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i've been in az since 1995.

phoenix is cool. just remember it's the 5th largest city in the country, so that comes with it's good parts and bad parts. it's sunny and warm like 360 days a year so it's nice to not have to deal with snow, ice, tornadoes, mudslides, hurricanes and all that. the summers can get BAD, and sometimes it's 120 degrees. you kinda get used to it, but then imagine it still being 95 at midnight when you're trying to going to bed.

crime is not bad, probably on par with most average large cities. **knock on wood** i've never been robbed or held up or had any close calls ever. it's close to the mountains so you can take a weekend ski trip if you'd like, lots of lakes are close by for jet skiing and what not. vegas is about a 5-6 hour drive so it's close enough for a weekend trip. about a 2-3 hour drive to mexico if you fancy some duty free shopping.

if you're a hiker/biker/camper you'll love the scenery and weather.

az usually ranks pretty low in k-12 education/dropout rates/teen pregnancy rates so that is what it is. they (the media) usually try to blame that on the illegals though so i dunno...if you have kids that might make a difference. lots of good jobs are in the phoenix area, as the weather makes the state very enticing to companies (no snow days/delays in productivity).

great interstates (but it still usually takes 30-45 minutes to get anywhere), it's got ASU which is a pretty good school, all 4 professional sports teams (which is a major plus for me), hosts the bcs championship game every few years, the super bowl every few years so all those things are cool. the nba all star game will be here next month. all the cool concerts/shows hit up phoenix. i'm not really into plays/operas/museums and things like that so i don't even know if we have good ones or not.

it's REALLY starting to expand and grow quickly. we just got a light rail, which already has plans for expansion.

all in all if you can put up with a few months during the summer of 110-120 degree days, i really can't find anything else to complain about (other than the same type of stuff any city would have).

oh and i'll throw tucson in there as well since i spent 5 years there. it's more of a college/military town. the interstate sucks (it goes around the town, not through it) and it's got more of a small town vibe. the capital is in phoenix and they don't like to share so they usually keep all the money and water up there. it's only about 90 miles away from phoenix so if you wanted to live in a smaller town but still have access to phoenix you could do that.

ohhh i forgot to add golf and tennis. we have such beautiful courses everywhere you look.

oh and you just have to float down the salt river a couple times every summer. every time is more fun than the last.

lol yeah you're right. you know what a big part of the problem i see is (and this is from a non-native but been here 14 years) is that native arizonans (**most of the one's that i've met**) really don't have any pride in their state...they don't have anything to huddle around and be proud of. i've asked all my native friends, what's the coolest part of arizona, like what is the pride and joy of the state?? after a few minutes of straining their brain the answer is oh the grand canyon (which none have ever been to), some 24 hour taco shop or the wildcats/sun devils...and i'm just like whhhaaaaa? certainly you can find better things to hang your hat on than a giant hole (an impressive hole nonetheless), some tacos and a few college sports teams.

ask a texan what he/she likes about their state and they won't shut up for hours about it. you'll have to beg them to shut up. maybe it's just that alot of us here are transplants, heck i dunno. it's like you need to have some pride in your state. this is what we do/have and this is what we're good at stuff like that.