I moved to the Salt River after living for five years in Flagstaff.
I am a programmer for a software development company that previously had its offices in Flagstaff.
It was a beautiful city in the largest ponderosa pine forest in the whole country. Compared to the desert areas of southern Arizona, Flagstaff feels like a rare treasure. I still enjoy Arizona living in Phoenix, but I miss the pine woods in Flagstaff whenever I’m outside going for a walk in Papago Park or along the river banks. Phoenix is considerably warmer than Flagstaff as well, being at a mere 1,000 feet of elevation while Flagstaff is just under 7,000 feet. Being higher up in the air makes you less susceptible to intensely hot temperatures. In my house along the Salt River, I was using a swamp cooler to keep it cold inside for the longest time. These evaporative coolers use a fan to force water soaking in a desiccant medium to evaporate and lower the temperature in the air around it. These air coolers work best at low humidity levels, so they’re not ideal for actual swamps despite the confusing terminology. I know some people in Florida who bought one and couldn’t figure out why the machine wouldn’t actually cool their house. Needless to say, the humidity was over 85% so that probably had something to do with it. Since I’m so close to the Salt River, my indoor humidity is a little bit higher than other places in Phoenix, particularly south of here in Maricopa. Having a proper air conditioner now is a huge upgrade from an evaporative cooler, even if you live in the right environment for one.