etc)

The mountains are awesome. If you are into Hiking and Camping then Mt Lemmon will be like a second home.

There is really only two seasons. Warm and Hot. Hot lasts about 7 months and the only bad time really is the Monsoons.

The monsoons are nasty summer storms that come in fast and hard and make everything humid like the south for weeks at a time durning its peak period.

The local music scene isnt as great as it use to be down here but there are some great bands.

Come down for a visit and check it out.
 

Buro Destruct

Formerly known as, Buro Destruct, , Southtown Stre
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First of all, Tuscon is a transient town. I'm seriously of the opinion that you have to have been born in Tucson to LIKE Tucson. Its not bad, but every time I've been there I come away being glad to come home to Phoenix.

Secondly,here's Phoenix in a nutshell:

Pros:
+Weather
+Women
+Scenery
+Cleanliness (although this is steadily declining)
+Family-friendly (lots of good schools, parks, things to do for kids)

Cons:
-Culture (or lack thereof, unless you like the Old West, Mexico, or Native America)
-Traffic
-People (there are a LOT of snobs in the Phoenix-Metro area)
-Nightlife (hope you like sports bars and rap music)

The worst part about Phoenix-Metro (because its nonsensical to talk about each town seperately) is that its basically a town of people all trying to be 25 years old. This has its good and bad sides, so I guess it depends on what you're looking for in a community.
 

qube

Canadian Moderator
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Well, I don't live in AZ...but at least their sports teams have won a championship in the last 25+ years.

Go Rays! :tickled:
 

Lets Gekiga In

Neon Night Rider
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Well, I don't live in AZ...but at least their sports teams have won a championship in the last 25+ years.

Go Rays! :tickled:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and hopefully Tampa Bay Rays. The city of Tampa could be the city of champions shortly.

And good thing Phoenix has the Diamondbacks. Suns need to wake the fuck up. I even believe the AZ Cards have been getting a ton better.
 

aria

Former Moderator
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Posts
39,546
As an impartial and brief observer, I wanted to highlight a definite offset that I saw just from walking around:

Pros:
+Women

Cons:
-People (there are a LOT of snobs in the Phoenix-Metro area)
 

Loopz

Formerly Punjab,
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The ladies up there are pretty fucking amazing.
You'd think everyone else would be in a better mood because of that, but no.
Assholes and elbows.
 

RabbitTroop

Mayor of Southtown, ,
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Phoenix has some of the hottest people in the country. Seriously, every girl is amazing. Every time I'm in AZ I'm blown away... must be something in the... sand? I don't know.

Let's just get one thing straight though, you've never felt heat until you've spent high-summer in Arizona. "Oh it's a dry heat," fuck off. Dry heat just means it's like living in a dryer set on high all summer. It's oppressive. I've never wanted to stab someone more than the few times I've been there around 4th of July. Seriously, everything was setting me off... I was miserable outside, and I'm from Florida... I know heat. The heat there would fucking kill me with little to no difficulty, and brown would get boring after a while... but I can really appreciate AZ from time to time. As Loopz and others have said, non-summer months are really nice and can be down right refreshing and chilly at night.
 

Buro Destruct

Formerly known as, Buro Destruct, , Southtown Stre
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Assholes and elbows.

a_001AlMatthews.jpg
???
 

Ghost-Dog

Presented by the Florida Department of Economic Op
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I heard it's hot as hell in AZ.

















a_035BillPaxton.jpg


"Yeah man, but it's a dry heat."

(Don't blame me, when someone else posts Aliens pics in a thread, I'm compelled to join in)
 

Average Joe

Be water, my friend.
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Arizona is up there on the list of the places I'd consider moving to.

I love the idea of being able to wear a tank top and no underwear 365.

I am a sweater though so I'd probably take one whiff of that famous AZ heat and have to reconsider my thoughts on a move--plus I have a Siberian Husky and that wouldn't be fair to him as he'd be stuck in the house for life.

At the very least I'd like to visit the state.
 

