I feel compelled to prevent this topic from dying because we all live in such interesting places.
I'm from a suburb of Phoenix, capital of the state of Arizona. The area has been inhabited for thousands of years by Native Americans. In fact, much of our canal system was built out of canals that were in most cases built over a millennia ago by the Hohokam. They left us some gifts among the ruins of their society, and all we had to do is refurbish them. Jack Swilling, some ex-Confederate soldier from the American Civil War, stood at the head of that effort and is credited with founding Phoenix as a result. He had already done some mining and colonizing in the northern half of Arizona, but decided to try his luck a little more to the south. His whole venture was only successful because of the canals.
People started moving to Phoenix, but the name wasn't set in stone for a few more years to come. In fact, it was actually known as 'Pumpkinville' at one point of time because of the large pumpkins we used to grow. The early settlers finally decided that naming a city after a giant and ugly squash was absolutely retarded and decided on the name 'Phoenix' - chosen because the city grew from the ashes of the Hohokam's ruins. The city grew, and today, about 4 million people live here - including me for about half the year. Our (nonexistent) culture, though, leaves something to be desired. There's nothing really defining about us. We let our cowboy past die decades ago - that whole culture, along with 'bigger,' belongs to Texas. Most people here are immigrants, either from another state or from another country - 62% of the population, to be more precise. Also, an entire 15% of the population can't speak a lick of English. Street signs downtown reflect that, especially on the south side. Furthermore, every other culinary establishment serves Tex-Mex. The only thing I can think of that we do have is what we call 'snowbirds.' Essentially, they're well-to-do retirees who purchase winter residences in Arizona and reside here from around October until mid-April. Their name is derived from their migratory behavior - they flee the 45*C+ scalding Arizona heat and sun for the temperate climate of their northern residences during the summer and flee the frigid cold of those same places in the winter for Arizona's mild winters.
Phoenix does have one redeeming quality - its unique sunsets. We get something as pretty as the one pictured below almost every evening.
Edited by CIL, 06 June 2013 - 11:19 AM.
I'm creeping, not gone.