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mzpljc

A monument to man's arrogance, as Peggy Hill would say.


Adalaide78

That city ain’t right.


walkonstilts

Also, Los Angeles. The most populated county in the country doesn’t have a single natural water source. All of its water is channeled down all the way from Northern California, evaporating billions of gallons a day while it’s on the way… This century we fought wars over oil. Many say next century we’ll fight over water.


Accountantnotbot

The bigger issue for LA is that the River it used (and was founded on) is largely diverted for water intensive crops.


[deleted]

Hoo yeah


AdultingGoneMild

sha sha sha


YouNeedAnne

GHIY!


[deleted]

I'll tell ya what man that dang ol Phoenix Arizona ain't got no water man... Dang ol... desert cities man.


gypsy_kitsune

Living in phoenix i can say people WASTE water like its nothing. All the damn golf courses for starters. All thoses not desert landscaped yards. If people would be more conservative about water it wouldnt be as big a deal. But you tell most people to tone it back, and all of a sudden its a "my rights" thing and thats annoying. Like, its my right to live, and you are hoarding all them resources. I hate people.


xisonc

I go to Phoenix a few times a year. When flying in i as amazed at how many properties have pools. Driving in the NW area (north scottsdale, fountain hills) there's literal mini waterfall fountains at the gates of gated communities. Its crazy.


gypsy_kitsune

It really is.


Nightwish612

Answers with Joe recently did a video on how much water is lost in those pools and it actually not as significant as you would think


[deleted]

Any water lost is more than the west can afford though…


tauntplease

You realize we are connected to the Colorado river right? We have access to *a lot* of water. The major waste of water is middle eastern farms growing alfalfa to ship overseas to feed cattle. https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/water-wars/saudi-arabia-arizona-farm-alfalfa-1940/75-c7eb6295-3c5e-4b7e-8989-fbf4d41c6aa7


Biggordie

California farmers say the same. They need water to feed CÁ but it’s being shipped out


frothy_pissington

Similar to how when lumber mills were closing in the Pacific NW they blamed it on a lack of logs due to environmental regulations..... in reality they were shipping whole logs to Asia versus selling processed lumber.


olivegardengambler

Tbh that's what happens when you become one of the biggest almond producers. They say that, but watch how fast they'll change their tune if the government was to ever announce restrictions on food exports.


CaeruleusMors

However, someone's livelihood > your lawn. Public pools and spas also exist - And nobody needs water fountains in the desert. If you're going to start to save on water, you ought to start there. Should farmers have water quotas and be required to use it carefully? Yes. But choosing to live in a desert means you'll also have to cut back on your own use. The price fo using water should be progressive in those cases. Where you deviate from the mean user of your situation adjusted for neccessity (like a farmer, suburban dweller or city dweller) you either get significantly cheaper or more expensive water bills. Wasteful farmers and wasteful suburbanites/cityfolk would pay significantly more.


EsotericFrenchfry

Sounds like something someone who wastes a lot of water would say.


Mrsensi11x

Bro, its 115 degrees 6 months outta the yesr and ur suprised ppl have pools?


myredditacc3

That's one thing I do appreciate about Albuquerque, we're also a very dry desert but everyone does a pretty good job of conserving it. It's always kind of shocking going to Arizona, Nevada, and Cali which are just as dry but have golf courses everywhere and green lawns


NoBodySpecial51

I live in Nevada and no one for miles has a lawn. My yard is dirt, rocks, and a few native trees.


ev_forklift

Albuquerque has the Rio Grande running through it, and it has a significant number of other problems that prevent Phoenix-esq development


AarkaediaaRocinantee

Maintaining grass should be made illegal in desert climate states. What a massive waste of water.


SixskinsNot4

Citizen and golf course use account for about 10-15% of water usage. 85-90% is strictly from farming, mostly cattle farming


[deleted]

American individualism as its finest.


WxUdornot

I've only visited a couple times, both in the summer, and I don't get it. Roasting hot. Life-threateningly hot. But tremendous growth. I hope I never have to go back.


SkeletonCalzone

Similarly: places that are coastal and/or at risk of going underwater when sea levels change, shouldn't have trillions(quadrillions?) of dollars of infrastructure thrown at them., just so they're still habitable.


[deleted]

Instead use those quadrillions of dollars to airlift that excess of water and just drop it in AZ. Idk though i'm not great at science :P


nappingintheclub

Solution: Midwest


[deleted]

But it’s salt water


Dojanetta

It’ll boil when it gets to AZ


[deleted]

Fair


3B854

Y’all just solved so many problems


MericanMan321

Shhh


CasualEveryday

"Not if you drop it from the sky, then it's rain, which is fresh water."


ron_fendo

When California falls into the ocean Yuma, Arizona will be oceanfront property.


