I'm sure others can chime in who have actually lived there, but I did spend a lot of time there in my younger years because of family and friends.
The Summers are hot, really hot. Dry heat jokes aside, August is Monsoon season and it's not only in the 110's it get really humid as well. In my younger years I hated it, but I'm getting more and more against winter and cold, so the trade off for me now adays would be to go hot.
Everything is brown, that's really what drove me nuts more than anything. I find brown to be a depressing color, so after a while, the lack of greenery really became an issue. I really would miss green fields and forests of green trees.
The weather over all to me was much better than the midwest. I haven't been out there for years, but you didn't seem to get the insane weather changes you can get in the midwest with the crazy thunderstorms popping up all over the place. At least not to the regularity it happens in the midwest.
I also didn't get a good vibe from people like I do in the midwest either. People just didn't seem as neighborly.
I think in the end, I think it really comes down to weather you like being stuck in your house in the dead of winter with frigid temps or being stuck in your house because it's so hot out it's not safe to be out for very long. As I said, as I get older, the idea of not fighting the cold and snow every year is looking more and more ideal. But be aware, you will still have to start your car before you get into it. You'll just have to run the AC instead of the heat.
