How would you describe Phoenix to someone who has never visited? (Mesa: transplants, 2015)

[Ponderosa]

Phoenix is a lot like what you see in small town America if you take a road trip. It seems every exit to these towns has a cluster of fast food joints, chain hotels, gas stations and they all look alike. Replicate one of those freeway off ramp clusters by a few 1000 and you have all the character and appeal of Phoenix.

[cjs123]

Originally Posted by KurtAZ

And all the haters come out to play

Ain't it the truth?

[maverick974]

Originally Posted by singlegirlinaz

I think most everyone was writing about Phoenix as a city mainly, not Arizona as a state.

That makes more sense to me. I'll agree that the city of Phoenix itself is lacking in some areas.
I live out by Usery Mountain pass so I'm a bit more rural. That's a plus for me.

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

Life's about balance. Give and take. Many people around here are in the hella dope bro crowd but the weather is beautiful most of the year, it's an outdoorsman's paradise, and we have a great beer scene. Balance.

Agreed. The last 11 years here have been good to me. Things are very balanced in my life so my views tend to be overly optimistic for some.
Life is good.

[take57]

Originally Posted by Adamson520

Dallas with cacti. Huge, sprawling, pretentious, terrible drivers.

Ha! I was going to say L.A., but actually the drivers are pretty good over there. The weak don't last long...

[Adamson865]

Originally Posted by take57

Ha! I was going to say L.A., but actually the drivers are pretty good over there. The weak don't last long...

Driving in Phoenix is a contact sport. I would drive the north side of Loop 101 twice a day and I always felt like I was taking my life in my hands. Nothing like doing 75 or 80 in the right lane and still being tailgated...! The only other place I felt that was on the Central Expressway in Dallas.

[The Global Citizen]

Interesting responses. I expected more positively given the interest in moving to this metro. I've lived all over the country, mostly in all the major metros. Nothing is perfect in this country. The more diverse and sophisticated, the more likely the price tag will be disrespectful (e.g. Manhattan, Orange County, CA, SF). The more space and lower cost of living, the more likely the social/political/cultural alignment will be against your personal preference (e.g. Deep South). Phoenix is changing by the day. The real estate market is the main indicator. Of single family homes $5m+, only NY and LA metros have more listings. Of all properties $5m+, only NY, LA, MIA, SF, and SD have more listings. Always follow the money in business. Always follow the money in cities. No city has made an economical leap on paper as much as Phoenix in the 21st century.

[KurtAZ]

Originally Posted by The Global Citizen

Interesting responses. I expected more positively given the interest in moving to this metro. I've lived all over the country, mostly in all the major metros. Nothing is perfect in this country. The more diverse and sophisticated, the more likely the price tag will be disrespectful (e.g. Manhattan, Orange County, CA, SF). The more space and lower cost of living, the more likely the social/political/cultural alignment will be against your personal preference (e.g. Deep South). Phoenix is changing by the day. The real estate market is the main indicator. Of single family homes $5m+, only NY and LA metros have more listings. Of all properties $5m+, only NY, LA, MIA, SF, and SD have more listings. Always follow the money in business. Always follow the money in cities. No city has made an economical leap on paper as much as Phoenix in the 21st century.

Just remember that those $5M+ homes/properties, most of those are second or third homes of people that live in Chicago/NYC/SFO etc.

We have 12 Billionaires that call AZ home, most on the list are actually home grown, true, but many traders/commodity brokers/etc. have bought properties to "get away" from the rat race of higher pressure metros.

[john3232]

Originally Posted by singlegirlinaz

When I was younger the Phoenix valley was like a big cow town. Now it's bigger, more crowded and much more expensive.

Downtown has improved but still not a big draw. More urban centers sprung up away from Downtown. Things are scattered all around and people drive everywhere, which is why the traffic has worsened.

Summers are very hot, 110-115 is pretty common. The rest of the year has awesome weather.

Jobs are plentiful but there's an abundance of low and mid-range careers and a lot less opportunity to get into the higher brackets. Self-employed people seem to do pretty well here especially in property management.

The worst part about Phoenix is the drivers. Speeding aggressive maniacs all around. The souped-up cars and raised trucks are the worst of all, and there are more than enough of those out there.

Phoenix seems to be a clean city compared to LA and especially Detroit, Philadelphia or Baltimore. Those cities are segregated and entire neighborhoods are determined by ethnicity. Phoenix is integrated and doesn't have the awful ghettos like many cities do.

My home town is LA and I like visiting but I'd never go back there to live. Phoenix is no utopia but it's home to me and other cities are much more dangerous and dirty in comparison.

I'll be visiting SF where I grew up next month SF and my brother thinks Pacific Paradise in LA where he lives is well... paradise. To be sure it is quite nice and there are still areas of SF which have charm but unless you are very wealthy forget it.

I live in Mesa 85205 and have noticed the political diversity (lawn sign were split between Biden/Trump in 2020.) My most recent neighbors are a young white couple (or at least compared to me...) who moved here this year from out of state. Husband works in the medical field.

There's no place which is perfect. My mother lived in an apartment complex in the Hillcrest district of San Diego for ten years. It was fairly common to see panhandlers, the homeless and people passed out on the sidewalk Sat/Sunday morning within a block of where she lived. (Hillcrest has a large gay population. I'll assume the fellows I saw passed out on the sidewalk were there as a result of too much of whatever the night before.)

SF (imo) has the best weather and it's a small city so you don't need a car. But like LA the cost of housing is outrageous. The area in downtown Phx not far from the Japanese garden reminds me of the Mission district in SF. A lot of young white people who I suspect have money enjoying a Sunday morning at a café while the riff-raff shuffles along the sidewalk past them.

[Williamhbonney]

Originally Posted by The Global Citizen

Phoenix is one of those big metros that often gets overlooked on the West Coast by LA, SF, and Vegas. For all those people who have never visited or lived in the Phoenix Metro, how would you describe the area re: vibe, pace, tolerance, etc?

I would it's horrible and in no way compares to California, Chicago or New York and they should stay put.

[gsm113]

The phoenix area is one big sprawling suburb. Some parts have a unique character and you can't say it's one homogenous group of people. Very much a relaxed west coast vibe, with a slower pace compared with the east coast apart from the aggressive drivers. Tolerance wise you have a wide mix of everything. In fact I would say phoenix is very much average in almost every characteristic except climate.