Do you like where you live?

[Quin]

I'm one of the youngest (if not the absolute youngest) member of this forum, so my perspective on this will be vastly different than that of many others here, but that's in part why I'm posting it. I haven't moved out yet, and it'll be super interesting to hear the perspectives of those with much more life experience than me.
I'm not one for unloading all my life woes onto internet strangers, nonetheless the ones who produce and maintain the really cool BASIC translator I use, so I won't do that here. What I will say though is that my home situation does suck, while I am in my first year of college I'm still living at home with my parents. They don't understand me, and I don't understand them. I was never the child they wanted. I was blind and wanted to play with computers and take apart my toys, not be the super masculine man-of-the-house type my dad wanted me to be. As such, we don't get along well, and I plan to move out eventually, if not quite soon, within a year if all the pieces fall where I want them to. That said though, I never knew where I wanted to move to. Nowhere really called to me in particular, until a few weeks ago.
As a birthday gift, I flew to Phoenix, AZ to visit some blind friends a few weeks ago. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I got to go in a couple self-driving cars (Waymos), met a few long-time online friends in person, etc etc. And it was 70 degrees in January! No snow (which is absolutely horrible for cane travel BTW). Needless to say my perspective has now shifted dramatically, and Phoenix is looking like a very possible future destination. If nothing else, I know I'll be visiting it many more times. There's much more for me there. Here, my only blind friend lives over an hour away. There, I have three friends within 15 minutes of each other, one of them being a possible future love interest, and cars that can drive me places!
So I'm curious, how do you all feel about where you live? Is there somewhere else you'd like to be? Any reasons for it?

[MrBcx]

Hi Quin,

I've lived in the Phoenix metro since 1982 ... my wife was born here in the 1950's.
We own the home she grew up in.  I was a working land surveyor here from 1982 until 1992
then my career took me into the office side of that business.  Less heat but more stress 

June thru August are the hottest months.  If you live in an air-conditioned home,
and ride in an air-conditioned vehicle, and mostly go to air-conditioned places, then no problem. 
I personally enjoy my summer home in the Arizona mountains.

Lots of jobs here, good universities (ASU, NAU, UofA) and plenty of community colleges.

All outdoor sports, boating, fishing, hunting, 4-wheeling are very popular.

Arizona was historically a very conservative state, politically, socially, and ideologically.  But that pendulum
has swung in the time that I've lived here, mostly due to new residents moving from California, Oregon,
Washington, Texas, and Colorado.


The Phoenix metro area's housing and rental market in 2025 is expected to be steady,
with strong demand and rising home prices.

Rental demand is expected to remain strong in 2025

Home prices are expected to continue rising.  The median sale price in
Phoenix was $450,000 in December 2024 and inventory is expected to remain high

Mortgage rates are expected to improve very slowly.

[Quin]

MrBcx,
Wow, so I wasn't far at all from you. That's crazy. Now I guess that's another thing to add to the Phoenix pros list, right alongside MK Tech Center, a store entirely dedicated to keyboards that I've definitely never gone to while my judgement was impaired and bought a keyboard from.
I feel you about the weather, I want to head back there this summer to see how well I can handle it in practice, but in theory it seems much nicer. The cold makes me vehemently depressed, as well as introducing my single least favorite mobility struggle, snow. Seriously bro nothing hinders my ability to navigate more than a nice thick layer of snow on the ground, I've ended up walking into the middle of a road before because I couldn't tell I had stepped off the curb at all. Gaaaaah I hate snow! Not having to deal with it at all sounds super nice.
Also good to know on the political climate, we were the first ever state to legalize weed and are generally considered more on the liberal side, and I've personally sworn off living where I was born, Idaho, because of the political climate . Wasn't sure where Arizona fell. Guess I'd be another Coloradan tipping the scales

[MrBcx]

Regarding snow ... I was in the Army from 1975-1982.  My first 4 years of duty were mostly
spent in Hawaii, which is where I met my wife. 
My final 3 years of duty were spent at Fort Riley, Kansas  

We were in our early twenties, we bought a 50 year old starter home for $28,000 in Junction City,
just outside the base, we shoveled snow every winter for 3 years , and were glad to finally
leave Kansas forever and call Arizona home in 1982.

[dragon57]

My oldest moved to Phoenix a few years ago and he loves it there. Other than wondering what the long term water situation will be for the area, and you have the means to afford housing there, it seems to be a nice area.

[MrBcx]

My oldest moved to Phoenix a few years ago and he loves it there. Other than wondering what the long term water situation will be for the area, and you have the means to afford housing there, it seems to be a nice area.

It used to be ... just too damn many people here now.