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I read a comment yesterday, I think, about it being a nice walk to the top of Piestewa Peak. As someone who hikes it regularly...that person is full of lies.
Maybe not inaccurate but it’s hilarious when people make posts that are dead giveaways they’re a transplant just by the context:
“What’s up with all of the jets flying over north Phoenix/chandler/peoria? Is there something going on?” Or, “I saw a bunch of helicopters fly over my house in south Scottsdale, is the national guard mobilizing???” Anyone from Phoenix would know that it’s just training flights from Luke AFB or Papago because they’re so common.
Or
“Thinking of moving to ‘camelback east village’/*insert Google map area name*, is it nice?” Like, i don’t know where Google gets these neighborhood names from, but no one here actually calls areas of town by those names.
Yeah I get it. I technically live in the “Encanto village” of Phoenix as designated by the city’s planning department. Though I would never tell anyone that’s where I live because Encanto is a very real neighborhood that I don’t live in about 30 blocks south west of me on 15th Ave and thomas lol
I’ve been curious about this with San Tan Valley/Queen Creek. My address is always pulled in differently dependent on which map service is used and I’ve only moved here a few years ago. What should I actually tell people when they ask where I live?
Queen Creek is a real city in Maricopa County. All unincorporated (not governed by a city) areas generally takes its "city/town" name from either a census-determined area name and/or the nearest city for the purposes of mailing, though that doesn't mean you are in the city. San Tan Valley, however, is somewhat of an exception.
I spent many summers on staff at the Boy Scout Camp Geronimo, and my address for care packages at home was Payson, but we were 40 minutes' drive from Payson in good weather--definitely not in Payson town limits. Payson was the nearest Post Office, however.
When home builders began building in the unincorporated areas of Northwest Pinal County in the 2000's, they were building in a literal no-man's land of arid farms between Florence and Queen Creek. Even though it was in a different county, the closest post office was in Queen Creek, so the city on the mail was listed as Queen Creek, like many of the farm residences of the year's past.
Similar to my example of my scout camp, in some cases, a person living out there listed Queen Creek as their city but lived 30-40 minutes away.
In 2009, the community had grown large enough to require its own zip code, and thus the US Postal Service was asked to give it a name. Names were floated, including many that made no sense, and a non-binding election was held to choose a name, hence San Tan Valley.
That said, postal systems in the USA are robust and can deliver your mail with a name (if known to the carrier) and ZIP+4 in most cases, and Name, Street Address, and ZIP+4 in all cases. City and State are not required, though useful to correct errors. It is why you can mail stuff to "Laveen" (Phoenix) and "Ocotillo" (Chandler) and "Ahwatukee" (Phoenix) and "Lehi" (Mesa) and your mail will be deliverable.
Mapping software is similarly robust. So what the mapping software says or even what mail successfully gets delivered to you will not answer your question.
You should look up your address in the US Census or Address Lookup for the USPS if you want your answer, but as a rule of thumb, unless you live in Maricopa County, you are likely in San Tan Valley. If you live in Maricopa County, even if you are in unincorporated parts of it, and your ZIP Code or nearest Post Office is Queen Creek, you are Queen Creek.
The street signs in my (airbnb heavy) neighborhood now have the "neighborhood name" added to them. A name I have never heard of in 30+ years of living here.
Cable guy for the last 13 years.....all the snowbirds and wealthy people state the development name as where they live....Desert Shadows, The Boulders, Desert Mountain, Scottsdale town lakes. I have yet to see anyone but these older wealthier people call these places by name.
I made a whole post about those google neighborhood names. Aside from the huge urban areas (awhatukee, PV) I don't know anyone who uses them. They're just not useful or descriptive, and often they're just the fucking developer who started building the neighborhood decades ago.
Professional drivers, police, city workers, and I'm sure plenty of other professionals use the formal names. And yes they are useful for narrowing down a section of neighborhood within the usual square mile block.
I grew up around ChrisTown Mall. Apparently this is considered part of Alhambra. I had no idea when I was a kid.
(My family moved away from that hellhole in the early 90's)
Despite the fact that there are many jobs in arizona that don't allow you to have water while working or take a break to drink outside of scheduled break times
Wife has worked at 2 warehouses like this, and was completely shocked to learn that it is completely legal
Honestly I have bought more bottled water in the 7 years here than I have in the last 40. I even have a good RO filtration system. I give out a lot of water. Keep some near the front door for delivery drivers and the landscapers. “Some” salesmen. But in general I tend to avoid them and just use the ring camera to interact.
I respect the hustle. Plus some lady died in front of my house during the 2020 election going door to door for campaigning from heat exhaustion. (Technically next door. I didn’t see her fall). I have been perma-scarred from that incident and just feel the need to give water whenever I can. Maybe a tiny act can save someone’s life.
This and all the FB posts warning parents about "that white van" or "that guy following them around in the grocery store" ready to steal their kids.
Yeah, be vigilant, but damn, maybe that guy was getting the same thing you were, and stay home if you're that paranoid.
Maybe not a subreddit thing but it’s funny how you talk to anybody from Gilbert/chandler and you tell them ur from Avondale tolleson and they think it’s the hood 🤣🤣🤣
omg yes gilbert/chandler folks are so stuck up 😭 told me my quiet little suburban neighborhood just outside of phoenix was “ghetto” … yeah ok Bradley sorry you’ve never seen a homeless person before
It's possible it's just my inner circle, but I've seen way more people online act like the summers here are beautiful in comparison to how I see people react IRL.
I've seen people describe the Phoenix summer heat as "a warm hug" or "not real heat" because it's dry. Pretty much everyone I know IRL doesn't like going outside once it's over 90. Especially in places like downtown where the heat is radiating off the buildings and concrete, making it feel like you're being cooked alive.
Yet people online describe it like it actually feels good. And I'm not just talking the whole humid vs dry debate. People on reddit will act like you're crazy if you say you'll stay indoors once it's 90. People I meet IRL do not act like this.
I’m fine with 90. 95 is doable but with some precautions. 100+ I am tapping out. 110 might as well be -20 out. I’m going out only when I have to.
But I do agree. I lived in Iowa for a few years but in general I am use to dry hot climates. I would gladly take a 100 degree summer day here with low humidity over 88 degree summer day in Florida with 90% humidity. But we are all wired different.
Preference wise I guess I take the miserable over sucking ass. I equate high humidity to sucking ass.
However, there is bonus points for humidity. So very lush green and amazing flowers.
For your second paragraph, I'm not talking about how much better it feels incomparison to humid weather. I'm talking about how it feels here all by itself in its own individual context. Summers here *do* feel hot. Yet people describe it as if it's not hot at all.
I was told on reddit that I don't know what real heat is because Phx is dry. Yes, humid will feel hotter. But that doesn't mean dry feels cold. 115 is burning hot.
These are the types of reactions I'm talking about. People online act like Phx summers feel beautiful, not as a comparison to other cities, but just in of itself. Yea, it's individual the weather you can handle, but I've lived here for 32 years and met one single person who loved the summer weather. Everyone else is hiding indoors where the AC is.
For sure. I agree with you there. It’s flipping hot here. It will kill you.
Edit.
But I also would say personally for me experiencing both. I prefer the hot dry heat over not as hot humid heat. It just sucked the life out of me. But again everyone is different in that category
I agree with the dry over heat. I visited Miami in Dec and the humidity wiped me out. It wasn't even hot temps. The moisture in the air was still annoying at that point. Phx summers suck but that time from Oct-March is worth it.
Florida humidity is miserable. I constantly felt like I had just gotten out of the shower and had forgotten to dry off. I changed undershirts at least once a day. Granted, we were doing theme parks and walking a lot but even outside that it felt constantly wet.
That said, anyone who tries to tell you that it's possible to comfortably do anything outdoors when it's over 110 in Phoenix is either lying or some sort of genetic anomaly.
I lived on the FL coast before moving out here. Granted, walking outside here when it's over 100° is like walking through an Easy Bake oven, but I'll take it over 95° with 90+ humidity any day. And I don't have to spend 6 months every year glued to The Weather Channel while they're tracking storms in the Gulf and Atlantic.
Very good point.
I worked in Gainesville for a couple weeks in the summer training folks. It was “thick” air. It wipes you out. You just shower in the morning and never dry off. But yes didn’t consider the issue of storms blowing your life away. Just sweating non stop.
I lived in the Midwest for a few years so use to some humidity but Florida really took the cake in that category. Here it’s just like being in a giant hair dryer.
I’ve been here 35 years and “a warm hug” is the dumbest way I’ve ever heard summer described. It’s merciless. Every time I get out of my car at 3pm in a crowded parking lot I want to cry. I grew up in north Florida and if I hear “but it’s a dry heat” one more time… I don’t give a shit how wet or dry the air is when it’s 103 degrees at 1am for a month straight. It’s unrelentingly hot and I hate it a little more every year.
