I like to call it Arizona exposed. This blog was created to expose the real truth about Arizona, its people, and its failing economy. Somebody had to do it.
I like to call it Arizona exposed. This blog was created to expose the real truth about Arizona, its people, and its failing economy. Somebody had to do it.
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7-19-09
Having lived here since 1976…with a few years away for employment opportunities eleswhre, coming to find out that Arizona has less and less to offer in the way of good living…..prices skyrocketing, no jobs, grocery stores going bust, housing now sucks, illegals evaerywhere and etc. etc. oh and the weather is just getting too hot…….where is the back door ???
Though I still have a soft spot in my heart for cities
like Prescott, Bisbee & Flagstaff, the metro areas
of AZ deserve your scorn. And funny scorn, it is, btw…
I just found your site through the comment(s) page
from this article:
http://www.fark.com/cgi/go.pl?i=4542583&l=http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2009/07/29/20090729bestplaces0729.html
And this comment about AZ (esp. the PHX area) sums the state up nicely…
“Arizona has little to no sense of community. At least not in its bigger cities. AZ is a “me first” kind of state where the voting block thinks of themselves before the community, before their neighbors. Here appearances are everything and substance is lacking. The education system sucks, the voters can’t wait to hack it to pieces further. The voters also support tax breaks for the rich and corporate welfare but cannot seem to bring quality jobs and quality employers to the state. Our economic success has been so heavily dependent upon the housing market for wealth and job creation its ridiculous.
AZ is a great place to live if you want to be a bar tender or work in retail. If your aspirations are to land a comfy seat in a call center AZ is for you. If however, you or better yet your children aspire to greater success than move and move quick. This state is both intellectually and morally bankrupt. It seems the intellectuals to their morality and left a while back leaving behind a concentration of rednecks and others who just don’t get it.
AZ cities don’t make the list of best places to live because they aren’t. What once was here has ceased to be. AZ is truly an idiocracy doomed to a viscous cycle if something major doesn’t change with the education level of the voters here and the quality of choices they have.”
This place is total shit. Void of any culture, any character, any entertainment.
Phoenix will slowly crush your soul & drain the life from you.
Simple pleasures of life are not to be found here, good food, intelligent conversation, a nice walk. Non of that exists here.
Here you have dirty filthy immigrants on every corner & every parking lot, the nation’s highest per capita of meth abusers (Were number one! Were number one!)
If you want to physically feel the the joy of life disappear from your body, this is the place for you.
I just wrote this comment on bestplaces.net. I agree with most of the site’s content, but I try to remain optimistic.
http://www.bestplaces.net/backfence/viewcomment.aspx?id=01AAAB5B-B891-4CB6-B4AE-9D07C33BF3D2&city=Phoenix_AZ&p=50455000
Everything was fine in Phoenix up until the housing bubble burst. What happened? Well, you could say the residents here are very much into “image” and little else. Tattoos, earlobe stretching, piercings, pitbulls, big wheels on their SUV, lifted trucks and new toys. I’m unsure if this is supposed to be a new mini-LA.
The biggest problem in Phoenix metro is its people. And by this I include Scottsdale, Tempe, Glendale, Maryvale and every other suburb. The people are far too materialistic and narcissistic to function in a modern society. You can observe this at any store or just cruising five miles by the idiotic drivers here. A sense of MFFY: “me first, screw you.” Don’t get me started on relationships. There’s a reason why Phoenix is one of the top divorce capitals of the US. Also, there’s a ton of out-of-wedlock children, so it might be the single mom or deadbeat dad capital now, too.
Another problem in Phoenix is crime. The police are either too busy or just don’t care. Two problems are jaywalkers and tailgaters. Some of the streets are far too busy for this. The cops could crack down, issue fines for $100/pop and clear this up, but it’s probably too much work for them. One wonders how much safer it would be if the police allocated resources differently than they are doing now.
The blog articles are 100% accurate and then some. I spent a miserable year in Arizona just recently. I lived in exotic places outside the U.S. and was ready to come back to the States. My cousin, who I had not seen in years, lives in Phoenix for umpty-ump years now. Long story short, instead of heading back to my home state, he coerced me to come to Phoenix. He glibly asured me that there were plenty of jobs and I’d do well. Wish I had done my homework instead, but I trusted him, After I arrived, his family (due to the raging envy of his wife against me) treated me coldly. My cousin did not mediate and before long I was alone in a strange place, alienated from them. They turned out to be suoercilious white trash living in one of those stamped-out stucco houses. I remember thinking that the whole area looked like a giant cat box with piles of cat poop for mountains. With the exception of the ranges east and southwest of Phoenix, the local mountains look alien, as if made by constructive effort insted of Nature. I went through NINE jobs in one year, getting sexually harassed, and experiencing total hate from my co-workers for being competent, attractive and educated. You can drive many miles in any direction and have the surreal sense that you just passed that street or restaurant….it’s that monotonous. . The men were the worst: Shaved heads, tattoos, piercings, and strong glares. I have no affiliation with street drugs but I am sure the ‘tweakers’ rule out there. I jumped in my car one fine morning and fled back to Texas. Stay away from Arizona! Also, as God is my witness, the skie are full of strange vehicles…..day and night. It is an eerie place. Very, very eerie, like you are not dealing with real humans.
please excuse three typos…supercilious, instead, skies, are what I meant to type. Typing’s not my strong point. Arizona does suck and should be shut down. It is a waste of resources!
At least I am not alone in my feelings, I as well like Prescott, Flag and some of the smaller cities but Phoenix and its neighbors nothing but jerks, assholes, Sheriff Joe supporters and not to mention I feel like I am living in Far East LA. It flat sucks here and I spent my childhood growing up here don’t move here and if you do we are known as THE RIGHT TO BE POOR STATE so be prepared for welfare after you get here becuase it sucks here!
Why do any of you stay? Sounds to me like Arizona would be a better place without you.
Trying to leave trust me and my ancestors helped create this state
@LoveAZ,
Yes, I’m sure with the mass-exodus of Arizona haters, Phoenix would be much better off with the increase in abandoned homes and buildings (great hiding places for criminals and illegals). Real estate prices would further crater with even less demand. The amount of tax collected would shrivel up with fewer citizens, so there would be less money to maintain the endless roadways and other infrastructure.
Thank you for your enlightened, well-thought views.
PS: I left Arizona a few months ago and have never been happier.
Oh yes, and Arizona has their own version of the Ozarks. It’s called the Navajo reservation.
Having lived in the Phoenix area since 1984 and in a number of other cities and states, and I have to agree, the Valley of the Shadow of Death – I mean the “Valley of the Sun” – is a f**king hellhole. Everything I’ve read on this blog is absolutely true. The majority of people in this place are rude and completely self-centered. They bump into you in a mall and scowl at you like it was your fault. Store employees never smile and almost never even acknowledge that you’re a live human being standing right before them. Companies come here and set up shop because they know they can fuck their employees any which way they want, thanks to Arizona’s bizarre and f**ked-up employment laws.
The place is predominantly right-wing, conservative, Republican and it shows. Everything here is geared to benefit those at the top of the food chain. Nothing here benefits the middle class; even the lower class gets food stamps.
One of the most disgusting and frustrating sights you’ll see in The Big Tortilla is the f**king illegal immigrant scumbags (that seem to be increasing their numbers daily) who stand around all day long uglifying the streets waiting for some even-bigger-piece-of-shit asshole to hire them for a dollar an hour to do their landscaping and blow f**king dust around with their goddamn blowers. Those things should be against the law.
This city is so f**king huge and spread out that if you live on the furthest east side of town it will literally take you two hours to drive the SEVENTY MILES across town. This makes for having social or business relationships nearly impossible which I think lends to the self-centered, anti-social attitude that prevails here.
