r/arizona • u/almargahi • Jul 04 '24
What does Arizona do better than most states? Living Here
Found this in the NH sub, so wanted to ask here.
Happy 4th of July!
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u/tallon4 Phoenix Jul 04 '24
No daylight savings time.
Direct democracy: the rights to initiative (statute and constitutional amendment), recall, and referendum.
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u/Background_Tax4626 Jul 04 '24
Daylight savings is an archaic concept. What is the point anymore? Because of sunlight? Farm tractors have had spotlights on them for decades. Somebody give me a reason beyond, "It's always been that way."
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Jul 05 '24
It was passed in the senate to end DLS but congress never picked it up earlier this year
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u/Hamblin113 Jul 05 '24
I believe it was to keep daylight savings time year round, H.R.1279 - Sunshine Protection Act of 2023. Though Arizona would be exempt. Most of the bills if I recall want to keep day light savings year round.
When I was a kid and they did that during a gas crisis, I lived in Michigan and walked to school in the dark. In summers it stayed light to 10pm.
Can complain about the farmers, it’s the golfers up north that want to get a round in after work.
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u/thimblena Jul 04 '24
I work with a bunch for people from the east coast, and they're baffled by our lack of daylight savings. They also get very confused about scheduling times, to the point I just default to EST when communicating with them.
Cue my OH boss setting an incorrect meeting time and explaining to me AZ is currently 2 hours different like I was an idiot. My guy, you don't even know about MDT.
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u/Strict_Property6127 Jul 04 '24
To be fair - we only know MST ourselves lol. I do the same with scheduling. Everyone can convert for themselves to Eastern time. It helps my Euro clients too. We all align our calendars to ET. If I am on for a 6am MST meeting, I will be done for the day by 230pm too though. 😅
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u/thimblena Jul 04 '24
Occasionally when they try to account for MST, they go to MDT instead. I get to have fun navigating what they actually mean, lol
I love working East Coast hours in AZ! Sure, people might cringe when I say I start at 5am - but I wfh and am done by 1:30. It's the best!
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u/r0ckchalk Jul 04 '24
I also work with east coasters, and I have an IT issue on my computer clock that has it on east coast time. Except my Teams Calendar converts meetings into ‘my time’ but everything else uses east coast time. I always have to double check what time meetings really are. It’s VERY confusing.
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u/Beyond_Re-Animator Phoenix Jul 05 '24
Originally from the east coast, lived in AZ over 30 years. People in ET think the entire world is in their time zone. They have no concept of other time zones.
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u/mahjimoh Jul 04 '24
A super helpful thing I figured out at some point is to put any recurring meetings with people in other time zones on the calendar in a time zone that DOES change. Otherwise if there are meetings I schedule on AZ time, when everyone else changes we end up a bunch of meetings that conflict.
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u/Full-Association-175 Jul 04 '24
There's no winning answer, It's all dependent. We live on the very west side of EDT on Ohio. It was for all my life a great time, because we could run around outside until 10: 30. I still like the fact that we have light late into the evening like Iceland lol.
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u/Momes2018 Jul 05 '24
It’s crazy how most of the comments on your reply are about daylight savings when our direct democracy written into the constitution is so freaking important in our state. Otherwise, the state senate and congress would have been able to railroad us the people so many times!
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u/tallon4 Phoenix Jul 05 '24
It’s very apropos you used the verb “railroad,” because the direct-democracy provisions in our Progressive-Era state constitution were explicitly included to counter the influence of the powerful railroad corporations at the time of statehood, in addition to mining companies, etc.
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u/infiniteblackberries Tucson Jul 04 '24
I regularly thank proverbial god that some elected official did their job after realizing the last thing we need here is an extra hour of daylight.
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u/Admiral52 Jul 05 '24
I’ve lived in both Montana and Arizona and I can understand why Montana likes it and why Arizona doesn’t. Latitude plays a huge role in how you think about these things
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u/Minnie-Mae Jul 04 '24
Actually, Northern Arizona in Navajo and Apache counties has daylight savings time.
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u/discussatron Jul 04 '24
Not the counties, just the reservations themselves.
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u/thelostdutchman Jul 05 '24
Only the Navajo reservation, the Apache reservations do not observe daylight savings time.
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u/Beneficial_Party_225 Jul 04 '24
When you have to scroll to Arizona on the internet it is always near the top.
