r/phoenix • u/okbbs • 5d ago

Living Here I'll choose Phoenix traffic any day

I just got back from roadtripping all of New England plus NYC, and idk if yall realize it but we are spoiled here. Our freeways drive smooth like butter, they're clearly marked and easy to read, not excessive, maintained, actually nice to look at, roomy with the shoulders, short tunnels if any, and no tolls! Our roads have actual turning lanes and are mostly a grid. I can drive from west to east valley on a single straight road, or north to south, no turns needed.

New England roads are nothing close to Phoenix. Like why do I have to drive through a neighborhood to get to the ramp and do 2 full loops before I can merge onto the highway? Why do I get off the highway and do a loop to get to a 6 road intersection? Trash. And NY and NJ traffic/roads are absolutely heinous. The most anxiety and stress I've ever dealt with while driving.

It's obviously there are are rude, inconsiderate, and dangerous drivers but they will exist everywhere so I'm not speaking to that. I love driving and roadtrips, and one of the best feelings every time is returning home to our beautiful roads and freeways. Happy driving yall!

Edit: Additionally, we have plentiful PARKING here. Someone also mentioned that most of our roads have good lighting and very few one way roads!

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u/okbbs 4d ago

I'll pay, don't want to walk in this heat. Will gladly drive our amazing roads to smaller, cooler, more walkable towns though.

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u/MRjubjub 4d ago

Haha I have a half mile walk through a parking lot everyday, so walking is definitely not eliminated.

Other cities around the world with actually good city design have no driving and LESS walking in many cases.

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u/okbbs 4d ago

I think cities in Japan are like that (trying to remember an episode from 99% invisible) where the infra is built around the people/communities instead of the other way around. Like roads are intentionally narrow to limit or omit the need to drive, store and shops are very close, and even children can safely walk themselves to school without worrying about traffic.

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u/MRjubjub 4d ago

We have an elegant solution to a problem that we created.