Observations about Phoenix

I feel like we've gotten to know the West Valley of Phoenix pretty well since arriving and have made some interesting observations about our new home:

1. It's much greener here than I anticipated. We are in the desert and so there are a lot of cacti around, but there are also a ton of parks and golf courses with sweeping green lawns. Big palm trees line the major roadways here in Goodyear, and there are flowers everywhere!
2. Quail are just about the funniest birds I've ever seen.
3. The people here must really love pizza because there are pizza places everywhere. Seriously. There must be 3 pizza parlors to every Starbucks out here (and that's saying a lot). =^O
4. There are a lot of churches here in the West Valley. However, almost all of them are pretty small and operate out of rented spaces like office buildings or schools. We have been attending one of the largest churches in the whole city, which has only 1,000 members and holds their services in a high school auditorium.
5. Even though it is very hot here, the locals don't let it stop them from having fun in the sun. Instead, they just erect sunshades over park benches, swimming pools and playgrounds.
6. Normal, everyday life here requires some bizarre inventions - like air conditioned dog houses.
7. There must be a big market for adult entertainment here because there are a lot of strip clubs. Luckily there are not any in our neighborhood...but driving in on highway 60 was a very eye-opening experience and we try our best to avoid that stretch of road. It's pretty outrageous.
8. The city planners out here have issues. Too many of the roads don't connect when they should, or change names at illogical times. A lot of these little subdivisions are very nice, but trying to find a house in one of them often feels like you're navigating a maze. I actually got really car sick the first time we went out house hunting because we had to make so many small turns and back track over and over before finding the correct stretch of a certain road. Thankfully the house we chose is easy to find!

One of the biggest things we have noticed since moving here is how severely Phoenix has been affected by the economy. The area we live in is pretty new and was still in development when the economy tanked, so there are several half-finished lots that have been abandoned because their funding ran out. There are several brand new shopping centers that are completely empty because no one can afford to open up shop right now. There are also a lot of restaurants and businesses that have gone under and are now for sale. The housing market is obviously suffering (at least, on the selling side). The people who own our house had apparently tried for a long time to sell it and finally settled for renting it out until the market improves. (Luckily they found such great tenants to take care of their property till then! ;^)

The pastor at the church we have been going to said something interesting last week in regards to the poor economy. He believes that most people are freaking out right now because their god is dying. However, as Christians, we should be using this as an opportunity to loosen our grip on worldly things and to start refocusing on what is really important and where our true security comes from. A good reminder for us youngsters as we've been acquiring a whole bunch of new things in preparation for our time here. Hopefully we can find ways to give back with our many blessings. =^)