I grew up in Tucson – spent the first 21 years of my life there. I have only been back to visit friends and parents since leaving in 1989. My parents eventually followed me out here about 8 years ago. My mom doesn’t miss the critters or the heat at all.

I tell people that Tucson is a great place to be from. Had a great time as a kid. We lived up in the foothills and the desert was our playground. It is generally boring, though, for a 20-something. I was glad to get out to a place where there was more to do than get drunk and go hiking.

I have occasionally said that I would rather live in Phoenix than Poway. It is hot enough in Poway that it makes sense to save the money and move to Phoenix.

I am familiar with the South Mountain/Awahtukee area. It is pretty nice. Can get 5K sq. ft. homes backing up to beautuful desert preserve for 900K. Great family homes nearby for $300K. Very good schools. If you can live with the problems below, go for it. The high-end homes in AZ are pretty nice.

I compare Tucson and Phoenix to San Diego and LA. LA/Phoenix about 100 miles north. They are bigger cities with the benefits and drawbacks of bigger cities. San Diego / Tucson are smaller, more laid back.

Yes, its hot. If you can’t deal with it, there is no hope. I lived with it for 21 years. I could deal with it if I had to. It is highly preferable to a cold climate where you have to take off and put on bulky clothing every time you go in or outside.

A long-term trend in Phoenix is that the population boom is changing the climate for the worse. More AC means the indoors are cooler, but the outdoors are hotter because they pump heat to the outside. Turns out there are enough of them that the ambient temperature of Phoenix is rising. All the pools and lawn irrigation have increased humidity as well. I’m not a big environmentalist, but I actually wonder about the long-term sustainability of life in Phoenix.

In the 70’s and 80’s, folks from the east coast moved to Tucson by the boatload (joke intended) and planted plants all over town that measurably raised the pollen count in Tucson. This is a serious consideration. If you have any kind of allergies to dust or pollen, the desert can be unlivable. I would occasionally have to leave class because of sneezing fits. The choice was – breathe freely and fall asleep due to medicine, or suffer and be alert. I didn’t know how bad I had it until I left. I have no allergies in San Diego but when I am in Arizona, I wake up with a nose full of gunk every morning. Even if the pollen doesn’t get you, the dust can.

People think Summer is the worst time and suggest living through a Summer before you decide you like it. I say – be sure to spend some time in AZ in the Spring to make sure you can tolerate the pollen and dust. It is a unique form of personal hell if you can’t.

Politically, Phoenix is so much more conservative than Tucson. They do stupid things, just like any government, but they are stupid in an entirely different direction.