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Sell me on PHX

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
So after becoming unemployed again, as the Reno economy has turned to hell in a hand basket, I find myself entertaining the idea of moving.

I have another gig coming on line next week, which is handy as I am also being evicted for having too much fun in my yuppie eco loft, which strangely the neighbors are mormons, and don't think its funny when I am drunk enough to try to swim across my living room.

But this gig ends in late August, and I have an offer to move to PHX for seven months to work on a contract that could be reupped into a full time gig.

So sell me on this place? Is it just hot as ass all the time, or do you guys have a season where its not life on the sun?

Its either PHX or NOLA, so its a bit of a toss up or toss off, can't quite decide.
 

moff_quigley

Why don't you have a seat over there?
Jan 27, 2005
4,402
2
Poseurville
You and stinkyboy can drown your sorrows together if you moved to Phoenix. Riding opportunities will be much higher/better in Phoenix than New Orleans as well. I'd take Phoenix.
 

NuMexJoe

Monkey
Aug 20, 2007
178
2
As long as you can get by the mass of humanity and traffic, it's a pretty nice place to live. Crime's not bad for such a huge city, and you can adjust to the heat. I lasted for 6 good years before going back to small town life. Bonus: Puerto Penasco is only 4 hours away.
- Joe
 

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
23,927
14,443
where the trails are
Phoenix has great riding, and you can escape the Summer heat by driving a couple of hours up North to ride. If you move there after August, you won't have to deal with that (too much) until the following year.
 

KavuRider

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2006
2,565
4
CT
Sell you on Phoenix?
Hmm...
Well, yes, it gets hot here during the summer as everyone knows. Last summer was pretty brutal, 115. Dry or not, that sucks, although you get used to it.
The housing market sucks here, the job market is not a whole lot better. Guess it depends on what industry you are in.
The whole valley is broke. Totally broke. We are seeing cuts in everything right now, its getting pretty bad.

Riding is pretty good though, we have some gnarly trails. But, this city is crowded and seems to be getting worse each year. Traffic sucks, crowds everywhere. Although the strangest thing is that the city still shuts down pretty early.

Ok, well that was just me rambling before coffee. If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask.
 

dump

Turbo Monkey
Oct 12, 2001
8,195
4,419
Where is stinkyboy anyway? Haven't seen him around in weeks.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,941
13,134
Portland, OR
There is a HUGE list of places I would choose over New Orleans. But my one and only experience there wasn't the best. A month sleeping in the computer lab at Douglas High School was interesting, though.
 

Leethal

Turbo Monkey
Oct 27, 2001
1,240
0
Avondale (Phoenix)
Kavu rider must be bummed out.

The job market in Phx is a little rough but no worse than a lot of places.. If you have something lined up that doesn't matter so much.

The housing market did tank but if you are moving here that is a huge PLUS.

The riding is superb, most people that have lived in Phoenix for a long time don't even realize it. DH shuttles several times per week, AM trails where the normal bikes are 6+ inches of travel, Long epic stuff for the 4" FS bike or HT crowd, Great SS riding, and several hardcore XC race series.

Does it get hot? Hell yeah it is smack dab in the middle of the desert, people say you get used to it and I have only been here 1.5 years and I am getting there. To me there are about 6 weeks where the heat is ridiculous (2nd week of July to Mid Aug). The summer months you either wake up early to ride, ride late, or head to higher elevation. It is super easy to find someone else heading out of town during the weekend to ride because there are so many riders in town.

Traffic for some reason people think it is bad here but those people haven't been to places where it is really bad (Boston, Atlanta, LA etc.) Driving from the far West side to far East side during rush hour isn't fantastic but if your doing that everyday you should have planned out where your living a little better. Even if you have to your talking a little over an hour and if it were traffic free it would still take 30-45 minutes.
 

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
Traffic isn't really an issue. I'd be working out of town, so I would just leave around 6 in the morning and come home around 2, so I am not all that stressed out by that factor.

I like the idea of being able to ride year round, and I have heard nothing but good things about the riding there.

And the economy there is still a hell of a lot better than Reno's. I think we're at something like 15% unemployment here in town, even worse down in Vegas.

PHX in September it is. One more summer of N*'s goodness, and I am desert bound.
 

KavuRider

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2006
2,565
4
CT
Kavu rider must be bummed out.
A little.
I did not grow up in the city, I grew up in the woods. So I'm not really a fan of living in a city - too crowded, too dirty. I also live in pretty ghetto area. On the other hand, I lived in Ahwatukee for a bit and loved it. Unfortunately, because the housing market tanked, I am stuck where I am for a bit longer.

There is a lot of crime in my neighborhood, lots of "thugs", drugs, just bad stuff. It used to be a nice area, before the housing bubble - all the retired folks sold their houses and moved to Florida - some shady people bought those houses and rented them out cheap to even shadier people - and it just fell apart.

But, I do agree, the riding here is great. Shuttles, singletrack, techy climbs, descents, whatever you could want is here. And if you want to ride in the woods, just go 2 hours North. And being able to ride year is pretty awesome.
 

macko

Turbo Monkey
Jul 12, 2002
1,191
0
THE Palouse
Live in "The Basin" (phoenix) for nearly 30 years. I just moved up to Washington about 7 months ago. Phoenix is alright, man. It gets hot as a mutha but if you tough it out and ride (smartly) throughout the summer it will make you tough as a mutha.

There's a decent bike/social scene there. A couple of good brew pubs. Traffic is a bitch. It can be a bit expensive depending on where you end up but all in all it's a good place.
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,799
8,383
Nowhere Man!
New Orleans is pretty awful IMO. Traffic is kind of lousy there too. Crime is off the hook and the riding there is nil. Other then food and good dope there are very few reasons to live there. If you have some demons to exorcise then NO is a bad place for you to even consider. That is unless you have a rock solid escape hatch. But that is just my opinion.....
 

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
I'm coming down to spoon as soon as I can get the new apartment situated.
Then its spoon on.
 

Greyhound

Trail Rat
Jul 8, 2002
5,065
365
Alamance County, NC
PHX.....it's an excellent workout program. You don't need big weight machines--all you need are some resistance bands, a TV and an hour a day to sculpt your flabby body into a lean, mean ab-crunching machine. :thumb: