Clubbing in the Sunbelt

BurlingtonHoFactory
New Jersey, near the Shore
My parents are thinking about retiring to the "sunbelt," some place warm, with low taxes, a high quality of life, and a low cost of living, in the southern or western US. I've been trying to help them choose a place, but one of the things I haven't really considered yet is the quality of the club experience in these locales. No, not for my parents, for me, silly. After all, even though I'll probably remain here in the northeast, I will still be visiting them frequently (and, you know, any excuse is a good excuse). And, who knows, maybe one day I'll move there, too. We've narrowed their options down to Tampa, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. When the time comes, they'll probably move to a nice, quiet suburb within about 30 or 40 minutes of the downtown area of whichever city they choose. Any thoughts from residents or visitors about the overall quality of SCs in each of these places? Also, I know this is a website about titty bars, but if anyone just has some general useful comments about what it's like to live in these places, please feel free to let me know. Thanks.

35 comments

Latest

  • san_jose_guy
    7 years ago
    We have people in all of those places, and they can tell you which clubs are good, and which of those places have the good clubs.

    I was in Florida once, right in about the center. It is too humid and it has too many insects, and the people are extremely conformist.

    They say Phoenix has good strip clubs, but it is also a conservative place, they pass anti-union laws and they elect that Sherriff Joe Arpaio. These kinds of things do effect what it would be like to live there.

    Two places which look interesting to me are Tucson and El Paso.

    The first has the U Arizona and is close to Mexico, and in a different congressional district from Phoenix. The second looks culturally more like NM than Texas, and it is the second largest crossing point into Mexico after Tijuana. And for business, Texas has no sales tax or state income tax.

    SJG
  • mark94
    7 years ago
    Phoenix, Tucson, and El Paso each have one club that sets them apart. Over a period of years, the experience at these clubs has changed like the tide. It gets progressively better, then LE heat is brought on them and the experience suffers for a year or three. Both Phoenix and Tucson are near high tide right now. Don't plan on it lasting.
  • san_jose_guy
    7 years ago
    mark, how are you defining these one club each which set them apart? What for you makes a club that distinctive?

    SJG
  • Papi_Chulo
    7 years ago
    I think Phoenix/AZ has a large retiree community due to the warm and dry weather (better for old joints) - of the 3 places you listed I think Phoenix has the best SC scene
  • Papi_Chulo
    7 years ago
    Maybe you can sell your parents on retiring in Tijuana
  • rh48hr
    7 years ago
    There are plenty of retirement areas here. And plenty of SC's. They just need to be able to handle the summer heat.

    A lot of seniors (snowbirds) just come in the winter time when the weather is ideal here then go back to their home town when the weather is ideal there in the summer.
  • mark94
    7 years ago
    SJG, HL, Venom, and Cabaret stand out on the value list. They have for years. If they closed down, the average value and mileage in each city would plunge.
  • WetWilly
    7 years ago
    I've lived in all three cities, and my business is real estate. All three have significant retirement communities, and I'd rank the strip club experience with Las Vegas a clear number 1 in quality, diversity, and high prices. Tampa is a distant second, and Phoenix a distant third. Pull a couple of clubs out of Phoenix and it'd be a sorry, sorry placed for strip clubs. One or two liquor license violations and it'd be a sad place for a long time.
  • ime
    7 years ago
    Don't listen to Sanjoseguy about clubs he doesn't go to strip clubs and is autistic as well as severely mentally ill.
  • BurlingtonHoFactory
    7 years ago
    Thanks so much for all the advice, guys, I really appreciate it. The only thing I would dispute is what one person said about Texas having no sales tax. Texas doesn't seem to be a "low tax" state, when you think about it. They do have a sales tax and they also have relatively high property taxes almost statewide. I guess I would call them a "moderate tax" state. But of course, there's more to life than just paying low taxes. Like good titty bars.

    Anyway, the thing about Joe Arpaio is a concern for me. I've thought about it. I'm told that Phoenix has quietly developed a reputation as being a hub for adult entertainment, but I can't see how that could be, given that you could theoretically be arrested and thrown into a chain-gang to march through the desert in 100 degree heat, just for asking for extras. And of course, the fact that it can be 100 degrees at night is also a concern.

    As for Vegas, the thing is, you would think the girls there would be a little more "liberal" with their offerings, given that there is *legal* competition just a few hours north. Shows what the hell I know.

    But I'm surprised that more people didn't endorse Tampa. A few of you did, but still. It has this reputation as a strip club capital. Maybe undeserved? I don't know
  • Papi_Chulo
    7 years ago
    1) sales taxes are local (city/county level) - what TX does not have, which is advantage, is no state income tax


    2) Joe Arpayo is no longer the sheriff - he lost reelection

    3) Tampa strip-clubbing is over-rated living mostly on past 80s/90s glory and riding the coattails of the legendary Mons Venus - Tampa SCs also tend to be more expensive than Phoenix SCs

  • Papi_Chulo
    7 years ago
    I assume Vegas would be fun - but the SCs seem to charge a premium for non-premium mileage - but there's always the casino girls/escorts everyone talks about as a better alternative to Vegas SCs
  • rh48hr
    7 years ago
    Papi beat me to it, but Arpaio did lose his re-election bid and is currently in court waiting on a judge to decide if he willfully defied a judge’s orders barring him from conducting immigration-enforcement operations.

    Arpaio is 85 years old so even if he is found guilty probably won't serve jail time.
  • Mate27
    7 years ago
    The tent city has been taken down in Maricopa County(Phoenix) since the new sheriff took over. If you move or don't move to a city due to its politics, you'll never be happy with your decision.
  • shadowcat
    7 years ago
    When it comes to the number of actual retirees Florida ranks #1.

    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-w…

    Btw Georgia ranks #4 and I have no complaints.
  • Papi_Chulo
    7 years ago
    I imagine if you Google "best places to retire" you'll get some good info unfortunately they are often areas w/ bad or no SCs
  • BurlingtonHoFactory
    7 years ago
    Yes, I remember reading that Arpaio lost his reelection, and I have heard about his legal problems. Regardless, the people of Maricopa County did elect and reelect him for many years. Who's to say that they won't elect something similar four years from now? I don't know of any other large city that has had a chief lawman like him in the modern era. So that's a little troubling, but it doesn't end the whole conversation; I still like Phoenix.

    As for retirement communities having good/bad/no SCs, I'm of two minds on the subject. On the one hand, retirement communities tend to be fairly conservative places, owing to senior citizens themselves tending to be fairly conservative people. And conservative places often have both low taxes and various anti-sex ordinances. On the other hand, SCs depend on lonely people with free time and disposable income... which sounds like a good description of the average octogenarian widower to me.
  • Jascoi
    7 years ago
    phoenix and las vegas are soooooo frikin HOT in the summer.
  • Jascoi
    7 years ago
    for my personal choice i choose tijuana to retire in. once i have my ducks in a row. close to my kids and grankids in the southwest.
  • mark94
    7 years ago
    For the record, metro Phoenix ( Maricopa county ) has a long libertarian history going back to Barry Goldwater. Yes, they vote Republican, but they want a small government that will let them pursue happiness. The city itself, like other urban areas, has been under Democratic control for years. As long as adult businesses treat the politicians right, they are allowed to do business.
  • twentyfive
    7 years ago
    What meat said is true i" If you move or don't move to a city due to its politics, you'll never be happy with your decision."
    I like south Florida I'm not retired as yet but if you like a more laid back lifestyle it's great and although it has become more expensive over the years it is still affordable for most.
  • BurlingtonHoFactory
    7 years ago
    Quote: "For the record, metro Phoenix ( Maricopa county ) has a long libertarian history going back to Barry Goldwater. Yes, they vote Republican, but they want a small government that will let them pursue happiness."
    Well, there are some contradictions in Phoenix. They do elect guys like Barry Goldwater and Jeff Flake, but they also elected Joe Arpaio. Politics is a fickle beast, as has been pointed out a few times in this thread. It wouldn't scare me away from living there, or recommending it to my parents, as long as there are still some high-mileage titty clubs in the area.
  • Charles Paisley
    7 years ago
    The likes of Joe Arpaio will (thankfully) never be seen again in this community. Just like Orange County, CA (perhaps the most notable bastion of Republicans) actually cast more votes for Hillary over Trump in the most recent election, demographic changes in Maricopa make electing another Arpaio-like character damn near impossible.

    For your parents, on the west side there the huge Del Webb Sun City complex, as well as Surprise. On the east side in Mesa, a number of retirement communities like Leisure World, Sunland Springs and Fountain of the Sun cater to elderly. One caveat: many of these communties are literally fucking empty in the summertime, as these are the second homes of snowbirds from the mid-west and Canadians. There's also a pharmacy on virtually every single corner.

    CP
  • san_jose_guy
    7 years ago
    Thank you mark for that list of clubs. Though I have never been to those places, I am aware of those clubs. The last two, Venom and Cabaret are the ones I would go to first.

    In Phoenix, I hear lots about HL. But the ones I would go to first are Xecutive Show Case ( said to be black ), and Chicas.