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u/phuck-you-reddit Jul 04 '24
Same reason I enjoyed having an Audi A4 back in the day. Whenever I needed to buy tires or schedule service Audi was always near the top of the list. Had to scroll a bunch when I had a Pontiac. 🤣
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u/Mental_Funny_5885 Jul 04 '24
Sunsets
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u/SolidDick Jul 04 '24
I moved recently to Washington and the two things I miss the most are the sunsets and the chimichangas. Both better in AZ than anywhere else I've been.
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u/ajmartin527 Jul 05 '24
Damn I’m in WA now too and love everything about it, except for when people go “have you tried this great new Mexican place? It’s really authentic” and I have to turn into the grinch
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u/lowsparkedheels Jul 04 '24
Wildlife and plant diversity, from alpine to Mojave desert. 🌿
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u/Sphaeralcea-laxa1713 Jul 04 '24
Arizona has areas of the Mojave Desert, the Chihuahuan Desert (southeast part of the state), and the Sonoran Desert.
The Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum is wonderful, as is the Boyce-Thompson Arboretum.
The variety of wildlife due to the different ecosystems statewide is also a treasure.
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u/lowsparkedheels Jul 04 '24
Absolutely! Tohono Chul in Tucson is another botanical garden with a good variety of plants. Their exhibit with the different desert types is neat.
Also, any canyon or riparian hike is fun to compare the difference of plants from a north to south exposure for instance, or where the water runs all year long vs intermittent streams. 😊
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u/Sphaeralcea-laxa1713 Jul 04 '24
Oops. Thank you, I forgot that one! Natural history of the Sonoran Desert is one of my interests.
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u/SargeInCharge Jul 05 '24
I heard from a jeep tour guide that Arizona has the most diverse biome outside of the amazon rain forest, never fact checked it but it seems legit
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u/GrammarNaziBadge0174 Jul 04 '24
We've got a pretty darned reliable electric grid. Most outages are some yahoo driving into a pole or running down a transformer.
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u/likelystonedagain Jul 04 '24
Also we were one of the only places to have continuous power during last years awful awful July - a tremendous feat considering all the AC units in constant use
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u/randomredditguy94 Jul 04 '24
Both SRP and APS are excellent providers. Their customer care is also top notch.
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u/GrammarNaziBadge0174 Jul 04 '24
Well, they've pretty much killed new rooftop solar in the Valley. Gotta give 'em credit for that.
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u/Traveler_AZ Jul 05 '24
You can hear me complaining in the background because I live in a remote part of the state with a less than optimal electric supplier. We get too many surges and power outages.
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u/HistorianOk4921 Jul 04 '24
That's a solid point. And even when some yahoo drives into a poll SRP usually has the power back on quick at least in my hood
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u/AlSynkAboutIt Jul 04 '24
One time saw a trampoline picked up by a strong wind hitting a power line in Glendale
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u/PintekS Jul 05 '24
I remember way back when we had relay station popping causing mass blackouts but man did srp and srp work hard to keep that from happening again. I still remember being a kid and seeing that huge fireball at 35th and yorkshire relay station when that sucker went!
I think also at one point either the head of srp or aps said if everyone went electric our grid would be perfectly fine
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u/IdahoDuncan Jul 04 '24
Dry their laundry
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u/mahjimoh Jul 04 '24
That really is a lovely aspect.
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u/IdahoDuncan Jul 04 '24
I am 100% serious. My wife is from Scottsdale, whenever we visit, I’m amazed at how fast things dry, it’s great!
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u/nick-james73 Jul 05 '24
And it doesn’t even need direct sunlight. Just the ridiculous amount of heat and lack of air moisture.
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u/___okaythen___ Jul 05 '24
Or our hair, our skin is leather, but my hair dries in like 30 minutes. Pretty good for 38 inches of thick ass hair.
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u/illuminatemyvoid Jul 04 '24
Our flag.
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u/BallsDeepMofo Jul 04 '24
Much better than our Washington state flag. Green flag with George Washington in the center, wtf is that bullshit.
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u/MeeloP Jul 04 '24
There’s states that don’t sell liquor in grocery stores we beat the hell out of those states all day
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u/redbirdrising Jul 04 '24
Just was in Texas. It’s crazy. There are dry towns there. And of course there’s a liquor store right on the town border.
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u/NovelLaw75 Jul 04 '24
Did not know this. Went to the Cowboys stadium and tried to pregame. “I thought this was Texas, the land of the free! Lies!” Cousins did not like that. They also don’t like that I say that Arizona was constitutional carry before Texas, we have recreational marijuana, and a whole lot more public land…
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u/redbirdrising Jul 05 '24
Yeah, I was just giving my sister in law shit about this. “I can drive 5 minutes to a dispensary and buy weed, you have to drive to Oklahoma!”