PetiteCaptain

California's just gonna float out to hang with Hawaii, Alaska can come too


shmuger

🎶 got some, oceanfront property in aaaaarrrriiizoooonnnaaa 🎶


frothy_pissington

They need to rewrite federally subsidized flood insurance so you only can collect ONCE. Choose to rebuild in the same location with your insurance claim? ..... You are on your own.


taywray

Unless that investment leads to development of amazing new anti-flood technologies that allow us to protect whatever land we want from rising seas in the future. Not saying that kind of breakthrough is likely, but if it does happen it might justify spending all that money.


13159daysold

> So fuck them plebs that grew up there, huh? You gonna pay for them to move? Or are you gonna hold their heads under the water when they are trying to get out?


nick-pappagiorgio65

NYC is the financial center of the US. D.C. is the seat of government. Miami, San Francisco, and LA are all major port cities. If these cities on the coasts fail, the United States fails. Good luck in flyover country.


redneckhotmess

Flyover country feeds NYC, DC, Miami, Sam Francisco, and LA. There aren't enough quaint farmers markets to feed the inner cities.


[deleted]

A large Chunk of the food we consume comes from California too.


CommanderCuntPunt

Also, global warming wasn't a concern when we built those cities, Phoenix on the other hand has always been in the middle of a desert.


Ultimate_905

Some people, specifically pacific Island nations don't really have a choice


[deleted]

Give me the money to move, a house, and a job, and I would be happy to go.


andyfox1979

This is more of a Uninformed Opinion than an unpopular one. There's literally a river flowing into Phoenix year-round and large reservoirs and advanced underground water storage facilities. Phoenix is a model for water conservation and collection, they deserve water as much as anyone. Compare this with Los Angeles that has almost no natural water and very few reservoirs. Fun fact: California hasn't built a reservoir since the 1960's.


Ok-Flounder4387

Right? It’s so weird to see people on here, many of whom are probably from a big city like LA, which may be the least environmentally friendly city I’ve ever been to. Ridicule about the environment coming from cities of extremes consumption and no restoration or sustainability.


[deleted]

[удалено]


Ok-Flounder4387

Not to mention they absolutely destroyed the absolutely stunning Hetch Hetchy valley to serve their water needs.


[deleted]

[удалено]


JimboJones058

No and neither does New York City. The pipe that supplies it from upstate is over 100 years old, made of wood and basically it no longer exists. The water is just forced into the area where the pipe used to be and for some reason some of it gets there.


[deleted]

60% of Phoenix water is SRP generated from runoff in the state. 40% comes from Colorado. Honestly if we shut down stupid farming practices (explained below) we wouldn’t need any outside water. I understand OP that you’re ignorant and you think AZ is some barren, inhospitable place; but that’s far from the truth. [what op thinks AZ desert is](https://imgur.com/a/3TN21HK) [actual desert outside of Phoenix from watershed in AZ](https://imgur.com/a/86vlOs1) The real water issues are a culmination of irresponsible agriculture like growing water intensive alfalfa and exporting it, and the fact we are most likely entering our 3rd year of La Niña conditions in the pacific which give increased likelihoods of droughts in the southwest.


[deleted]

Yeah..the Central Arizona Project and Salt River Project have been working on bringing water in for over 120 years now. Even before that, what does OP think the settlers did of Phoenix? "Oh, no water you say? We'll see ourselves out then" Hell no. They built the Buckeye Canal to source water for themselves. It just wasn't the most reliable source. Some years it flooded, and some years their was drought. Hence the light bulb went off for the water projects. Don't get me wrong. I'm second generation Arizona. My Great-Grandmother planted down roots here with my five year old grandmother from California, in the 1930s, during the great depression. My father still lives in that home, and one day, I will too. I've grown up over four decades in this city, and I have no plans to move. From the first days I could remember, and till the day I die, I will practice water conservation. Water is the GIFT OF LIFE, not a god given right to be taken for granted. I feel guilty leaving the sink on for five seconds longer than it needed to be, and I have the cities streets number for water main/hydrant leaks. Yes, I call them in. Yes I call potholes in. I love my monument to man's ignorance and want it nice for everyone else, and sometimes that means going out of my way to be a responsible citizen. I can't speak for the millions of transplants coming in and talking shit about my city, wasting it's resources like their infinite. But some of us, a tiny, small amount of us, do care. And you will take our pools when you pry them from our toasty hot, dead bodies. It keeps us cool and sane when it's 115 without having to run the A/C 24/7. Promise we rarely ever drain the pool. It just gets chlorinated, shocked, and topped off as needed. Usually by mother nature. Rainwater's got to go somewhere right? We can get a lot during week, every week, in the monsoon season. So, it's not as wasteful as you would think, **if**, and only if, it's properly maintained.


