Transplant or Local?

Yup, I went to NYU for undergrad. A lot of my friends lived in Stuy town so the better part of my senior year was spent there. How did you like Arizona?

It was seventh grade and I'd left all my friends in LA so it was not the best experience of my life. It was also just me and my mom in a little apartment so I had an inordinate number of meals at McDonalds. (Mom was a doctor so cooking was not on her schedule.) It got so bad that the ever rotating staff knew me by name.

The other thing I remember about the junior high school I went to, Madison #1 was its lack of diversity. There were a fair number of latinos, but in the entire school there were only two black people, a brother and a sister. They were always walking together and I never saw them interacting with anyone else. It was shocking to me having come from the San Fernando Valley and NYC where you got the true melting pot experience.

It was definitely the whitest place I have ever been. I don't know if all of that area is like there. I hear that Tucson is more diverse, but I didn't get far beyond my little section of it during the time I was there. It was also the blondest place I have ever been. And there were lots of girls named Heidi--I guess that show must have been really popular in Arizona around 1971 or so, because I would literally have classes where they had designate which Heidi you were talking about: Heidi B. and Heidi H and Heidi S.

We, of course, took some trips up to the Grand Canyon and Flagstaff seemed pretty nice--kind of an intermediate sized city. Good places to eat and nicer weather than Pheonix as I remember it. What was it like living there?

Flag was fun - definitely a college town, and had a bit of a shelf life, but fun nonetheless. Nightlife was decent and there were a huge number of ethnic restaurants. I didn't own a car but had plenty of friends who did, and rode my bike everywhere which made it a far more pleasant experience. The weather was cold in the winter, but not stifling in the summer, although the altitude took a bit of a toll on me. That area is also an outdoor adventure mecca.

The biggest drawback for me was Flagstaff's utter isolation from anything else. Coming from the East Coast, I was used to hopping in a car and driving for twenty minutes in order to arrive at the next town. In Northern Arizona, the nearest town was two hours away, which felt odd and a little isolating.

Nonetheless, I had a great time there and would love to go back and visit someday.

That way out on your own feeling that places like that have definitely has a psychological effect. I think it helps to bring people closer together. I considered at one point going to Alaska and when I talked to someone who had worked up there they said that you definitely feel like its you against the world in a place like that.

As far as bike cultures go, Davis, CA is that kind of a place. Very nice and quiet--good for studying or raising a family--but boring if you are single or looking for adventure.