Phoenix, Arizona: A brief description

[Coventina]

I'm feeling really surly today about the metro-area where I live.
So I'm blowing off some steam.
So here goes:

Imagine Los Angeles
Take the crime, pollution, sprawl and traffic snarls of L A. Then subtract out the beach and 99% of the cultural amenities.

Then subtract out all the political progressives and replace them with grumpy old Republicans who come here to die. Also add a large dose of conservative Mormons (Mesa).

Then place it in a large bowl in the Sonoran desert where the urban heat island effect keeps night-time temps above 90 degrees most of the summer, requiring 24/7 air conditioning for about 5 months of the year.

That is Phoenix.

[EstimatedProphet]

1. Yup

the heat thing is far worse than people realize if they've never been there. I worked down in the canyon below Hoover Dam-it actually got to 132°. You can't even describe what that is like.

[immoderate]

2. Here's a quote from RagingInMiami who...

lived in Pheonix around the same time I did, though we didn't know each other then: "Everything in Pheonix is brown, and if it isn't already brown, they paint it brown."

I lived in Pheonix for six years. Since I don't play golf there was nothing to do. A cultural wasteland. If i'd known the area better, there is some respite if you are a student, Tempe, or if you are a shallow yuppie, Scottsdale. But central Phoenix is like Wall Street on Sunday morning all the time.

--IMM

[SmileyBoy]

3. Can't be worse than freezing your ass off 5 months out of the year.

Plus the small-town mentality of everyone here. At least Phoenix isn't chock full of migrants from the outlying rural villages that do everything they can to make the city as similar to their disgusting, frumpy village as possible.

[Coventina]

5. Remember the proverb: The grass is always greener?

That doesn't apply to Phoenix, where everything is dust.

Or if you do see green grass, it serves only as a reminder that it comes at a huge environmental cost.

We haven't had rain for more than 120 days. We are going to have to pay the piper sooner or later.

[begin_within]

4. Don't forget "Valley Fever" which is in the soil there.

Coccidioidomycosis is endemic in parts of the southwest, including Phoenix

[Coventina]

6. Oh yes, we've all had it. No way to avoid it. For many it is permanently

disabling.

But the authorities keep very quiet about its dangers.

[wackadoo wabbit]

7. You forgot: And remove all the inhabitants' tastebuds

So that there are very few decent places to eat that can stay in business.