People need to justify where they live. A friend of mine in NYC always says, "It gives the neighborhood character" when I mention something disgusting like a homeless person peeing in a trashcan. The summers here are horrible. Anyone who says anything different is just attempting to justify their life choices. OTOH...winters are spectacular.
Born and raised in AZ and I love the heat. I’m so excited for summer and I cannot wait until we are over 100. It’s true, come September, I will be ready for things to cool off but right now? It’s almost pool season! It’s sundress weather! Sunny days are the best and it’s not like it’s hard to find shade if it’s needed.
Is your inner circle full of convention & visitors bureau bots? :-D
I hate -- *haaaaaate --* the summers here. But I used to live in the midsouth, and they're terrible there as well. Worse? No. Why bother figuring out which is worse? Is being dunked in acid worse than being lit on fire?
Having said that ... I know a few people that actually like the heat. I call them lizard people because I swear to god they do not generate their own body heat. They wear coats whenever it's under 85°. The ones I know are either natives who've been dealing with it for their whole lives, or transplants from places with actual winters whose hatred of the cold has made them weird.
I'm born and raised here, and I am one of those "this isn't as bad as other's make it out to be" kinda people, but I also am not pretending our heat isn't uncomfortable and dangerous either.
It does drive me crazy when an out of towner says "your city is a monument to man's stubbornness" and I'm like, "I don't need a truck to push snow out of the road to get to work during the summer, bro" as if their city doesn't fight back against mother nature either. This isn't a competition... no where is perfect, but Phoenix isn't gonna have roofs torn off by tornadoes, people snowed in by a blizzard, houses underwater by a hurricane, or buildings collapsed by an earthquake, so give me my predictable, manageable heat and y'all can have your cold + humid hot AND your natural disasters too.
Its three months June to August when it is 90 at night and 110 in the day that sucks, and May and September are tolerable when it is in the 60's in the morning and 80s in the evenings at least we have repreive, even if the daytime temp is around 100. The sad part is these summers are starting earlier and ending later, and even though I know it will happen again, I never want another 2020/2021 when it was 110+ for 30 days in a row... that was awful.
I feel like this attitude comes from people whose lifestyles and jobs keep them in a perpetual state of AC bliss. They probably get covered parking too -.-
I can do things outside until 105 as long as I have access to shade and water, but above that is a no go. But I grew up where summers were 95-100 and 90+% humidity, so it’s all relative
My response whenever somebody says "But it's a dry heat" is "So is an oven, but you don't live in one of those. I've actually fried an egg on the sidewalk."
I doubt half those cars are people from CA. Last time I went to Sedona most of the people I talked to were from other countries or the east coast. Rental cars all have CA plates.
Someone thought we could see rocket launches from Florida… The picture they shared was an airplane with a contrail. California is one thing, and that’s only when the timing is just right. But Florida..? I couldn’t believe it.
The never ending hate for the west valley. someone compared it to New Delhi india one time, I was laughing hard cause WTF. It’s one of the best places I’ve lived. Much nicer than Wichita Kansas where I was born. The superiority complex is insane
I've known locals that were afraid to venture out of mid- to north-Scottsdale. It's nuts. I live out west, but I prefer downtown for its vibe, *but* there's great stuff out here.
The area is enormous. It can't be judged or summarized by 27th ave & Indian School.
I find this funny too. As a life long east valley resident the trope was always that the “west side was the ghetto.”
Maybe 45 years ago? Or if people are referring to the avenues on the I-17 corridor it holds up, but I can point to more parts of the east valley that are wayyyy more sketch/trashy than the west valley.
I mean northern Glendale, West surprise, parts of Goodyear are also super nice as well.. it’s basically the southern Glendale/Maryvale/Tolleson (which isn’t as bad as it used to be) area that give it a bad reputation.
I live in Maryvale, it doesn't feel ghetto to me... Then again I've lived in the southern parts of Santiago, Chile and in Mexico City, so I guess my ghetto bar is kinda high lol
Dood. That Fry's at Happy Valley and Lake Pleasant Pkwy with the solar panel covered parking? It makes my jaw drop! It is so nice in there! Olive bars AND sushi AND Starbucks AND some other ready to go food stuffs that I can't remember because it's been too long... it has my little heart. I wish more Fry's were like that down near Tolleson :(
I was an east valley person my entire life, moved to the west valley in not the best area and loved it. People are the same everywhere, and I think the food on the west side is much more interesting. Better pizza better international foods. I live in way east mesa now and it's all chains out here, such a bummer.
I’d take the west side over the east side any day. I almost have exclusively worked in the east valley but no matter what I always live somewhere west of Scottsdale.
When I was in like 7th grade a teacher told us you guys arent East Siders, and were like yes we are we live on the EastSide and he said no, this is central phoenix East Side is mesa, etc\* and we told him no, when we refer to East Side we mean East Phoenix, just like West side is West Phoenix etc, when you say East Valley that usually means, mesa, chandler, gilbert etc, when you say West Valley it usually means Buckeye, Avondale, El mirage etc. THIS is where alot of people get confused, when I say I grew up on the East Side it means East Phoenix. So when people say Westside is ghetto, the hoods, they are usually refering to West Phoenix, some of the older parts. ALOT of people on these subs live on the outskirts of phoenix. Just my perspective as a born and raised person here
For sure. You’re 100% spot on. I grew up in Scottsdale, which is technically considered the east valley along with Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, etc. (Or at least, I’ve always considered it to be the east valley)
I live on the street side of central in Phoenix proper, which I consider central Phoenix but as you stated, technically on the east side.
Yeah i would say Scottsdale is still east valley, unless you go more north scotsdale. Yeah I would say for my comment on keeping it simple 7th ave to 7th st is central for sure. Unless you go south past buckeye then 7 st and broadway turns into South Phoenix I go by older neighborhoods and how it was way back then, like Garfield area I would consider that east phoenix still, even though in recent times it been promoted as Downtown, but Iget it as time goes on, downtown gets bigger
Any broad statements about different parts of the valley are definitely oversimplified. It's a huge metro. It doesn't come down to N vs S or E vs W. Even some parts of the nicest areas can be plenty shady. Look at Chandler alone. Huge variety between neighborhoods/blocks as far as crime, school quality, income levels. And there are plenty of nice places to live in the 'worse' areas.
Central and far North Chandler, the area you're referring to, is where almost all the good restaurants and coffee shops in Chandler are. I live north of the 202 and east of the 101 and would not ever want to live in South Chandler even if I could afford it. Mind-numbingly bland down there.
Racism.
Black People live in Laveen. Brown People in Maryvale and Sunnyvale.
I was taught my grandparents to "not go south of the 10, west of the 17", and the truth is, its pretty cool living out here at 59th Ave in Maryvale. Cool people. Amazing food. Lively neighborhoods.
Ethnic communities ≠ unsafe communities.
I grew up in Avondale my whole life it’s hilarious seeing people who don’t step more than their local frys and Walmart try to describe the “west” lmaoo like as an electrician I’ve been to every part of the valley from buckeye to chandler to anthem to south Phx and it’s just funny how different people view the parts of the city lol like we are so spread out how do u even get that narrative 🤣
I live in Peoria and would rather live here than a more pretentious part of town. I mean we have some of that too. But I’d say it’s 10% of some parts of Scottsdale or fountain valley.
People who say “west phoenix” don’t mean Peoria or Avondale or even Glendale - they literally feel awk saying that they hate the Mexicans who live in maryvale
Expand on that. I’m not discounting you at all. But as a Caucasian male who is at times oblivious to it unless it’s blatant. I may be missing some signs.
Granted, some of the sun city folks get a bit nasty. But hate to say it. Some folks make stereotypes true and others are perfectly lovely people.
Basic classism/racism. People in every city talk like this about a "certain part of town." I've spent almost all of my 18 years here in the west valley or central Phoenix and there's nothing wrong with it, unless you're a white person who is uncomfortable living next to non-white people lol.
its just absolutely fine to go swimming in the middle of the day. then act surprise the pool is hot, the cool deck is hot, the sun is blazing down and people are getting fried to a crisp. Stay INSIDE between 10am-5pm, Get shade sails for the backyard, get 100spf sunblock, do NOT walk outside bare foot.
Do not leave the house w/o your water bottle and put ice in that water. Cars break down in the heat- ALWAYS HAVE YOUR WATER BOTTLE.
also- its expensive to live here, yes, but its also expensive to live in some snow covered place in January. heat is expensive, A/C is the equivelant of heat. Cold weather freezes everything pipes to burst, pavement to split, houses to flood etc. Hot is just hot. Yes machines fail in heat but the damage from cold is much worse.
> Do not leave the house w/o your water bottle and put ice in that water. Cars break down in the heat- ALWAYS HAVE YOUR WATER BOTTLE.
