Best State to live and ride in Year Round?

LANE SPLITTING! LANE SPLITTING! ARE YOU KIDDING ME????
I don't want to live any place where you have to lane split.
I always say Southern CA would be great except for about 21.98 million people.

We have three traffic lights and about 7,000 residents here in Graham County, NC.

Don't pick Southern MO or Arkansas. Roads suck, trees are all dead or ate up by bugs., Chiggers. Ticks, Mosquitoes, Hail storms, tornadoes, Ice storms. 100/90 in the summer, 100 degree, 90% humidity. Bad fishing, bad hunting. Can't ride for all the damn deer. Sure houses are cheap, people can't wait to leave. Go to So Cal. Please, leave Arkansas alone.

Rod

California has lots and lots of small towns, AND Lane splitting

So you won't get rear-ended by a pickup at one of them three stop lights.

Riiiiiiight, come out here for a day or two and pass judgement. Pro-tip, the "misters" make it more humid under them. I don't know why some of the sporting venues have them because as you said, it makes it worse. The humidity you felt was man made from the misters and you being in a grass field. Seriously, do the math. Those misters usually mist out cold water at high end patios and outdoor malls for a bit of relief in the heat of the summer.

I won't deny for one bit that it gets incredibly hot here, but it is not humid. I have been to every state in America and lived in just about every part of California before. California is way more humid than Phoenix.

Yes it's hot, no it's not humid. There are amazing riding roads all around the state and just outside the city and even within the city and year round riding as well. I'll admit, parts of SoCal are probably the ultimate for year round riding, but you have to deal with WAY higher prices, way more congestion and 90% of the roads in California are in terrible condition. I also like how the architecture here is generally a lot nicer, newer and more well kept on "average." Too much old stuff that isn't well kept enough in California for my taste.

I'm generalizing everything other than the fact that it's not humid here at all. The OP could move to half the united states and get year round riding and probably find some nice roads in all honesty. Just be prepared, if you choose California or for that matter even Florida these days, you're going to be paying high prices. If you have it? Certainly worth a look, but not worth it in my opinion if you don't have the $$$.

Oh I get it, all move to Southern CA so xy can lane split. That is good.

I live in Wa Just miss it

Zeid,
Phoenix is the hottest place. Had to get out on the tarmac at the airport to catch a flight to Flagstaff and almost fainted. One hot and air polluted city in a bowl. Maybe use to be dry heat but not any more with all the Yankees trying to make it like home with watered lawns, trees,etc.

It's not like I'm making it up or alone in my assessment, Phoenix in August was the surface of the sun, AND incredibly humid.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/arizona/124454-arizona-usually-humid-wet.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/arizona/124454-arizona-usually-humid-wet.html

Come back for a few days? No thanks. FWIW I've spent the last 4 winters in Yuma.

THe question is best place to live for riding, for me, there is NO WAY I'd be riding in AZ in the summer. At best it's really frikken hot. but in my own admittedly limited experience PHX gets an inversion layer of heat, humidity and Smog that makes it just nasty. I'd Pick San Diego or LA over that any day of the week.

All big cities are polluted, Phoenix is actually one of the least polluted cities I've been to of this size at least. California has some major smog problems, even if you're in the coastal regions unless you're more than 100 miles outside the cities. Also right now the humidity in Los Angeles is 61%, in Phoenix it is 19%.

And did you notice flying over that EVERYONE has a pool?

It's also October LA is known for it's horrible smog, but in reality they usually have an ocean breeze that blows it away. And it blows it right into the grand canyon and PHX. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-01-23/features/1991023198_1_chemicals-grand-canyon-researchers

Sorry man, but you are just flat out misinformed.

I lived in San Diego for a long time and in Los Angeles as well. I actually like both places a lot, but Phoenix is leaps and bounds less humid. I don't even know how you can compare it. Did you happen to read the link you pasted? (You pasted the same one twice by the way.) First of all, it's in Tuscon, not Phoenix. Scottsdale = Part of Phoenix. Also, it's talking about Monsoon Season. The first reply talks about how they come, pour some rain down and it's humid for a few days. It burns off quite quickly. The monsoons never last more than a day or two at a time and are quite rare at that, they are not back to back. It use to rain all the damn time in the winter in San Diego. Once again, I'll give you the fact that this place is no doubt hot, but it is a very dry heat as this popular saying that circulates here in the Valley describes. Also, the smog here is not bad at all. Especially when compared to Los Angeles- like, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? lol.

Hmmmm, TOP of the list you say?: http://www.mnn.com/health/healthy-spaces/photos/7-us-cities-with-the-worst-air-pollution/phoenix

Um, that isn't a numbered list. Here's you a numbered list from a much more acredited source. Note, Phoenix isn't on it, but just about every big town in California is...

http://www.webmd.com/asthma/ss/slideshow-worst-smog-cities

Take a look at this one as well:

http://www.stateoftheair.org/2013/city-rankings/most-polluted-cities.html

I though you lived in WA WA land.

Second link was supposed to be http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080610101254AAlG9mK

Yeah, cuz I had to come back here from LaLa land to deal with my property. But I'd move back to socal in a hot second.

I just linked you to the humidity reports, the proof is right there. The first two responses in that link are very misleading and *gasp* also uninformed. This is taken from your exact link further down by the way...:

Fester Frump answered 5 years ago
Generally no. It's never humid like it can be on the east coast. What happens in the southern part of Arizona (Phoenix area & south) is they get these outrageous thunderstorms called "monsoon rains". It rains like hell for a short period of time, after those it will be humid until all the water evaporates - which takes less than a day.

GreasyTony answered 5 years ago
Only during Monsoon season, but it's not unbearable and it's not everyday. A Monsoon is sort of a summer thunder storm, so it only gets humid when the clouds are hanging around, but the storm does cool it down a lot as it's raining, and when it's stops, that's when you really feel it. But it's nothing like Texas or Michigan.

meintsm answered 5 years ago
Humidity is not a problem until it comes to the Monsoon that start soon. But that is hit and miss. But all in all there is really very little humidity in Phx. Most summer days are around 10%.

Look buddy, it boils down to this. I have lived in both places for years at a time. Have you? You've admitted you were in Phoenix for only a few days.

I'm not disrespecting any place at all, I actually hate to see people do that and gloat. California is a lovely place, if you can deal with the prices. And I'm certainly not saying it doesn't get hot here, because it does. But it is not humid and it is not nearly as smoggy as a lot of other big cities in the united states. It sounds like you came after a monsoon, another pro-tip is that after the monsoons and during that kind of weather it can kick up a lot of dust. Look up "Haboob" to see what I mean.

Great roads, great folks around here. Reasonable cost of living.
Joe

I make a couple of trips up there every year. Now there are a lot of places with good twisties, but what I like about the Zarks are lack of people. I can ride there on a weekday and have Push Mountain, 125 and all the other great roads, pretty much to myself.