Why work in Arizona?(why.az)
why.az
Why work in Arizona?
http://why.az/
11 comments
Submitter here (and an Arizonian native):
I know we receive a lot of bad press for our politics. I will not speak for the many people in my state, but I will say we are pretty diverse, and a lot of us agree with you. Boycotting us does not help the issues we have, I believe that staying here and fighting helps a lot more.
The site was made to show a different side of AZ, and I think the discussion here proves that it is needed. We have our bad stuff, but we also have a lot of great stuff (just like anywhere else).
I know we receive a lot of bad press for our politics. I will not speak for the many people in my state, but I will say we are pretty diverse, and a lot of us agree with you. Boycotting us does not help the issues we have, I believe that staying here and fighting helps a lot more.
The site was made to show a different side of AZ, and I think the discussion here proves that it is needed. We have our bad stuff, but we also have a lot of great stuff (just like anywhere else).
As another Arizona native about to leave this state for good, let me give you some advice. Don't make the mistake I made: LEAVE NOW. Arizona isn't getting better. It's getting worse. More old people are moving in. The laws and policies are getting more regressive. The homophobia, racism, and anti-intelecualism isn't getting better, it's getting WORSE.
I spent the last ten years of my professional career here and now realize that I've done lasting harm to myself by staying here. I could have been working with much more quality people in other places, and learning more from them.
Arizona doesn't want us. The old people don't want websites and technology and that crap. They just want low taxes, green grass like in Alabama/Mississippi, and no pesky dark people.
I spent the last ten years of my professional career here and now realize that I've done lasting harm to myself by staying here. I could have been working with much more quality people in other places, and learning more from them.
Arizona doesn't want us. The old people don't want websites and technology and that crap. They just want low taxes, green grass like in Alabama/Mississippi, and no pesky dark people.
For a lot of people, it's not a matter of a boycott, it's a matter of practicality. My two co-founders are both naturalized U.S. citizens, and they don't want to have to carry proof of citizenship with them everywhere they go, so we don't do business in Arizona.
Isn't Arizona the state where anyone that looks non-native may get harassed by the police? [1]
No thank you.
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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_SB_1070
No thank you.
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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_SB_1070
I think that's every state, including the ones where it may not be legal.
Incredibly backwards politics and laws are some good reasons not to.
I don't believe that I would like to live someplace where someone like Joe Arpaio has a successful career in public service.
Also, the death weather and the very sketchy water situation.
While in Phoenix on a business trip, an associate I was working with who lived in Phoenix was driving us to lunch. He said "You know, the nice thing about this place is you never have to worry about weeds or yard care. Nothing here is alive unless it is being actively kept alive."
Also, no matter how much water I drink in that city, I can only manage to pee about once per day. Kinda dry there, is what I'm saying.
Also, no matter how much water I drink in that city, I can only manage to pee about once per day. Kinda dry there, is what I'm saying.
Only 3 months of the year are very hot, mainly jun, jul, aug. The rest of the year is quite nice. Also, due to low humidity it is much nicer, than say places like Florida, where it isn't just hot, but also extremely humid.
Care to share any specifics?
Seems safe to assume he is talking primarily about https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona_SB_1070
Probably also this:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/crime/arpaio.asp
check out NYC stop and frisk racial profiles
landslide blue state + being a citizen doesnt help, apparently.
An analysis by the NYCLU revealed that innocent New Yorkers have been subjected to police stops and street interrogations more than 4 million times since 2002, and that black and Latino communities continue to be the overwhelming target of these tactics. Nearly nine out of 10 stopped-and-frisked New Yorkers have been completely innocent, according to the NYPD’s own reports.
landslide blue state + being a citizen doesnt help, apparently.
An analysis by the NYCLU revealed that innocent New Yorkers have been subjected to police stops and street interrogations more than 4 million times since 2002, and that black and Latino communities continue to be the overwhelming target of these tactics. Nearly nine out of 10 stopped-and-frisked New Yorkers have been completely innocent, according to the NYPD’s own reports.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=cost+of+living+portland...
