bor0000 said:
ive never been to arizona. the only states outside of northeast that i visited were florida and california. but please do tell about their climate? to me it seems lame that you have there 110degree days and no ocean around... and you probably have snakes. the cool thing is that you must be having cowboys, and i myself might wear a sobrero there, but i dont think id want to live there year round.
Arizona is an excellent state to live in. I've been here for 13 years now and the weather is one of the best parts about it. It is true that 110 days can be lame but it's hard to hate the nearly year round sunshine. We have snakes but for the most part the dangerous ones (pit vipers/rattlesnakes) warn you before they strike. It's a well known statistic that the vast majority of snake bites are to the right hand of males. Even though accidents do happen, just don't be stupid and try and catch them. I came from Minnesota and honestly I'm more scared of lime disease from a tick or getting a leech at the local lake.
Not so sure if you're joking about the cowboys or not. Everyone who works outside usually wears a large hat so that may fill your cowboy desires. Specifically the area around the dental school is not nearly as developed as Phoenix, Tempe, and central Mesa but it is on its way to being so. ASDOH is located a mile or two off a major freeway and you can get anywhere in the metro area within 1 hour. Traffic is not bad in the area yet, unless you drive during peak hours. I don't think the area around the school is very good for a dental school quite yet. I'm pretty sure there aren't that many distractions, which can be good, but I'm sure it's nice to have those sometimes. I'm not sure of the population age dynamics but I have a feeling the mesa area is generally older individuals. I have no stats on it but that is just the reputation of the area. But again, the good thing is that the entire area is booming. I've noticed brand new condos/apartments going up in the area.
Overall I'd say it's a great place to live. The state's population is also growing increadibly fast. People really want to live in AZ. Newspapers have been reporting that average real estate is selling within days of coming to market for a few years now. Whatever the reasons people have, there is an influx of people.
Personally, I like being in AZ because you have access to so much outdoor activities. Flagstaff is within a few hour drive from the school and we do have a few lakes for boating activities. Hiking, mountain biking, road biking, etc can be done year round. Tucson is 2 hours south and there are some really cool hiking areas there. There are mountains everywhere and the topography on them varies quite a bit. Some are casual hiking areas, yet some require ropes. I suggest you check out the state overall.
I personally like the school as well. Straight from the school's presentation that AZ has one of the highest patient to dentist ratio. The need is great for dentists.
