Pro: January
While the rest of the world is putting away their Christmas decorations and thinking, "man, I freaking hate snow, slush, and ice and coldness in general. When is Spring?" Arizonians are walking around in the sunshine and 60 degree weather thinking, "Ah, winter. Isn't winter just the best? If only I didn't have to shovel my driveway...Oh, wait. I DON'T!" Then we laugh maniacally and go have a picnic at the park.
White Christmas's are lovely and I miss them and other seasonal changes, but not in January. I never will miss Logan, UT in January.
Con: July
No barefoot summers for us, unless you are really into 3rd degree burns on the bottom of your feet. Walks and hikes are more or less out of the question and the car is nearly as bad as no amount of air conditioning seems to be able to diminish the heat radiating off the dashboard. You can go swimming...but even the pool water feels a little too warm. Monsoon rains provide the only relief and they just don't come often enough to keep temperatures out of the triple digits. When they do come, they bring humidity so, no, it's not a dry heat. All you can do is huddle in your freezer and dream of the weather cooling down at the end of summer (which is in October.)
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| January 2015, just for reference. Note the shorts. |
Pro: Fewer allergens
I've heard that Utah is home to most of the plants that people are allergic to. If that is true, then it might explain why I can't go visit my old stomping grounds without generous doses of medication to keep the itchy, drippy, sniffy, coughies at bay. Living in Arizona, I frequently go days between needing any medication and my symptoms are more mild irritations than debilitating illnesses.
Con: No grass, few trees
When we found a park near us that actually had nice, green grass we were so excited. It is not the norm. At all. The kind of grass you generally get here is greenish weeds that grow on dirt as hard as concrete. Not really the kind of ground you want for, well, anything. You don't roll in the grass, I'd hate to play football--American or otherwise--on that kind of rock solid turf. And the kind of big leafy trees that provide great shade and shed leaves in the winter are quite rare here. Most of the trees that grow here are small, kind of spindly, and have itty bitty leaves that provide little shade. I mean, it's enough that people park under them at parking lots before they'd park close to the door, but they just aren't the same. Certainly not tree house caliber.
Pro: Cactus
Cacti is pretty cool. It makes for a unique landscape, their blossoms are quite pretty, and I now know several different kinds of cactus plus random trivia about the life and growth of cactus. Ask me about Saguaro sometime. I am a treasure trove of botanical knowledge.
Con: Cactus
Have you ever gotten stuck by a cactus spine? It freaking HURTS and they are hard to get out. Paul knows better than to go around touching them, but they are so common you really can get speared on accident because a little cholla branch fell off and blew away...right into your foot (true story.)
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| Cholla with pink flower in foreground, Prickly pear in background. |
Pro: Low cost of living
Compared to basically everywhere, Arizona has cheap housing, reasonably cheap food, cheaper gas. All these things make it hard to think about moving. Know that if I wanted to buy a house like mine but in Utah, I would spend twice as much. Gas is consistently 20 cents cheaper per gallon here. Not only that, living in Utah with a more expensive home would likely also mean a pay cut for Lee. Lower cost of living and higher income make this pro a major pro.
Con: There is a reason for that
It is cheap to live on land that nobody wants. The heat, the pests, the general isolation, and the lack of anything nice about the city of Tucson means that, yeah, you can afford to live here. That is just because most people don't want to. If you live far enough out of town to avoid the ugly, trashiness of Tucson and live in a nice area you also have to drive 30 minutes to go to a movie, 45 minutes to get to a hospital, an hour to get to the best sushi restaurant in town.
Pro: Lots of wildlife
Living in Southern Arizona I have come across wild animals on hikes, in my neighborhood, even my backyard. Off the top of my head I can remember meeting Coyotes, Javalinas, dozens of Roadrunners, a Great Horned Owl, various Hawks, Falcons, and Vultures, hundreds of lizards, a Gila Monster, Cotton tail rabbits...the list goes on. It makes my morning walks--when they're in season--far more interesting than a typical walk around the block.
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| Gila Woodpecker at Saguaro National Park |
Con: It isn't all good wildlife
People routinely get rattlesnakes on their property here. There are something like 27 species of rattlesnake that live here, not to mention tarantulas, scorpions, black widows, termites, and cockroaches. We have yet to have any rattlers in our yard, though we've had a snake, and I've not found a single scorpion...knock on wood. I hear with termites, however, it's not a question of if but when you will get them in your home.
So there you have it! A break down on Arizona living. These are of course based on my own biases, tastes, and experiences, I'll leave it to you to judge for yourself whether Arizona is a great place to live or a Hellhole. Unless you are talking about July. Take it from me, Arizona in July is basically Hell's Dutch Oven.