As for what others said about things to do, it’s true: there’s not a fucking thing special about Phoenix. And if you’re a musician? May as well shoot yourself now or sell all your gear and move to a city with a music scene. As a musician, I’ve never found a bigger group of f**king idiots who call themselves “musicians” than here in Phoenix. The vast majority are dipshits with no sense of musicality or creative quality that think they’re God’s gift to music. There’s literally no music scene here.
Yep. Phoenix SUCKS. It sucks the life right out of you. If I wasn’t lucky enough to have a kickass job then I’d be moving out faster than you can say, “F**CK YOU ARIZONA!!!”
Oh yeah, and we’re stuck with… yep, JOHN MCCAIN – imbecile of the century.
And worse yet is Jan Brewer. Can we bring back Symington?
From AZ Central:
The state’s cash-flow problems are so dire that it took less than two weeks for government to tap the entire $700 million loan it had borrowed to help with short-term needs.
State Treasurer Dean Martin on Wednesday said that means the state will have to revert to some internal borrowing to keep money flowing in the state’s checking account.
The shortage developed when the Treasurer’s Office had to make a Dec. 1 payment of $389 million to the state’s schools, which exceeded the cash on hand. To make up the difference, Martin borrowed $73 million from internal state accounts.
Those amounts will be replenished as tax collections roll in.
On Nov. 19, the state finalized a loan agreement with Bank of America for $700 million, the first time since the Depression that Arizona has needed to turn to an outside borrower.
I am a California Native…I relocated to Arizona because, like most people, I wanted to see new things, and do new things. Unfortunately, I wish I would have been warned first. It’s hard to find even one good thing about AZ (I reference CA the most that’s where I lived the majority of my life).
For one thing, AZ is just a boring and dull state overall. There is no culture here whatsoever, and everything is “southwestern” themed; gets boring after awhile. There is nothing “unique” about the state. I mean, what does Phoenix, Tucson, and Flagstaff have that you haven’t already seen before? The Grand Canyon is nice but how many times can you go there? For example, S. California has amusement parks, the beaches, San Diego, L.A., etc. Central California has the coast, the valley, and close to Yosemite. N. California has the Bay Area, Redwoods, Napa Valley, etc. What does AZ have??
The heat in AZ is NO JOKE. I’m not saying that being in the cold is more comfortable and awesome but at least you can prepare for it. I get tired of hearing about this “it’s only a dry heat, etc”..110 degrees is a 110 degrees no matter what. Plus when the monsoon season starts, it’s still hot and the humidity is almost as bad as South Texas. I used to look forward to summers and being in the sun…until I moved here.
I thought California drivers were the worst drivers ever. WRONG. AZ has the worst. I’ve almost been in more car accidents here in 1 year than my entire driving career in California. Everybody for some reason here crowds the right lane, and aren’t courteous enough to move over a lane while traffic is merging. Every time I turn on the evening news here all you hear about are the numerous traffic accidents all over the phoenix/tucson areas. I drove across Los Angeles once and didn’t see an accident on the side of the road but on any given day in AZ you’ll pass at least a few.
The people in AZ are rather rude and unfriendly too I have noticed. I’m not saying that everybody else is perfect in every other state. People here are rude to strangers, customer service reps are unkind, and people have no sense of community here. For example, in the past when I was in another part of US and I ran into someone who happens to be from California, we usually hit it off and became instant friends. But when I’ve run into people from AZ, it’s usually the opposite like a “I don’t care where you’re from” or “so what?” mentality.
Have you noticed that everything looks the same in AZ no matter where you go? Every house is the same design, and every town is just as dull and depressing as the other. Plus, maybe it’s my imagination, every road/street/freeway/interstate in AZ is always littered with garbage and broken glass (not to mention every road is in HORRIBLE shape in this state; California took care of it’s roads). AZ towns are always “stretched” so much meaning that if you need something, it seems like you have to drive all the way across town (or to another town) to do/get something.