J. Max

judas,
Joined
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Posts
2,531
As a resident of Tucson for nearly a third of a century, I can tell you this much:

Cost of living: Pretty damned cheap.
Jobs: Shitty. It's a college town with an Air Force base, mostly service. I don't know what your specialty is, but most of my friends ended up doing IT or something similar.
Night-life: Quirky. There are some cool clubs and bars downtown and near campus, you get a lot of small, "it" sort of bands that wander through...but you will seldom see a "big" act come through. Lot of art galleries downtown. If you like sports, you get to see the UA Wildcats take on a lot of good PAC-10 teams when football season rolls around. Basketball used to kick ass here...not so much now.
Environment: Tucson is surrounded by a lot of pretty scenery, and if you're into the outdoor thing, there's a ton to do very close by.
People: I really think people in Tucson are extraordinarily friendly. People are dicks on the road but I think it's like that everywhere. Also, there are still a lot of cool Mom n' Pop businesses to frequent, and this attitude prevails at these places.
Weather: The spring and winters here RULE. There really is no fall through, and the summer is 7 months of pain. If you don't mind hot and dry, you'll be alright.

This sums up Tucson nicely. Of course, I haven't lived there in nearly 8 years, but that's pretty much how it was then...the jobs thing is the tough one for me. All of the big companies got bought up by bigger companies, which caused a lot of the small businesses to go away.

Also, there never seemed to be a middle class there: either you had money or you didn't. No in-between.
 

J. Max

judas,
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2,531
Arizona is up there on the list of the places I'd consider moving to.

I love the idea of being able to wear a tank top and no underwear 365.

I am a sweater though so I'd probably take one whiff of that famous AZ heat and have to reconsider my thoughts on a move--plus I have a Siberian Husky and that wouldn't be fair to him as he'd be stuck in the house for life.

At the very least I'd like to visit the state.

I have two Siberian Huskies; I can't imagine having them down in Tucson...

And half the people wear tank tops and no underwear 365 in Tucson. (And by "tank top", I mean "wife-beater" and by "no underwear" I mean "plumber's crack".)
 
Last edited:

Kunai

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Posts
872
Having been born in Tucson and lived there for the first 31 years of my life, I'd say that it's a nice city that I will always be partial to. I enjoyed being with the people I've met over the years, the great restaurants I've eaten at, the small events that are unique to the area, etc.

But like most other people who stayed in one place for too long, I don't imagine living there permanently again. If I return to the US, I would probably make the utmost effort to live in another city, like Seattle, somewhere near the Bay Area in Cali, San Diego, Los Angeles or Portland. Tucson is great, but I agree that the job market is pretty scant. If you work for the missile company (Raytheon) or go to college at the U of A, great... but otherwise it's a tough place to make a living.

I will come back to visit for 2 weeks this Christmas, not having been back since July 2007. It'll be great to be back, since most of my family and my friends are still there.

Go to Phoenix if you want better options your career and better nightlife, but your summers are going to suck hard. It's always 10 degrees hotter up there than it is in Tucson.
 

Average Joe

Be water, my friend.
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Posts
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I have two Siberian Huskies; I can't imagine having them down in Tucson...

I can't wait for some decent snowfall here in MA.

Honestly, playing with my dog in a foot or higher of snow is one of my greatest joys in life.

Those dogs are a riot and a half without snow but when there's snow?

Fuckers are just crazy.

I love MA a great deal but I've been here 26 years and would like to try someplace new just for the sake of exploration.

Plus once I get my Personal Trainer Certification job finding isn't too much of a problem for me as it's a very easy job to find openings for anywhere.
 

Arcademan

Now...It's OFFICIAL!!!
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Yes, Phoenix can be a nasty place to live during the summers...110+ easily. I can live with the daytime heat but thanks to ye olde 'concrete urban island' the overnight lows may hover in the 90's. For the next week here the daytime temps will be will stay in the 90's. Can't add too much more that my fellow Arizonans have said except during the winter months, if you long for the snow and cold stuff, all it takes is a couple hour's drive north of Phoenix to Flagstaff, the mountains and Snowbowl. Summer in the mountains are excellent...so is the fishing and if you like gambling, lots of Indian Casinos around to lose your money.

