Howdy! I noticed alot of ya'll are from Arizona. I was born at Davis Monthan AFB, in Tucson. I was only 1 year old when my parents returned to Virginia, so I do not remember anything about Az. My parents still speak of it with great reverance. They have visited every state, and traveled abroad, but still say that Tucson is heaven!

I have been considering moving there myself. We left in 1970, so I would imagine a great deal has changed. I know it would be good for my health (I'm a southerner with bad allergies). Just wondering what ya'll think of your home town / state!


[ April 09, 2005, 10:23 PM: Message edited by: PorkChopExpress ]

I've never been to Arizona, other than driving though as a kid, but I'd love to go some day. It's strange to think that I've never been visiting there when i live right next door. I can tell you that I'm much rather live in the desert than green places. I lived in Alabama briefly and all that green felt to foreign, there's lot's of rain and stuff and great big bugs.

I love the "green", but I'm with ya on the bugs! I really, really hate bugs!!

I've never been to Arizona myself. I hear that it's a beautiful state though. In fact, everyone that I have ever talked to that has gone there, loves it!

I love the "green" but sometimes my allergies don't agree with it. Like today for instance.

Many moons ago while on a family vacation with my folks we traveled through the northern part of Arizona. It was stunning. My MIL has been a few times and she loves it. She has friends that are snowbirds who spend the winter months in Arizona and nothing but great stories have been told of the time they spend there. With only seeing a small part I would love to visit again and take it all in. I too love the 'green', we have lots of it here Spring-Fall even though I too have the allergy thing to contend with. The bugs is definitely something I could do without. Based on what I have read and heard about Arizona, along with the wee bit I've seen, I think it would be a wonderful place to live. =)

I have had a cousin and a sister-in-law, that had moved there, but they both moved back East. My cousin loved it, but she said the bugs were monsterous compared to here. lol. I am not a fond liker of bugs so that makes me not wanna to live, but it would be nice to visit kinda person.
Now my sis-in-law said she moved due to all the violence. She lived in Phoenix. She even had to act as a witness to shootings in her neighborhood. That's one of the reasons she moved back East. So, this is the only thing I know of, besides that the summers can get very very hot. Like, egg cooking on the sidewalk hot!
I know this doesn't sound so nice, but they both did say aside from those things the landscape was extremely gorgeous! How wonderful the state looked, my cousin said if it weren't for the heat she might still consider moving back.
Hope this helps, lol, sorry.

Hi, I would love to visit the US some day....I'm your neighbour from the North...Chilly Canada

Was born and raised right here in Tucson. My sister lives in the Show Low area in the White Mountains and have a grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousins in Yuma.

Except for a few brief years when my dad took certain jobs when I was small and when I was in the military I have never lived anywhere else. Being in Tucson I'm in that part that everyone thinks of and that being the hot dry desert, but there's a lot of mountain and forest as well - where it does get quite cold in winter.

Anyone who moves here and gets a job might be in for a shock when they realize how much lower the pay is for a similar job they had elsewhere; wages are low here, but costs are lower as well.

Perhaps the biggest single issue; one of them anyway are the problems along the border with Mexico. A shame when I consider that some of my favorite country is in that area.

The climate draws a lot of retirees here.

Ghostdancer, it sounds like the Southern California terrain is alot like you describe Arizona. There's alot of hot, dry desert here but you go into the mountains and it's totally different. It snows up there and there's forrests and lakes. It's really quite beautiful- well, except for the huge parts that burned down, but I'm sure even there is starting to look pretty again.

Hi PorkChop,

I was born and bred here. =) Although I've not travelled the country a great deal, I'd still want to live in Arizona -- it really is an awesome state. You can do & see just about anything here, depending on the terrain of course; hiking, horseback riding, 4-wheeling, skiing/snowboarding, mountain climbing... the list goes on. Arizona covers 6 life zones; basically speaking, in the southern region of the state is high desert and in the northern region are pine forests. Our highest mountain is Humphreys Peak (elevation 12,760 ft) in the San Francisco Mountains near Flagstaff. There are also plenty of lakes for fishing, boating and all that good stuff.

As for allergies, we have them here too, but perhaps not as severe as in other states. Guess it all depends on what you're allergic to. It does get quite hot in the summer months, but it typically isn't "humid hot" like back east. That's why we have air conditioning. The monsoon season (summer into fall) is great though... breathtaking thunder & lightning! Mmmm. Winters are mild to chilly. Oh yes, as with any big city, like Phoenix, there is crime. There again, depending on where you live within the city/state, you'll see more or less of it. =)

All in all, it's not a bad place to live, in my opinion. They say that once you visit Arizona, you'll be back!

Kell