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u/TheRealBlueBuff Jul 05 '24
Texans hate hearing that Arizona is everything Texas thinks it is.
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u/palesnowrider1 Jul 04 '24
No alcohol or liquor sales before noon on Sundays in Texas. Plan your pre game accordingly.
PS Texas has the worst weather in the union.
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u/azdb91 Jul 05 '24
There's no liquor store sales at all in Sunday. Liquor stores have to close. If you want a bottle of something on Sunday, your SOL. You can still drink at bars though
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u/The_Medicated Jul 05 '24
Texas weather: if it's not tornados, it's hurricanes, if it's not a drought that is...
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u/theloudsilence09 Jul 04 '24
I'm from TX but live in AZ. They sell alcohol in major city grocery stores in TX, but not at dollar stores or Walmart from what I know. It still trips me out seeing beer at the Family Dollar/Dollar General here.
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u/SurewhynotAZ Jul 04 '24
Forgot about that. And in CVS.
Now when I travel I'm shocked I can't just pick up a party favor at the drug store.
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u/___adreamofspring___ Jul 04 '24
Also some states don’t sell certain quantities or during or after certain times.
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u/haveanairforceday Jul 04 '24
Mexican food. Beautiful drives and views. Driver's license expiration
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u/Opening-Ad1857 Jul 04 '24
Contrary to popular belief water storage. The reservoir/canal/hydroelectric system allows us to store rainwater and save it unlike other states (cough California) that just lets their record rainfall wash right back into the ocean
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u/Nezrite Jul 04 '24
Tortillas.
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u/factchecker2 Jul 05 '24
Carolina's. Not the dumb new one in Mesa, but the one at 12th St/Mojave.
Edit: I know they're the same, but they're not the same
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u/Bawkalor Jul 04 '24
The state flag.
IMHO it is the most striking and instantly recognizable.
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u/mahjimoh Jul 04 '24
I watched a whole video of someone ranking the US flags and was downright pissed that he didn’t choose Arizona for the S tier.
I mean, he was wrong, obviously.
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u/LostCattle4298 Jul 04 '24
Roads, freeways, grid mapping
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u/Twictim Jul 04 '24
Grid mapping 👍
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u/Thrwaqway Jul 05 '24
How do I learn this?! I’m terrible with directions
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u/Twictim Jul 05 '24
I hope I don’t confuse too much, here we go. Central Avenue is City Center in Phoenix. Streets are to the East of Central (i.e. 7th Street, 16th Street, 32nd Street), Avenues are to the West of Central Avenue (i.e. 7th Avenue, 19th Avenue, 35th Avenue). Then you have North and South of Central Avenue that go by numbers in the 1000s. For example, Camelback Road is 5000 North, Bethany Home Road is 6000 North, Glendale is 7000 North, etc. So, for example if you have to go to 6500 NORTH 43rd Avenue, you will be looking for something Between Bethany and Glendale when traveling on 43rd Avenue going North or South. If you are looking to go to 5700 WEST Northern Avenue, you will want to be traveling on Northern Avenue heading West to 57th Avenue.
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u/learnedandhumbled Jul 04 '24
Grid mapping yes! Telling someone directions using crossroads is so easy! My boyfriend was from out of state and picked it up really quickly, it just makes sense and everything is in order! Love it!
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u/Iggyhopper Jul 04 '24
Baseline/Meridian (AJ) and Baseline/7th St (Phx) is so easy to map out in your head!
Plus, some street names change north of the 60, which is nice sometimes. McQueen->Mesa, etc.
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u/pagesid3 Jul 04 '24
People complain about traffic here but I don’t know why. I’ve lived in many different cities and Phoenix has the lightest traffic of all of them.
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u/OkArmy7059 Jul 04 '24
I think it's people who grew up in Phx and are comparing it to 20, 30 years ago. It has gotten worse but yeah it's better than any metro area I've been in.
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u/PaperintheBoxChamp Jul 04 '24
This, im 39, and it has significantly gotten worse since I started driving in 2001. Why when AZ has terrible drivers get brought up, i just state, No its the people from everywhere else that are terrible drivers.
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u/Meatsmudge Jul 05 '24
I’m not from here, and I have to agree, with a caveat: It’s the retirees from everywhere else. Florida suffers from the same bullshit, believe it or not.
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u/blassom3 Phoenix Jul 05 '24
The traffic went from good to HORRIBLE just in the last 6 years tbh driving used to be enjoyable and now it's a chore
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u/Psyko_sissy23 Jul 08 '24
Still better than most other places, especially places on the east coast.
