1. It never rains

Although there are roughly–oh…296 days of sunshine in Phoenix each year, we do get our fair share of monsoon showers and sometimes a little hail or snow in the winters! You won’t be shoveling off your driveway though, unless you live up north near Prescott or Flagstaff, as our average winter temperature hovers around 50-70%. Sounds pretty nice, huh?

2. There’s nothing to do

While the hot Arizona summers can be a real pain, there are still plenty of things to do that don’t require a lot of planning or money. Did you know we have the world’s largest laser tag arena? In Chandler, Arizona Arizona State University partnered with TechShop, a DIY gathering place for inspired artists, tinkerers, veterans, engineers, and anyone who wants to learn a new skill. TechShop members and students can learn anything from welding to using a 3-D printer, all right in the East Valley! More of a sports fan? There are Spring Training games each year all across town, you can see your home team from the East Coast right down the street! Did we mention that the Super Bowl is back next year?

3. There’s no culture.

If you know where to look, you can find some amazing and undiluted examples of what culture and community means to Arizonians. While there are often horror stories of small businesses shutting down, that theme is continuous with the rest of the nation, and even so–many cultural hubs are still going despite harder economic times. Downtown Phoenix is not the only place filled to the brim with creativity and events, places like Chandler, Scottsdale, Tucson, Flagstaff, and Tempe have many wonderful places and events which celebrate the diversity, art, food, and kinship of each resident.

Arizona does its best to protect a total of twenty-two sovereign Native American nations within its boundaries. These include the Navajo Reservation and the Hualapai lands at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Each have their own government, laws, and codes of conduct, and there are many sacred sites that non-tribal people aren’t allowed to visit.

4. ASU is the number one party school in the US.

While this has been true in the past, Arizona is now out of the 20 top party schools in the nation. In 2012, the Barrett Honors College at ASU was #1 in the entire country. How’s that for a party school?

5. Arizona is a place for retirees and snowbirds.

Since 2008, the younger population of Phoenix has quadrupled! More and more young families and college students are packing up their bags and moving to the wild wild west, or home as we call it. While a large amount of the population is still eligible for the senior discount, the demographics are changing rapidly. The price of living is also much lower than other large cities nearby like Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. You can live in Downtown Phoenix for half the cost of a tiny space in the big apple!

The 5 Most Common Misconceptions about Living in Arizona - Ryan Mee...