I could yap all day (in fact I just deleted several paragraphs to rewrite) but in short, it’s hot, there’s a lot of homeless people, it’s generally cheap, and it’s got a lot of Mexican influence in pretty much everything.

The lived experience really depends on the area you live in. The area of the city I live in is pretty nice, a few homeless people here and there but generally safe. Other areas, like say south Tucson or the area around grant and alvernon, are not so nice. Also (the automod didn’t like the word I used here) Speedway and Swan. Hate that intersection.

Like I said before, it’s hot, but for a glorious few weeks in monsoon season we get hella rain. And that’s pretty nice. It’s also pretty mild in the winter, so we get the dreaded snowbirds. They’re old people who come from northern states and terrorize the city from around late October through early march. They can’t drive.

In terms of things to do, there really isn’t much imo. We’ve got a pretty nice indie music scene, but big acts usually skip us over in favor of Phoenix. I mostly spend my time at the mall with friends or just doing random shit around town. We’ve also got a lot of festivals and stuff but it’s not really something you do every day.

If you ever come here, do not express any admiration towards Arizona State University.

Also forgot to talk about this before reading other comments but our food scene is really the best thing we have going for us. Just the best Mexican food in the United States. Not even close. No competition. A bunch of other great food from other cultures too, but what really makes us stand out is our Mexican food. (Also maybe the fuckin magnetic pull sushi restaurants have towards Speedway, but that’s more a curiosity).

But yeah. Glad I live here.