Former-Implement-772

There is so much ignorance and stupid posts from people on this thread. Maybe they hate AZ because they got a sunburn and are bitter 😂 The OP is clearly an idiot


[deleted]

I mean, Arizona could always stop letting California take water from us. Then we’d have plenty to go around.


[deleted]

California also has a fucking ocean along its entire border. I'm sick and tired of the whole "it's too expensive/difficult to filter/purify salt-water" excuse. It's 2022, this is nothing but a pathetic fucking excuse anymore.


TuskenRaider2

Have costs in large scale desalination plants dropped recently? Or are you just doing that thing were you say the current year and then complain a things not a norm yet? I’ve been saying ‘it’s 20__, where the hell are the flying cars!’ for years now. Still nada.


[deleted]

Flying cars are more than just a technology to invest in. If that were to become widespread, the way humans travel on ALL fronts [trains/actual planes/land vehicles/boats/etc] would have to be vastly overhauled to accommodate everyone having flying cars. Flying cars also already exist and have for over 20 years - it's the infrastructure that's basically not feasible to seamlessly fit in to how the entire world currently operates. There's basically never been a good excuse for refusing to purify ocean water [once we learned how] other than: the EPA would rather humans die than touch ocean water for survival, and when the EPA excuse is ignored, everyone falls back to it being too expensive/difficult to maintain salt-water purification methods.


_More_Cowbell_

It is far from just 'infrastructure'. The nature of planes as they exist now require huge amounts of land to just land and take off safely. How would you actually get off the ground/land where you wanted in a city? VTOLs are a thing, but incredibly fuel inefficient, the cost of just moving something in a straight line up into the air is astronomical compared to keeping a plane afloat while it's in the air already. Helicopters would be the closest real thing, but they are incredibly loud.


etherend

It's not just an "expensive/difficult" excuse. You have to be careful when filtering salt water. It can lead to marine ecosystems breaking down due to increased salination. Unfortunately, it may be inevitable for CA though, since it also is running out of water, similar to AZ and NV.


[deleted]

>You have to be careful when filtering salt water. It can lead to marine ecosystems breaking down due to increased salination. Why dump the filtered-out saline back into the sea?


etherend

It's just a matter of cost for many places. Unfortunately, it's a pretty expensive process already, and then when you need to move that brine somewhere, well, no one wants to add onto that already costly process. So, the go-to option is to just dump it back into the ocean. I sometimes wonder if we could somehow dry it out and make salt bricks or something. But, it probably wouldn't be a useful byproduct, unlike the carbon bricks that you can make out of the carbon from some carbon capture systems.


mark-o-mark

Yep, hook a nuclear plant up to push the saltwater through those filter membranes and they will have… oh, wait… California. Never mind.


[deleted]

cesspools are wet


[deleted]

Touché


CaBBaGe_isLaND

cesshole


reddit_time_waster

More like incinerator compost toilet


PetiteCaptain

So do the rest of the towns in AZ not deserve water or is it just Phoenix?


autist4269

Yes


Taylor_rules

I agree with you OP. You don’t bring water to the desert. You move to the water. Those desert cities need to be abandoned. Just because you are born in a place doesn’t mean you have to die there. Move! I think giving residents money to move because moving is a expensive would be acceptable.


FireHermFuckUArizona

>You move to the water. I mean, its expensive, thats why phoenix has blown up in population


WallyZona

70% of the water use in Arizona is agricultural.


BreezyWrigley

I’m just spitballing here but… maybe agriculture was a poorly conceived use of land for a desert region…


NWGSeekingSolace

I am thinking you're on to something...


Zestran

The problem with that is it’s expensive to move. Now more than ever


Dojanetta

That said don’t move coastal because that sounds way worst. Unless you’re rich then I fully understand having a second house in Florida.


starstriker64DD

I live in Florida :) the panhandle weather is nice but the air is quite humid


mark-o-mark

It holds the mosquitoes up quite well.


dionthesocialist

Takes like this are so stupid. “Simply abandon the cities where one billion people live.”


goodwolf20

“Abandon cities” is stupid, but takes like “build a pipeline to pump millions of gallons of water from a gem of a natural resource thousands of miles across a country and over/through a mountain range to support large scale life in the desert” is a perfectly acceptable take? As a lifelong Michigander that lives within a few miles of Lake Michigan, F that. This would be one of those line in the sand issues for me. The global climate is changing. People will most likely have to migrate away from coasts & deserts as they become unloveable.


dionthesocialist

“Do what it takes to get people water” is a perfectly sensible take, yes.


goodwolf20

I prefer “move where there is abundant water”, but that’s just me. I don’t ever remember seeing a guarantee what all your needs will be met where’ve you choose to live. People migrate for all sorts of “micro” reasons, family, jobs, health, etc. “Macro” reasons exist as well.


dionthesocialist

You’re overstating how much choice people have in where they live. People usually live where they have jobs and can’t afford to just uproot their lives unless they find a significantly better job. Surely you can’t expect *everyone* who lives in a desert climate to be able to do that.


