Arizona Sucks

If you’ve kept up with this blog and many of the reader comments, then you’ve surely seen just how many times we’ve read somebody’s story about how his or her quality of life was turned upside down upon relocating to Arizona. A lot of people get suckered into moving out here with the false claims of nice weather, cheap homes, ton of activities, great & plentiful jobs, and a high quality of life. People are easily fooled when they see the palm trees, sunny skies, pools, and nicely manicured golf courses on their TVs or in Arizona relocation guides. Unfortunately, move out here for just a week or two and you will quickly realize that you are really in for a unique and unpleasant treat. Arizona is one of those rare places where you can try your hardest to make the most of it, and you will still be left feeling worn out, defeated, misplaced, disgusted, and just sick to your stomach. There’s just something about this place and it’s scorching weather, discouraging landscape, horrifying crimes, monotony, and lack of opportunity that will really get you down and will keep you down until you can finally escape.

Many, many people have reported moving to Arizona and realizing just how unfriendly and lacking the job market really is out here. There are NO good jobs out here – well, of course there are a few but you probably aren’t going to be fortunate enough to land one of these positions. There was an abundance of fast food, retail, landscaping, call center, and other ’strip mall jobs’ in recent years. However, as it became more clear that Arizona was greatly overbuilt in the past few years, the number of these jobs are on the decline while the number of applicants is on the rise. Not a good situation for you if you had dreamed of moving to Arizona and introducing yourself to the fast-paced world of Wendys. It might already be pretty clear to a lot of people, but I cannot stress enough that nobody should ever move to Arizona to look for a job or even with a job offer in hand. You might wonder why it might be a bad idea to move to Arizona even with a job already lined up, but the answer could not be simpler. It is not worth the risk or the hassle of relocating to Arizona. If you move out here even with a great job and get laid off, it will be next to impossible to find a similar position out here. You will be forced to relocate once again or take a huge pay cut with another organization out here. That’s certainly no fun and Arizona does have some of the lowest unemployment benefits in the country should you need to file a claim. Don’t be fooled by news reports and talk of Arizona having a hot job market – it certainly doesn’t now and probably never will.

You probably thought it was bad enough when you moved to Arizona and you couldn’t find work or were stuck taking a position far below your skill level. Once you landed a job somewhere and somehow out here, you probably had the pleasure of dealing with commuting and just driving out here in general. You soon realized one day as you were driving to your dead end job, just how terrible all the construction, traffic and the drivers are out here. Other states may have more traffic, but Arizona certainly has some of the worst drivers in the country. Arizona drivers are famous for driving drunk, driving in the left lane, cutting off others, having no concept of merging, blocking people who need to get past them, not signaling, throwing caution & trash out the window, running red lights seconds after the signal change, and just about anything else you can imagine. Living in Arizona will allow you to witness some of the worst accidents you have seen in your life and the opportunity to sit in the subsequent traffic backups. Driving in Arizona is a lot like playing Mario Kart, except out here you will be forced to dodge illegals, drunks, tire debris, ladders, and old mattresses. Driving in Arizona will anger, frustrate, and quite possibly kill you.

Managing to make it out of the traffic alive and into your first day of work, you encountered some of the lowest forms of life on the planet. People in Arizona are like one giant herd of sheep with no direction, no ambition, no work ethic, and piss poor attitudes. People out here don’t care about you, and you shouldn’t care about them. Most relationships in Arizona are built solely on getting ahead or taking advantage of a situation. People in Arizona who work hard and share their own ideas will only be taken advantage of. It really doesn’t matter whether you are working the drive thru or retail or with a small business or in a corporate office building in Arizona – you will still be surrounded by these worthless, uneducated, drunk cowards. And to make matters worse, it is almost always these people who manage to get ahead out here. You will NOT grow your career in Arizona and shouldn’t even bother coming out here and giving it a try.