Along these lines - it happens to us all about every 1.5-3 years, and you don't buy them so much as you rent them from the parts store anymore. Get your lead-acid battery checked on your cars. Last year's El Niño cooked our 1.5 year old Interstate batteries.
The last thing you want is to be stuck in a parking lot just after close somewhere with a car that won't start. Bring people fluids everywhere you go, and do some basic maintenance checks in the spring before it gets dummy hot.
On that note - if you live in AZ you should absolutely learn to change your own battery. I was taught by my father in law and I pass the wisdom on to the clueless every single summer when someone thinks they need a tow. No way, we are learning a self reliance lesson today and you and I are going to O’Reilly!
Seriously, easier and not nearly as messy as an oil change. Hold down clamp, two terminal bolts, and you're home free. Installation is reverse of removal.
Plus, most chain stores will give 'er at test, charging first if necessary (rules out leaving something on overnight or a parasitic drain).
Clean your terminals, slap on some terminal protector, and ~~baby, you got a stew going~~ you're good for another 18 months!
Funny story, actually - for the one I mentioned above, in early spring, our GTI would occasionally refuse to start. Strange, but charge it up, and it was good for anywhere between 1-3 days. Not the alt, because it would just be sitting every time it'd randomly die. Load tested it (good), and checked amp draw at the battery, < 100 mA after the CANBUS went to sleep. Good, good.
Still, every 1-3 days, no crank, and the dash was doing the xmas tree disco. Great, intermittent parasitic drain, my favorite. Thankfully and/or unfortunately for me, in a past life, I possessed a [now soooper-expired] vehicle electrical/electronics cert. So investigate at home, instead of paying the dealer to return it "cannot reproduce". She stopped driving it to avoid being stranded.
So full charge, then do a fuse volt-drop test. Logged with oscilloscope, and saw an occasional 35 mA draw for < 3 sec about every 30 sec then nothing for 45 minutes (wiper module, y tho), but nothing crazy. Repeat over a few days, leaving all the door and hood switches triggered so the BCM + CAN gateway would stay asleep.
Nothing, in any fuse box, drew any kind of continuous load. Watched for new CANBUS messages with the bus on, only saw the wiper module, but this was probably caused by small voltage fluctuations making things go nanners. So, disconnect the battery, charge it, and then let is sit disconnected.
Bastard held a full charge until it just occasionally "decided" to shit the bed. Best I can tell is ambient temperature dependent intermittent high-resistance internal short. It got *hot* just... minding its own business well after charging. Cell would discharge, go dead, and then boom, you now have a 10 V battery with high internal resistance.
New batt, Alle ist gut. Drove me nuts for a few days, though. Definitely a sorta rare failure mode, they're generally either good or bad, not a Schrödinger case. Phoenix heat does weird things to batteries.
All the people who insist clothing color doesn't matter in the heat.
https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/1bsavbx/a_cool_guide_that_shows_different_heat_absorption/
Interesting considering all the houses I've seen lately that are being flipped are getting the black and white treatment. Black shingle roof with black trim and white painted house. I'm like, does the white even out the amount of heat the roof is generating? Or am I missing something here?
People who say Phoenix doesn't have good Mexican food.
They see simple shit like all the Bertos or whatever, and think that's it. Yes there's a ton of American style Mexican food too. But just cause y'all don't know how to find the mom n pop joints that are hidden away doesn't mean they don't exist.
Now I'll just sit back and wait for the usual "bUt tUCsoN HaS" or "wHaT pHOeNiX dOEsn'T gEt Is" bullshit that will inevitably follow this comment. As if two different places can't both have good Mexican food. Again, not my fault if you don't know where to look in Phoenix.
I’ve never heard that. What a weird take, Phoenix has amazing authentic Mexican food. You can do five minutes worth of research and find ten incredible hole-in-the-wall places.
https://preview.redd.it/9hp7o6uhl2zc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=22ae1b6c89818bcec87bff4045cf18e3590f16d3
43rd Ave and Olive, Amor a la Mexicana, it’s all homemade in store, tortillas too, suck it Tucson.
The Mexican food here in Phoenix is better than San Diego and they literally border Mexico. Same for a lot of Texas too, can’t comment on New Mexico as I just have no interest in that state.
Point is where is better Mexican food??
I mean I mostly agree here lol. I just always get people in this sub thing to come back saying we don't, and it blows my mind.
Don't sleep on New Mexico tho! They have their own specific style out there that blends Spanish, Native American, and Mexican styles. I actuay prefer NM food over anywhere else. Best red & green chile dishes in the country.
Or the Mexican food back in their home state on this obscure street in the back of a laundry mart that they've been going to the entire life is better than what we have in Phoenix and they "can't find anything exactly like it". FFS
Oh my GOD. My ex’s mom lived in one of the nice McMansions against South Mountain and she’d always insist on Rustler’s. Any restaurant with a slide inside of it will not have good food. Terrible.
I dig the kitsch and it's great for kids. Margs are good, views are nice, beef ribs are decent. I live next door. It's objectively better than nearly every tex mex place near by (looking at Aunt Chiladas or any of the spots in south tempe/Chandler near Ahwatukee... just horrible).
I understand why this place is maligned by locals but IMO it's a fun place to stop every now and then. Way overrated by tourists tho.
Installing rooftop solar will save them money. PERHAPS, if they don't overpay, south facing roof with no shading (trees, etc) and are willing to wait 8-10 years to break even. And don't experience any panels or inverter failures or roof leaks not covered by warranty, -- installer doesn't go out of biz, etc.
Additional insulation, installing better windows, awnings, etc. ARE a viable alternative to rooftop solar.
See: [Lowering your utility bill without solar](https://www.reddit.com/r/SanDiegan/comments/15dvugo/staying_cooler_and_lowering_your_sdge_bill_this/)
Not so much on this sub, but the obsession with BASIS. My local basis started out with 150 kids per class in 7th grade and graduates about 60-70 seniors per year. They're all like that. They weed out the kids who can't keep up. There are three medium sized high schools within 5 miles of my house. All the BASIS schools in the entire state graduated less seniors last year than any one of these individual high schools did.
It graduates a very small fraction of AZ students, and they are ones who would have done well anyway in AP and advanced classes. It's not a solution to the problems with education, it's a publically funded private-style school that basically only serves the top students. Most of them are children of doctors, lawyers and engineers, and TBH mostly either east/south Asian decent, or the children of first generation eastern European immigrants. Ie, the kids of people who were probably educated the same way in a high pressure system
Also they received 84 million dollars in tax payer funding last year, and 5 million in donations. They 'request' each parent donates 1500 a year. The creators of basis live in mega mansions out of state. The creators take a 10 percent management fee each year, on top of administrative salaries for those running it locally.
https://www.azpm.org/p/headlines/2018/5/14/129529-arizona-charter-school-asks-parents-to-subsidize-teacher-pay/#:~:text=Basis%20schools%20received%20about%20%2484,donations%2C%20according%20to%20its%20records.
I’m going to create a new charter school. Any children who don’t meet height, jumping ability, speed and agility requirements will be held back for not cutting it. We might suggest they aren’t up to it.
I have the best basketball school! Isn’t that amazing?!
We can talk more about that if you like. My wife worked as a teacher for BASIS and quit the same year. She has NEVER left a school mid year and there are good reasons why. Being a credentialed teacher in this state is about the worst compared to any other state we have lived in. I am sure someone has experience in a worse state. We just haven’t lived in one.
She did opt for a different public charter and is at greathearts and loves it there in comparison.
I used to teach at a BASIS school and quit at the end of my first year. Highly recommend checking out Arizonans for Charter School Accountability, azcsa.org, to learn more about how the schools are effectively test score puppy mills
This explains so much. I've been wondering why all the "best" schools in AZ lists are always BASIS but it seems like I knew plenty of average kids who transfered there from public schools and then came back the next year.
A friend of mine's kid enrolled and was an average student instead of above grade level. They had to have a meeting every six weeks on his progress and instead of offering support just kept hinting it was 'too much for him'. Eventually the parents withdraw him.
It's mostly nostalgia for people who are from here or who have been here forever (which is how I view in n out, tbf). That and the price - quality is on par for what you pay, and it is cheap, which offers its own value with the way restaurant pricing as gone.
You don't go to Pete's for good fish and chips. You go to Pete's for reliably cheap food. It is good if you want fried food and to spend under $10 and even under $7 in many cases. I've never seen anyone recommend Pete's for good fish, but recommend it for good cheap food.
I don't mind it for fast food, but I've seen people recommend it as the best fish and chips you can get. That's like recommending Jack n the Box when someone asks where to get the best tacos.
And yes, before someone asks, I'm being literal about them saying it's the best. I've seen people genuinely argue this (seen it online not in person).
Someone suggested CCV is not a cult.
They’re religious, so their opinion is biased and cannot be trusted, but holy shit this was another level of stupidity.