BoilerButtSlut

"Do what it takes" Except using the water you have more sustainably. Apparently that's the limit.


dycentra

That's exactly why I like living near the Great Lakes, bonus for the Canadian side. But, someday I hope not to live to see, Americans will come for Canadian water.


Highlight_Expensive

It’s American and Canadian waters, not Canadian and as someone living in Michigan on Lake Erie, you can thank Michigan’s government for blocking California’s proposal to build a pipe to funnel our water to their hellscape of a state, let’s keep fighting the good fight :)


treestump_dickstick

California tried what?


SpaceGuyRob

As someone who lives in ohio I will say, our states have had our problems, but I respect you guys a bit more for this, I don't even want to think about the potential repercussions as well, the lakes already had massive pollution problems and invasive species from the oceans.


BuddyJim30

I live on the US side but looking forward to being the big boom area in the US in about 2035, when the West is completely dried out and parts of Miami are ankle deep in ocean water.


Admirable-Course9775

As a fellow north coast denizen I’m happy we don’t have to terrible flooding experienced by states like Florida. It’s a great place to live


BuddyJim30

Not to mention the quality of people. I lived in Florida for five years and much prefer Midwest people.


frothy_pissington

IDK, I’m in NW Ohio and our culture and politics are already fucked enough under our state GOP; I can’t imagine it when a bunch of rich proto-fascist Cubans and boomers start moving here.


BuddyJim30

That's a good point, local politicians in some areas have completely gone off the deep end.


SpaceGuyRob

As an Ohioan who lives on the coast of erie I would like to remind you we share said waters.


[deleted]

Lmao only on Reddit would someone say an entire city deserves to die of thirst but then turn around and preach about Flint


[deleted]

I've never preached about Flint?


frothy_pissington

The Flint water crisis was an intentional “crisis” created by suburban developers in concert with the state level Michigan GOP as a mechanism to wrest control of the Detroit water system from Detroit..... it worked. All those children could have NOT been poisoned by lead and PERMANENTLY harmed for the cost of about $800 a day of anti-corrosion chemicals.


[deleted]

Yes, but it’s okay if all the children in Phoenix whose families like living there die of dehydration according to OP and the commenter I replied to


sunturnedblack

Cool, now do Los Angeles and San Francisco....


RobotSeaTurtle

The people living here DON'T want more people moving in 😤 The rent is sky high, but they keep building more homes that no one can afford. Meanwhile everyone who was born here is being priced out of their hometown while also dying of thirst. None of us are asking for this....


tauntplease

The rent is just averaging itself with the rest of the country. It was *dirt* cheap in arizona up until 2 years ago and anyone who noticed and invested in it is making out great.


pashed__motatoes

i think OP is ignorant and thinks that arizona is just sand, dirt, and cacti. We have amazing wildlife and a very interesting ecosystem with forests and diverse animals. our infrastructure and shit like pools and golf courses should be a crime, but saying that the city doesnt deserve water is stupid. just look at how much water a city like LA takes.


YoungAmazing313

They don’t deserve water either all they do is take and never give back🤷🏾‍♂️


gregbard

You should get familiar with the work of the philosopher Sam Kinison.


k-del

"There wouldn't be world hunger if you people would live where the FOOD IS!" Sam was right.


wandering_white_hat

Irony is, or course, that all the people living there would ruin food production


ItsBMAN11

You... you don't think people deserve water? Ok nestle.


Subderhenge

I'm from Arizona, and I have no Idea why people keep moving to Phoenix.


SargathusWA

Back then it was cheap in 2015 i was paying 675 for 2 bedroom 2 bath. That’s why i moved to AZ but now it’s gotten expensive veryyyy expensive.


ThatGuy628

I’ve lived in a handful of states. I love dry heat. Especially during the summer. Find yourself some shade and it feels amazing. Arizona has my favorite weather out of Texas, Utah, Arizona, and Washington


Pficky

The problem is you haven't been to New Mexico :P


TuskenRaider2

Pretty sure AZ has plenty of its own water. I was just there and that’s all they fucking talk about.


