Are they the worst in the US? No, California might take the prize for that...and Illinois hasn't been the best, either. But between Sheriff Joe (aka Yosemite Sam) and his accused abuse of power, possible misuse of funds (maybe even up to $50 million!) and his relentless power trips when dealing with immigration, we are glad that our tax dollars will no longer be going to fund this man's paycheck.
And then there is the all-too-familiar SB1070 bill, which pretty much allows police enforcement to racially profile in order to catch illegal immigrants. I'm not going to get too much into this, but I will say that it has finally gotten the attention of the federal government in what they should do about illegal immigration, but we shouldn't have to take away people's rights in the process.
Dislike: Traffic & Transportation
The traffic here isn't as bad as LA, Chicago or New York, but I have spent upwards of 1.5 hours trying to come home from Scottsdale (30 miles). The town is too spread out and there is no convenient transportation to and from work for 90% of this city. The did complete the Light Rail over a year ago, however, it only goes a little north of downtown and then over to Tempe and ASU. To their credit, they do have park-n-rides out in the west valley, which has provided the opportunity for me to carpool to Scottsdale.
A speed camera on the highwayCredit: azcentral.com
Arizona is sprinkled with red light and speed cameras all over the state. And not just stationary ones...they have speed cameras attached to unmanned jeeps that they randomly place along the highways. Are we a little bias since we both got one of these? Maybe... Do I think it is right for them to put a skinny red light line (line is dark red on black asphalt) halfway in the intersection that you can't see as your are getting through an intersection? Heck no! And don't even get me started on the speed cameras on the highways...these things were set up to make the city money. Well it didn't, but it did clog up traffic with people going 65 mph on the far left lanes and made people from out of town slam on their breaks as they were approaching the cameras. Good riddance.
Like: Grid System
This town was planned out, and it shows! The streets rarely change names going from one city to the next and you can get from one side of the Valley to the other side using the same street. It only took me a week or so to get the hang of the streets, and if I got lost it was easy to find my way back. I have a strong suspicion Boston won't be as kind. :)
Phoenix street aerialCredit: Imageshack
Boston street aerialCredit: http://massengale.typepad.com/
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