I've lived here for 43 years now, exclusively in Mesa and Chandler and couldn't imagine living anywhere else.
 

genjuro1

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Posts
547
Yes, Phoenix can be a nasty place to live during the summers...110+ easily. I can live with the daytime heat but thanks to ye olde 'concrete urban island' the overnight lows may hover in the 90's. For the next week here the daytime temps will be will stay in the 90's. Can't add too much more that my fellow Arizonans have said except during the winter months, if you long for the snow and cold stuff, all it takes is a couple hour's drive north of Phoenix to Flagstaff, the mountains and Snowbowl. Summer in the mountains are excellent...so is the fishing and if you like gambling, lots of Indian Casinos around to lose your money.

I've lived here for 43 years now, exclusively in Mesa and Chandler and couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

The guy I worked with suggested I pick Tuscon, Mesa, Chandler, and Tempe. He said I should avoid Phoenix because I'm from Philly, and it's similar urban life. So far all the feedback I've gotten is for Tuscon, and Phoenix. What's up with Mesa, Chandler, and Tempe? And thanks for all the great feedback so far.

PHILLIES 2008 World Champs!!
 

J. Max

judas,
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The guy I worked with suggested I pick Tuscon, Mesa, Chandler, and Tempe. He said I should avoid Phoenix because I'm from Philly, and it's similar urban life. So far all the feedback I've gotten is for Tuscon, and Phoenix. What's up with Mesa, Chandler, and Tempe? And thanks for all the great feedback so far.

PHILLIES 2008 World Champs!!

Mesa, Chandler, and Tempe (as much as they HATE when people say this) are parts of Phoenix. They're like boroughs, more or less. (I wouldn't say they are suburbs.)
 

Buro Destruct

Formerly known as, Buro Destruct, , Southtown Stre
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Mesa, Chandler, and Tempe (as much as they HATE when people say this) are parts of Phoenix. They're like boroughs, more or less. (I wouldn't say they are suburbs.)
They (along with other cities like Scottsdale and Gilbert) are part of what everyone just calls the "Phoenix-Metro(politan)" area. They are each a township unto themselves, but they were founded so closely together that they've all grown into one another. I don't hate it when people lump them all together (it makes more sense to anyway), especially when roads change names because they're suddenly in a new city.
 

Arcademan

Now...It's OFFICIAL!!!
20 Year Member
Joined
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Posts
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The guy I worked with suggested I pick Tuscon, Mesa, Chandler, and Tempe. He said I should avoid Phoenix because I'm from Philly, and it's similar urban life. So far all the feedback I've gotten is for Tuscon, and Phoenix. What's up with Mesa, Chandler, and Tempe? And thanks for all the great feedback so far.

PHILLIES 2008 World Champs!!

I live specifically in Chandler and lived most of my life in Mesa. Personally I don't see too much of a difference between most of Phoenix and the suburbs. Scottsdale is a ritizer community, Tempe is a college town, Chandler has quite a few big businesses and also with Gilbert, has many rural areas and is quiet compared to the 'big city' life. Mesa is...well Mesa. It was a nice city but has some major financial issues since they're the biggest city in the nation without a property tax...oh, it's a very big Mormon community too.

Though it's gotten much better in the past few years, don't rely too much on the public transportation and while gas is usually lower here than the national average, you'll get use to driving everywhere since everything is so spread out here since it's pretty much wide open desert.

Hope that helps ;)
 

J. Max

judas,
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I live specifically in Chandler and lived most of my life in Mesa. Personally I don't see too much of a difference between most of Phoenix and the suburbs. Scottsdale is a ritizer community, Tempe is a college town, Chandler has quite a few big businesses and also with Gilbert, has many rural areas and is quiet compared to the 'big city' life. Mesa is...well Mesa. It was a nice city but has some major financial issues since they're the biggest city in the nation without a property tax...oh, it's a very big Mormon community too.

That's because one of the oldest LDS Temples is there.
 

neobuyer

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Posts
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I get the feeling that some parts of Arizona are like South Orange County, CA and San Diego- lots of hot chicks, but painfully white or homogenous. I went to see a show in San Diego and my freakin' stomach was turning in knots at the fact I didn't know which way to cooly turn my attention towards. Wall to wall finely dressed girls without that "I'm a BBW- you can't handle me" bullshit trip I see more in SoCal.

But it's all whites and asians and hispanics that are pretty much white. And it's boring and sex with a fine girl is only so good until you have to hang out with her friends and meet her upper middle class, milquetoast parents.

But I want Buro's opinion on this.
 
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