I agree with Lisa. I've been in Phoenix since 1977 and you really did cover things very well. But I'd add one more PRO to living here: hardly any flying bugs. I came here from NY and gosh almighty there were so many biting flies, etc. Not here. Hardly a thing. I can leave my doors open for 6 months and be fine.
I agree, I lived in Arizona from 1970 until 2010 where I made the mistake of moving to Washington state. It is a beautiful state but, the people are not beautiful, and the weather is even worse! I am moving back to AZ the first of the year 2021! Whoo Hoo!!! Back Home FOREVER!!!!!
@@pingman2 that's funny I know of too many people who have moved from Arizona to Washington state, myself included, and moved back. One of my neighbors in WA even has a house in AZ for the summer. What is it with these two states? Is it because their opposites in almost all ways it just draws people to and from. Lol anyway hope you make it back okay.
I have lived in Arizona for 20 years and our dust storms were never called haboobs until one day a news anchor decided to miss inform the whole state and call it that. Dubai has haboobs. Arizona has dust storms, strong ones, not haboobs.
That's true, but I'm a native Arizonan, I and many others I know have embraced the haboob wordage. It's just a fun word to use and it's technically correct. Nothing to get upset about.
Whenever I am feeling super depressed because it is 116* outside and I am dreading getting into my vehicle, I watch these Arizona appreciation vids so I can remember why I live here lol
Minnesotan here and I will be moving at the end of January 2021 to Phoenix. Ive been to Phoenix many times because my Dads side is from there. Cant stand the cold winters of the midwest. Phoenix is a beautiful area.
I'm going in July well there and a bunch of places out west, I wanna move out west so bad but the cost of living is crazy, most of the east coast isn't that expensive in living costs thats why I've stayed here..wanna live so bad out west though, always have
Glad to hear it. Welcome. I've never lived anywhere else but Arizona,so I know nothing else. Once you get used to the heat I think you'll like it here. Best thing to do in summer is always carry plenty of ice cold water and avoid the direct sunlight whenever possible. Being in the shade and having something cold to drink makes it so much better and cloudy summer days are awesome. Best of luck to you and yours.
I hear Bisbee AZ has perfect weather all year. The expense of living in AZ compared to MN is very high. If you want cheaper rest you might have to live in a poorer neighbehood in AZ
No front liscence plates is a good thing.. cops cant check your records when they are in front of you 😂 also the driving is crazy because we have so many people from different places which means all types of drivers. Winter we get the old people driving slow hahah
Native here, you did a great job! AZ does have pretty freeways! In defense of so many white people. I’ve lived and travel a few places, but white folk in AZ are nicer then other places. ( actually nice, not super fake,nice) I’m a woman of color, and spot that mess a mile away. Yes, another vid, schools please.
I just came back from Arizona visiting for the first time and I said the exact same thing to my sister when she said she seen me in a lot of pics with white people and I’m a women of color I felt nothing but love
This woman speaks the truth and I agree with everything she said. I moved here from Plainfield, IL back in January and it does feel like I'm on vacation every day. No matter how hot it gets in the summer, I spend 2-3 hours every morning on my back patio working and enjoying the sunrise and weather. You can't do that in January in Illinois!
I've been living in Arizona for 4 years now and I'm always excited for the winter because I'm a server. I'm originally from Kansas and so being a midwesterner we never had 'season' in the service industry. The town I live in is a retirement community and the 'snowbirds' are from every corner of the country and I thought that was so cool to meet a ton of new people
Tucson is far better than Phoenix, IMHO. I've lived here in "The Old Pueblo" for decades and it's not a big, hot, crowded city like Phoenix. I did live in Phoenix for 1 year. Depressing.
I move here 4 years ago, and It really is so different from any other big city. It's a beautiful place to live, and yes, gorgeous sunsets and so much to do!
Your enthusiasm makes me miss AZ. Good for you, enjoy your experience. There is good & bad in every state. For me I moved there in 97 and watched the weather change, the exponential growth, the expense multiply and by 2020 it was time for me to move on but so glad I was able to see AZ at it’s finest. Get beyond all the building in AZ and it truly is a beautiful state.
I loved this video!! RU-vid suggested it to me because I watch other Arizona themed videos. You said the Pacific Ocean is only six hours away. But, to me that’s far when I live on the east coast and the ocean is a ten minute drive. Besides that con and many homeless people, I would love to live there! Only visited once and I fell in love. Thank you!