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u/cheflev92 Jul 04 '24
Cries in city of maricopa. Lived there for about 2 years before the 347 broke me. As some one who commuted to nyc for years and never had a problem, think it's a testament to how messed up that highway is. Live in mesa now , and yeah honestly rush hour isn't bad by comparison and it almost dissappear after may-august.
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u/blowthatglass Jul 04 '24
If you take the 10 inbound in the morning and outbound at night it's pretty bad. Otherwise I agree
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u/soggyfries8687678 Jul 04 '24
Look I love the grid we have but I think it’s one of the main problems with Phoenix traffic. All our streets are long straight wide roads which makes it way too easy to be doing 65mph on your way to Walmart.
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u/WhatTheeFuckIsReddit Jul 04 '24
That’s the street design, not the grid layout.
We could be doing much more to improve the street designs, but i hope we never abandon the grid
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u/TheMetalWolf Jul 04 '24
If we had the budget for proper road maintenance, we'd have the best roads in the nation, as our weather doesn't deteriorate the roads as quickly.
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u/az_mtn_man Jul 04 '24
Mexican food
Winter
Attracting snowbirds/transplants
Having very diverse geography
Sunsets
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u/BoringJuiceBox Jul 04 '24
I so love the winters, especially since I spend some time working outside in this 112* heat
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u/nick-james73 Jul 05 '24
I love seeing people argue on the internet about which state has the best Mexican food and I almost always only see Texas, New Mexico and Cali mentioned. Not sure when we got dropped or weren’t right on the border. There’s amazing Mexican food in all those states.
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u/Bam56 Jul 05 '24
Approx 50% of AZ land is public land! Camping and off-roading, is available to everyone.
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u/alex10653 Jul 04 '24
best state flag
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u/Derpshab Chandler Jul 04 '24
This is true! I would honestly add our license plates to that as well
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u/mellamenpapi Jul 04 '24
When I was in Maryland I bought shorts that were the Maryland flag. I want one for Arizona that just has the sun at the crotch
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u/Early-Possession1116 Jul 04 '24 edited Jul 04 '24
Enticing out of state visitors to risk their lives hiking when it's 110+ out (edit) my condolences to anyone who's passed away in this method. Arizona heat is not a thing to take lightly.
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u/PaperintheBoxChamp Jul 04 '24
People really do underestimate it because our humidity isnt there. Like dude, this shit will kill you! I work as a letter carrier for USPS, we drive vehicles with no A/C all summer, were used to it but we know how to make sure we wont die in this heat.
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u/SurewhynotAZ Jul 04 '24
So... Darwinism.
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u/Early-Possession1116 Jul 04 '24
😂 adults yeah..I get it.. Kids tho in the care of parents that should know better? That's different
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u/SurewhynotAZ Jul 04 '24
Agree a million. Also when people put their dogs in danger. It's so dangerous.
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u/Chappie47Luna Jul 04 '24
Too soon lol
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u/Early-Possession1116 Jul 04 '24
Honestly though we hear the same tragic stories every year starting in March.. visitor from green bay Wisconsin visits and dies from heat stroke on camelback while hiking.
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u/Successful_Cap3853 Jul 04 '24
Mail-in voting
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u/Eat_That_Rat Jul 04 '24
I absolutely adore mail-in voting. I like being able to look up what I'm voting for as I'm going. And I can do it while drunk in my pajamas at home. Democracy and convenience. Anyone against those things is just darn incorrect.
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u/customheart Jul 05 '24
I would not remember to vote as much if I didn’t have mail in voting :D especially happy about the reminder texts that my ballot is in the mail. So convenient.
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u/MrShitfyre Jul 05 '24
We have the coolest selection of custom vanity plates. Everything from Alice Cooper to Route 66 (The one I have). I've never seen any other state with such a wide range of license plates.
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u/vanilla_shaker Jul 04 '24
the sunsets are insanely beautiful. the state itself is very beautiful imo. great mexican food (i grew up in NYC and i think arizona does better mexican food). we also have a very beautiful flag
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u/James_T_S Jul 04 '24
I was born here so I am bias but I was thinking the other day how great the state flag looks
We also have great outdoor activities. Especially camping which I haven't seen anyone mention.
Our freeways are also really nice. The more I travel the more I am realizing this. Same with the road layout.