I will stick to Portland for now.
I will stick to Portland for now.
Well... sure. That's Portland vs. Flagstaff, a small town up in the mountains.
Check this out: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=cost+of+living+portland...
(I've lived in Portland and while there are many things I missed about it, the ability to afford a house here is a big deal for folks like me.)
Check this out: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=cost+of+living+portland...
(I've lived in Portland and while there are many things I missed about it, the ability to afford a house here is a big deal for folks like me.)
Flagstaff is a nice place, but jobs are sparse and pay is low:
http://www4.nau.edu/insidenau/bumps/2008/4_23_08/knau.htm http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=485...
http://www4.nau.edu/insidenau/bumps/2008/4_23_08/knau.htm http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=485...
As a hispanic developer on an H1-B, I didn't attend to JSConf last year with my team out of the feeling of contempt I get from the immigration policies of that state.
Interesting domain choice; .az is supposed to be Azerbaijan and .az.us is for Arizona.
Very well made website, I really liked the coherent design.
Opinions of your state (which I have none, but large swaths of the American population probably do) aside
Opinions of your state (which I have none, but large swaths of the American population probably do) aside
You should also include a how or where to work in Arizona.
AZ's a great place to live. It's a shame that the local software industry's growth is so slow!
if you like living in weather almost as hot as Africa. Personally I couldn't live anywhere where it doesn't rain at all which is why I live and love Seattle (:
it's raining in PHX right now. all day actually. in fact, it's 77 degrees right now.
http://www.weather.com/weather/today/Tempe+AZ+85281:4:US
of course, it'll be hot as balls tomorrow. 90s.
http://www.weather.com/weather/today/Tempe+AZ+85281:4:US
of course, it'll be hot as balls tomorrow. 90s.
The sunny climate might have a positive net effect on your creativity :)
Idk who told you that but I work better in my room or office when it's raining out, than 100degrees of sun it gets really uncomfortable to sit and program :( nevertheless I love this design good web designer for sure!
Just as you don't go outside in WA to write code when it's raining, you don't go out to write code in AZ when it's 100+. The A/C inside buildings works just fine. :) Anyway, each person with his/her own likes.
I'm an AZ resident... and, sure, we've taken a beating in the National press as of late, much of it deserved. That said, if you like to play outside, this place is awesome: tons of amazing trails to roam, a vast array of places to explore.
More of more, PHX is becoming a fun place to live, full of culture and interesting places to eat. It ain't the coolest town in the world, but it's very affordable, extremely easy living. All the streets are straight lines, all laid on on a grid... you'll never get lost.
Beyond that, this is The West. When I lived on the East Coast, I always felt the weight of ancestral class issues brought to bear on every interaction -- especially, with the self-styled "Upper Class." Out here, it's all good... you can go anywhere in jeans, people are generally very nice, regardless of your appearance. The jerks who have come to dominate our politics are not necessarily a refection of the population.
I'm not saying we don't have our problems: it was 106 today and I'm a little tired of summer... but once you find yourself a pool and a beer and settle in, the heat ain't so bad.
More of more, PHX is becoming a fun place to live, full of culture and interesting places to eat. It ain't the coolest town in the world, but it's very affordable, extremely easy living. All the streets are straight lines, all laid on on a grid... you'll never get lost.
Beyond that, this is The West. When I lived on the East Coast, I always felt the weight of ancestral class issues brought to bear on every interaction -- especially, with the self-styled "Upper Class." Out here, it's all good... you can go anywhere in jeans, people are generally very nice, regardless of your appearance. The jerks who have come to dominate our politics are not necessarily a refection of the population.
I'm not saying we don't have our problems: it was 106 today and I'm a little tired of summer... but once you find yourself a pool and a beer and settle in, the heat ain't so bad.
I am am Arizona native. Up until recently, I was working on the largest supercomputer in the state, Saguaro2 at ASU, and a Translational Genomics Research Institute (genomics research) employee. I live downtown right in the creative district, near Roosevelt Row.
