I have an opportunity for a position in Phoenix.  The interview is for both Phoenix and Hill AFB in UT.  So, I'm trying to get info on both.  I lived in Albuquerque for 9 years, and went to AZ for work many times.  So, I have an idea what it is like.  I worked on projects at Luke AFB, DMAFB, Ft Huachuca, and spent 6 months in Ajo at the border patrol station.  I loved NM, but I could not stand the office I worked in.  That's why I left for a promotion and new job in Baltimore. No I don't live in Baltimore, but I work in downtown.  The city I live in is ranked as one of the best places to live in the US.  But you pay for it in taxes.  My state income tax rate is 8.5%.  Federal is 9.35%.  A $550,000 house here will cost you about $7300 in property taxes.

I was wondering if there was an overall vibe or personality of the people there.  I have lived in different areas of the US, and each place seems to have a culture.  For example, people in Pittsburgh were very polite, but VERY cold and distant.  I met other people who had moved there from other states.  They all said the same thing.  They all said you could not make friends there with anyone local, only with other transplants.

For AZ;

How is access to doctor's and specialists?  Here in MD it is easy to get an appointment with a specialist or family doctor.  In NM it took 4 weeks to see my family doctor.  Specialists took a 6 month wait.
Is it easy to meet single women (40 to 55 yo)?  My goal is to meet women who enjoy the outdoors.
Are there lots of CA transplants in the area?
Are the people relaxed and accepting of others?
Any problems to worry about like water?
I've seen the summers there.  What do you do for outdoor recreation (if anything) during summer?
How is the crime?  I'm sure there are good and bad areas.
How is the air quality?  I've had problems here in MD with hot and very humid weather.  It causes asthma problems when I try to exercise. Dry air is not as bad.

If you don't bring Maryland with you or have the "that's not how things were done where I come from so I'm going to vote to bring it over to here" cancer, then you'll be fine really. But if not, WE'RE FULL.

As for the rest, I don't know the area though someone will be by shortly to answer who are from that part of the state. But I can answer that wildfires are real and fire restrictions during the spring & summer exists. Never leave a campfire unattended when restrictions are lifted and when shooting in the desert, please, PLEASE, take back with you what you brought out. And turn around and get away from the flood warning areas so you won't drown during flash floods from our monsoon season when the weather calls for it.

Doctors? I don't know. I don't use em much.
Single women? Don't know, I've been married for seventeen years.......
CA transplants? YES! Lots of them.
Relaxed people? I don't think so....People are pretty tribal. When I moved from Virginia in 2007, I was shocked how the service industries treat their customers. I guess I was used to "southern hospitality".
Problems? Water is a problem. Arizona is a desert! Housing is a problem. There isn't enough inventory and demand is high.
Summers are HOT! I don't do much outside except for shooting sports/gun games. There is plenty of hiking and biking available, just not my thing. Oh, if it's over 110 degrees, they close parks and trails in Phoenix.
Crime is pretty normal for the sixth largest city in the country. There is a fair amount of crime. You can't break the rules of stupid. Don't go to stupid places at stupid times with stupid people and do stupid things.
Air quality is worse than it used to be. The dry air helps, but there are high ozone days a lot in the summer. There is often a lot of dust in the air and allergy season is a real thing. If you have asthma, it will bother you here.
That said, I like it here. I might not stay here forever. Water will be a huge issue in the future. It's an issue now, but it's getting worse.  

YMMV

There are a lot of transplants here in general, but we've been flooded with people from California, Oregon, Washington, and all of the other liberal sh*tholes over the past couple of years. They're usually coming from areas more expensive than AZ, so these people swoop in and offer more for homes than locals can often afford. Housing is in short supply and the lack of water is even more concerning. We're in the middle of a long drought, but it's getting extremely bad right now. With the dryness comes fire restrictions that shut down the national forest and BLM land to shooting and campfires. We often times hit stage 3 fire restrictions in the national forests to where they close off the forest entirely to keep people and fire hazards out. That can put a damper on outdoor summer recreation.

Besides all of that, Phoenix is apparently experiencing the highest inflation in the country right now. https://www.azfamily.com/2022/05/12/phoenix-area-is-seeing-highest-inflation-nation/

Shitload of doctors. Phx is one of the top 5 metro areas in the country. Folks even come down from Prescott for medical care.

As is typical in many areas, the immediate metro area has tons of health care options.
The minute you get out of the metro, healthcare resources get real thin.

Yes California transplants abound, but many of them fled for the right reasons and/ or were conservative trying to escape

Part of that may be a bias as my circle of friends ( I moved from god awful New York 7 years ago) is my local gun club associates ( many of which are former Californians ) and the guys and gals at my VFW post, both tend to be conservative groups ( my post does a monthly gun raffle)

Real estate is a bitch. I have seen the value of my modest home bough last fall increase about 35k in 6 months.

Proposition 208 passed. Part of why the prices at here in AZ have gone up from rent to food, is because of CA voters doing their part to bring what they "fled from" to be reintroduced over here. All the people that are now having their money being redistributed to teachers salaries? Business owners. Farmers. Land owners. Property owners. Employers. They have to make it back somehow, so guess who got screwed over?? Us.

Lane filtering passed. A lot of Californians bring with them their nasty and very reckless driving habits. They don't even assimilate to AZ either even in the rural bumfuck parts, either. I bet a lot of those "fleeing" also wanted to have some CA things installed over here. Like lane filtering, a CA invention.

Fled my ass, they're still voting and lobbying for the same things that they had supposedly fled from. It's why I said to the OP that as long as he leaves Maryland back in Maryland where it belongs, then he'll be welcomed.

Again I was noting my circle of friends ( gun club and VFW members) tend to be very conservative and not part of the problem. I know and agree there are plenty trying to califonicate Arizona - they just are not the ones I have contact with

If you ignore the impending doom lurking on the horizon between water issues, food issues, illegal invasion issues, CA invasion issues, and general hot ass desert issues, it's pretty great . That was only half a joke.

Your questions make me think you have no business in Arizona. Zero. You’re like a Hartford Connecticut guy.

I moved here in 2011.  Loved it.  In the 10 years since, it has gotten a lot more like California.  Constitutional Carry is nice, but the neighborhoods and freeways full of speeding, asshole California Kens and Karens is getting tiresome.

This doesn't get said enough. Red voting Americans are welcome, but asshole driving refugees still voting for the same ideologies that they were fleeing from is

No issues with doctors prior to Covid. Now it’s 2 week wait.
Been married for awhile so can speak to single scene, I don’t know.
There is a massive influx of CA, to the point 30% of my neighbors are from there. It’s becoming a huge issue and while people are friendly, it’s becoming less and less each year. I see more aggression now then ever before. Water is becoming a huge issue and everything we are doing is a stop gap measure with no long term options. Summer normally means lake or head up north. Hike in the morning but be done early. Air quality around Phoenix is not great. We are getting pretty high days lately, I check it often due to my sons asthma. I’m here for three more years and then I’m out. The CA transplants are running this place into the ground and the water issues are only going to get worse and worse.