Crime. I’m not trying to say that California is completely crime free but AZ is different. AZ has an unusually high amount of crime compared to CA. Even the small towns in AZ are infested with horrible criminals, gangs, and drug addicts; almost as bad as large California cities.
In conclusion, AZ is a place I wouldn’t recommend moving to unless you have no choice.
Right on M2H, this place is a total shithole, and this is from someone making good money. I mostly just go to work and go home, spending too much time in public just pisses me off, so many people bumbling around, scamming and staring and glaring. Very few people are actually smart and have common sense beyond trying to freebase meth to be able to afford jacking up their truck. Total wasteland in 10-30 years….
I was born here, and feel the state owes me some sort of payment for abuse, this isn’t a normal place to grow up in if your IQ is above 85. I feel sorry for anyone being born and growing up in this place, it’s out and out child abuse. The system doesn’t really protect you , and you come in last. Being born into a shithole with few opportunities really does wonders for your self esteem when you’re developing your personality from 4-16 years old. No wonder such a high dropout rate, drug use, theft, DUI, etc. etc.
This place reminds me of walking around in the shitty trailerpark parts of Louisiana, nothing but people with nothing to do, staring and glaring, most always got some sort of criminal record.
God forbid you make something of yourself around here and try to be fair and polite.
If you have kids do this simple test. If you move your finger back and forth and they follow it with their eyes and able to count to seven, they are too smart for this place. Get them the hell out and into a real education somewhere else.
If your kids can even talk in English, be thankful. I am not talking about bilingual education. Most of the kids here have this yo diggidy dog rap hip hop lingo. Even as young as third grade. Like what has been already said, the dumber you are, the smarter you are. Smarter, the dumber. The ruder, the more polite. You get the picture.
One thing I didn’t see mentioned in most of these replies (or the original OP) was the fact that Arizona is a retirement state. That’s why education is not valued; the selfish seniors come here to die and they want to keep their money to themselves. They are the ones that spread the rudeness and nastiness. They are entrenched republicans that don’t want any change or progress. If you are over 60 then Arizona LOVES you but if you are any younger and still working, go somewhere else and if you have kids, PLEASE don’t come to Arizona. The senior centers get more funding than the schools do.
And don’t forget golf courses, too.
ASU not only has beer-swilling Animal House-like students who are an embarrassment to all university students nationwide, Asshole State University is also one of the worst employers among all Pac-10 universities. ASU subjects employees to horrendous working conditions. I know an ex-employee who tried to take a leave of absence for depression and he was fired promptly. Their support staff is made up of nagging women who discriminate against men.
I should also mention that beer-swilling Animal House-like behavior is not restricted to ASU students. Most young single 20-something bachelors in the Valley are also just as self-absorbed and possess no basic common courtesies. It’s typical of young people to be drunk, vomiting, yelling and screaming at 3 in the morning on any night, not just Friday and Saturday nights.
Don’t forget the UA kids here in Tucson. Not only rude and childish, but also will walk right in front of your car in the middle of traffic. Then call the cops on you for no reason.
Phoenix and the surrounding metro area is finding its own level.
Basically, a repository of mediocre, poorly educated bottom-feeders seeking cheap banal living and easy money. This soulless mix of carpet-bagging transients, budget seniors, tattooed misfits, real estate grifters, toothless (inappropriate term) tweakers, minimum wage job seekers and pseudo $30k/year millionaires has created a sprawling population center that masquerades as a major metropolis but is really one big cow town.
A bleak barren landscape with terrible weather, traffic congestion, sub-standard education, bad government, bad air, stuffed with ugly stucco houses and big box retailers peddling Chinese junk and corporate food, to a dumbed down semi-literate citizenry, Phoenix metro epitomizes the lowest common denominator of American cities.
If somehow, by either plan or accident, you’re living in metro Phoenix, you have bad fate or made a terrible mistake; plan an exit strategy as soon as possible.
The ONLY reason to be there (temporarily), is if you’re making a decent income (120k per yr). Anything less is not worth it, as your health, mental well being, family and personal esteem will deeply suffer by living in the Mogadishu of North America.