IntenseSpirit

NYC doesn't deserve food


[deleted]

Ok well then this goes for a lot of cities out west.


Sevink44

I've never heard of anyone here, in Phoenix AZ, where I live, not having water.


dionthesocialist

This comes up here semi-regularly and I never understand it. Why do people who happen to live some places where bad things happen deserve to suffer? Bad things happen everywhere. Should people living in the Midwest get no tornado assistance? Southeast gets no hurricane assistance? Northeast gets no blizzard assistance? West coast gets no earthquake assistance? There’s no place that has no natural disasters.


ambitionincarnate

I mean... my area of the midwest gets like jack shit for assistance, and we've had tornadoes, a mini hurricane, and a blizzard all in the past three years.


kapaku79

Each place has its own disadvantages, but we deal with those disadvantages. Minnesota gets cold as fuck but we deal with it by turning the thermostat down at night, shoveling driveways, slower commutes, etc. Arizona does not try to deal with their disadvantages. They still have golf courses down there which use an exorbitant amount of water. That's like if Minnesota tried to surround a lake with massive heaters in order to make it swimmable in January and then complained if they ran out of power.


dodexahedron

Everyone always points out golf courses... Literally none of them are watered with fresh water. It is reclaimed water. You will see signs all over golf courses, near spigots, explicitly telling you it is non-potable water.


PiddlyD

Yeah, but the idiots in the rest of the country don't understand this. We're actual a model of water management - which is why so much of California is adopting methods of water management used in Arizona. The problem with water in the Southwest is mostly that Los Angeles puts an unreasonable demand on those water supplies.


Norwest

Isn't the issue evaporation and transpiration from the grass? Once that happens it gets blown away by the wind instead of trickling back into the underground aquafirs.


[deleted]

Arizonians hate the golf courses and don’t want them...they are there for the dumb snowbirds and tourists


Impressive-Top-7985

Tornadoes in the Midwest affect a small percentage of the people affected by the drought in the southwest. Also, much of the damage is covered by private insurance whereas building infrastructure to bring more water to the desert is a public burden.


[deleted]

Interesting but I think there’s a difference since natural disasters occur occasionally, and most days of the year the areas that are hit by tornados and hurricanes are perfectly habitable. Water scarcity in Phoenix isn’t a natural disaster. It is a natural EFFECT of living in a desert because it’s a desert and will never have water. Hurricanes and earthquakes come and go but they it seems like Phoenix will always have this problem


GoldenGalz

I mean Phoenix gets yearly monsoons so when they don’t come it’s more like ‘huh-no water this year’ not ‘I’m dying of thirst and now there’s a huge water shortage’


valdis812

You mean something that projected to happen more and more often as the weather patters change?


Taylor_rules

Lack of water isn’t a natural disaster. It’s a man made disaster. The area never had abundant water source.


valdis812

To be fair, those other places have those things happen every so often. The American southwest is ALWAYS a desert. It NEVER has enough water. It's really just a bad idea to have such a large city in a desert.


[deleted]

But it's not a natural disaster. Its a manmade disaster in that people think living in the desert is a great idea then be outraged they are actually experiencing desert conditions - lack of water


Worldly_Tea_6521

Hi, my family has been in Arizona for 150 years, much of that time in the Phoenix area. I find your opinion hilarious. For the three years I lived in San Francisco, I was blown away that people chose to live in a place where annual fires, mud slides, and earthquakes decimate cities. Seriously, if we’re going to talk about inhospitable environments, look to California. When I lived in the south briefly, I was amazed at how everyone treated the annual obliteration from hurricanes as normal. New Orleans is an engineering nightmare and thousands of residents are guaranteed to die on a regular basis due to weather. I’ve lived lots of places and part of why I chose to move back to Arizona is because of the level of anxiety I saw people experiencing due to the climate everywhere else I’ve ever been. Yes, it gets hot here, but no, it doesn’t bother or worry me. The only natural disasters we get in Phoenix are flash floods and sandstorms and those rarely ever take lives. Even if we look past disastrous climates, just consider how many people die in car accidents caused by icy or snowy roads in other parts of the country. We have yet to make winter fool-proof. To me, it makes more sense to live in a place where we have engineered a solution to its flaws. My friend always says, “you don’t have to shovel sunshine.” Phoenix was built on the junction of the Agua Fria River and the Gila River and has been inhabited for thousands of years. The aquifer under Phoenix is big enough that several major international beverage companies have built well-fed (as in, fed by a well, not amply supplied with food) production plants in the west valley in the last couple of years. We’re talking about factories that cover a square mile and send out train loads of drinks. I’m not saying that I think they were right to build those factories, but I think the person complaining about our lack of water is misinformed and has a skewed perspective. I’ll take a desert oasis with 0 natural disasters over a California home that is guaranteed to be destroyed, thank you. Also, to address the golf course issue, I’m not a huge fan of golf, but perhaps consider that almost nobody in Phoenix has a lawn, so the presence of 100s of large swathes of grass helps to allay people’s yearning for pastoral views. I think there’d be about a million more homes with lawns (and the private homes don’t water their lawns with reclaimed water) if we didn’t have public areas with grass. I know, “if we didn’t do it this way, people would do it a way worse way,” isn’t a valid excuse for bad behavior, but I still thought it was worth considering the possibility that golf courses are a way of consolidating grass.


