arizona: Which one is better? And if you had to choose which one would you want to live in? I live in California, and I have the choice to move to Arizona. I've never been there but everybody says its nice. I want opinions!!|||1. California has a coast (looooong coast). Arizona not. 2. California has mountains over 12,00 feet and lots of winter snow (therefore lots of summer water). Arizona not. 3. California has some major cities (Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego) Phoenix, Arizona cannot compete even with San Diego. 4. Arizona has lots of desert. California has quite a bit of desert, but it's not the only thing there. 5. Arizona has the Grand Canyon. California has nothing quite like that. But California has redwood trees (both coastal and mountain varieties). 6. Arizona has more historic Native American ruins than California. 7. Arizona has more varieties of cacti and desert wildflowers than California (I think). 8. I think Arizona has less of a budget deficit than California, but that may be only because its budget is smaller. Bottom line: I like Arizona, and visit there every few years, but California has tons more variety, mostly of the good kind. Just my own humble opinion, but it's based on experience.|||Just stay in California. In Arizona its always scorching hot. Its full of nice people but keep in mind that this is usually where the old people live. Its not a joke either. Everywhere you go you find old people from the Navy, Army, Marines, etc etc. But not all were in the forces. Everywhere you go its also a desert. You should go on vacation there to see what its like. There are no cities. Its nothing like California except in certain places of California it can reach up to 115 Fahrenheit too. @Lisa B Arizona Nevada has Las Vegas. That beats a lot of cities we have here in California. But its not fun to actually live there. Could you imagine tourists all the time? And traffic every weekend due to tourists haha. That would be horrible.|||Arizona is not 100% desert. There are ski resorts by Flagstaff and Pinetop, AZ. Both regions are high in the mountains and get plenty of snow. There are large elk herds (high-altitude animals) in those areas. I-40 between Flagstaff and Gallup has gotten blizzards. The desert region is in southern Arizona and central Arizona. Phoenix and Tucson are extreme deserts much like El Centro, CA or Needles, CA. Phoenix is brutally hot, especially with the urban development. The concrete absorbs the heat. Average temperatures now are noticably higher compared to 50 years ago and are also higher than Tucson. I think the key is to look at the economy and job security. A move is high-risk in the aftermath of the great recession. Arizona does not have a large economy like California. I am an engineer, and if I had a choice I would prefer California's engineering industry for work and relocation even though I grew up in Arizona. California is also a nice state with many parks like Yosemite or the Sierra Nevadas. I also enjoy the amusement parks and have great memories of childhood on the beaches near LA and San Diego. With that said, there are exceptions. If you have a strong family or set of friends in Arizona and the job is relatively secure, then you can try it. Arizona does appeal to a lot of people. I definitely miss my large family there. I still like to go back and hike the Grand Canyon or run the cactus parks. It's just that I had to leave for a career.|||Nevada|||they are spell diffent