Phoenix, AZ:
“There is no there, THERE”.
I also was thinking it would be nice to have a warm climate.. I wish we had spent a FULL summer here before we bought a house here. Yep, we bought a house in 2005. Now we are underwater on said house by about 90K.
Everyone’s house is the same, there is nothing truly special about our house, and we have to move back to WA state (which is truly God’s country!) and we will move no matter what.
We have to – medical reasons and family and job force us to. So, now what? The house that we thought was sooo wonderful, and the neighbors that we never ever met? In five years? OMG.. never met more than one neighbor in all those years. The house next door is a constant rental. It’s crazy..
But, thankful to be moving out of AZ. There is no culture that I could see, drive forever and everything still looked the same. No walking areas like a town? Weird. No customer service. Glad to be heading back, glad when all is said and done with the house.
Your not just whistling Dixie my dear Kathy! When I first moved to Tucson nearly seven years ago, I allowed myself(I beat myself up on this everyday!) to be tricked into buying a Palm Harbor Home. In about a year, the cabinets were falling off the wall, the floors started to sink in and the house was over priced by at least 20,000$. Luckily for me, I was able to sell the damned thing to a nice guy who moved here from Oregon. I hope he took it back with him and fixed it up. I then found out that this lovely, wonderful state is a “buyer-be-aware” state. Which means that one can buy a house here and there are no rules to how a house is sold. In fact, there were no building codes here until the early 1980’s, from what I have been told. I feel your pain Kathy. When you come from a place where people want to help you, to a place where one wants to hurt you at whatever cost, it really, really hurts.
So not right Paradise. I can see sticking it to the bank, but someone else?
My irony meter just exploded:
to a place where One Wants to Hurt You at Whatever Cost.
Anyway, Kathy, what you say above is oh so true. One can drive far here and not see anything different. I am glad you got the H out of here and back to WA state. Best of luck to you.
You are so not right either Yes. The guy wanted to buy the house, apparently had plans for it somehow. I was totally upfront with him you goof. If he wanted the responsibility, then what gives? At least he paid cash for it all and settled up so there was nothing left to owe. I would have been paying on that thing plus interest for nearly 30 years. Think about it. Oh, maybe you can’t think?!!!
My stupidity meter just exploded, too. Maybe in your face? You should at least be smart enough to know that most retirees here are very wealthy. Or at least not hurting financially. That’s why they trade in those Lincoln Towncars in every two years. I didn’t hear him complaining at the sale. Ms. Hellhole, where are you on this?
You have hit the nail on the head. Lived there from 1960 to 1978. Wouldn’t wish such a fate on my worst enemy.
Ahhh I’ve been waiting for a forum like this to express my “thoughts” on Phoenix. Let me start by stating the things I do actually LIKE about Phoenix, because it’s not all bad and I do have a few likes. I LIKE:
The Cheap housing market. You can get a lot of sq footage for a little money. That’s always a +.
The weather- yes, It’s hot as Satan’s Asscrack, but I’m from CHICAGO- (like 1/3rd of the population) so NUFF’ SAID.
The landscape- Coming from Chicago, you can appreciate palm trees, cactus, somewhat fresher air and streets that aren’t potholy as fuck.
Now..the damage.
I’m not really concerned about one of these native Phoenicians- which is a word I’ve never heard until I got here- getting upset at what I’m about to say because most of the idiots here have an IQ under 75 and can’t read anyhow.
1st up I can’t stand the fact that there is NOTHING TO DO HERE. I VERY OFTEN find myself indoors on weekends because it’s either too hot to do anything or there’s just nothing appealing to do. The malls are the worst I’ve ever seen. I have to leave Phoenix every month or so just to maintain my sanity.
2nd- The Illegal’s problem is out of hand, and now that Gov. Brewer has decided to take matters in her own hands- everyone is crying & pissed off. Something HAD to be done. There’s wetbacks EVERYWHERE in this city I swear. Best part about them is most Mexicans in Phoenix act uppity & think they’re better than us (African-Americans) – LMAO!
3RD – The nightlife SUCKS. Same music & you will see the SAME PEOPLE EVERYWHERE. There’s a couple of clubs & they’re all cheap clones of NICE clubs you‘ve been to in Miami, Las Vegas, Atlanta, etc. Most have no valet, no stages, shitty bartenders, & horrible dj’s. The downtown club scene consists of about 4 places- all of which are just LAME. People here actually party at bar and grills & steakhouses’ which is also funny to me.
4th & my biggest issue: THE PEOPLE HERE ARE FUCKING IDIOTS. This would be the PERFECT city for me- minus the stupid jackasses that occupy it. I have yet to hold a intelligent conversation with someone here. Common sense isn’t a popular trait in Phoenix. I personally think the sun has fried their brains. I have been in convos with people here & I say something that sails over their heads & they just stand there with a blank expression like they need their reset button pressed. Not just stupid- but the people here are just damn weird. They say & do things I’ve never seen people say or do nowhere else. Both the men & women here emulate the urban/rap culture they see on Rap Videos. Funny thing is- I am FROM Chicago and used to live in ATLANTA, so I KNOW very well what they’re trying to imitate & be. Let’s go deeper: The men feel like they have to prove “Phoenix aint no joke” therefore the crime rate & murder rate is constantly rising. I guess they want to be on the “Map” but sadly, Phoenix will NEVER be on ANYONE’s radar. I mean we are talking about a city where grown men still fight & shoot up nightclubs like this is boyz n the hood. Funny thing though is all the black dudes in Wal-mart & the malls with enormous white women & their half-breeded children. This is rampant.Not that I have a problem with mixed relationships; I just find their choice in woman hilarious. Basically the males here are square ass losers & I try to stay as far away from them as I can.
The women are worst- I noticed they giggle a lot when you talk to them, which is compensation for lack of brain cells & a working vocabulary. They are shallow, easy, uneducated, snotty, lame, broke, and just plain stupid. I hear the STD rate in Phoenix is extremely high- I can definitely believe this. EVERY woman here will spread for you if you spend about $18 on them. They also love to chase behind the loser ass men here because they think they’re cool (yea- picture that) I implore you to locate a woman in Phoenix over the age of 20 who isn’t divorced and/or does NOT have a child or maybe 2 or 3. EVERY woman here has been divorced and/or has a gang of children. The women here are also in a “diva” mind state, despite the fact that they are food stamp recipients, have a job that earns them under $14K annually & have a car at least 8 years below the current year.
I remember when I first got to Phoenix in November 2008- I was in the DMV getting my ID & a black lady started talking to me. She said “You just moving here”? “Yes I replied”. She then said- “Well I’m on my way back to Houston, I’ve been here long enough”. I then asked her why she was leaving & she simply replied “You’ll see”. I think I see now.
“I remember when I first got to Phoenix in November 2008- I was in the DMV getting my ID & a black lady started talking to me. She said “You just moving here”? “Yes I replied”. She then said- “Well I’m on my way back to Houston, I’ve been here long enough”. I then asked her why she was leaving & she simply replied “You’ll see”. I think I see now.”
Excellent, and you’ve got some “colorful” language goin’ on girl.
I myself am WELL over 20 and, yes, divorced, no kids. I don’t even think about men here. They’re all such yeehaws. Cowboy hats, etc, etc. I don’t want to offend anyone. I just go for the clean cut look.
As to IQ, I actually read an article that the sun and heat bake one’s brain, for real. I know this to be true in my case. I’ve been here seven years and can definitely say my IQ has dropped. Sadly. Alas.
Well, good to read what you had to say….
Admin, I really enjoy your blog. It’s comic relief in a sad sort of way. Sometimes, we must laugh to keep from crying. Truth hurts but glad I’m not the only one. Still trying to get hubby to get us the heck out of here. Thanks a million.