Aaahhhhhh yes, Az is amazing... we have 3 months of terrific Heat.... But the rest of the year the weather is Beautiful, so we can deal with the 3 months... I was raised in Mesa Az... I wouldn’t live anywhere else...☀️🌞☀️🌞☀️🌞☀️🌞☀️
Thank you so much for this video! My boyfriend and I are moving to Gilbert AZ next week!!!! We are so excited. We are from NY and we cannot wait to have the windows down in the car on Xmas 😃
Make sure your car has A/c because once May comes around you are not going to want to drive with your windows down and be stuck in traffic. It’s hot and it sucks.
Was really cool to hear about your experience. I'll be moving to Arizona in the next few months, and this was a really helpful take. Plus you just seem like a generally bright personality, so you were pleasant to listen to. Side Note: The people you expected to meet due to it being a red state, are almost a legend at this point. Do those type of people exist, sure, but they seem rare to come across. There is very little of the US population that is actually racists these days. Republicans, in general, tend to be quite chill and want everyone to live their best life. Best bet is to just assume everyone has the best of intentions, until they give you a reason to think otherwise, no matter their political affiliation, race, religion, or whatever else. Just a good way to live life.
It’s always interest how people take their personal beliefs and apply them to everyone else. Just say that “ you” aren’t this way. Don’t speak for people you’ve never met.
Great job, Laurel. I love Arizona. One never quite gets it out of one's system. It has been a few years since I left and I still miss the Sonoran Desert. I share your enthusiasm.
suuuuuuuper helpful video with making my decision to make the Chicago -> Arizona move. If it’s not too intrusive/personal, a video with the average price of rent and utilities in Arizona vs. Minny would be nice. I would be living solo and really scared that the utilities are going to cost me an arm and a leg.
The average prices of rent and utilities vary drastically from city to city and even within the cities themselves. You can actually contact the utility companies and ask for the averages of specific apartments you are looking at.
Exactly, prices can vary greatly. My small house averages $80 electricity and $30 water/trash a month, the big house with grass yards make that look like a drop in the bucket. Solo renter shouldn’t be too bad (but I’ve owned) and some places it’s just built into the rent. With my experience, Electric company is based by neighborhood, SRP has been much better than APS. And if you plan to stay for length and it is available, go with monthly average payments. Summer electric bills can be brutal without. But “winter” months can be small
My first visit back in 7 years was back on July 24th, a monsoon hit the runway at Skyharbor just as we were about to set down. The pilot aborted, tried again, aborted 2nd landing due to the storm, and finally got down on the 3rd attempt. Drove up the 51 and watched a night time lightning show. Great timing I guess!
Hey! I was looking through my old videos & I wanted to say THANK YOU for this video. I actually moved to Arizona in January 2021 which is CRAZY cus I never thought I would make such a change in my life! Your videos really helped me gain confidence in my decision
Thank you for this video! I'm actually waiting to see if I got a job there, and started freaking out after a positive second interview. Sooo needed to know this
I’ve been in Phoenix for 45 years. I’ve seen so much growth. I really love it here despite the growth.The wide open sky is amazing. You’re so right, the dry heat beats humidity any day! Cost of housing is still reasonable. Fun to hear a newcomers view. Nice video 😀
Thank you for some inspiration to move to AZ from NY. I would be coming along with my elderly mother and my son who will be 21. The availability of less expensive housing and all of the natural beauty are very attractive. It sounds like a place where anyone can thrive if they want to and it's kind of relaxed too. Good luck to you!!