You surely thought that even though your job and commute in Arizona was terrible enough, you can at least have a great time at home and out on the weekends. Right? C’mon now, you have a brand new house in far, far East Mesa with a pool, and you live right next to a half vacant strip mall. Life could not sound much better to the majority of these uneducated fools in Arizona. Although, you quickly realized that life in an Arizona subdivision, as well as everyone else living in Arizona will manage to piss you off in one way or another. People out here struggle with menial tasks including grocery shopping, fueling their car, checking their mail, and even walking their dog. The majority of retail and restaurant workers out here are lazy, not knowledgeable, pushy, and just unpleasant to deal with. There is no common courtesy out here and people tend to just do what they feel when they feel like doing it. From having landscaping crews show up well before the sun comes up to tying up a barking dog for hours on end to listening to awful, deafening Mexican music late into the night to people of all ages road racing down the streets of your subdivision – you WILL encounter it all in Arizona. People in Arizona will drag you down to their level and at some point you will probably just give up and take it. The longer you spend in Arizona, it becomes more and more likely that you will be that jackass who is out with a chainsaw at 5AM, drunk, naked, and cutting down that dead palm tree in your yard. Don’t let it happen to you – leave now while you can still think rationally.

And then there’s the weather. Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse out here, April arrives and so do the 100 degree days. No matter how you slice it or justify it, the fact is that the weather in Arizona is miserable for close to half the year. Don’t be fooled by the idiots who tell you there are just three hot months, and then nine months filled with the best and most beautiful weather in the world. This is not the case, was never the case, and will never be the case. Being in Arizona is close to unbearable from May to the beginning of October. The winter months are a mixture of mild and cold, but one thing is certain and that is that you won’t regularly be laying out by your pool in December like some people would like to have you believe. Tell me how a state where you are just about forced to lock yourself indoors for months on end has beautiful weather worth bragging about. The bright, hot, miserable, dusty, and lengthy Arizona summers will take a toll on your mental and physical health.

You really can try your hardest to make living in Arizona work for you. You can do the opposite of everyone else in Arizona and be friendly, work hard, go out and see what Arizona has to offer, think for yourself, drink in moderation, and strive to get ahead. Unfortunately, you will quickly realize that it is all for nothing as you sit in a dead end job and fail to build any true friendships or meaningful relationships out here. Arizona will quickly turn even the best of people into depressed, worthless, demotivated zombies who look, think, and act like everyone else. Try and justify it all you want but there is no reason for settling down out here. Ever thought your life couldn’t get any worse? Come to Arizona because it can and it will. How quick did you experience the downturn in quality of life since moving to Arizona? The first week?

In case you missed it or are fortunate enough to be outside of the Phoenix area, a local Arizona news station ran a piece last week about how life out in Arizona might be portrayed to the rest of the country. Viewers were left to ponder the question of whether or not the state of Arizona has a national image problem. Surprisingly enough, this is a great example of the typical Arizona attitude for you – instead of considering what the necessary steps are to begin fixing the multitude of problems currently plaguing the state and its millions of residents, even the news stations out here are more concerned with only how Arizona and its people LOOK to the National eye. With that being said, it is pretty clear to most people these days that Arizona does have an increasing image problem because the truth about Arizona has been exposed as the population growth went way up in recent years, and also as a result of the mortgage fraud and subsequent real estate meltdown out here in the last few years. Here are just a couple of Arizona’s many problems grabbing attention in the national spotlight:

Worst school systems in the country – that’s right, every single other state around the country outranks Arizona when it comes to public schooling. Education is not valued in Arizona and this certainly affects all facets of life out here from the workplace to the grocery store to eating out at a restaurant. You can continue to make excuses, move your children to another Arizona school district, or even continue lying to yourself – it does not matter though – you are putting your children’s safety and future at risk by sending them to any of Arizona public schools. If you have kids or plan on having children, you really should re-evaluate settling down in Arizona at least until your children are in college.

Increasing violence and hate crimes – every single year, the violence in Arizona seems to be getting worse and increasingly more violent. Nobody wants to admit to it, but these crimes are increasing and becoming even more commonplace – and don’t think you can escape it by moving to a supposedly higher income zip code or to a gated community. Arizona boasts some of the craziest, most unbelievable crime stories that you could not even make up if you wanted to. Watch just one day of the local Arizona news and you will never want to step foot in this place again.

