After the winter we've had - it's not car friendly.

 

I would say i'm very content with where I live. back in school I was surrounded by people from the city who wanted no part of living out here, and it made it too easy to focus on the negatives... most of which (if not all) were created by those who don't even want to be here. now that i'm out of school and can choose who I surround myself with and what I do my opinion of my area has improved a lot... the people I work with and everyone I hang out with are locals who love living here. i'm surrounded by thousands of acres of state game lands, preserved forests, and live in the middle of a national park, so it's an outdoorsman's paradise, and it's close to Carlisle and other car show venues, and the drag stip is 45 minutes away.

 

Definitely happy living in the Phoenix area. I guess I kinda should be since I did pick it out.

I grew up in the midwest, somewhat close to Chicago. When we decided to move, we looked at our options to get to a place where we would rarely ever see snow. We nixed the south east because of the humid summers and hurricane threats. Neither of us were particularly interested in Texas (although not for any specific reason)- so we focused in on Las Vegas, LA area, San Diego area, and Phoenix.

We nixed Cali in general because of all of their stupid gun and car laws, and the high cost of housing. We really wanted to move to Vegas, but there just weren't many job opportunities since the recession was in full swing. Phoenix ended up being a good happy medium. It's like 5 hours to Vegas, 6-8 hours to LA/San Diego, and less than 5 hours from some nice beach spots in Mexico.

I don't regret it a single bit. The housing was dirt cheap at the time- we got a 3 year old 3600 square foot house for what we would've paid for a 30 year old 1500 square foot house back at home. As the market has recovered, the housing prices in the local area have went up nearly 50% since we bought. It also worked out great for my career with so many big defense contractors in the valley.

The weather has been perfect too, we have great weather for 9 months out of the year, 3 months of some severe heat (but it doesn't matter much- you mostly just go from the AC in the car to the AC at work to the AC at home during those months), and we don't really have any really bad weather- just the occasional dust storm. I honestly don't even watch the weather anymore since moving out here- you can pretty much count on a certain temperature depending what month it is, and it will likely be sunny. If you like snow, drive two hours north- and you're in the higher elevation spots with much lower temperature and ski slopes, etc. We typically go rent a cabin up in the snow once a year just to get a little taste of winter. Plus, you can't beat washing your car in January in flip flops and shorts.

Driving is great out here too- there are roads to suit just about any desire. Due to the remoteness once you get away from the big city, you end up with some great wide open, straight highways with little traffic. Due to the mountains towards the north, you can go that direction, and get some really awesome curvy roads too. Plus, there are some nice wide main streets in the more expensive parts of town where you can occasionally catch a stoplight next to a Ferrari or some other exotic car.

I'm very happy we decided to move out here.

Edit- forgot to add some pictures as requested:

Scottsdale Pavilions cruise in. Nearly every Saturday year round there is a cruise in here. I've seen all kinds of crazy stuff here- Ferraris, Lambos, Mclarens, an original GT40, V10 swapped mustang, LS swapped everything- it's a blast. Since it isn't actually a car show with judging and such, people come and go- so every weekend you see different stuff, and even if you just leave and come back in a few hours there will likely be more new cars.



Cruising Central once (maybe twice now that I think about it) a year event that has a car show, followed by all night cruising up and down the street (2 lanes each direction- real slow due to all the stoplights). People line the streets to watch all kinds of cars and trucks drive up and down. Some people even bring gallons of water to make impromptu burnout boxes on the street.

It's hard to get a picture that truly captures this at it's peak- all lanes of traffic packed in both directions with all kinds of custom cars, but here are a couple I found:





Couple shots of straight and curvy roads out here:





Only bad thing driving out here are the haboobs that only happen a few times a year. Not much different than driving in fog IMO, just looks cooler before you get into it:

 

Some amazing pics!

 

I like where we live, Ajax is Just 10Km east of Toronto. I was out in Oshawa earlier today, Monte always runs good when its close to the GM plant

I've done a lot of travelling, been coast to coast in Canada, and also in the U.S. I've been through all 48 states, and driven some of the best scenic routes. That's how we pile up the miles so fast.

But I like home. Even if winter sucks, it's kind of fun to drive in once in a while. Weather isn't usually too extreme, but last summer had a flood, and we had a good ice storm just before Christmas.

Nice Pics everybody, but further to the sandstorms in Phoenix, I was there for one of the worst downpours I've seen, and I was there for a heat wave once.
I've been in both oceans, I'm not a beach person. I've spent a year in Boston, that was ok.. Spent a couple in Denver and Cheyenne. Mountains are beautiful and great driving, but winter and weather too extreme for me.

I guess I'm staying here.

 

I am very happy living in houston, we get no winter!! But summers are extreme and it takes a toll on the cars. Plus traffic is starting to get worse and worse with so many people moving here. But all in all I am happy, many lakes and bike trails near by, no many monte carlo's though.

 

I'm happy with where I live now. Not quite so happy where I have to drive my Monte though.

I used to live in Windsor, Ontario. Which is also where I work currently. Last year I moved to a suburb of Windsor called Tecumseh, Ontario. Which is kinda funny since Windsor is the size of a suburb itself.

The streets in Windsor are absolutely horrible. On par with the road conditions in Detroit. Driving on 20"+ rims in Windsor is a waste. Because you WILL bend and destroy your rim...... quickly! But even on stock rims, my Monte gets shaken, rattled, and banged around on the moon cratered roads of Windsor.

As for living. My old neighbourhood in Windsor has turned to a high crime area. If you know me on facebook, you've seen my posts about happenings in my old neighbourhood in the past year. Tons of drug and gang activity, home invasion robberies, arson. And more recently, murders, muggings, and a driveby shooting next to my old house.

Yes, I'm glad I moved.

I'm so glad to be living where I am now. Much better all around place to live. But I now have a half hour commute to work. In comparison to the much shorter commute I had at the old house.

Link to the town of tecumseh's official website and photo gallery --> Photo Gallery | Town of Tecumseh

 

Thanks `Ryan & Member's for posting, sharing & voting on this thread. It's great to read & see where you live; plus the good & the bad.

One of my dreams is to go on a Road Trip & explore North America & enjoy the beauty that every state & country possesses.

Thanks Member's

Beautiful Creation by The Master Creator of `all 4-Sure
Wish everyone Peace, Love & Happiness on your `Journey's of Human `Life & Beyond

 

 

Haha, funny stuff, not everything is warm and fuzzy like that story. Summers up here are short lived and then comes the snow......

P.S.. bring your own shovel.