There is a TON of cars showing their signs of being part of that cult. I’m glad they announce themselves. Like the red hat people. I want to know what I’m walking into
Spent a few days in Dallas last month. April. And the relative humidity and dew point was that of an average mid-August monsoon day. I called it humid to my friend, and he said "what, this is DRY." Two summers back was in Atlanta in August, and I needed to change my shirt three times per day.
Our worst humidity is still "dry" compared to what most people call "muggy."
There being limited/no nightlife.
I feel like people are expecting Miami/LA/Chicago level of nightlife. But it's still good enough. I'm not struggling to hang with friends or point out of state guests to the bars. Obviously, if you're in the middle of a suburb, then yeah, everything dies after 10pm. But that's the suburbs lol.
I could be biased as someone in my late 20s though. I'm not too picky and am always looking for new spots to try.
“Keep all the doors in your house/apartment closed so the cool air in each room stays in there. This will keep your place cooler and your A/C won’t have to work as hard.”
This is absolutely not true. Keep the doors open and let the air flow.
It's not that simple. Every house is different, and if you can shut off an unused room that's getting many hours of direct sun on its roof and walls, it'll probably benefit. But if you do that you probably should shut off the A/C vent to that room.
That it’s okay to walk your dogs in the summer from 10 am to 5 pm …. when the air temp is 110+ …
You try walking across a concrete sidewalk barefoot and see how that feels! Or better yet an asphalt road barefoot … easily 150 deg at times!
I read many comments in a thread saying that TexAZ had the best chicken fried steak in the valley, even on the menu it says it's their main dish.
I drove about 45 minutes for the worst chicken fried steak I've had in my life. What didn't I like about it? The gravy was bland, it was two pieces of chicken fried steak staked on each other and if they were combined there still wasn't even enough meat for 1 but plenty of breading on it.
Apparently I'm not allowed to mention it by name, but the uh, Saltine... Container... restaurant had pretty good chicken fried steak last time I was there.
People giving advice on places to live who say stuff like "don't live in Goodyear/Surprise/Litchfield Park/Peoria, those places are boring and full of old people, you'll be bored of your mind and will be so far from downtown Phoenix and all the fun stuff to do."
It's such a narrow "single 23 year old with no kids who spends a lot of time in trendy bars" perspective and they give that advice to any age group, family, or job situation.
I live in one of those places, my neighborhood is like 80% people age 25-45, and zero of my interests involve ever needing to go to downtown Phoenix.
People's ability to read and understand traffic laws.
I've seen it time and time again where people cite a law and then wildly misinterpret it.
Even the Pinal County Sheriff department has an entire video where they do it. Even the police can't read the traffic laws. I know, sounds insane. There's a video (and as a result news articles) about how it's keep right accept to pass and then one of the laws he cites says keep in the right side with one exception is passing. IT SAYS RIGHT SIDE, NOT RIGHT LANE SHERIFF LAMB. IT MEANS THAT WE DON'T DRIVE ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD IN AMERICA SHERIFF LAMB. (Also the other one says that you have to be in the right lane if you're going slower than traffic. If you're going with traffic, even in lock step, there's no limit on the lane you can be in)
I would love to have more strict laws on that to promote safety and better traffic flow but I guess we can't. Because every time I bring up getting a better law for that people think it's already a law. MAYBE BECAUSE SHERIFF LAMB DOESN'T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WORD SIDE AND LANE.
I'm getting heated.
Also it's not illegal to pass on the right, the law says don't go off road to do that.
I'm calm now
That people drive fast here. It’s consistent on here, and I’m sorry, but they just don’t, and everyone who grew up here acts like it’s Mad Max. It isn’t. And god forbid a drizzle or light rain comes, people act like it’s the Blizzard of 93 out there.
Turn the wipers on and drive normally, for the love of god.
I’m sorry, but as someone who has grown up driving in the valley, our drivers have gotten even stupider, they drive on average about 5mph faster than they used to, and they tailgate like hell. I have a pool business so I’m on the road a lot. When I was starting to drive, the average speed was 75 on freeways here. Now the average is no doubt 85-90 and if you aren’t doing those speeds, fuckers will tailgate you or pass very dangerously.
There are some days where I am certain people
Learned to drive from GTA5. But will say overall it’s not as bad as some other cities or cluster of cities of similar size. Seriously, Chicago was batshit crazy, and I’ll never drive the VA to DC route again. I’ll Uber.
Two old women today went from far right lane to turning left in a matter of milliseconds. One of them coming 6 inches from hitting me and one of them stopping in the middle of the left turn lane and left driving lane forcing me to slam on my brakes. Snowbird season is coming to an end, but the ones still left are the worst of the worst drivers it seems.
I’ve never thought our drivers were especially fast, but that drivers here are very inconsistent. Since there are so many transplants everyone drives different and it’s chaotic sometimes. Plus it’s hard to find someone using their blinker.
As someone that spent 3 years in LA, people greatly exaggerate our traffic.
As far as the freeways go, the speeding is vastly different depending on where you drive. If I am travelling on I-17 south of the 101, it's pretty tame, but I take the 101 from I-17 to Hayden when commuting to work and I consistently have people blow by me going at least 90.
You are right about the rain. It's not oil falling from the skies people. That's what the tread on your tires is for!
Most Inaccurate:
* Glai Baan is great (it's just OK)
* Tacos Veganos is good (no, it gives vegan food a bad name)
* Taco Boys is good (no, they have a serious quality control issue)
* Kari Lake turns into a werewolf on a full moon (no, she can actually turn into a werewolf at will)
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I read a comment yesterday, I think, about it being a nice walk to the top of Piestewa Peak. As someone who hikes it regularly...that person is full of lies.
I've done that hike. Such a whimsical, leisurely stroll.
I could go for an MLT right about now...
When the mutton is nice & lean and the tomatoes are crispy...
Have fun storming the castle!
I commented on that comment, said it was misleading to call it a “walk”
Just learned last month that is Hannah Waddingham.
they probably were walking up one of the hills in the surrounding valley
Maybe not inaccurate but it’s hilarious when people make posts that are dead giveaways they’re a transplant just by the context: “What’s up with all of the jets flying over north Phoenix/chandler/peoria? Is there something going on?” Or, “I saw a bunch of helicopters fly over my house in south Scottsdale, is the national guard mobilizing???” Anyone from Phoenix would know that it’s just training flights from Luke AFB or Papago because they’re so common. Or “Thinking of moving to ‘camelback east village’/*insert Google map area name*, is it nice?” Like, i don’t know where Google gets these neighborhood names from, but no one here actually calls areas of town by those names.
It's an official City of Phoenix planning area, but that doesn't mean it's colloquially used, of course. Arcadia \*isn't\* an official planning area.
Yeah I've never heard or seen those "village" names/references used outside of Reddit and the City of Phoenix Planning & Development Department staff.
I grew up in paradise valley village, I don't know the exact layout of all the villages but I was aware of the one I lived in and several others
Right, but you probably called it "Paradise Valley" and not "Paradise Valley Village" when someone asked where you lived.
With this village in particular if you skip the word village everyone assumes you're referring to the town
Technically if anyone refers to ahwatukee it's a village too but it's just the southern most part of the city of PHX.
Yeah I get it. I technically live in the “Encanto village” of Phoenix as designated by the city’s planning department. Though I would never tell anyone that’s where I live because Encanto is a very real neighborhood that I don’t live in about 30 blocks south west of me on 15th Ave and thomas lol
encanto is beautiful
The houses just south and east of the park are gorgeous.
I’ve been curious about this with San Tan Valley/Queen Creek. My address is always pulled in differently dependent on which map service is used and I’ve only moved here a few years ago. What should I actually tell people when they ask where I live?
Queen Creek is a real city in Maricopa County. All unincorporated (not governed by a city) areas generally takes its "city/town" name from either a census-determined area name and/or the nearest city for the purposes of mailing, though that doesn't mean you are in the city. San Tan Valley, however, is somewhat of an exception. I spent many summers on staff at the Boy Scout Camp Geronimo, and my address for care packages at home was Payson, but we were 40 minutes' drive from Payson in good weather--definitely not in Payson town limits. Payson was the nearest Post Office, however. When home builders began building in the unincorporated areas of Northwest Pinal County in the 2000's, they were building in a literal no-man's land of arid farms between Florence and Queen Creek. Even though it was in a different county, the closest post office was in Queen Creek, so the city on the mail was listed as Queen Creek, like many of the farm residences of the year's past. Similar to my example of my scout camp, in some cases, a person living out there listed Queen Creek as their city but lived 30-40 minutes away. In 2009, the community had grown large enough to require its own zip code, and thus the US Postal Service was asked to give it a name. Names were floated, including many that made no sense, and a non-binding election was held to choose a name, hence San Tan Valley. That said, postal systems in the USA are robust and can deliver your mail with a name (if known to the carrier) and ZIP+4 in most cases, and Name, Street Address, and ZIP+4 in all cases. City and State are not required, though useful to correct errors. It is why you can mail stuff to "Laveen" (Phoenix) and "Ocotillo" (Chandler) and "Ahwatukee" (Phoenix) and "Lehi" (Mesa) and your mail will be deliverable. Mapping software is similarly robust. So what the mapping software says or even what mail successfully gets delivered to you will not answer your question. You should look up your address in the US Census or Address Lookup for the USPS if you want your answer, but as a rule of thumb, unless you live in Maricopa County, you are likely in San Tan Valley. If you live in Maricopa County, even if you are in unincorporated parts of it, and your ZIP Code or nearest Post Office is Queen Creek, you are Queen Creek.
