Phoenix Nesties
Skittle128
member
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
What do you LOVE about Arizona?
Since I get super defensive of my home state when I read threads like the one below (no offense taken - I get it. When I moved to Florida to work for Disney, I kept looking around for my mountains. It's all about what you know).
But it made me want to post a thread where I get to gush about what I do love about Arizona. Don't get me wrong, there are things about my home state that make me crazy, but I still love it here, and it's home to me, and I like to focus on the great things about it...
So... whatcha got? 
Re: What do you LOVE about Arizona?
For me...
- I love how you can go to one part of the state and be in the unique Sonoran desert, and then drive a few hours and be in gorgeous Sedona with the amazing red rocks, and then drive a little more and be up in the mountains with snow (yes, I know it's not as much snow as what many of you are used to, but still snow!) with pine trees and green and fresh mounain air.
- I love that I'm a reasonable drive away from Disneyland, San Diego, and Las Vegas.
- I LOVE my mountains. I took them for granted until I moved to Florida for awhile. I missed them so much!
- Awesome Mexican food!!
- Gorgeous sunsets
- I don't have to worry about slush and ice and driving on it. I do sometimes wish we had more of a traditional changing of the seasons (like trees with leaves that turn colors in the fall and I even sometimes wish we had snow and more sweater weather), but overall, I do love looking forward to October while my friends up north are dreading feeling stuck indoors all winter.
- I like the more laid-back feeling on the west side of the country. Things are more casual here, and I like that.
- I can't compare to other parts of the country, but I've never felt like people are unfriendly here? In fact, when I talk to friends of mine from other places (ok, maybe my New York friends), they talk about how friendly people are. No, it's not Georgia (my dad used to live in Georgia, so I'm very familiar with the south and its hospitality!!), but I don't think people here are unfriendly. Maybe they stick to themselves a little bit more, but I don't necessarily think that's unfriendly? I guess it's perspective...
- Monsoon season! I hate the hot, sticky humidity (I know it's not as bad as other places, but way more humid than normal!), but I do love the monsoon storms!
- Summer nights, especially later in the night. Although, it cools off quite a bit more in Tucson at night than in Phoenix.
- My friends and family are here. That's pretty much number 1 for me, and why it would be so hard for me to ever leave.
I'll come back with more if I think of them!
Coming from a tiny town I love how much there is to do around here.
I love not having to worry about cleaning snow off my car or shoveling.
I love having a variety of stores and restaurants close by.
I love that swimming season is longer here.
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I love the proximity to so many amazing sites. Snow, beach, red rocks, Vegas, Mexico. I love that we can go to any of these places for the weekend if we want.
I love the way you can feel like you live in a small community while still living in a big city. I know my neighbors and see people out and about. When I lived in a smaller town in PA our neighbors kept to themselves and rarely wanted to talk.
I LOVE the Mountains. Gorgeous, gorgeous mountains. I missed those when I lived away.
I love that my family is here and my history is here.
I love that I know most every corner of the city/area I live in. I know how to get around and I know where things are.
I love that there is always something to do. Art, music, shopping, restaurants, special events.
I love the cooler months, and love that cooler weather (during the summer) is just a couple hours away.
This one is a little personal for me but I love that my husband is from here and can show me the state from his point of view... I love that I made so many great friends out here and that we are all "transplants:
hehe
I love what you locals call "hell"!! Seriously... I love the heat! It's great!
ummm the sunsets are pretty
and the fact that I don't have to wear a winter coat is nice...
Thats really all I got... :-)
I am with you Sharon, I get defensive about AZ even though I hate our summer?s. But I do love it here and I love that all my family and friends are here. I love driving up north when it?s cooler or to just get away. AZ has a lot to offer and I still haven?t seen/done everything.
I love the Moonsoon?s we get, Haboob! Our sunsets and sunrises are just beautiful. I love when it does rain and if you live near a mountain, it smells so nice. It may not be a perfect state but it?s all I know and it?s all I love.
Click Me
P.S. I just wanted to clarify that I wasn't like mad or upset about the other thread. I just wanted to give AZ some love too.
Yay! Thanks for playing!