Weather – the one problem that can never be fixed, but it is still important to continually point out how dreadful and depressing the summers can be out here. You know the weather in Arizona is terrible when even people who are just quickly passing through on a cross-country road trip still feel the need to complain about how high the temperatures are out here. It’s never going to get any cooler in Arizona, so stay far away unless you are prepared for month-after-month of the extreme heat, and the famous Arizona dry heat argument goes right out the window when the temperatures are over 100 degrees.

Economy – what economy? Arizona population growth is dwindling, construction is way down, there were never any great jobs in Arizona, and now we have a surplus of houses and commercial buildings. How is Arizona going to turn it all around this time? Can Arizona rely on its economic growth strategy with such a poor national image? Probably not – Arizona is a retirement and winter golf state, at best, and that is all it should have ever been provided there was enough water for all this grass out here.

What it really comes down to is what does the state of Arizona have to offer you? Is it the comparatively warmer winters? Or is it all the congestion, pollution, violence, and blowing dust storms? What does Arizona offer you that you can’t find anywhere else, except for those 4-5 months of temperatures over 100 degrees? Don’t wait for Arizona to try and fix its deteriorating image – get out while you still can and still have your sanity.

If you have read through this blog or if you have spent anything more than a weekend in Arizona, then you should be quite familiar with the countless problems which are currently plaguing most of the state. Some people are under the impression that these issues exist at the same magnitude everywhere else around the country. While there are many issues which certainly affect everyone around the entire country, there is a few that Arizona residents can really claim as their own. Some of these major downfalls found throughout Arizona would include:

Lack of Good Jobs – it’s no secret that a lot of people and areas are hurting in this department right now. A lot of very qualified people are unable to find jobs and everyday someone you know is getting laid-off somewhere. The difference between Arizona and most other places is that Arizona has always had a slim number of strong career opportunities. Even when the economy turns, most in Arizona will still be working at grocery stores or trying to sell overpriced condos – this is not the case in most other places.

Terrible Schools – Arizona has the worst public education system in the country. It is under-funded, overcrowded, and infiltrated with illegals. You cannot argue with the facts – and remember – even if you think your local school district is better, remember it really is just comparatively better when put up against another deprived Arizona school district. Go outside of Arizona and the truth will haunt you for the rest of your life, and you can bet the school system here will surely affect your children’s future as well.

Questionable People – Arizona is one giant melting pot with grossly measured ‘ingredients’ leading to an unpleasant taste and an insufficient balance. In Arizona, you have just a couple at the top, a few in the middle, and an abundance of bottom feeders. Just sharing a grocery store aisle with one of these Arizona deadbeats will boggle your mind and make you question your own existence. It really is one of those places where it is everyone for themselves – you can’t trust anyone out here and you shouldn’t even try.

Extremely Hot Weather – ideal climate is certainly a matter of opinion. Arizona happens to have months on end of temperatures over 100 degrees. Some might prefer the comparatively mild winters here over the snow found elsewhere, but you certainly pay for it during the summer months. Regardless of opinion, you surely can’t say anywhere else in the country puts up with non-stop heat like those in Arizona do from the months of March – September.

Illegals Galore – how long is it going to be before illegals outnumber the number of US citizens in Arizona? In exchange for the increased strain on our schools, hospitals, and law enforcement; we reap the benefits of more crime, more unfit and uninsured drivers on the road, increased spread of disease, as well as national security risks too.

What do you think? What sort of fantasy land are people living in who think Arizona shares the same problems as anywhere else?

Not a week goes by, where one of the major Arizona news station neglects running a segment on how specific companies around the Valley are hiring for hundreds of positions. Unfortunately, it is not only the local news stations running these ‘feel good’ about Arizona’s job market stories. I have read several nationally published articles on Arizona being a great place for recent college graduates, as well as others to come and further their careers. These stories are not reality – Arizona has always had a very limited number of good jobs, still does today, and probably will for many more years to come. Unlike other places, the lack of jobs out here is not because of the national economic downturn, but because that is just how life is out in Arizona. Do not be fooled by the media propaganda. If you move here and plan to look for a job, or even if you move here with an out of this world job offer – you better be prepared for the absolute worst.