I mean what’s your mailing address? I’d just go by that.
The street signs in my (airbnb heavy) neighborhood now have the "neighborhood name" added to them. A name I have never heard of in 30+ years of living here.
Cable guy for the last 13 years.....all the snowbirds and wealthy people state the development name as where they live....Desert Shadows, The Boulders, Desert Mountain, Scottsdale town lakes. I have yet to see anyone but these older wealthier people call these places by name.
I made a whole post about those google neighborhood names. Aside from the huge urban areas (awhatukee, PV) I don't know anyone who uses them. They're just not useful or descriptive, and often they're just the fucking developer who started building the neighborhood decades ago.
Professional drivers, police, city workers, and I'm sure plenty of other professionals use the formal names. And yes they are useful for narrowing down a section of neighborhood within the usual square mile block.
It’s likely the name of the original subdivision plat
I grew up around ChrisTown Mall. Apparently this is considered part of Alhambra. I had no idea when I was a kid. (My family moved away from that hellhole in the early 90's)
Yea, locals will just say "I live in the superstitions" or "I'm over by the 51"
That a "business can't deny a customer water, it's illegal". That has never been a law in Arizona. It's a myth.
People are probably confusing that with employees under OSHA rules have to have a supply of water available for employees at work.
Despite the fact that there are many jobs in arizona that don't allow you to have water while working or take a break to drink outside of scheduled break times Wife has worked at 2 warehouses like this, and was completely shocked to learn that it is completely legal
Also some jobs just are red flags right off the bat. When you walk in and you see those electrolyte popsicles, run. 🚩🚩🚩
Yep, but they sre so tasty
i’ve lived in arizona and i never knew that law wasn’t real
Correct that it has never been a law but the general consensus has always been that it would be a level of cruelty that society does not accept.
Most places WON'T deny someone water if they ask though.
Heard the same bullshit.
yeah! fuck thirsty people. let em suffer /s
Honestly I have bought more bottled water in the 7 years here than I have in the last 40. I even have a good RO filtration system. I give out a lot of water. Keep some near the front door for delivery drivers and the landscapers. “Some” salesmen. But in general I tend to avoid them and just use the ring camera to interact. I respect the hustle. Plus some lady died in front of my house during the 2020 election going door to door for campaigning from heat exhaustion. (Technically next door. I didn’t see her fall). I have been perma-scarred from that incident and just feel the need to give water whenever I can. Maybe a tiny act can save someone’s life.
Sonoran-style mexican cuisine is not Tex-Mex.
Who the hell thinks that?
Did you show them a map?
"anyone ever been to ajo Al is that a good Sonoran" I had to log off that day.
Manuel’s and Valle Luna have and continue to be legit. I don’t care if it’s not real Mexican, it tastes like Phoenix to me!
That Arizona Mills is the sex trafficking capital of the world
This and all the FB posts warning parents about "that white van" or "that guy following them around in the grocery store" ready to steal their kids. Yeah, be vigilant, but damn, maybe that guy was getting the same thing you were, and stay home if you're that paranoid.
My brother in law born and raised here swears by this. He tells us to keep ours kids close if we ever go near there🙄
I know nothing about this rumor
Is THAT why there are signs about bait car use and surveillance in that parking lot?!
nah thats b/c there’s a shit ton of people stealing cars in that area, source: I live right next door
Maybe not a subreddit thing but it’s funny how you talk to anybody from Gilbert/chandler and you tell them ur from Avondale tolleson and they think it’s the hood 🤣🤣🤣
Just wait until you tell them you're from Mesa.
I am in the hood part of mesa lol
I used to live in Avondale. They’re not wrong about some spots in Avondale/Tolleson.
Any examples? Shits boring as fuck around here I used to ride my bike round Cashion looking for trouble but all I ever see is cops lol
omg yes gilbert/chandler folks are so stuck up 😭 told me my quiet little suburban neighborhood just outside of phoenix was “ghetto” … yeah ok Bradley sorry you’ve never seen a homeless person before
Oh I’ll just let my 2 year old play in the pool while I take this quick phone call … nothing bad can happen in just a few minutes right? (/s)
It's possible it's just my inner circle, but I've seen way more people online act like the summers here are beautiful in comparison to how I see people react IRL. I've seen people describe the Phoenix summer heat as "a warm hug" or "not real heat" because it's dry. Pretty much everyone I know IRL doesn't like going outside once it's over 90. Especially in places like downtown where the heat is radiating off the buildings and concrete, making it feel like you're being cooked alive. Yet people online describe it like it actually feels good. And I'm not just talking the whole humid vs dry debate. People on reddit will act like you're crazy if you say you'll stay indoors once it's 90. People I meet IRL do not act like this.
it does feel good and then, moments later, it does not
I’m fine with 90. 95 is doable but with some precautions. 100+ I am tapping out. 110 might as well be -20 out. I’m going out only when I have to. But I do agree. I lived in Iowa for a few years but in general I am use to dry hot climates. I would gladly take a 100 degree summer day here with low humidity over 88 degree summer day in Florida with 90% humidity. But we are all wired different.
I think it's okay to feel both are miserable and suck ass
Preference wise I guess I take the miserable over sucking ass. I equate high humidity to sucking ass. However, there is bonus points for humidity. So very lush green and amazing flowers.
For your second paragraph, I'm not talking about how much better it feels incomparison to humid weather. I'm talking about how it feels here all by itself in its own individual context. Summers here *do* feel hot. Yet people describe it as if it's not hot at all. I was told on reddit that I don't know what real heat is because Phx is dry. Yes, humid will feel hotter. But that doesn't mean dry feels cold. 115 is burning hot. These are the types of reactions I'm talking about. People online act like Phx summers feel beautiful, not as a comparison to other cities, but just in of itself. Yea, it's individual the weather you can handle, but I've lived here for 32 years and met one single person who loved the summer weather. Everyone else is hiding indoors where the AC is.
I was born here, been here 60+ years, and even I tap out when it gets over 110.
For sure. I agree with you there. It’s flipping hot here. It will kill you. Edit. But I also would say personally for me experiencing both. I prefer the hot dry heat over not as hot humid heat. It just sucked the life out of me. But again everyone is different in that category
I agree with the dry over heat. I visited Miami in Dec and the humidity wiped me out. It wasn't even hot temps. The moisture in the air was still annoying at that point. Phx summers suck but that time from Oct-March is worth it.
Florida humidity is miserable. I constantly felt like I had just gotten out of the shower and had forgotten to dry off. I changed undershirts at least once a day. Granted, we were doing theme parks and walking a lot but even outside that it felt constantly wet. That said, anyone who tries to tell you that it's possible to comfortably do anything outdoors when it's over 110 in Phoenix is either lying or some sort of genetic anomaly.
I lived on the FL coast before moving out here. Granted, walking outside here when it's over 100° is like walking through an Easy Bake oven, but I'll take it over 95° with 90+ humidity any day. And I don't have to spend 6 months every year glued to The Weather Channel while they're tracking storms in the Gulf and Atlantic.
Very good point. I worked in Gainesville for a couple weeks in the summer training folks. It was “thick” air. It wipes you out. You just shower in the morning and never dry off. But yes didn’t consider the issue of storms blowing your life away. Just sweating non stop. I lived in the Midwest for a few years so use to some humidity but Florida really took the cake in that category. Here it’s just like being in a giant hair dryer.
I’ve been here 35 years and “a warm hug” is the dumbest way I’ve ever heard summer described. It’s merciless. Every time I get out of my car at 3pm in a crowded parking lot I want to cry. I grew up in north Florida and if I hear “but it’s a dry heat” one more time… I don’t give a shit how wet or dry the air is when it’s 103 degrees at 1am for a month straight. It’s unrelentingly hot and I hate it a little more every year.
People need to justify where they live. A friend of mine in NYC always says, "It gives the neighborhood character" when I mention something disgusting like a homeless person peeing in a trashcan. The summers here are horrible. Anyone who says anything different is just attempting to justify their life choices. OTOH...winters are spectacular.