    Thanks,
    SJG
  • Mate27
    7 years ago
    ^^^ Of course you would visit those. They're the shithole clubs of the Phx area, right up your alley!
  • san_jose_guy
    7 years ago
    Libertarianism is just a cover for Republicanism, it depends upon social conformity, and on having enough cops and prisons to enforce it.

    SJG
  • gammanu95
    7 years ago
    If they are looking for warm with low taxes, why haven't they considered Texas?
  • san_jose_guy
    7 years ago
    Thanks Che for the correction and info about Texas sales taxes.

    SJG
  • BurlingtonHoFactory
    7 years ago
    Quoting san_jose_guy - "Libertarianism is just a cover for Republicanism, it depends upon social conformity, and on having enough cops and prisons to enforce it.

    SJG"

    When you say 'Republicanism,' I assume you mean American-style conservatism. Republicanism just means being supportive of a republic; so I'd like to think we all support republicanism based on that definition. But I take your point. This wasn't originally meant to be about politics, but everyone has been nice enough to respond with lots of good suggestions, so I'll take the bait: why does libertarianism depend on social conformity? And what would make you think that libertarians, of all people, would ever want to use cops and prisons to enforce social conformity? I suppose whenever you start talking about where to move, discussing politics becomes almost inevitable because it affects so much. I don't mind discussing it.
  • BurlingtonHoFactory
    7 years ago
    Quoting gammanu95 - "If they are looking for warm with low taxes, why haven't they considered Texas?"

    Texas was definitely on our list originally, but we were put off by the relatively high property taxes. If my parents moved there they would want to stay close to a major city, probably Houston, and the property taxes on homes in the Houston suburbs are higher than they want to pay. It looks like you've spent some time in most of the places we're discussing; should I take your comment to mean that you like Texas best?
  • Mate27
    7 years ago
    Texas real estate taxes are higher to make up for some of their lower taxing revenue sources. AZ real estate tax rates are one of the lowest, but there is a 1.8% to 3% state income rates after your deductions.
  • san_jose_guy
    7 years ago
    By Republicanism I mean support for the Republican Party. I'm not talking about broader political premises.

    If someone says, "I am a Libertarian" or "I support Libertarianism", or "I support the Libertarian Party", then they are supporting the Republican Party.

    Libertarianism is designed to enforce social conformity because it reduces all of life to property rights. And so of course, this kind of a society needs lots of cops and prisons to uphold these rights, and it also needs to enforce social conformity in order to keep people from finding ways of using truth to undermine their starting premises, that nothing matters except for property. And of course Libertarianism turns children into property.

    And as a side note, that is interesting if Texas has higher property taxes, and factoring in its property values.

    SJG
  • BurlingtonHoFactory
    7 years ago
    SJG,
    I don't know, that sounds like a stretch. You're describing this weird slippery-slope police state. For example, I know libertarians don't particularly like paying taxes, but you'd need lots of taxes to pay for all the cops and prisons (both of which are things that I think libertarians are also skeptical about, to say the least). Libertarians are also way against slavery, so I doubt they would be cool with treating children as personal property. Anyway, I think the dictionary definition of libertarian is the one that makes the most sense: someone who wants to maximize individual freedom and minimize the role of the government. But speaking more generally, all of this is almost beside the point because a society that doesn't respect property rights just doesn't sound like a place I would want to live in the first place.
  • BurlingtonHoFactory
    7 years ago
    Meat72,
    Yeah, the state income tax in AZ is a drag, but I heard there was a push to begin phasing it out and eventually eliminate it. I admit I don't follow Arizona politics all that closely, and of course it is possible that the recent experience of Kansas phasing out its state income tax, which has been painted as a disaster by the media, may have dissuaded Arizona from taking action. Is this something you've heard about? With its state income tax, relatively high sales tax, and vehicle tax, but with fairly low property taxes, I'm not sure if I would characterize AZ as a low-tax state or a moderate-tax state. Certainly, when compared to NY, NJ, CA, MA, etc., it's an absolute tax haven. But I need to compare it to Florida, of course, against which it doesn't fair as well. On the other hand, certainly my parents' insurance costs would be much lower in AZ than FL. There's more to the equation than just taxes.
  • san_jose_guy
    7 years ago
    All we really need to do is wait for enough Christians to die:
    Libertarians don't want there to be any public protection of children, seeing them instead as chattels. Libertarians want a world of strict rules, albeit most of these rules are about property. Then only possible way of enforcing that is with cops and prisons, or at least with cops and guns. They want to eliminate those parts of government which protects individual liberties, and only keep those parts which protect their property rights.

    The whole doctrine is bull shit.

    SJG

    Deep Purple, Moscow 2016
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyfzte3p…
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