Trip to Phoenix
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- hiten
Planning a trip to Phoenix in late december. Might stay in Glendale to catch a few of the sporting events. The Grand Canyon seems far from Glendale (Google Maps estimates 9hrs of driving) seems closer to Vegas.
What else should I consider or plan to do on my visit? Thoughts?
- lvl_130
nothing. phoenix is hell on earth.
- so says the guy from minnesota!studderine
- phoenix does suck, ive lived over by Tempe for over 8 years long ago when my life really sucked.moldero
- you make your experiences buddy. i grew up in phoenix, and i always liked it. you can't stereotype a whole city.studderine
- yes you can stud. it's a sprawling shithole of shit.********
- iCanHazQBN0
This is true. Phoenix is a shithole.
Grand Canyon is about 3.5 hours away.
- hiten0
Yeah?! Not even good for a 5 days trip?
- Nope. 80 miles of sun-blasted strip malls and dodgy gas stations and xeriscaped mcmansions/desert ghettos.mikotondria3
- katekelly0
I believe you mean Pah-ho-nix.
- iCanHazQBN0
December? You could catch a Cardinals game or a Suns game.
Phoenix in the winter is alright actually. It'll be about 65-70F. But it's a brain dead city with horrible urban planning, which leads to urban sprawl, an insane amount of walmarts, parking lots, strip mall after strip mall, lack of culture, lack of art, lack of intermingling of people, lack of a community feeling.
In Glendale, all people do is go to Arrowhead Mall and the movie theatres. Although there are some holiday festivities going on in downtown Glendale around that time (Glendale Glitters), and areas where you can view some amazingly lit mansions.
Take a drive down Bell Road (ugly 8 lane road), that is where most of the stuff happens.
Jobing.com arena for concerts.
This is pretty much the "epicenter" of Glendale (revolves around the Mall), even though it's not Downtown Glendale:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&…Overall, Glendale is probably one of the worst places of the entire Valley area. Go to Old Town Scottsdale for some decent restaurants and nightlife. If you're looking for the college nightlife, go to downtown Tempe where ASU is. Tempe is a little more artsy and fun.
- read below sir!
studderine - well stud, he and i were talking about Glendale. Everything you listed is in East Phx, Scotts, Tempe.iCanHazQBN
- ... which i recommended he go to. Glendale is a shithole, we all know that.iCanHazQBN
- plus, anything interesting in the valley is dotted 10 miles from the NEXT interesting thing.iCanHazQBN
- you can't really compare it with any other true city.iCanHazQBN
- Also, downtown Phoenix is a joke right now. the entire downtown is under construction. it's very ugly.iCanHazQBN
- sorry phoenix doesn't suit you, but it could be so much worse. win some and ya lose some.studderine
- how could it be worse? we have heat, sprawl, rednecks, pollution, dirty water, i could go on.iCanHazQBN
- studder, it's ok to be proud of where you're from. but you honestly can't believe that Phoenix is a good city.iCanHazQBN
- dude, you just described every large city in the US (erase the heat).studderine
- ny has rednecks? seattle has rednecks? portland has dirty water, pollution, rednecks, sprawl?iCanHazQBN
- you CANT erase the heat. its here... FOREVER.. ahggghhhhh! :)iCanHazQBN
- didnt you move to SD anyway? why didnt you stay in glorious phoenix?iCanHazQBN
- portland, for one, isn't even on the same scale as phoenix. two, nyc has been a huge mecca forever..whudda expect.studderine
- yeah, i interviewed for jobs in AZ, but i couldn't find anything. san diego came my way by chance.studderine
- read below sir!
- megE0
I was in Phoenix in March this past year - Sedona is a cool little town about 2 hours outside of town.
I think I remember the southern side of the Grand Canyon only being 3-4 hours from Phoenix. If you wanted to go to the main visitors center you have to go all the way around - which would be the 9 hours.
I didn't spend much time in Phoenix except seeing preseason baseball :) that's what the trip was for!
- utopian0
Just fly over Phoenix, like the rest of us do...
