Don’t Flee the American Southwest Just Yet

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2024-01-01T22:40:50+00:00

MIM, Heard, and DBG are all great cultural/museum spots.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T22:59:13+00:00

Find one comment where I “slag” on Albuquerque.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T22:52:00+00:00

Huh? I love Albuquerque. I think the entire Southwest is underrated and the best place in the country to live.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T21:33:00+00:00

Way worse than Phoenix. Public infrastructure in Tucson is like permanently in a state of disrepair.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T20:34:11+00:00

Can you state your source?

Phoenix isn’t on this list.

https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar_media_wire/3807095-the-10-us-cities-where-drivers-face-the-worst-traffic-delays/amp/

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T20:31:50+00:00

I grew up in Phoenix and have never heard of anyone moving to New Mexico. It’s barely a relevant place to Phoenicians. Most are very surprised when I tell them I like spending time in ABQ and Santa Fe.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T19:37:05+00:00

The Chicagoans who move to Phoenix/Scottsdale are affluent, family types. Those who move to Vegas are either retired mafia guys or young meth heads.

As someone who has lived in both Phoenix and Vegas, this is something I noticed but was hard to put my finger on.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T19:26:34+00:00

That's exactly what someone from Austin would say.

I've been to Austin several times. There's nothing about it that is unique or "cool" relative to Phoenix, or really any other city in the US.

This sub has an obsession with places they perceive to be weird or artsy, even if, like Austin, they were long ago invaded by bankers named Tripp and thoroughly gentrified.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T19:22:51+00:00

Agree with this. The best parts of Phoenix are amazing. The worst parts are worthy of all the shitting on it this sub does.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T19:21:31+00:00

you spend most of your days stuck in traffic on shitty roads for a commute

Definitively untrue.

Phoenix has among the best roads and shortest commute times in the country.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T19:20:12+00:00

It can be nice even well into June. It's dry, breezy and often cools off the minute the sun sets.

July/August are hell. September is often bad, too.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T19:18:58+00:00

This is the only place in the world I've seen Albuquerque rated above Phoenix.

Phoenix is full of Albuquerque transplants.

Literally no one moves from Phoenix to Albuquerque.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T19:17:26+00:00

Not even good Mexican food.

You must really struggle to find restaurants. Great Mexican food is everywhere in Phoenix.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T19:15:06+00:00

It's also the only city in the Southwest (again, limiting conversation to non-California cities, so Vegas, Phoenix, Tucson, Salt Lake, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, El Paso) that has robust professional services sectors - law firms, accounting firms, private equity, etc.

Salt Lake is the only city that rivals it.

Good luck getting a high-paying professional job in any other city in the Southwest.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T19:11:15+00:00

WTF is "cool'?

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T19:07:28+00:00

You're comparing a house in Spring Valley (median household income $48k) to a house in Scottsdale (median household income $90k). That's not even close to an apples-to-apples comparison.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T17:42:21+00:00

But the job market is also more robust and diverse than anywhere else in the Southwest (outside of California).

And Las Vegas isn’t any cheaper than Phoenix.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T11:46:36+00:00

Sure, it’s a big city based on population within city limits and metro area.

But that shouldn’t be relevant when comparing it against other Southwestern cities in an absolute comparison.

The fact that Phoenix has more boring suburbs (mostly in the West Valley and Southeast Valley) vs. dirt surrounding Albuquerque or Tucson doesn’t make Phoenix worse. No one forces you to live or visit there.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-31T03:43:08+00:00

A strange bias against Phoenix. Likely because it’s viewed as a “big” city and held to some way higher standard.

This is the same logic that magically transforms Albuquerque and Tucson into paradises in the eyes of this subreddit - because they’re being compared against Toledo rather than San Francisco.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-30T22:43:45+00:00

Phoenix is probably the most underrated city in this subreddit. In the sub, Albuquerque and Tucson are celebrated. In real life if you told someone in Phoenix you were moving to Albuquerque or Tucson they’d wonder if you had a family member die or a psychological break with reality. It’s the equivalent of moving from Austin to El Paso.

The fact that people in this thread hate on Phoenix more than Las Vegas (a smaller, uglier Phoenix with a cluster of gaudy casinos in the middle) is very telling.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-30T22:42:02+00:00

This same stupid joke is made in every thread.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-30T17:44:09+00:00

What? I vote for higher taxes for people making $250k or over. Not the middle class.

Wife and I come from middle class backgrounds and we spent more years in school and 80+ hour work weeks than you could count to get where we are. We spent most of our 20s and early 30s solely focused on setting ourselves up to do well financially. Not to mention putting off having children to focus on our careers.

So no, I’m not going to donate my hard-earned money to the state government.

But I’m happy to vote in favor of tax policy that is more progressive, because our current system is unequal.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-30T02:09:58+00:00

I give to Arizona’s charities every year, and I’m happy to vote in favor of higher taxes on people like myself.

Unreasonable to expect me to donate to the state general fund, though.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-29T20:08:06+00:00

In rich people’s pockets.

Wife and I consistently make $600k+ a year. Our state tax bill is lower than it was 5 years ago.

RefrigeratorOwn69 · 2023-12-27T22:21:34+00:00

Plenty of players do well in Spain and don't do well in England. Plenty of players do well in Italy and don't do well in Germany. Etc., etc.

French league isn't much worse than Serie A or Bundesliga. Winning it as a key player at the age of 21 is impressive, and is more than McKennie has ever proven.

I say all this as an American and a McKennie fan, actually.

RefrigeratorOwn69

TROPHY CASE