Okay but let's be real when you've spent 8+ hours in an office with the A/C blasting at 68, going outside to that 114 feels GOOD AF for a minute lmao
Born and raised in AZ and I love the heat. I’m so excited for summer and I cannot wait until we are over 100. It’s true, come September, I will be ready for things to cool off but right now? It’s almost pool season! It’s sundress weather! Sunny days are the best and it’s not like it’s hard to find shade if it’s needed.
Tell that to the crazy people I see jogging in a hoodie in the middle of the day every summer.
Is your inner circle full of convention & visitors bureau bots? :-D I hate -- *haaaaaate --* the summers here. But I used to live in the midsouth, and they're terrible there as well. Worse? No. Why bother figuring out which is worse? Is being dunked in acid worse than being lit on fire? Having said that ... I know a few people that actually like the heat. I call them lizard people because I swear to god they do not generate their own body heat. They wear coats whenever it's under 85°. The ones I know are either natives who've been dealing with it for their whole lives, or transplants from places with actual winters whose hatred of the cold has made them weird.
I'm born and raised here, and I am one of those "this isn't as bad as other's make it out to be" kinda people, but I also am not pretending our heat isn't uncomfortable and dangerous either. It does drive me crazy when an out of towner says "your city is a monument to man's stubbornness" and I'm like, "I don't need a truck to push snow out of the road to get to work during the summer, bro" as if their city doesn't fight back against mother nature either. This isn't a competition... no where is perfect, but Phoenix isn't gonna have roofs torn off by tornadoes, people snowed in by a blizzard, houses underwater by a hurricane, or buildings collapsed by an earthquake, so give me my predictable, manageable heat and y'all can have your cold + humid hot AND your natural disasters too. Its three months June to August when it is 90 at night and 110 in the day that sucks, and May and September are tolerable when it is in the 60's in the morning and 80s in the evenings at least we have repreive, even if the daytime temp is around 100. The sad part is these summers are starting earlier and ending later, and even though I know it will happen again, I never want another 2020/2021 when it was 110+ for 30 days in a row... that was awful.
I feel like this attitude comes from people whose lifestyles and jobs keep them in a perpetual state of AC bliss. They probably get covered parking too -.-
I can do things outside until 105 as long as I have access to shade and water, but above that is a no go. But I grew up where summers were 95-100 and 90+% humidity, so it’s all relative
My response whenever somebody says "But it's a dry heat" is "So is an oven, but you don't live in one of those. I've actually fried an egg on the sidewalk."
People who think Sedona is magical lmao
To be fair, Sedona is pretty nice for outdoor activities. But it can get crowded. It seems like over 50% of the plates are from California.
I doubt half those cars are people from CA. Last time I went to Sedona most of the people I talked to were from other countries or the east coast. Rental cars all have CA plates.
I mean it used to be, before it was an overcrowded tourist attraction.
Always has been
Someone thought we could see rocket launches from Florida… The picture they shared was an airplane with a contrail. California is one thing, and that’s only when the timing is just right. But Florida..? I couldn’t believe it.
Jesus. Maybe he’s a flat earther.
maybe if u reaaaaally squint lol
And stand on tippy toe.
The never ending hate for the west valley. someone compared it to New Delhi india one time, I was laughing hard cause WTF. It’s one of the best places I’ve lived. Much nicer than Wichita Kansas where I was born. The superiority complex is insane
I've known locals that were afraid to venture out of mid- to north-Scottsdale. It's nuts. I live out west, but I prefer downtown for its vibe, *but* there's great stuff out here. The area is enormous. It can't be judged or summarized by 27th ave & Indian School.
I find this funny too. As a life long east valley resident the trope was always that the “west side was the ghetto.” Maybe 45 years ago? Or if people are referring to the avenues on the I-17 corridor it holds up, but I can point to more parts of the east valley that are wayyyy more sketch/trashy than the west valley.
Northern Peoria near lake pleasant is super nice.
I mean northern Glendale, West surprise, parts of Goodyear are also super nice as well.. it’s basically the southern Glendale/Maryvale/Tolleson (which isn’t as bad as it used to be) area that give it a bad reputation.
I live in Maryvale, it doesn't feel ghetto to me... Then again I've lived in the southern parts of Santiago, Chile and in Mexico City, so I guess my ghetto bar is kinda high lol
Dood. That Fry's at Happy Valley and Lake Pleasant Pkwy with the solar panel covered parking? It makes my jaw drop! It is so nice in there! Olive bars AND sushi AND Starbucks AND some other ready to go food stuffs that I can't remember because it's been too long... it has my little heart. I wish more Fry's were like that down near Tolleson :(
That is a nice one. Closest similar one for you is Litchfield
Right? Litchfield Park is so perfectly manicured I call it Pleasantville as I stroll along the pond.
I was an east valley person my entire life, moved to the west valley in not the best area and loved it. People are the same everywhere, and I think the food on the west side is much more interesting. Better pizza better international foods. I live in way east mesa now and it's all chains out here, such a bummer.
I’d take the west side over the east side any day. I almost have exclusively worked in the east valley but no matter what I always live somewhere west of Scottsdale.
When I was in like 7th grade a teacher told us you guys arent East Siders, and were like yes we are we live on the EastSide and he said no, this is central phoenix East Side is mesa, etc\* and we told him no, when we refer to East Side we mean East Phoenix, just like West side is West Phoenix etc, when you say East Valley that usually means, mesa, chandler, gilbert etc, when you say West Valley it usually means Buckeye, Avondale, El mirage etc. THIS is where alot of people get confused, when I say I grew up on the East Side it means East Phoenix. So when people say Westside is ghetto, the hoods, they are usually refering to West Phoenix, some of the older parts. ALOT of people on these subs live on the outskirts of phoenix. Just my perspective as a born and raised person here
For sure. You’re 100% spot on. I grew up in Scottsdale, which is technically considered the east valley along with Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert, etc. (Or at least, I’ve always considered it to be the east valley) I live on the street side of central in Phoenix proper, which I consider central Phoenix but as you stated, technically on the east side.
Yeah i would say Scottsdale is still east valley, unless you go more north scotsdale. Yeah I would say for my comment on keeping it simple 7th ave to 7th st is central for sure. Unless you go south past buckeye then 7 st and broadway turns into South Phoenix I go by older neighborhoods and how it was way back then, like Garfield area I would consider that east phoenix still, even though in recent times it been promoted as Downtown, but Iget it as time goes on, downtown gets bigger
Any broad statements about different parts of the valley are definitely oversimplified. It's a huge metro. It doesn't come down to N vs S or E vs W. Even some parts of the nicest areas can be plenty shady. Look at Chandler alone. Huge variety between neighborhoods/blocks as far as crime, school quality, income levels. And there are plenty of nice places to live in the 'worse' areas.
Central and far North Chandler, the area you're referring to, is where almost all the good restaurants and coffee shops in Chandler are. I live north of the 202 and east of the 101 and would not ever want to live in South Chandler even if I could afford it. Mind-numbingly bland down there.
It's a lot better than it used to be.
What? I’m from Glendale, my neighborhood was the suburbs until the last 10yrs or so when Surprise took off.
Racism. Black People live in Laveen. Brown People in Maryvale and Sunnyvale. I was taught my grandparents to "not go south of the 10, west of the 17", and the truth is, its pretty cool living out here at 59th Ave in Maryvale. Cool people. Amazing food. Lively neighborhoods. Ethnic communities ≠ unsafe communities.
I grew up in Avondale my whole life it’s hilarious seeing people who don’t step more than their local frys and Walmart try to describe the “west” lmaoo like as an electrician I’ve been to every part of the valley from buckeye to chandler to anthem to south Phx and it’s just funny how different people view the parts of the city lol like we are so spread out how do u even get that narrative 🤣
As someone from S. Kansas….fuuuuck wichita. Junk-ass hood.
I live in Peoria and would rather live here than a more pretentious part of town. I mean we have some of that too. But I’d say it’s 10% of some parts of Scottsdale or fountain valley.
It’s racism imo
People who say “west phoenix” don’t mean Peoria or Avondale or even Glendale - they literally feel awk saying that they hate the Mexicans who live in maryvale
Expand on that. I’m not discounting you at all. But as a Caucasian male who is at times oblivious to it unless it’s blatant. I may be missing some signs. Granted, some of the sun city folks get a bit nasty. But hate to say it. Some folks make stereotypes true and others are perfectly lovely people.
Basic classism/racism. People in every city talk like this about a "certain part of town." I've spent almost all of my 18 years here in the west valley or central Phoenix and there's nothing wrong with it, unless you're a white person who is uncomfortable living next to non-white people lol.
As someone who has visited New Delhi many times, holy smokes this can’t be farther from the truth
I too grew up in Wichita Kansas, well, Haysville actually, go Colts, and I must say, I too prefer it here VS there.