I am a native Arizonan. I was born and raised in Phoenix and still live here. For context, I'm now 37 years old - so, I've been living here for 37 years. In case you're interested (it's okay if you're not), but if you are, here's my take on the topics you presented: - Weather: Yes, it's a dry heat.. but so is the oven. I'm not gonna be sticking my head in there any time soon. It's true that of the past few years, our monsoon storms/dust storms have not been as intense, unfortunately, but there are certainly times when the thunderstorms can get really intense. I always find it disappointing when there's a dry dust storm (a dust storm with no rain behind it). Personally, I LOVE the rain, and it's just generally disappointing when it seems like a storm is coming but then dissipates before it gets my my area. Relatively speaking, I think our winters can get really cold at times. Though, I say "relatively" because I've never experienced a winter anywhere else. And I've heard and seen (from the news) how midwest winters can get to like, -20 degrees. Being a native Phoenician, I have a hard time wrapping my mind around that! 50 degrees is cold to me! Outside of our disgusting summer heat, I LOVE our climate. I do love monsoon season because it's sweet relief from the disgusting summer heat. But the rest of the year, I LOVE it! You know why people can't wait for November? Because that's when we FINALLY start to cool down!! - Transportation: I wonder what side of the valley you live, I don't recall seeing that many Teslas. I know it might seem random to mention those things. But, I know Teslas are expensive, and usually people who own expensive cars live in Scottsdale - which makes sense that there would be a Tesla store inside the Scottsdale mall. Also, not all freeways are the Loop 101. The Loop 101 does wrap in a huge loop around the valley, which means it's possibly our largest strip of freeway. But there is also Loop 303, Loop 202, the I-10, the I-17, the AZ-51, Superstition Freeway, and the newest addition to the freeway family, the west Loop 202 that connects the west valley to the east valley without having to fight downtown traffic. - People: It's interesting that you believe people are nice here. I've heard others say that we're not that friendly and pretty closed off. I guess different people have different experiences. Though, Scottsdale has the reputation of having snobby people, and thus has the reputation of being called Snobsdale. - Geographically: Yes! I LOVE that my home state is geographically diverse!! I don't have to go to another state to go camping in the woods. Just drive a few hours up, and there we go! The beauty of this state I've been blessed to live in, I love it so much!! - Plants & Animals: I love the diversity we have there too. Granted, we're not the Amazon Jungle, but we do have some diversity. I like it. :-) and I LOVE out beloved cacti!
Lol I'm curious what part of the valley you live because from my experience people overall are not friendly. Scottsdale didn't get the nickname snotsdale for nothing.lol
Steve Waltz I’m down in Sahuarita and I wouldn’t consider the general public friendly either. Granted I have lived in a lot of southern states so my bar for common courtesy and politeness in public is different. But people in the cities in AZ don’t wave and smile at strangers. They don’t hold doors for you or ask you how your day is. Only if you actually know the person do they do that. Or if you live outside of the cities in one of the smaller towns.
I've yet to meet anyone here in Az that isn't an ahole. Been here 3yrs now and really miss the mid west values which is by the way are non existence in Az.
Been living in Tucson for about 4 years now. We own a house. 3 bd 2 bth with pool, and add on room, our mortgage is about $1100 a month. Being from Southern California that is a steal. I do pay about $300 a month in electricity, but during the summer months June-Sept it can reach $500.
This is just what I needed to see today!! I’m currently in the grayest place in the world (ok ok 5th greatest city in the USA) Buffalo. Dead of winter. I haven’t seen the sun in months. Here for school. I grew up in so cal and spent a decade in NYC. 1.5 years of school left and I’m RUNNING AWAY AND NVER EVER COMING BACK HERE! Your AZ content is keeping my dream of moving there ALIVE! Thank you !! I can’t WAIT
All ima say is everyone’s experience will definitely be different. 2 things I can point out on from experience living here. Road Rage is real and all the people are not that nice.
Darrius S I’ve lived here my whole life. I know people from AZ think all the bad drivers are from California and California says it’s AZ but road rage is real here. I’ve always thought most people are very nice but then I visited NY. I thought everyone was AMAZING! So nice and helpful. Not at all what I expected. Came back to AZ and thought everyone was rude lol. Maybe I was just tired from the trip.
I'm an Arizona native, been here my whole 32 years. This is one of the first videos I've seen trying to explain AZ that i truly appreciated. I think you did an awesome job at not hiding our flaws but also highlighting the things that no one thinks of when they think of AZ. We're not all racist down here, I swear. I'm so happy you mentioned the sunsets and the desert lakes! They are some of my favorite things. Also, prickly pear vodka. Try it now, thank me later. Delicious. I wish I could say I've never seen a scorpion but that would be a lie. My sister's last house she was renting out in the Tolleson area kept getting scorpions but they only ever stung her. No shit, in one year she was stung 7 times. One of the times was a double. It stung her thigh under her dress and when she jumped up in pain and smacked her leg, he fell, but landed on her foot and stung her ankle before scampering off. Great video
@@o.a.5044 I usually get mine at Total Wine, they have a brand called Grand Canyon from a local brewery (located in Flagstaff and Williams) but you can also find them at Bevmo and i've even bought a bottle once or twice from a Fry's store.
Arizona is beautiful. We have sunshine about 300 days out of the year. There are tons to do. We have mountains and deserts. There are lots of shopping malls, golf courses, lots of lakes and plenty of good restaurants. People are typically friendly. We hike, camp, and sightsee. We have the Grand Canyon. Thanks for this, Laurel. Will share this video!