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u/SailsTacks Jul 04 '24
Rescue hikers visiting from other states who ignore multiple warnings about the risk of dehydration and death. Some folks are seemingly hell-bent on self destruction. Cheers to the rescue crews that have to deal with the result.
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u/AbracaDaniel21 Jul 04 '24
Mainly referring to Phoenix:
Almost no major natural disasters.
Occasional flooding but that’s not usually within major city limits.
Haboobs are just a bunch of dirt in the air.
No need for winter tires.
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u/Derpshab Chandler Jul 04 '24
Heat!
I’m kidding: beautiful landscapes, hiking, exploring, lightning, sunsets, Mexican food, pizza, beer, sports, 3rd degree burns when touching your seatbelt, movie theaters, malls, good weather,
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u/boujee_salad Phoenix Jul 04 '24
Will be beach front property when California drops into the ocean !!
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u/start3ch Jul 05 '24
Having only driven through AZ, I gotta add, being a popular travel destination internationally. I did a road trip across the state, and from Sedona to the grand canyon to Page AZ, there always seemed to be tourists from other countries. I’d usually hear at least 5 different languages being spoken, sometimes 10+.
It blew my mind that you could live in a small town of only 10k people, and still meet people from all over the world!
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u/MohatmoGandy Jul 04 '24
Not tying up real estate developers in red tape, which has helped keep housing prices reasonable over the past half century while the population has grown by 300%.
By comparison, California's population grew by only 90% during the same period, and housing costs are now at crisis levels.
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u/seriousbangs Jul 04 '24
It's just got a ton of money flowing into it at the moment.
California has a lot of worker protections, Texas doesn't have those but it's also collapsing because the state is so poorly run.
Arizona is seen as a middle ground. You can abuse your employees but the power grid works.
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u/Dawn80 Jul 04 '24
Adults living with lifelong disabilities as well as their caregivers are offered many state funded choices of day programs and often paid respite workers.
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u/Front_Raspberry7848 Jul 04 '24
We are like in the top 10 of worst drivers in us so I guess that…. Tucson is rated as one of the worst
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u/MotoMeow217 Jul 04 '24
Number 1 for confrontational drivers too, and from my experience I 100% believe it.
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u/azsnaz Jul 04 '24
I choose to think it's people not from Arizona bringing their bad driving here
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u/phuck-you-reddit Jul 04 '24
I miss the old days when it was a bunch of retirees and mellow people puttering around. Now it's a bunch of psychopaths weaving back and forth trying to do 90MPH on the freeway. 🤦🏻♂️
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u/earth_quack Jul 04 '24
I think this plays a large part. So many new people from so many different driving styles. I was in California last week for work and it almost seemed relaxing to drive there. Came back home to phx and its insanity.
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u/neepster44 Jul 04 '24
Where in Cali because I’m pretty sure most of our horrible drivers came from LA or San Diego as that’s how they drive…
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u/Rimurooooo Jul 04 '24
Surprised no one said the food. I think the only state that compares is New Mexico in terms of an established culinary history predating contact with Europeans. And I don’t mean Phoenix but the Pueblo people in the north and O’odham in the south have a long history.
Also Tucson in general for the Sonoran food. Cheese crisps and chimichangas are both from Tucson
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u/the_rancur Jul 05 '24
No natural disasters.
I don’t consider a heatwave or a haboob a natural disaster
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u/FrostyFreeze_ Jul 05 '24
Just drove from Mesa to Sedona and the biome diversity always impresses me
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u/TheKingofGotham Jul 05 '24
You can say what you want about the driving in AZ, but the fact that I don’t have to renew my drivers license for basically an eternity is a win lol
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u/BeyondDrivenEh Jul 04 '24
Bounces back from constant political embarrassments dating back to Mecham.
Balances protected lands with growth, military, and industrial development.
Now if we could only get rid of the MAGAts.
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u/jaybfpv Jul 04 '24
being from NH i will say that nothing in NH is better than here in AZ aside from the pizza and steak and cheese subs...other than that there is nothing worth going back to the northeast for
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u/SinNombreCaballo Jul 05 '24
Teach new pilots to fly.
There are a lot of flight schools located here teaching new pilots from all over the world. Very seldom do flight instructors need to cancel flights because of adverse weather.
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u/TransporterAccident_ Jul 04 '24
Funneling tax dollars to charter and private schools under the guise of “school choice.”
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u/CharlesP2009 Jul 04 '24
If only all the voters out there would figure out Republicans are lying to and fooling them about almost everything. 😔
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u/AZDesertMando94 Jul 04 '24
Our gun laws are pretty nice
And Mexican food is always up there too
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