People who think the west valley is the hood have never lived in a real hood. The west valley is great compared to most of the cities I have lived in.
its just absolutely fine to go swimming in the middle of the day. then act surprise the pool is hot, the cool deck is hot, the sun is blazing down and people are getting fried to a crisp. Stay INSIDE between 10am-5pm, Get shade sails for the backyard, get 100spf sunblock, do NOT walk outside bare foot. Do not leave the house w/o your water bottle and put ice in that water. Cars break down in the heat- ALWAYS HAVE YOUR WATER BOTTLE. also- its expensive to live here, yes, but its also expensive to live in some snow covered place in January. heat is expensive, A/C is the equivelant of heat. Cold weather freezes everything pipes to burst, pavement to split, houses to flood etc. Hot is just hot. Yes machines fail in heat but the damage from cold is much worse.
> Do not leave the house w/o your water bottle and put ice in that water. Cars break down in the heat- ALWAYS HAVE YOUR WATER BOTTLE. Along these lines - it happens to us all about every 1.5-3 years, and you don't buy them so much as you rent them from the parts store anymore. Get your lead-acid battery checked on your cars. Last year's El Niño cooked our 1.5 year old Interstate batteries. The last thing you want is to be stuck in a parking lot just after close somewhere with a car that won't start. Bring people fluids everywhere you go, and do some basic maintenance checks in the spring before it gets dummy hot.
On that note - if you live in AZ you should absolutely learn to change your own battery. I was taught by my father in law and I pass the wisdom on to the clueless every single summer when someone thinks they need a tow. No way, we are learning a self reliance lesson today and you and I are going to O’Reilly!
Seriously, easier and not nearly as messy as an oil change. Hold down clamp, two terminal bolts, and you're home free. Installation is reverse of removal. Plus, most chain stores will give 'er at test, charging first if necessary (rules out leaving something on overnight or a parasitic drain). Clean your terminals, slap on some terminal protector, and ~~baby, you got a stew going~~ you're good for another 18 months! Funny story, actually - for the one I mentioned above, in early spring, our GTI would occasionally refuse to start. Strange, but charge it up, and it was good for anywhere between 1-3 days. Not the alt, because it would just be sitting every time it'd randomly die. Load tested it (good), and checked amp draw at the battery, < 100 mA after the CANBUS went to sleep. Good, good. Still, every 1-3 days, no crank, and the dash was doing the xmas tree disco. Great, intermittent parasitic drain, my favorite. Thankfully and/or unfortunately for me, in a past life, I possessed a [now soooper-expired] vehicle electrical/electronics cert. So investigate at home, instead of paying the dealer to return it "cannot reproduce". She stopped driving it to avoid being stranded. So full charge, then do a fuse volt-drop test. Logged with oscilloscope, and saw an occasional 35 mA draw for < 3 sec about every 30 sec then nothing for 45 minutes (wiper module, y tho), but nothing crazy. Repeat over a few days, leaving all the door and hood switches triggered so the BCM + CAN gateway would stay asleep. Nothing, in any fuse box, drew any kind of continuous load. Watched for new CANBUS messages with the bus on, only saw the wiper module, but this was probably caused by small voltage fluctuations making things go nanners. So, disconnect the battery, charge it, and then let is sit disconnected. Bastard held a full charge until it just occasionally "decided" to shit the bed. Best I can tell is ambient temperature dependent intermittent high-resistance internal short. It got *hot* just... minding its own business well after charging. Cell would discharge, go dead, and then boom, you now have a 10 V battery with high internal resistance. New batt, Alle ist gut. Drove me nuts for a few days, though. Definitely a sorta rare failure mode, they're generally either good or bad, not a Schrödinger case. Phoenix heat does weird things to batteries.
All the people who insist clothing color doesn't matter in the heat. https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/1bsavbx/a_cool_guide_that_shows_different_heat_absorption/
Interesting considering all the houses I've seen lately that are being flipped are getting the black and white treatment. Black shingle roof with black trim and white painted house. I'm like, does the white even out the amount of heat the roof is generating? Or am I missing something here?
I think those are going to age poorly compared to the tans/browns... the sun here just destroys dark colors!
People who say Phoenix doesn't have good Mexican food. They see simple shit like all the Bertos or whatever, and think that's it. Yes there's a ton of American style Mexican food too. But just cause y'all don't know how to find the mom n pop joints that are hidden away doesn't mean they don't exist. Now I'll just sit back and wait for the usual "bUt tUCsoN HaS" or "wHaT pHOeNiX dOEsn'T gEt Is" bullshit that will inevitably follow this comment. As if two different places can't both have good Mexican food. Again, not my fault if you don't know where to look in Phoenix.
I’ve never heard that. What a weird take, Phoenix has amazing authentic Mexican food. You can do five minutes worth of research and find ten incredible hole-in-the-wall places.
There is a person in this thread saying they had better in NYC.
Then they sure as shit didn’t look very hard when they were here.
https://preview.redd.it/9hp7o6uhl2zc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=22ae1b6c89818bcec87bff4045cf18e3590f16d3 43rd Ave and Olive, Amor a la Mexicana, it’s all homemade in store, tortillas too, suck it Tucson.
Amor is amazing. One of my local joints. The other is the amazing hole in the wall, Litos on 47th and Olive. Best green pork chili / burros in history
The Mexican food here in Phoenix is better than San Diego and they literally border Mexico. Same for a lot of Texas too, can’t comment on New Mexico as I just have no interest in that state. Point is where is better Mexican food??
I mean I mostly agree here lol. I just always get people in this sub thing to come back saying we don't, and it blows my mind. Don't sleep on New Mexico tho! They have their own specific style out there that blends Spanish, Native American, and Mexican styles. I actuay prefer NM food over anywhere else. Best red & green chile dishes in the country.
Or the Mexican food back in their home state on this obscure street in the back of a laundry mart that they've been going to the entire life is better than what we have in Phoenix and they "can't find anything exactly like it". FFS
So you're saying that growing up with food from 'Mexican Village' in Grand Forks, North Dakota, might not be a good reference point?
Tacarbon for the win DAWG
Taco Mich off 27th and Camelback (I know I know) has some of the best street tacos and I’ll die on that hill.
That Rustlers Roost is a good restaurant.
Oh my GOD. My ex’s mom lived in one of the nice McMansions against South Mountain and she’d always insist on Rustler’s. Any restaurant with a slide inside of it will not have good food. Terrible.
I dig the kitsch and it's great for kids. Margs are good, views are nice, beef ribs are decent. I live next door. It's objectively better than nearly every tex mex place near by (looking at Aunt Chiladas or any of the spots in south tempe/Chandler near Ahwatukee... just horrible). I understand why this place is maligned by locals but IMO it's a fun place to stop every now and then. Way overrated by tourists tho.
Some people who live in Gilbert or Ahwatukee with a 700k home think like they're in Paradise Valley.
Good luck finding a 700k home in Paradise valley. Hey nothing wrong with more affordable luxury than PV.
Yeah, that's exactly my point. PV is for the rich, but some people act like they live in PV.
Installing rooftop solar will save them money. PERHAPS, if they don't overpay, south facing roof with no shading (trees, etc) and are willing to wait 8-10 years to break even. And don't experience any panels or inverter failures or roof leaks not covered by warranty, -- installer doesn't go out of biz, etc. Additional insulation, installing better windows, awnings, etc. ARE a viable alternative to rooftop solar. See: [Lowering your utility bill without solar](https://www.reddit.com/r/SanDiegan/comments/15dvugo/staying_cooler_and_lowering_your_sdge_bill_this/)
Not so much on this sub, but the obsession with BASIS. My local basis started out with 150 kids per class in 7th grade and graduates about 60-70 seniors per year. They're all like that. They weed out the kids who can't keep up. There are three medium sized high schools within 5 miles of my house. All the BASIS schools in the entire state graduated less seniors last year than any one of these individual high schools did. It graduates a very small fraction of AZ students, and they are ones who would have done well anyway in AP and advanced classes. It's not a solution to the problems with education, it's a publically funded private-style school that basically only serves the top students. Most of them are children of doctors, lawyers and engineers, and TBH mostly either east/south Asian decent, or the children of first generation eastern European immigrants. Ie, the kids of people who were probably educated the same way in a high pressure system Also they received 84 million dollars in tax payer funding last year, and 5 million in donations. They 'request' each parent donates 1500 a year. The creators of basis live in mega mansions out of state. The creators take a 10 percent management fee each year, on top of administrative salaries for those running it locally. https://www.azpm.org/p/headlines/2018/5/14/129529-arizona-charter-school-asks-parents-to-subsidize-teacher-pay/#:~:text=Basis%20schools%20received%20about%20%2484,donations%2C%20according%20to%20its%20records.
I’m going to create a new charter school. Any children who don’t meet height, jumping ability, speed and agility requirements will be held back for not cutting it. We might suggest they aren’t up to it. I have the best basketball school! Isn’t that amazing?!
