Phoenix, Arizona and the Valley of the Sun

Message 2609 of 5553

This might more aptly be called "The Valley of the Smog." This view is from South Mountain Park. I don't go down there very often; Too much traffic, too hot in the summertime.

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posted by TJfromAZ

My parents retired to Phoenix way back when and I saw the gradual increase of that bowl of air pollutants over the years. Phoenix sits like cereal in a bowl with mountains forming the sides of the bowl. There's little to nil opportunity for the exhaust from vehicles and airplanes to escape. I'd rather move up the mountains were it's cooler there in the summer and contend with a little snow there in the winter.

posted by GlowGal
over 2 years ago

You mean like up where we live, in Show Low?

I agree. Winters are mild here compared with Minnesota where I spent most of life, and even when it gets hot in the summertime it's not all that bad. (Dry heat and all that, y'know.) The snow is nothing more than a little inconvenience, although the old timers tell us that it used to be colder here and the snow would stay on the ground longer. Now it's gone in a day or two, even if it snows a foot.

We started coming to Phoenix, Scottsdale and Sedona for winter vacations in the early to mid eighties. I was amazed at how much it grew in 20 years. There were no freeways in the Valley when we first came here, and there was no smog that I could see.

posted by TJfromAZ
over 2 years ago