I am in the process of selling my home and leaving the state. I am done here. I don't want to live in Arizona anymore. I won't be coming back.
I am now in my 30s and I really regret staying here. I should have left long ago. My career could be so much better and i could have learned so much more by being with my peers in the SF/valley area, Seattle, or Boston. I have wasted a portion of my life here in a black hole where retirees come to die, not live.
I would never tell anyone in technology to move here. There are few jobs and the people you would be working with are mediocre and lack ambition.
Employers like Intel, TGen, and GoDaddy(YUCK) deal with low moral issues. Intel employees over in Portland know that if you get transfered to Chandler, it's pretty much a death sentence for your career. I can rattle off a dozen names of ex-Intel employees who I know shipped in from elsewhere to Chandler and had quit within five years because they hated the local company culture, along with Arizona's culture. TGen has a massive problem with investigators and other senior staff jumping ship because of the "Arizona problem". As for GoDaddy... a morally bankrupt hole of despair.
The outdoors here are pretty great if you are in to that sort of thing... the problem is all the people.
Oh, BTW, of those 128 lakes in Arizona? Zero of them are natural. All artificial. Let's not bring up the water quality of Tempe Town Lake, lest things get gross.
Arizona's many problems with regressive social issues can be directly attributed to it's large retiree population. Or more generically stated, the old people.
Native Arizonans (white and "Native" natives) from places like Wilcox, Safford, Show Low/Lakeside/Snowflake, Flagstaff, and Tuba City are pretty normal people who have lived a mostly rural life. They care about the low desert, the high desert, and the wildlife. They care about schools, kids, ranching, mining, agriculture, and those sorts of things.
The old people, and to an extent the economic transients... they come from elsewhere. They are not from Arizona, and they really don't care about Arizona. Plow the desert, put in new subdivisions, heavily chlorinated pools, and green golf courses. They want to cut or completely eliminate estate and property taxes. They don't care about schools or education and consistently vote to down anything related to it.
Arizona education is pitifully bad... http://www.examiner.com/article/u-s-state-public-education-r... http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2012/01/arizona-schools-finish... http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110220120820AA... Yes, I'm somewhat ashamed to support an argument from yahoo answers, but there it is.
The old people stay with their own, inside their own collective conclaves like Youngtown, Sun City, and elder-slums of Mesa, and Apache Junction. It's an "Us vs Them" mentality where the "Us" is white people over the age of 65, and "Them" is everyone else in the world.
Old people vote pretty reliably and consistently, I'm sorry to say, and so they are pretty good about getting their candidates into office. As a result, you've got finger-waving bat-sh*t Brewer, Joe Arpaio, Tom Horn, Russell Pearce and other white weirdos. Let's not forget about Evan Mecham here though... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Mecham.
Let's stick some support for child molesters in here while I'm at it... http://www.azfamily.com/home/Pearce-on-accused-child-moleste...
Is Arizona racist? I'm going to have to admit: YES. The evidence is overwhelming and spans decades. Plausible deniability becomes ineffective at some point, and we are way past there. Countless politicians have showed up on white-supremacist radio shows and been photographed with their ilk. Arizona's war on the MLK holiday was long sustained. The Mexican illegal boogyman talk is everywhere.
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2012/...
Let's be clear that the mass exodus of Mexican nationals across the border into the US is a real issue and I see the real consequences of it on a daily basis (my neighbor just had his car wrecked by a Mexican who ran from the scene because he was here illegally), but the racism part is just what Arizona was already doing before the old white people realized that dark skinned people had been living here before they did.
The Mormon population and their official support for segregation long into the late 70s certainly does not help here either.
Let's see what the kids of good Arizonans, like federal senator Jeff Flake are learning about these days...
http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnstanton/arizona-senators-son-use... http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_phoenix_metro/central_p...
I've lived here and I've seen how the old people behave. I don't want to grow old here and become like that. I don't want to have to live with those kinds of people. They can have this state where I grew up. I'm outta here.