We can talk more about that if you like. My wife worked as a teacher for BASIS and quit the same year. She has NEVER left a school mid year and there are good reasons why. Being a credentialed teacher in this state is about the worst compared to any other state we have lived in. I am sure someone has experience in a worse state. We just haven’t lived in one. She did opt for a different public charter and is at greathearts and loves it there in comparison.
I used to teach at a BASIS school and quit at the end of my first year. Highly recommend checking out Arizonans for Charter School Accountability, azcsa.org, to learn more about how the schools are effectively test score puppy mills
This explains so much. I've been wondering why all the "best" schools in AZ lists are always BASIS but it seems like I knew plenty of average kids who transfered there from public schools and then came back the next year.
A friend of mine's kid enrolled and was an average student instead of above grade level. They had to have a meeting every six weeks on his progress and instead of offering support just kept hinting it was 'too much for him'. Eventually the parents withdraw him.
Recommending Pete’s Fish and Chips.
I know I’ll never talk you true believers out of it lol
I love Pete’s. Shrimp and chips with Pete’s sauce is one of my jams.
that's drunk people food.
That bad eh?
It's mostly nostalgia for people who are from here or who have been here forever (which is how I view in n out, tbf). That and the price - quality is on par for what you pay, and it is cheap, which offers its own value with the way restaurant pricing as gone.
PFC is trash fast food. It is a time machine back to about 1970-1990. Got $6 cash? Pete's.
Lots of better options for Fish & Chips. It’s like recommending BK for burgers.
You don't go to Pete's for good fish and chips. You go to Pete's for reliably cheap food. It is good if you want fried food and to spend under $10 and even under $7 in many cases. I've never seen anyone recommend Pete's for good fish, but recommend it for good cheap food.
I’d ask where a better place was but that wouldn’t be on topic
The Kettle Black, downtown, I’ve spent years finding good fish and chips here.
I don't mind it for fast food, but I've seen people recommend it as the best fish and chips you can get. That's like recommending Jack n the Box when someone asks where to get the best tacos. And yes, before someone asks, I'm being literal about them saying it's the best. I've seen people genuinely argue this (seen it online not in person).
I like the analogy. Jack in the Box tacos are amazing, but they’re barely tacos. I love Pete’s, but it is its own thing.
As a valley native, I'm offended by how accurate this is lmao.
People that think most Mexican food here is texmex
Someone suggested CCV is not a cult. They’re religious, so their opinion is biased and cannot be trusted, but holy shit this was another level of stupidity.
There is a TON of cars showing their signs of being part of that cult. I’m glad they announce themselves. Like the red hat people. I want to know what I’m walking into
Yup. I appreciate it when dumbasses publicly display their red flags.
When they can’t pronounce Prescott or Saguaro lol
Minimizing our water situation.
It's a dry heat. Yeah tell that to the swamp cooler in August.
Spent a few days in Dallas last month. April. And the relative humidity and dew point was that of an average mid-August monsoon day. I called it humid to my friend, and he said "what, this is DRY." Two summers back was in Atlanta in August, and I needed to change my shirt three times per day. Our worst humidity is still "dry" compared to what most people call "muggy."
There being limited/no nightlife. I feel like people are expecting Miami/LA/Chicago level of nightlife. But it's still good enough. I'm not struggling to hang with friends or point out of state guests to the bars. Obviously, if you're in the middle of a suburb, then yeah, everything dies after 10pm. But that's the suburbs lol. I could be biased as someone in my late 20s though. I'm not too picky and am always looking for new spots to try.
Sunny Slope is up and coming. I've heard this since 1997
“Keep all the doors in your house/apartment closed so the cool air in each room stays in there. This will keep your place cooler and your A/C won’t have to work as hard.” This is absolutely not true. Keep the doors open and let the air flow.
It's not that simple. Every house is different, and if you can shut off an unused room that's getting many hours of direct sun on its roof and walls, it'll probably benefit. But if you do that you probably should shut off the A/C vent to that room.
That it’s okay to walk your dogs in the summer from 10 am to 5 pm …. when the air temp is 110+ … You try walking across a concrete sidewalk barefoot and see how that feels! Or better yet an asphalt road barefoot … easily 150 deg at times!
I read many comments in a thread saying that TexAZ had the best chicken fried steak in the valley, even on the menu it says it's their main dish. I drove about 45 minutes for the worst chicken fried steak I've had in my life. What didn't I like about it? The gravy was bland, it was two pieces of chicken fried steak staked on each other and if they were combined there still wasn't even enough meat for 1 but plenty of breading on it.
Apparently I'm not allowed to mention it by name, but the uh, Saltine... Container... restaurant had pretty good chicken fried steak last time I was there.
People giving advice on places to live who say stuff like "don't live in Goodyear/Surprise/Litchfield Park/Peoria, those places are boring and full of old people, you'll be bored of your mind and will be so far from downtown Phoenix and all the fun stuff to do." It's such a narrow "single 23 year old with no kids who spends a lot of time in trendy bars" perspective and they give that advice to any age group, family, or job situation. I live in one of those places, my neighborhood is like 80% people age 25-45, and zero of my interests involve ever needing to go to downtown Phoenix.
It's all about job location to me. Live near where you work, and where you could get another job if you lost the current one
People's ability to read and understand traffic laws. I've seen it time and time again where people cite a law and then wildly misinterpret it. Even the Pinal County Sheriff department has an entire video where they do it. Even the police can't read the traffic laws. I know, sounds insane. There's a video (and as a result news articles) about how it's keep right accept to pass and then one of the laws he cites says keep in the right side with one exception is passing. IT SAYS RIGHT SIDE, NOT RIGHT LANE SHERIFF LAMB. IT MEANS THAT WE DON'T DRIVE ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ROAD IN AMERICA SHERIFF LAMB. (Also the other one says that you have to be in the right lane if you're going slower than traffic. If you're going with traffic, even in lock step, there's no limit on the lane you can be in) I would love to have more strict laws on that to promote safety and better traffic flow but I guess we can't. Because every time I bring up getting a better law for that people think it's already a law. MAYBE BECAUSE SHERIFF LAMB DOESN'T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WORD SIDE AND LANE. I'm getting heated. Also it's not illegal to pass on the right, the law says don't go off road to do that. I'm calm now
That people drive fast here. It’s consistent on here, and I’m sorry, but they just don’t, and everyone who grew up here acts like it’s Mad Max. It isn’t. And god forbid a drizzle or light rain comes, people act like it’s the Blizzard of 93 out there. Turn the wipers on and drive normally, for the love of god.
It’s not that bad. Traffic is at times awful. But drive in the Bay Area, Chicago, or from VA to DC. That is bonkers driving.
I’m sorry, but as someone who has grown up driving in the valley, our drivers have gotten even stupider, they drive on average about 5mph faster than they used to, and they tailgate like hell. I have a pool business so I’m on the road a lot. When I was starting to drive, the average speed was 75 on freeways here. Now the average is no doubt 85-90 and if you aren’t doing those speeds, fuckers will tailgate you or pass very dangerously.
There are some days where I am certain people Learned to drive from GTA5. But will say overall it’s not as bad as some other cities or cluster of cities of similar size. Seriously, Chicago was batshit crazy, and I’ll never drive the VA to DC route again. I’ll Uber.
Why not take the train from Virginia to DC? An Uber would be insane.
Two old women today went from far right lane to turning left in a matter of milliseconds. One of them coming 6 inches from hitting me and one of them stopping in the middle of the left turn lane and left driving lane forcing me to slam on my brakes. Snowbird season is coming to an end, but the ones still left are the worst of the worst drivers it seems.
I’ve never thought our drivers were especially fast, but that drivers here are very inconsistent. Since there are so many transplants everyone drives different and it’s chaotic sometimes. Plus it’s hard to find someone using their blinker. As someone that spent 3 years in LA, people greatly exaggerate our traffic.
As far as the freeways go, the speeding is vastly different depending on where you drive. If I am travelling on I-17 south of the 101, it's pretty tame, but I take the 101 from I-17 to Hayden when commuting to work and I consistently have people blow by me going at least 90. You are right about the rain. It's not oil falling from the skies people. That's what the tread on your tires is for!
Most Inaccurate: * Glai Baan is great (it's just OK) * Tacos Veganos is good (no, it gives vegan food a bad name) * Taco Boys is good (no, they have a serious quality control issue)
* Kari Lake turns into a werewolf on a full moon (no, she can actually turn into a werewolf at will)
>* Kari Lake turns into a werewolf on a full moon (no, she can actually turn into a werewolf at will) This is insulting to honest werewolves.
How dare you say Glai Baan is just okay
"Phoenix drivers are the worst" Travel more.
“Those aren’t Arizonans those are transplants!”
That Kyler Murray is the answer.