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

[SAN_Man]

Originally Posted by singlegirlinaz

One small but notable difference between Phoenix and California, people actually trim back their palm trees here.

I've noticed that too. However, I do like the shaggy skirt on the Mexican Fan Palms in California. AZ tends to over trim their shrubs for some reason. It's the lazy way of pruning a plant/bush when you take a hedger and turn what should be a shaggy bush into a little ball. Over trimming is a pet peeve of mine. You see it everywhere there, if you don't want a large bush or don't have the space for it, don't plant it! Dwarf oleander, Texas sage, bougainvilleas for example.

[SAN_Man]

Originally Posted by PhxGirl5

I was just about to come here and ask that, for those who have been living in the Phoenix area for the past decade.

I was born in East Phoenix in the 90s and I have not been since the 2000s..but looking at things from afar, it looks like modern day Phoenix resembles what Los Angeles did back in the 90s. I wondered if it qualifies as the "New LA" in terms of look/feel.

This thread gave me an ego bruise since it's my birthplace, lol. I live in Seattle now but I come to this forum for the nostalgia.

Have you spent much time in LA?

Today's Phoenix doesn't resemble Los Angeles of the 1990s or really any other period before that. LA has a huge pre-war footprint. That is something that Phoenix cannot replicate no matter how far Phoenix sprawls. The population density of LA is also something that Phoenix will likely never achieve and is far from approaching. The LA Urban Area is the most dense area in the entire US, yes you read that correctly, it's more dense than the NY Urban Area. LA stays dense for miles upon miles outside of their core.

Urban Area 2010 data (still waiting on 2020 to come out):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...es_urban_areas

Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA
Population 12,150,996
Population density: 6,999.4

New York–Newark, NY–NJ–CT
Population: 18,351,295
Population density: 5,318.9

The Phoenix urban area is fairly dense, but still less dense than it's closest peers like Denver, El Paso, Riverside, Salt Lake City, San Diego and Las Vegas.

Phoenix–Mesa, AZ
Population: 3,629,114
Population density: 3,165.2

[Heidi60]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

I hate to say it but the "vibe" is largely dumb and unsophisticated. People that say "bro" and "hella" nonstop that work lower-level jobs are everywhere. Spend some time on the east coast with loads of young, educated go-getters and then come back here and it's very noticeable. There's a certain benefit to the laid back thing, but most take it too far and are unambitious and dull.

Yes, Yes, Yes! Phoenix is the main drug trail to the rest of the country so it doesn't attract enough high level quality individuals. I was stranded there over a decade but it did make a wonderful sight in my rear view mirror when I did leave for the Bay Area. Mental stimulation is necessary for survival in my opinion.

I think part of the problem with Phoenix is that it tends to have a very transient population. Our home was on the N.E. side so people would move here from CA than leave after one or two summers. One day I looked in my closet and realized that most of my clothes were shades of brown! Yikes, I need some color in life in more ways than one.

Water, the Colorado River is at low levels this year which is very troubling because they move to areas where we do have water. When I lived there, every summer the water would stink to the point that it was undrinkable.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Heidi60

Yes, Yes, Yes! Phoenix is the main drug trail to the rest of the country so it doesn't attract high level quality individuals. I was stranded there over a decade but it did make a wonderful sight in my rear view mirror when I did leave for the Bay Area. Mental stimulation is necessary for survival in my opinion.

I can't imagine spending a decade somewhere I felt stranded and then coming online to brag about leaving such place. Which brings up the flip side of places like the Bay Area and Northeastern cities, the intellectual elements can be appealing but when taken too far (as it is in places like the bay) everyone becomes pompous, entitled, and stuck up. I work in the bay area quite a bit and cannot stand the snootiness and attitude everywhere. Pass for me. Okay to visit.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by PhxGirl5

I was just about to come here and ask that, for those who have been living in the Phoenix area for the past decade.

I was born in East Phoenix in the 90s and I have not been since the 2000s..but looking at things from afar, it looks like modern day Phoenix resembles what Los Angeles did back in the 90s. I wondered if it qualifies as the "New LA" in terms of look/feel.

This thread gave me an ego bruise since it's my birthplace, lol. I live in Seattle now but I come to this forum for the nostalgia.

Depending on when you mean by the 2000s it's changed a lot.

