Why are you in Phoenix?


Everyone has to live somewhere. I live in the Phoenix, Arizona area, in a suburb called Glendale, where I'm very happy. It is my desire to stay there until, like forever. I like it here. Phoenix is my town. I came here just to get away from the snow and cold of Minnesota when I was 18, went to ASU, and I returned here from California when things just didn't work out for me in Los Angeles. My parents moved to Phoenix many years after I did, after snow-birding for years, when they retired. So that's my story. And it's what I ask people, if I get the chance, and they don't mind telling me.

If they're Phoenix born and raised, or if they came to Phoenix as a kid, I ask why their parents came to Phoenix? Or their parents? Or their great-grandparents? I love hearing about this, and I really can't get enough. There are so many reasons to move to Phoenix!

If they have spent their whole life in Phoenix, I ask why they didn't leave? Most of my high school friends in Minneapolis are still in the old neighborhood, so the fact that they stayed and I wandered away must have meant something, like that they liked it there, and I didn't.

So, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask why are you in Phoenix? And since it will be over 100 degrees today, please don't misunderstand and hear me ask "why in the world are you in Phoenix?" the way my California friends ask me. I love Phoenix, and it's home to me. I can't imagine living anywhere else. That's why I'm here.

Image at the top of this post: Phoenix in 1980. Sunshine! No snow! My own place! Cheap rent! Freedom!

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