The majority of these so called job openings out here are in retail, call centers, construction, landscaping, and real estate in recent years. Other opportunities out here are very, very limited. What outsiders who are considering relocating to Arizona may not realize is that these types of jobs are the norm out here. A lot of people out here earn an honest living working in grocery stores or construction which is fine. But, if you come here looking for work on the other end of the spectrum, it is just not going to happen. If you are just starting out and want to begin your career, or want to advance in your current career path – DO NOT move to Arizona.

Living and working in Arizona should be a scary thought for many, but few out here actually think about the future. They are too focused on getting by and trying to look rich while doing so. Even if you happen to have a great paying job with one of the Valley’s top companies and believe you are on the fast track to success, what happens if you are laid off or suddenly fired for no reason at all? It happens more than it should out here – then what’s the plan? Chances of finding a comparable replacement job out here are slim to none. What about your Hummer payment and that mortgage?

Don’t be fooled. There are very, very few good jobs in Arizona.

Simply put, there is pretty much nothing here. The Phoenix Metropolitan area is essentially houses and strip malls. If you want to work construction (even these jobs are drying up these days) or in retail or the service industry then you will have no problem finding a job in Arizona. Minimum wage jobs are quite abundant out here and easy to find. Want to actually further your career out here? Good luck. Definitely don’t even consider moving to Arizona thinking you’ll be able to find a good job at some point. It won’t happen and you will end up supporting your family working the drive-thru window. Moving here with a job offer is a bit less risky, but if you are let go for one reason or another – you will probably be forced into moving all over again. Sure there is plenty of small businesses and start-ups out here – what nobody will tell you is many of these business cheat, under-pay, and over-work their employees. If you happen to have secured yourself one of the very few good jobs in the Valley – congratulations – just realize that this is not the norm and many Arizona residents are struggling to make ends meet due to an abundance of poor paying jobs.

A blog post inspired by a reader comment from earlier today …

AZ employment is like a tall, shaky tower. The foundation of the tower is construction. I think we have reached our maximum amount of construction and it’s all a downhill race from here. Making up the rest of the tower is everything else: teachers, service workers, janitors, executives. Once the foundation is compromised, the rest of the tower will fall. Phoenix could become a modern day ghost town. – Furreal

A lot of people do not seem to understand that Arizona’s economy is almost solely tied to construction, mainly the building and selling of homes. Ever since Arizona’s housing bubble burst, there has been a steady decline in the construction industry. There is such a surplus of homes through out the entire Valley (which are not selling), that it wouldn’t make any sense to plan and build any new subdivisions. This surplus will remain high for quite some time now that loans are only approved for those who can actually afford to make the payments. Not to mention the fact that Arizona home prices continued to climb while average income levels remained relatively stagnant, which has effectively priced a large percentage of Arizona’s population out of the housing market.

Currently, the only thing holding the construction industry together is the building of business offices and industrial properties. Unfortunately, commercial development will be hit hard in the coming months/years due to new increased credit standards for commercial construction.

Less and less developers/builders will be able to secure financing in a market that has such a surplus and is as risky as the Arizona market is. How much longer will it be before the tower completely crumbles? And do you really want to be around when it happens?

Everyone always talks about all the hot new jobs across Arizona. The Arizona job market has always been a main selling point used by Realtors trying to trap people into relocating to the Valley. Sometimes it seems as though there are more jobs than people across the state. What a lot of people simply overlook is that there is a HUGE difference between quantity and quality of jobs. So, why are there so many jobs popping up across the Valley?

Growth. As more and more people decided to move to the Valley – more homes, schools, restaurants, and shopping centers had to be built. The construction industry was most affected by this growth, and countless new construction jobs were created. Most of the other hot new jobs were necessary to meet the service needs of newcomers to Arizona. Somebody has to work in the restaurants, grocery stores, gas stations, and shopping malls.

As long as people continue moving to the Valley, there will always be a number of construction and service-oriented jobs. The growth has to end sometime though, right? What will happen to Arizona, its people, and an economy tied to building and selling homes when growth starts to decline?