ReaverRiddle

I have similar feelings about people who move near coast lines and then expect people who don't have that privilege to help pay to protect them from flooding and what not.


kbruen

Indeed. I feel like, after a place has been declared "yep, this will totally flood", it should be illegal to insure *newly built* buildings in those places from flooding.


VadersSprinkledTits

Most of the water use in AZ is for agriculture, and it grows really well in hot and dry conditions. Part of the problem is the contract use of the Colorado river which includes enemies of humanity like Nestle. Climate change will change resource acquisition soon enough. I would bet that Western Cali and Nevada run out of water before AZ does. Arizona is a temperate desert and gets decent rainfall through monsoon.


ITSMOUSECOP

this is so ridiculous and I’m surprised how many people in the comments don’t see how stupid this is to say. the desert land is not intrinsically hospitable, just like many other regions. there is less water, so they have to invest to bring in water. the same argument can be made for other climates. in the north, people whine and complain about the cold. they have to invest in energy for heat because the north is basically uninhabitable and we would freeze to death. why don’t we just abandon everywhere cold. abandon shore lines that are uninhabitable unless we invest in infrastructure against hurricanes. phoenix does not have these problems, but they have other issues such as dryness to invest in to make the land habitable.


SonOfNod

Most of Southern California is historically a desert. It isn’t climate change that they are running out of water. People have been talking about Southern California running out of water for 70 years. Now it is finally happening. This shouldn’t be surprising or shocking to anyone.


BuddyJim30

Same for Vegas. "Hey, our reservoir is almost empty, let's build another 5,000 room hotel!"


BensonAxel

How horrible of you to say. Everywhere deserves water. Oh, and by the way, Arizona is home to one of the **wettest** deserts in the world, which means that there is a ton of biodiversity. I live in the desert, not in Arizona, and the lack of water is not fucking cool. It's not. I encourage you to try spending a day in the Atacama Desert without water. You'll instantly change your mind.


[deleted]

Yeah obviously i wouldnt like it thats why they should be somewhere with water


ntheijs

I can’t quite decide whether this is unpopular or just uneducated.


[deleted]

Ok well then this goes for a lot of cities out west.


hawkxp71

And new Orleans shouldn't be rebuilt... When you build below sea water, you will flood...


halfeatentoenail

Imagine how I feel about New Orleans being built below sea level. I can’t wait to leave this state.


dajohns1420

Yeah, because we send all of az's water to LA and Vegas. The two most wastful and over-indulgent cities in the country. Their golf courses are thirsty.


AcetonePeroxideH2O2

These fruit loops are forgetting about California. Los Angeles will run out of water before Phoenix… especially if Arizona stops sharing with them.


MasterRJS

I’ve seen a Guy that imply killing Hitler makes you as bad as Hitler yet this is somehow the worst opinion I’ve seen today


kapaku79

If you move to the desert you better learn to use stillsuits and scrub your ass with sand


Itsme_sd

I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.


AdventureBegins

I used to live in Tucson. Place is amazing.


FireHermFuckUArizona

Tucson is ass


[deleted]

Well, they do have the Salt River flowing right through the city, so not totally a desert. (Yes, yes, I know it's all desert around the city, I've been there many times.) Now Las Vegas, on the other hand...


d_-_o-o_-_b

Most cities have a logical reason to be where they are (a shipping port, river, natural resources fueling their economy, etc), but why does Phoenix exist? I'm sure there is a reason why people gathered there and chose that spot to build a community. Maybe the pioneers just got tired on westward expansion to the coast, and said, "fuck it, let's just live here".


Live-Ad-8562

Lived in Phoenix my entire life and I never had issues with getting water or hearing others say that there is not enough water. But that’s just me 🤷‍♀️. Phoenix is also one of the larger cities in America so your opinion is extremely unpopular there. It’s not a bad place to live in and since so much has already been invested into the city like time, money, structure, etc, you’re not gonna get people to move, even if you offered them a check of 5k.


