Um amazing mexican food is really easy to find here actually... I guess it's all in what you like, make my own cheesesteaks and pizza is here but limited. jmo
Plenty of culture for me. I attend many plays, operas and concerts... ya ya laugh if you want but my parents have always made sure that I was 'cultured'
Night life? Umm, plenty. It's not NYC, Vegas or LA but you can't put that many more cities higher.
Best wheeling in the country.
Great weather.
Good laws. Traffic, gun, vehicle and other
Mountains, Trees, Desert, Water, pretty much whatever landscape you want.
I agree with Wes, there is enough to do here for someone who is 26 and we have lots of great places to eat. You want to go out and party all night long? Go to Mill Ave or Scottsdale....personally I despise the clubs in Scottsdale, however there is a reason that many celebs live here/play here.
Just about every major act comes through here for shows, from Mary J and Jay Z who are playing here next week to CSNY, lots of punk shows, all the old 80's bands trying to re-make it, Paul McCartney...the list goes on and on. There are a lot of great small bars and clubs with all kinds of live music here too...is it Austin? No, but its not horrible.
Good food that isn't a chain...hmm well lets see tons of little Mexican Food places around, we have several great Indian, Thai, Ethiopian, and Irish food places around....and I dunno what everyones problem is with the pizza...go to Cibo, or Cafe Roma downtown and they have great pizza...oh and this other place some of you may have heard of...Pizzeria Bianco? You know, people like Seinfeld and Robin Williams fly from NYC here just to eat there....Martha Stuart just featured it on her show...its like a 5 hour wait!
Seriously, my point is there is a lot here to do...the downside is that Phoenix is a really spread out town, so you aren't going to find everything in a 10 block radius like NY. One night you might be downtown at the Artwalk, the next night you might be in Tempe for a live band, and the next night in Glendale for a football game, so be prepared to do some driving!
I suggest you head over to Yelp.com....it has reviews on everything in each city and the reviews are written by people just like you and me...parks, food, movie theaters, dry cleaners, whatever. There you can get honest opinions and see some upcoming events. Good luck!
Phoenix has culture, just not the culture that people are used to.
Some expect plentiful public transportation (like what is found in San Francisco); some expect architectural "pretties" (like the brick homes found in Omaha); some expect the arts to be of the high society variety (like some opera/play houses in New York).
Expectations and reality clash hard. That's why you get culture shock.
I'm not a native (like a ton of us here in AZ) to Phoenix, I'm still just passing through (since 1990). I've found good latin food here, usually in the smaller hole in the wall restaurants and at La Parilla Suisa and Abuelos.
Culture is here, we go to ASUs' Gammage Auditorium, the Dodge Theatre, BankOne Ballpark (yeah, I know it's called something else, but I helped build the park so I'll call it BankOne Ballpark), AmericaWest Arena to watch the Mercury/Suns Play, etc. We got our monsoon season and the Santa Ana's blowing in sometimes - and almost everyone at one time or another WILL have allergies. Think about it, everyone who comes here and wants to bring a 'piece of home' with them in the form of a plant brings plants. So we get all kinds of plants here, one of them is bound to give ya allergies.
Architectually....well, as far as for looks, it seems that all the homebuilders found one plan and are milking it for all it's worth. Every neighborhood looks almost exactly alike. I think they still want to call it the SouthWestern Look.
Me? I grew up in the military, so home is where you hang your hat. I appreciate what's around me, so as tibaal89 and MissR2FJ have shown, we like to try to just ... hang. I mean that in a good way cuz I've wheeled with some folks here and we have a good time. Move to the NW part of the valley, we'll show you where you can wheel and have a great time talking shop or yapping about where to find a good burro.
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There are a handful of restaurants that rate with a tier below the top in Los Angeles, New York, or Chicago. There are a ton of restaurants that are wonderful dining at a variety of price points. The only ethnic variety that I've looked for and not found a good Phoenix example of is Morroccan. I have a more-than-average interest in cuisine.
I'm not sure what culture is. I've lived in several major cities famous for it and never really sought it out. I don't seem to find myself hurting for entertainment, but I'm somewhat self contained in that regard. I didn't come to Arizona with the intent to stay, but I did. I didn't expect to enjoy my life here, but I did. I didn't intend to morph into a quasi redneck... but I did.
The geography here is really fun if you like 4 wheeling. If you're not into 4 wheeling, and you still want to extract the fullest measure of the Arizona experience, I suggest taking up golf.
I'm single, 26, no kids yet and most likely none for awhile. I assume I'd be out of AZ long before that happened.
I've lived in Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Australia. My parents live way upstate in New York.
I'd be taking this gig mainly for the job as it could be a very cool opportunity with a great company. I'm not looking for somewhere to settle down long term, more like a year or three.
I'm horribly upset that there is no good Mexican food, I figured that would be a given and I've missed it since I left Santa Fe.
Thanks for all the opinions so far, keep them coming!
-Jade
I can name 2 Mexican resturants that rock
Guido's in South Chandler and the Tee Pee in Phoenix. I probably can think of a few more that are not considered chain or tex mex type
You can find just about everything you need here if you look in the right places
I am not AZ native but have lived here on and off for most of my 46 years (Phoenix area, Tucson and Prescott)
First, the heat...yes for 1/3 of the year is in HOT! but in N.J. for the same period it is COLD and then it becomes summer there and it is sweltering. We do here what people do in the N.E. in the winter, move from air-conditioned home/office/business to a/c car and back just as you go from heated places. No matter if it is hot or cold, you really don't hang around out in it unless you truly enjoy that extreme.
Culture, this is subjective...We have just about everything you might consider "Cultural" just not in the overwhelming variations you might have in NYC. Opera, we got them, Symphony, we got it, stage performances, we have the Herberger (Which I attend a great deal) Concerts and nightlife should you dare wade into it.
As for food, its all out there if you are willing to not pull into the first strip center complex and go to the franchise places. And Kat, there is good Mexican here; infact there is such a wide variety you can pick and choose restaurants by what they do best. Yes, most don't do a full menu well but we have a place for each variation we prefer. We go to one place for Carne Asada, another for Adovada, another for chimi's and another for enchiladas. Its all here, just need to look a bit and be willing to try some
Not so pretty” places to find treasures.
Pollution, sure, put 5 million people in a geologic bowl and a cloud is bound to form. Like LA or Deerpark Tx. and that stinking petro-chemical mess (yea, lived in La Porte Tx. awhile to), not at all. If you live at 24th and Osborne (you got far greater chance of drive by lead poisoning if you do), might worry about it but most of us live further up the valley rim or on the outskirts in suburbia.
The difference between Phoenix and Tucson…Phoenix is the Sonoran Desert and the population is in denial typified by all the grass and green and water while Tucson is in the same desert and it looks and feels it. The pace in Tucson is slower, the traffic is slower, the people are slower; sort of a stunted developmental stage.
Your move to Phoenix will change your views and perspective, but a move anywhere as drastically different as NJ and PHX will do that.
Bottom line Adapt and Overcome, that’s what makes your life better anywhere you live!
As for food, its all out there if you are willing to not pull into the first strip center complex and go to the franchise places. And Kat, there is good mexican here, infact there is such a wide variety you can pick and choose resturants by what they do best. Yes, most don't do a full menu well but we have a place for each variation we prefer. One place for Carne Asada, another for Abvodada, another for chimi's and another for enchaladas.
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