- studderine0
ok, i am a native or arizona. i went to asu and all my fondest memories are of arizona. i agree with the lack of culture/lack of community feeling that a lot of people experience in phoenix. however, there is a really great underground music and art scene in downtown phoenix, which has been magnified by the new light rail. the first friday artwalk in downtown phoenix is pretty fucking good in my opinion. also, there are a lot of design/tech people building communities in the area. check out gangplank, phx design week and other such organizations that are trying to support the creative class in AZ.
in terms of things to do in December, i can't really think of anything off the top of my head. however, rest assured if you look for it in phoenix i am sure you will find something to do. that's the thing about phoenix, everyone moved here in such a rush that it didn't allow for the feeling of history and culture. its hard to really care about a place when you just moved there for cheap living and good weather. also, arizona isn't even 100 years old yet as state...it takes time to grow culture folks! as much as people bitch about phoenix, realize this: its 1.5 million and there is always something to do in such a large sprawling city. you could hang out in fucking idaho for fucks sake.
i don't care what anyone says, phoenix is my home and i love it.
- studderine0
i will find you a list of sites to look at to make your trip in phoenix fun, despite the haters.
- studderine0
ok, here we go, by city in the phoenix metro area:
tempe,az
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yucca tap room (http://www.yuccatap.com) free bands, no cover,
casey moore's (http://www.caseymoores.com) hip bar, old haunted house
asu art museum (http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu/) awesome museum with an interesting layout
gammage auditorium (http://www.asugammage.com/) frank lloyd's design/musicals and what not
tempe arts center (http://tempe.gov/TCA/) good architecture, art gallery
tempe town lake (http://www.tempe.gov/lake/) go there at night!
mill ave district (http://www.downtowntempe.com/) bars, shopping, music on the streets, art on the streets, loads of drunk people
monti's la casa vieja (http://www.montis.com/) best steak in the area
cartel (http://www.cartelcoffeelab.com... indie coffee, art, musictake the light rail from tempe to phoenix, open late fri-sun till 2 AM.
phoenix, az
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pagago park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pa... hike, views!
revolver records (http://www.revolveraz.com) records shop, nice!
stinkweeds (http://www.stinkweeds.com/) classic record shop
modified (http://www.modified.org) art gallery, music venue
trunk space (http://www.thetrunkspace.com/) art gallery, music
the lost leaf (http://thelostleaf.org/) out house turned into a bar, art gallery, music venue
bikini lounge (no site) great bar
arizona science center (http://www.azscience.org/) one of the best imho
phx art museum (http://www.phxart.org/) really good exhibits
phx suns (www.nba.com/suns/) love 'em!
rito's market and mexican food (no site) holy snikes! good mexican!ok, i am tired now. if you want more hiten, hit me up.
- ican, these are all within, light-rail --> biking --> walking distance brotha.studderine
- sure, a few of them might be. but are you actually calling Phoenix a "walkable" city? don't kid yourself.iCanHazQBN
- People don't walk in Phoenix. thats not how this place was set up. light rails helps, but it's a drop in the bucket.iCanHazQBN
- didn't say it walkable. but i used to take the light rail and ride my bike to all these places.studderine
- the stuff centered around downtown and asu is somewhat walkable.studderine
- studderine0
first friday artwalk:
http://www.artlinkphoenix.com/if you can, come for the first friday of the month. this may be best cultural experience in downtown phoenix in regards to everyone being there with art/music/drinking and so on.
- akrokdesign0
by the way, they got speed cameras.
- unfortunately....studderine
- because phoenix leaders are uncaring, greedy, and don't truly give a shit about safety. it's a "jerk" city.iCanHazQBN
- did someone have a bad experience in phoenix...studderine
- fucking speed camerasPonyBoy
- stud, i've been here for 25+ years.iCanHazQBN
- i've lived in phoenix for 22 years, im a native.studderine
- i just don't understand living in place you hate for that long. unless you have some family obligation.studderine
- yeah, family. i was born & raised here. thinking about leaving in a couple yearsiCanHazQBN
- i've only started to really hate it for the past few years. i cant take another phoenix summer. i've been frying for too long!iCanHazQBN
- yeah, yeah. i do understand in a way, but what else can you do. phoenix is a big city and there is much more than a lot of places.studderine
- rayborn30000
the state has some super rock climbing
- studderine0
whats up hiten? no love for my list?!
- The list is awesome, we are going to visit very late december just trying to figure out where to stay.hiten
- PonyBoy0
we have a useless new train you can ride
- PonyBoy0
we have sheriff joe... he's famous
- PonyBoy0
and when anyone talks about 'old town'... they're be more accurate to think of Sun city than that dump Scottsdale
- PonyBoy0
vegas is a 45 min. cheap flight on Southwest... right when you get to phoenix... head straight to the Southwest counter
- vegas is even worse! haha oh man, nevada really sucks!studderine
- PonyBoy0
too bad it's not April, huh?