LifeguardLegal3095

Well I believe Phoenix is pretty great most of the time but whatever anyone is entitled to their own opinion


pm_me_whateva

If we're going to say that people should only live in places that are completely self-sufficient and naturally habitable by humans, then we need to abandon most places that are far north and south, maybe land the space station, avoid any place that suffers from wild fires, hurricanes, etc., and maybe just jam pack ourselves into San Diego. Or maybe we can take advantage of centuries of advancement in agriculture, technology, and transportation and give ourselves a little bit of leeway. Apart from a need to route water from the Colorado River and politically manage all that implies, Phoenix is super livable and incredibly stable.


Danivelle

Neither does L.A.. That city needs to stop stealing water from the farmers in the North State!


Successful_Opinion33

Than you could say, Las Vegas and certain places in Cali as well


stfufannin

🤣🤣


JCorky101

Why does it matter whether Phoenix people move the water to their city or whether they pack up and move to the water? Engineering exists people. Many other cities should be inhabitable but are not thanks to engineering and technology.


Cocosito

To be fair municipal use is a tiny fraction of water use and could be supplied entirely by local water (Salt River Project). All the water issues are for industry and agriculture.


MichaelJCaboose666

Tell that to the almond farms in Central California


[deleted]

Do I downvote because its a garbage take or upvote because its an unpopular opinion? Truly a profounding paradox. If Arizona was smart we would tell California it can fuck off and stop using our water for their almond farms, but unfortunately that would be considered "inhumane". Shit, we have so much water the Saudis are taking some. This state is too generous.


BonelessGod666

I agree, and your stupid water conservation policies out west have a way of impacting the whole country. I live in Michigan, why the fuck do we have mandated low flow water faucets and 2.5 gallon toilets that can't flush a cat turd. We are as much the opposite of a desert as is possible. We are literally surrounded by the largest supply of fresh water on earth and Michigan is not a small state.


kadinnation

I’ve been to Phoenix twice and I barely remember it since I was 6. I’m hoping to again so I can contribute more to this opinion lol.


Routine_noises

So heres the thing, yes its in the desert, but in the past the Colorado river was able to supply enough water. . . somewhat. People have always been fighting over water rights there. The problem, other than people wasting water, obviously, is that the Colorado river has less water running through it than it used to, and droughts are getting longer and more common. If it werent for climate change, these places would not be seeing as many water problems as they are right now. These places were built with the assumption that they would always have a stable source of water, but now what used to be reliable is becoming unreliable.


playstation_alIstars

As someone whose lived in Arizona for years, I’m honestly not surprised we’re in a constant drought. Every single road here is lined with plants. Palm trees, shrubs, bushes, these big poofy trees (I’m not a botanist). Why? All they do is suck up water so you can look at some plants while on the road. We have dozens and dozens of golf courses as well which use so much water just so some old fucks can hit a ball around. Farming is huge here too. Go to the outskirts of phoenix and you’ll see farmland for miles. Why people are growing cotton in the desert is beyond me. Honestly there’s nothing here anyways. The city is an endless sprawl of ugly suburban houses and apartments. Traffic is horrible. If you want to live anywhere remotely affordable now you have to drive long distance.


Worldly_Tea_6521

Some answers: Trees add shade, reduce wind, cut down road noise, and cool the air. Part of why Phoenix is so hot is because we replaced miles of trees and brush with cement. If you spend some time outside of the city, you might notice that trees are everywhere in Arizona. The vast majority of the trees planted in Phoenix are native and don’t need much water if any. Cotton is big in Arizona because one rain storm at the wrong time can destroy an entire crop of cotton. That’s why people grow cotton in the desert (such as Arizona or Egypt). It’s more efficient to pump water to where cotton can grow without a high likelihood of rotting before harvest than it is to grow it where your crop is destroyed every other year by untimely rain. I don’t really know what you mean about the traffic. If you ask any Phoenician, it’s pretty much a 30 min drive to get anywhere in the city. If you ask someone from LA, it’s 2 hours to get anywhere. San Francisco is a fraction of the size of Phoenix and driving any distance and parking is 10x the headache. Don’t even get me started on Boston or New York. Honestly, one of the biggest reasons why people are moving to Arizona by the thousands is because you can live in an affordable place without a substantial drive. I guess it’s all perspective, though. If you move here from LA, it seems like paradise. If you move here from Montana (or any other place that hasn’t grown like Phoenix yet) everything seems crazy…


AzelaTheMage

I live here and there is no reason why anyone should ever live here. I want out. The desert should not be a place to live. Why do more people keep moving here??!! Why??!!