My bride-to-be and I are moving from central Mexico in a couple of months. I'm compelled to say... thanks for your video... especially for the power bill tip (now we can add that to the budget). I've just found your channel but you have a new fan!
I moved here in 2015 and I am still here, 5 years later. Despite the many cons (searing summer heat, crime, rude people, bad driving, etc) I have grown to really love living here and hope to still be here for many more years. I have met some very wonderful folks here as well as my share of not so great people. However the pros greatly outweigh the cons and we have the best weather in the country from September till May with a strong job market and relatively low cost of living. Cheers from 7th Ave and Osborn!
Welcome to Arizona...My family moved to the valley in 1959. Specifically for the climate! I took a peek at the comments and see you're doing pretty darn good! I enjoyed the video and yes you should make more. Since you're getting quite a few views, I thought the endorsement of a long time resident would be appropriate. You got it right! Close enough for an infj perfectionist...Shade does help. That and water will do the trick. You are going to be successful. Good production, educational and entertaining...
This is cute! I still have a love hate relationship with AZ 🤪 but it keeps growing on me and I do love how u can be at the beach in 6 hours or up in the mountains in 2.5!
North Valley Phoenix out by Carefree is where youre going to run into thousands of scorpions. Used to live up there and found them in my bed and house countless times.
Hey! I'm an AZ native and this video made me so happy. It's always so awesome to hear someones else's experience/pov when moving to AZ. Reminds me how much I love it here. I 100% recommend you hike South Mountain if you haven't already, it's so gorgeous getting to see the sun rise/sunset from there (that's the part of Phx I'm from). It's gorgeous to see from all mountains really but especially S. Mountain lol. P.S. totally going to follow you on insta and subscribe to your channel :)
Exactly. My favorite region of AZ is Rim country. It’s stunning. I’m down in Tucson and feel like all of SOAZ is the junk that fell on the bedroom floor and got swept under the bed hahah
Abby Alarid 😂😂😂 or Yuma. There is a reason they stuck the poor Marines all the way down there. They knew any other branch wouldn’t be able to survive. #EmbraceTheSuck.
Well, I am old Desert Rat myself. I live in the Mojave desert and have done so for 30 plus years. As an archaeologist I have hiked not only the Mojave but also the Great Basin, and the Sonoran Desert. All I can say to you new comers is: Stay hydrated, wear a broad brimmed hat, definitely wear sun glasses, and either keep your self covered with light UV clothing, or apply a lot of sunscreen.
Moved here 4 months ago... True colors and beliefs came out during the pandemic... Not black friendly although everyone here calls each other the n word but will change their language when you approach. Great video tho spot on about 90%. Glad everything is working for you and your family.
@@abdul-jaleeldieng2660 pretty much he means that alot of arizonians call eachother the n word regardless of their skin color but its like anyone gives a shi abt it
@@abdul-jaleeldieng2660 There's not alot of black people here. And the black people from AZ act white. But there is alot of job and opportunities here and no bad neighborhoods
As a black person who lives in Arizona I can definitely say it’s not the best place for black people. I’ve never been called a n****r until I moved here.
Austen Anderson hahah did you kinda just blank outta your mind that every car from CA, NV, TX, and UT has front plates??? The only neighbor state that doesn’t is NM. lol
Can’t forget the closest beach! In Mexico, Rocky point/puerto peñasco! If you’re afraid to go, just go with friends that have been there, you’ll see it’s just a nice town where they want tourists.
Nice video. I hope you come to understand and appreciate those "gun-toting" people who will protect you if the need arises. Law-abiding citizens who understand their rights are awesome, this Red State reflects that.
I was living in California, hated it, moved back to Alabama. I drove thru Flagstaff in the middle of a snow storm...it was so cold that my defroster could not keep up with all the ice build up that I would have to stop and scrape many times. Arizona is pretty, unusual, but I like my trees, hills , and a distinct four seasons.
Great video, although I do think you overestimated the percentage of AZ drivers who use their turn signals, lol! I also think there's a lot more diversity than you give the state credit for: 60% white, 30% Hispanic, plus native American, Asian, African. A great blend of cultures and cuisine. If you haven't been, visit the Mekong Plaza in Mesa. Best Chinese grocery store in town, and all sorts of authentic Asian restaurants are located nearby and in the mall.
When we were on a hike earlier this year in Sedona a whole pack of javelina crossed in front of us! Cant lie, I was nervous 😂 The bar and restaurant scene is incredible. I love Arizona