[Heidi60]

Originally Posted by locolife

I can't imagine spending a decade somewhere I felt stranded and then coming online to brag about leaving such place. Which brings up the flip side of places like the Bay Area and Northeastern cities, the intellectual elements can be appealing but when taken too far (as it is in places like the bay) everyone becomes pompous, entitled, and stuck up. I work in the bay area quite a bit and cannot stand the snootiness and attitude everywhere. Pass for me. Okay to visit.

I wasn't bragging, but sharing that many people make the wise choice to do better. Maybe the Bay Area is too competitive for some to make it in, or lack the desire to challenge themselves but life is more than watching cactus grow or the dust storms blow.

[john3232]

Originally Posted by Heidi60

Yes, Yes, Yes! Phoenix is the main drug trail to the rest of the country so it doesn't attract enough high level quality individuals. I was stranded there over a decade but it did make a wonderful sight in my rear view mirror when I did leave for the Bay Area. Mental stimulation is necessary for survival in my opinion.

I think part of the problem with Phoenix is that it tends to have a very transient population. Our home was on the N.E. side so people would move here from CA than leave after one or two summers. One day I looked in my closet and realized that most of my clothes were shades of brown! Yikes, I need some color in life in more ways than one.

Water, the Colorado River is at low levels this year which is very troubling because they move to areas where we do have water. When I lived there, every summer the water would stink to the point that it was undrinkable.

Interesting but that's how I felt when I sold my SF home. The day after I closed I bagged up a few things and left them with the homeless fellow asleep on the sidewalk two blocks away. Then I shed a tear, said goodbye to the City by the Bay and left for Mesa. Never looked back.

I'll be back in SF at the end of the month. Enjoy visiting but I wouldn't want to live there.


Mental stimulation is necessary for survival in my opinion.

Plenty of things to talk about with my Mesa neighbors. Now, if you enjoy discussing politics I wouldn't recommended it or at least be careful. The lawn signs split equally between Trump/Biden in 2020,

[locolife]

Originally Posted by Heidi60

I wasn't bragging, but sharing that many people make the wise choice to do better. Maybe the Bay Area is too competitive for some to make it in, or lack the desire to challenge themselves but life is more than watching cactus grow or the dust storms blow.

Maybe to some the Bay Area just isn't worth the insane costs with millions of people blinded by the allure being the 1% who make it big at one of the tech companies.
You make Phoenix sound like Yuma. This is just a tiny sliver of innovation happening in the valley.

• With 129 patents awarded in FY19, ASU is No. 4 (out of 58 universities and colleges in this peer group) behind MIT, North Carolina State University and California Institute of Technology and ahead of Purdue University, Carnegie Mellon University, the Rochester Institute of Technology and Princeton University. Patents are one measure of how well an institution can identify and move new scientific ideas from the lab into the marketplace.
• With 18 startup companies generated, ASU ranked No. 4 (of 58 universities and colleges), behind only MIT, Caltech and Purdue and ahead of Carnegie Mellon, Princeton and the University of Georgia. Startups are a measure of an idea entering the market through the formation of a company dedicated to developing that innovation.
• Phoenix bioscience hub has $3B in projects and 7K new jobs in the works
• The newly announced Center for Advanced Molecular and Immunological Therapies, a University of Arizona health sciences research center, will help anchor a growing biotech cluster in downtown Phoenix, part of a larger shift toward building life sciences capacity in the southwestern city.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Heidi60

I wasn't bragging, but sharing that many people make the wise choice to do better. Maybe the Bay Area is too competitive for some to make it in, or lack the desire to challenge themselves but life is more than watching cactus grow or the dust storms blow.

Heidi, I envy you! I wish I was more "competitive" like you are (whatever the Hell that means).

I love the good parts of the Bay Area and they are priced accordingly. There is no difference with the PHX metro. For all we know, you could be loving life in Concord, CA in the "Bay Area".

I'm with Locolife:

Originally Posted by locolife

I can't imagine spending a decade somewhere I felt stranded and then coming online to brag about leaving such place.

Please share your secret of getting out of PHX so briskly in just 10 short years? Impressive!

[john3232]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

Heidi, I envy you! I wish I was more "competitive" like you are (whatever the Hell that means).

I love the good parts of the Bay Area and they are priced accordingly. There is no difference with the PHX metro. For all we know, you could be loving life in Concord, CA in the "Bay Area".

I'm with Locolife:


Please share your secret of getting out of PHX so briskly in just 10 short years? Impressive!

Often code for I have money or better yet... I have more money than you.


For all we know, you could be loving life in Concord

Well, it did (and maybe still does) have a very nice community pool area. My friends and I used to drive to Concord and use the pool during the summer.