Okay, so maybe some things aren't so bad
I love the dry air. I can handle humidity just fine, but if I do like the dry air.
I love saying Haboob.
I love the freeways. I know some people think they suck, but they are a world apart from where I grew up, and sooo much better!
I love that my laundry dries outside in like an hour.
Oh yes! On Jaye's line of thought - Grid layouts for city streets!!! Central Ave in the middle (well, sort of... It's skewed now with all the growth - lol) Streets on the east, Avenues on the west, and the numbers get bigger each way.
Seriously, brilliant. I remember going other places and just assuming that's how all cities and streets worked. lol
Hey, no worries. I'm all about showing AZ some love. Since DH, his entire family, and all his friends are from AZ, every once and a while I like to think of things that make the only outcast in the group (me) feel special about some of the things all you AZ natives might have missed out on.
But I hear you...I get a little defensive myself when people complain about Phoenix so much. I may not be from here, but I chose to move my life here and who wants a bunch of people telling them that they made a bad choice? Not me.
I was so about to add this to my list!
I love the weather (other than the 3 months of extreme heat)
I love not having to worry about getting snowed in
I love the cost of living - seriously, I was just back in Seattle for 10 days, and I was blown away by how expensive everything was - groceries, gas, housing, everything.
I love that we're within 1/2 day drive to Las Vegas or So Cal.
I love that the streets are laid out on a grid
I moved here from the Northeast in 2004 and anyone who says people aren't friendly here...totally don't get that. People here have been overall nice. I've been to plenty other places where people are far more unwelcoming.
I love watching downtown Phoenix become better and better. It's becoming more and more walk able and more of a community and I like the light rail....especially since I get to take advantage of it.
I love how much hiking I can do here. I can drive maybe 15 to 20 minutes and be at a trail head....I had to drive so much farther back home.
I absolutely love the Mexican food here. I hated Mexican food before I moved here.
The sunsets and landscape are so dramatic and gorgeous in AZ. I never get tired of it. There is so much to do here in AZ, I love the outdoors and love taking breathtaking road trips.
The proximity to so many weekend excursions (Southern CA, Mexico....) is great for the times I want a change of scenery.
I love how laid back and casual it is in AZ. I enjoy the Wild West flavor of AZ and enjoy all the touristy fun of places like Tombstone or saloons in the small towns. I still get such a kick out of it.
The cost of living is so much more bearable than in places like NYC or DC.
I absolutely love calling my family in NY and ME during the winter months to tell them I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt, didn't have to de-ice my car, and loving the sunshine.
I heart AZ....obviously.
I love....
not having to shovel snow!
having sun almost every day of the year
how much there is to do
the friends I've made
the pricing on houses
that there's no rain and no humidity (usually)
how close it is to Vegas even though I probalby won't go again for a VERY long time
That's all I've got right now.....
So many great things have been mentioned! I joined in the nostalgia on the other thread, but I definitely have love for AZ!! Here's why we live here:
-You can own a nice home without being in the top 5% of income earners
-I've discovered a love of gardening here (believe it or not!) We're Desert Botanical Gardens members because I think cacti are ah-ma-zing!!!!!! We have a huge collection at our house. EVERYthing blooms here! Our first year here I was overwhelmed by the awesomeness of that. Other places are green...but they're also dead in the winter. TONS of color to be found here all year long!
- I had seasonal depression in WA because there was no sunshine. I love the sun so much I bought a convertible when we moved here. Can't get enough! (and it doesn't have to be garaged in the winter - bonus!)
-SO easy to navigate here! I love being able to tell where something is by the address. This is the first place I've been where you can do that.
-There are tons of churches here (and church pride...bumper stickers??) It was hard to even find a church back home. I love that people aren't afraid to be Christian here.
-This may not be relevant for everyone, but my husband and I are different races and that's a lot more acceptable here than it was back home. I don't get ugly stares, comments, or threatening looks from people when we walk around together and our kids will be in school with other kids who look like them. That is important to me.
-All my favorite stores are here! I don't have to shop a catalog/online for the things I like :-D
I have so many!!! I could probably go on all night.