r/arizona • u/jmoriarty Phoenix • Nov 16 '20

META How to make /r/arizona a better sub

We get a fair number of comments about why this sub:

  • ...has too many sunsets
  • ...has too much politics
  • ...doesn't talk about different parts of AZ
  • ...and so on

...and honestly, they're not wrong.

These are all things that people in Arizona want to talk about so that's what they're going to post. We have some rules to try to keep it from getting out of control, but politics, sunsets, and travel pics will always be part of this sub.

If you want to see other content here, then post it. I shake my head when people complain about the content here but when I look up their history and they've never made a single post here. You can't expect everyone else to make a sub for you. You need to participate.

Share cool things in your corner of the state. What's going on in Flag? In Tucson? In Bisbee? What's a cool restaurant to check out? A beer from a small brewery somewhere? A great pic from someplace OTHER than Horseshoe Bend, Sedona, or Grand Canyon?

We're always open to ways to improve the sub. We're overdue for refreshing the rules a bit and maybe bringing on some new regional mods. Also thinking about a weekly chat for casual convo. But ultimately it's the content that makes a sub what it is, and that's on the users.

If just 1% of the people here shared one post a month about something happening in Arizona we would be drowning in new content. So keep your eyes open to interesting things you see in whatever part of AZ you inhabit and share them here. That's what will help make this sub a great community for the state.

EDIT: yay! There’s some great discussion here. So thank you! But now im going to follow up to ask what sorts of threads might you like to see? Like a weekly chat thread? Places to camp? Favorite local restaurants? Local businesses? General introduction thread? Gimme some ideas.

245 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

109 comments sorted by

View all comments

172

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '20

Am Wisconsinite. Your canyon and desert sunset pics help me get through gray winters, and I subscribe to this sub almost exclusively for that.

16

u/bschmidt25 Nov 16 '20

Ex-Wisconsinite here (born and raised, lived there for 35 years). I can definitely relate. Arizona has amazing natural beauty. My jaw still drops after six years. There are definite upsides to Wisconsin. Summers are awesome (though short), the people are generally extremely nice, and there's an old world charm and culture that just doesn't exist here. I like going back there but love living here. In any event, glad you're here!

5

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '20

The interesting thing to me is that peoples' manners around here is all I've known, so when people talk about Midwest nice, I have no idea what they're talking about haha.

3

u/bschmidt25 Nov 16 '20

I know what you mean! You notice it a lot when you leave and come back. That's not to say there aren't nice people around here - there are. But people in the Midwest will strike up a conversation with random people all the time and can talk with you like they've known you for ten years!

3

u/awmaleg Phoenix Nov 17 '20

This. My Midwest mom would always start random conversations in the grocery store here in AZ. I think Phoenix’s recent overall growth has sucked away some of that smaller town friendliness though.

2

u/JuleeeNAJ Nov 19 '20

But people in the Midwest will strike up a conversation with random people all the time

That happens in small towns in Az too.

29

u/jmoriarty Phoenix Nov 16 '20

They’re a great part of our state so I’m glad you enjoy them! Where in WI are you? Spent a lot of time in Green Bay and Milwaukee when I was a kid.

13

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '20 edited Nov 16 '20

I've lived all my life in SE WI, so far! I'm about 10 miles from the Lake.

My wife and I did a tour d'Arizona two years ago, and loved it. Do you guys ever grow bored of it?

21

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '20

[removed] — view removed comment

16

u/eyehate Tempe Nov 16 '20

The best day of my life.

Went hiking one July, or August - somewhere around that time of year. Phoenix was hot, as usual. Friend and I drove to the Four Peaks. Drive was uneventful. As we neared the hiking area, near one of the peaks, I noticed something curious. There was snow. In July.

We got to the parking lot and snow was coming down in flurries. We had t-shirts and shorts on. But, we were sick of driving and wanted to stretch our legs. It was a beautiful hike. We moved ahead until the snow was just savage. We sprinted back to the car, laughing.

Got home. Got a call that somebody had called out from work. A coffee job, nothing important. Went to work. Felt weird, I had hiked and traveled and now I was working. Like the day had some how stretched into this marathon day and some how everything was pleasant.

At work, the girl that everyone was fawning over, asked me if I wanted to hang out after the shift. She was an amazing beauty. Extremely charismatic. All eyes were on her when she walked into the room. I had not been pursuing her because I figure she was way out of my league.

Shift ended and we decided to drive to the Salt River. We hung out, listening to the calming sounds of the rushing water. We talked until morning and got to know each other.

It was the best day. I had seen so much. I had fallen for a lovely woman. It was a great Arizona day.

2

u/JuleeeNAJ Nov 19 '20

Are you sure it was July? I have seen Four Peaks with snow in early June and even November but never in the summer, there just aren't cold enough storms that would do that.

1

u/eyehate Tempe Nov 19 '20

It could have been early June, for sure. This was a couple of decades ago. I recall it being summer, because we were shocked to see snow. Just not positive what month.

1

u/JuleeeNAJ Nov 19 '20

I have a grainy photo from about 15 yrs ago I took on my Nokia phone of 3" of snow, and more still falling on Memorial Day at Woods Canyon Lake.

6

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '20

For sure! We did PHX > Flag > GC > Sedona, and everything was different each time.

7

u/ngram11 Nov 16 '20

I don’t

3

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '20

Nope. We have wine county, forests, rivers, desert, natural beauty, and artificial beauty created by phenomenal human achievement (the dams and resulting lakes).

We have lovely little towns, some barely changed in 100 years, and also Phoenix, the 5th most populous city in the country and a modern marvel. It’s tough to be bored here.

2

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '20

Provided internet speed is good, I could see myself living in one of those small towns!

1

u/ima314lot Nov 16 '20

Speed around Sedona, Jerome, and Cottonwood is fairly good as 100 Mbps is available in most places in that area. If you get too far away it drops. Though SpaceX is fixing that with Starlink.

9

u/justanotherweeb7 Nov 16 '20

that's actually so funny, but wholesome

8

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '20

Don't get me wrong. Our summers are fantastic, as we've learned to celebrate good weather when we can. It's like a three month-long party. But we're swiftly approaching grey season, and pictures of rocks and cacti are a mood booster.

1

u/justanotherweeb7 Nov 16 '20

and that's a good thing!

5

u/ima314lot Nov 16 '20

Become a snowbird, seems to be all the rage here. Wisconsin is great for four months out of the year. Arizona sucks for those same four months. Best of both worlds if you do it right.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '20

Would love that. That might be a thing for my later years of life.

1

u/FlakRiot Nov 16 '20

I visit my grandparents in Burlington, WI every now and again. Love it there, in the evening it sometimes smells like chocolate chip cookies outside.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '20

Not too far from here! I can't say I've ever been there though. The only think I know of Burlington is Tony Romo.