How is Phoenix Arizona is it a real big city ?

It's a huge, sprawling city! It can take an hour or more (once you get to the interstate) just to drive across town. Add the "suburbs," which are so immediately adjacent they are part of the megalopolis - e.g. Mesa, Scottsdale. You will need a good car & be a good driver. You'll spend a lot of time commuting to work, grocery shopping, & everything else.

I was just there for a month, and we didn't have nearly enough time to do anything. There are fabulous restaurants, parks, a great science center, great shopping in Scottsdale (touring old Scottsdale was fun- we did a scavenger hunt on our phones), huge malls, places to go outside the city to ride ATVs or hunt fossils - and you can go to the Grand Canyon. The weather was great in December and January, and even in the summer, when it's very hot, it does cool down at night because it's dry. 

I'm from Phoenix, lived here all my life,

50+ years.  There really isn't anything 

about this state worth mentioning BUT the weather.

Revitalization of the down town area, where all the sports venues are, has been on going for years, traffic sucks.  Touristy, history downtown, trendy bars and what not.

There is one must see if you're in Az.

The meteor crater.

North of Flagstaff near Winslow, which also has the statue dedicated to Glenn Fry standing on a

corner.  There's also 

rattle snakes that can hide in unsuspecting places,

the odds of finding a scorpion under your blankets are pretty good.  That's just [my] neighborhood, in the city.  Coyotes have been seen roaming thru these same neighborhoods.

There are many folk who lost their small dogs to coyotes snatching them up and bolting.

The indigenous vegetation can kill you with poison or sharp thorny spikes.

They provide 0 shade.  And there's a perpetual dust problem.   Just don't visit during the months of June through October otherwise you might melt...

I've been there twice.  The first time was when we came down from the Grand Canyon.  We stopped at a hotel at midnight and it was 100F out.  No kidding.

The second time I was heading to LA from El Paso when some ****** from the right lane changed to the left and almost cut me off.  I had my cruise control on.  I didn't know there was an unmarked police car behind me.  He pulled me over.  Talked about what happened.  I told him my cruise was on and I reacted defensively and the only reason I got within 20 feet of his car was because when the guy started over there was only 15 feet for him to switch lanes.

We talked about other subjects for about 15 minutes and he let me go without a ticket or a warning.  He didn't even ask me where we were coming from or going to, my occupation, nothing.  I guessed he liked what I had to say.  I was courteous and don't have a record.  So, afterwards I figured he was using me as a means to slow the other traffic down.

I live in a village of 1000 people 30 miles from the nearest real city.  Phoenix is too big for me and I used to live in Philadelphia and near NYC.

It's big. It's spread out. It's like LA, minus the beaches, movie industry, garment district and culture. So basically, it sucks a big one.

I lived in Phoenix, AZ for 5 years (2010-2015) 

It’s relatively big not as big as Los Angeles of course. There’s tons of nice resorts and golf courses there so if you���re into that thing it’s great. A lot of baseball parks as well. The nicer areas are Scottsdale and paradise valley (more money) Scottsdale has great nightlife.  The bad part of town in the southern end. Crime has been on uptick post Hurricane Katrina. A lot of undesirable from New Orleans started moving in. Certain areas have a lot of Hispanics so it would behoove you to learn a little Spanish. 

The summers can get so hot that people don’t come out of their house.  I remember going there one summer night and was over 100 degrees outside when I got off the plane at sky harbor. the cost of living is good however there isn’t a lot in terms of employment. couldn’t be more obvious who has multiple accounts. What a total fingerless loser. I’ve got one for you pal 🖕🏼

As of 2019 it had a population of 1.633 million. I'd say that's fairly large.