Letters

You like us, you really like us!: I moved here in January 2003, taking a risk (albeit heartfelt!) on a guy from Arizona I'd met while on holiday in the south of France. We are now married, I am happy to say. After living in London, New York and then Paris, I really didn't know what to expect of "The Desert."

So, when I arrived, I found that no one really had anything good to say about Phoenix. Which, of course -- being the new and susceptible kid -- rubbed off on me.

This led me to months of frustration caused by a sneaking disbelief that they must be wrong. How could a city so big, with so many people, not have at least a little of what I was looking for? A year and a half later, I am glad to say that Phoenix has grown on me.

It appears that Phoenicians have played the role of the conditioned and the conditioners for too long. If people tell you often enough that a place is doomed, then your brain naturally gets tired and just tends to sigh and agree.

We definitely need more articles like yours to wake up the community's imagination and suggest to residents that Phoenix isn't really so bad after all. You just have to do a little searching here.
Lowri Notebaert, Scottsdale

Other people don't think we're inferior: I really enjoyed Amy Silverman's breezy style while musing about Phoenix's alleged inferiority complex.

Working in the travel industry, I sometimes get callers who're curious about where they're calling. When I say, "Phoenix," and add, "Margaritas around the pool," clients usually laugh appreciatively. If Phoenix still suffers from an inferiority complex, it seems like everyone else has gotten past it!
Scott Hume, Phoenix

Don't talk smack about Phoenix: I'm a native, too. Before reading your story, I thought I was the only one who ever felt like that. I have a few of my own "escape from this hellhole" stories. I always said that if I left, I'd never come back. Funny thing, though, I moved to Texas for two years, and coming back was a dream come true.

Your story is so true. We do talk a lot of smack about Phoenix, but it seems to me that if other people do, we get mad. It's kind of that brother-sister relationship. Like I can call my brother an idiot, but you better not even dare. I've always said Phoenix is the closest place you're ever gonna get to Hell, and I don't just mean the heat. Great story!
Veronica Rodriguez, Phoenix