What the hell is sane about living in an oven ran by Joe Arpaio?
Where to begin?
1) The weather preference is the closest thing to a personally subjective comparison. Yeah, it's a dry heat in Phoenix, but it's still a lot of heat. That said, anybody who claims Fargo winters "aren't that bad" because "I've survived about 18 of them" is not only
objectively wrong, but likely suffering from an Ingress-related head injury. Point: Phoenix.
2) Joe Arpaio sucks, but he hardly "runs" Phoenix. He's in charge of the county jail and law enforcement generally in the unincorporated parts of Maricopa County plus a few (mostly smaller) incorporated communities they contract with. Phoenix PD is the law enforcement agency one would most likely deal with. Furthermore, most people on the Forum aren't likely to be arrested, at least not for anything serious. Again, Arpaio sucks, but thinking he'd have a tangible impact on one's life to avoid moving there is just boneheaded. That'd be like a Democrat not moving to WI or ME because they're "run" by Walker or LePage. But I imagine that if there are enough hipster churches there even that'd be okay. Fargo is penalized for general cluelessness by it's boosters---Point: Phoenix.
3) The largest city in the American Southwest with an enormous offering of cultural, recreational and entertainment opportunities vs.........Fargo. This isn't even debatable. Name an area of interest: music, art, sports, cultural, dining, dance, educational, nightlife, etc, etc, etc, etc. Phoenix has it, and often in spades.
Someone aptly pointed out that too many people believe the fallacy a city has to have at least "X" thousand people in it for there to be things to do. True, but we're not comparing Phoenix to Santa Fe, or even Green Bay, but to Fargo. The only apparent cultural attractions of note there are a plethora of regrettable "fests". Point: Phoenix x 100000.
4) Diversity: We're comparing a city of one and a half million with not only a large Hispanic population, but also sizable vibrant African-American, Native American, and Asian communties. It's truly a melting pot.
vs. Fargo, population a bit over 100k, whose whiteness matches it's landscape 7 months a year. "Diversity? Oh, yah, we gots lotsa diversity hereabouts. We got Germans AND Norwegians dontcha know." And no, having both emoviolence fans and screamcore fans IS NOT diversity.
PointGOOOOOOOAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL: Phoenix.
5) Landscape. I went to Phoenix a couple years ago. It's uniformly breathtaking. The mesas and desert cliffs. One would have to be flint-hearted not to be moved.
As best as I can tell, the landscape in greater Fargo, when one can see it the few months it's not buried under snow, is largely flat--as in "Hey! I can see Bismark standing on the hood of my truck!", flat--croplands for several area codes in every direction. But hey, if you like wheatfield after wheatfield after wheatfield after dairy farm after corn field after wheatfield after wheatfield, this is definitely the place for you!
Point: The Place With Great Scenery (not Fargo)
7) Being sick of the incessant attention-whoring BRTD threads involving Fargo or North Dakota. It technically may have nothing to do with either city's desirability, but on general principle--Point: Phoenix.
Poll