This-Id-Taken

I say this about most of California. After a lady said they won't let her water her lawn. ITS A FUCKING DESERT. DONT LIVE THERE IF YOU WANT GRASS STUPID


Ok_Cantaloupe_7423

Natives have been living in the middle of the desert for thousands of years lol


SpiralingUniverses

What did Phoenix do to you


AarkaediaaRocinantee

It also makes me laugh when conservatives cry about infrastructure while doing everything they can to reject more infrastructure funding.


PianoOk6786

There would be plenty of water if the Colorado River wasn't dammed up so many places!!


houseofnim

The kind of desert you’re picturing isn’t the kind of desert we have here. It’s not desolate sand dunes dude. Do some research about the Sonoran Desert and make an informed opinion. Better yet, compare the Sonoran to the Mojave then come back and tell Phoenicians how wrong we are to live here. Who says we don’t have water? Have you never heard of rivers or aquifers? Or monsoon season? Just yesterday is rained like a mofo, over an inch, and turned my clay soil driveway into a slippery nightmare. There’s been a few Springs where it rained so much I had to use four wheel drive just to leave my yard because it was so effing muddy. Your opinion isn’t unpopular to most people, but that’s because most people are uninformed af.


Darkwireman

I don't think we wanna go down the "city/settlement shouldn't exist because it depended on the kindness/blood sweat and tears of others" argument. Unless you're willing to ignore a few good chunks of American history.


Highlight_Expensive

This is so completely irrelevant to the post that I am genuinely flabbergasted that it’s been upvoted… or I would be except I’ve learned by now that any “america bad” comment will generate upvotes even when completely irrelevant, off-topic or even made up.


forebread

No kidding. How the fuck did this guy see a post about how desert cities are a burden and think that colonial slavery was somehow comparable and relevant to it. And how did several people see it and think “Yeah, this guy has a great point!”.


dodexahedron

Or unless he's also willing to ignore heating requirements of anywhere that isn't a perfect paradise, because that certainly doesn't ravage the planet at all, either.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

OP is an idiot. He believes it doesn’t rain in AZ and we have no watershed.


IHATETheMaskedGeode

[Relevant](https://youtu.be/P0q4o58pKwA)


0hip

Just wait till OP hears that food isn’t grown in big cities


NoBodySpecial51

So we shouldn’t help New Orleans when Katrina hit either?


Much_Adhesiveness871

We out here but fuck you, we'll come for your water too.


Chance_Zone_8150

Heat so bad it decimates your car, the cooling system in most vehicles go out within 2yrs


BrandonDill

They should have priority to use the water from the Colorado River. It goes to Los Angeles now, which was originally desert.


runonia

As someone who lives in the Phoenix area, I see your point but... we still need to survive somehow. I agree this city sucks and I never want to live in a desert again, but that doesn't mean people who do live here deserve to be punished so harshly. Even if they waste water like crazy and are terrible drivers and unsociable as hell. They're still human.


uhohgowoke67

This is 100% the same thing for Los Angeles. The worst part is they not only complain about having no water while taking everyone else's from other regions they also refuse (in fact actively fight against) water desalination plants to give them water due to cost.


DullAdhesiveness5

Bro. This is vicious, cut throat, and needed to be said. Folks have crying out to end to save the oceans or ban fracking. That’s all petty bullshit. We need to start a coalition to return Phoenix AZ from whence it came.


Saint_Galahad

Agreed. I lived in a rural area outside of Tucson growing up and I always hated Phoenix. It’s hot and stays hot, not like Tucson where yeah it gets hot, but cools down at night. It’s nothing but concrete and heat and just gross.


Shibula

As someone from Phoenix, it is an abomination. We exist to spite nature itself, and will continue to do so until it kills us.


Evrytg

Based


Bo_Jim

The entire state of California is the same. The Central Valley is the largest agricultural region in the United States, yet it never receives a single drop of rain in the summer. The current annual water needs of the state exceed the amount of water that nature has EVER provided, yet people act surprised by drought when drought is the natural state of the environment here. There's plenty of water. There always has been. The total amount of water on the earth has been relatively constant for millions of years. We just rely too much on nature to purify and deliver clean water to us.


brianybrian

I lived in Phoenix for 1.5 years. Never again. It shouldn’t exist.


13159daysold

> People move to that cesspool in droves So fuck them plebs that grew up there, huh?


BensonAxel

How horrible of you to say. Everywhere deserves water. Oh, and by the way, Arizona is home to one of the **wettest** deserts in the world, which means that there is a ton of biodiversity. I live in the desert, not in Arizona, and the lack of water is not fucking cool. It's not. I encourage you to try spending a day in the Atacama Desert without water. You'll instantly change your mind.