Tucson's Future (crime rates, homes, construction jobs)

[Salpointe59]

If I were in your shoes I would seriouslu consider the 4th Ave area.

[Jimrob1]

Originally Posted by coatimundi

Personally, I see Tucson gentrifying much more in the next five years and attracting more young hipsters. The development- and business-unfriendly city council and county board of supervisors that everyone complains about will end up keeping Tucson's culture in check, and not let it wane and diminish in order to attract money more quickly.
Everyone seems to want Tucson to be more like Portland, and that may actually end up happening. The economy is always going to be bad because it's a desirable place to live and the workforce is highly educated: salaries will be lower and jobs more scarce. If you want to make money, you live in a place like Phoenix or Atlanta or Oklahoma or Charlotte, places where no one really wants to live but end up living to make a lot of money. I did it for a bit, but quickly came back because I value the quality of life over a better salary.

I spent virtually all of my 20's in Tucson, and I thought it was a great place to be that age. Good nightlife, the dating scene was decent, the weather was great, and there were a ton of outdoor activities year-round to keep you occupied. Moving from Houston originally, I saw that right away and now, moving to Indiana, I miss it a lot. And whenever I quit a job there, I found another one pretty quickly. It was never a problem.

I saw a lot of people my age move out into the suburbs like Marana, Vail, Sahuarita and Oro Valley out of necessity because they couldn't afford to buy a house in the city, even though they liked living in the city, and they hated the suburbs. That's changed, so I can only imagine things will get better in the urban core as people start moving back in. Obviously the housing market needs to settle before anything like this will be noticeable, but I have friends there that are already doing this.

I honestly cannot understand what people see in the advantage of being like Portland. Having Light Rail Trains, hipsters, homeless and druggies all over the city doesn't make a city. I certainly hope Tucson sees more in Portland than what I mentioned, but in all honesty that is much of what Portland is. Its not a city for attracting employers or funding schools. So I hope Tuscon looks elsewhere for a model city.

[coatimundi]

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

I honestly cannot understand what people see in the advantage of being like Portland. Having Light Rail Trains, hipsters, homeless and druggies all over the city doesn't make a city. I certainly hope Tucson sees more in Portland than what I mentioned, but in all honesty that is much of what Portland is. Its not a city for attracting employers or funding schools. So I hope Tuscon looks elsewhere for a model city.

I think it's more from an urban planning perspective. The story I always heard was that Portland invested in the urban core and the Max train and then refused to fund freeway projects and restricted land use in the outlying areas. A lot of people in Tucson proper (read: not Oro Valley) want something like this, partially because it's all compared to Phoenix, which is one of the worst urban areas in the country for uncontrolled sprawl. There's traditionally a push to do everything that Phoenix is not doing.
But Portland is idealized way too much in Tucson. You hear a lot of "Portland has this" and "Portland does this," particularly in public meetings. A lot of kids coming out of high school in Tucson end up moving there (but mostly LA and San Francisco) because of the somewhat distorted image. They always seem to come back in a few years and blame it on the weather, but I've always thought it's something a little more broad than that that they just don't want to admit to.

Honestly though, Tucson already has its share of homeless, meth addicts and hipsters.

[elkotronics]

One record store Tucson has that I loved coming to when we came to Tucson to "play" is Zia's CD's and DVD's. Always a reduced-price bin full of CD's and DVD's to chose from. Tucson has a lot to offer, we lived and worked in Willcox, and came to Tucson for the dentist and conventions and concerts, shopping, eating, movies, etc.

As far as traffic goes, heck, I was born in Seattle and raised in Edmonds, WA. Seattle's problems dwarf Tucson's on so many degrees...Seattleites always have that "urge" to go in front of you on I-5 then have to slow down because there's almost always someone in front of them, too, because Seattle's such a rat race for automobile traffic. Tucson is a city of U-turns, and, once you get used to heading down 22nd or Broadway or Grant to where you need, U-turn when and where you need to, it's not all that bad. It's way easier to motivate and move on Tucson's streets than Seattle's. Then again, Tucson has a bigger population than Seattle, but not Seattle's entire metro area. Phoenix is more comparable to Seattle but even Phoenix's traffic moves better than Seattle's. The Californians are partly ta blame for spoiling the Seattle pristene experience. They moved in bunches up north ta Seattle and parlayed their real estate winnings (proceeds) and bought for relatively cheap in the entire western Washington area while the getting was good. The greed of the county's and real estate agents had to enter into play and SHAZAM! Real estate prices skyrocketed up.

Ruined western Washington, along with Boeing and it's greed and corruption and petty politics. I'm a much happier man down in Arizona than in my homeland of Washington state. Anyway, just a few thoughts. I'd love to return to the warmth of Arizona soon. I love the entire region and really feel that Tucson is a piece of cake to navigate on the roads, has some relatively cheap housing and has some of my favorite bands come to play. The bigger acts require a trip to Phoenix to see, of course.

But, like I said, all the big city amenities are all over the place everywhere, and the heat is scrumptuous!

[DOUBLE H]

Good post Elkotronics! Like Elko, I've been in that store and also the Bookman's entertainment book/cd/record stores. And have met a lot of friendly folks there. I've stayed the night several times in Willcox and have eaten at the Plaza restaurant and the new truck stop on the other side of 10.

If the Colorado Rockies hadn't have pulled out of Tucson for preseason baseball, I'd have made it down there for a weeks worth of games this past March. The last time I stayed in Tucson I got a room at the extended stay off Ina Rd. and I-10. Bought lots of tunes, dvd's, went to Hi Corbett for some baseball and caught the Moody Blues at the Suaharito Casino south of Tucson. Ate lots of mexican food and enjoyed those 75 to 80 degree temps. And LOVED it!

And yes, I know Tucson has problems. Lots of them. What big city doesn't?

If I wasn't nailed down to where I live at now, I could live in southeastern Arizona very easily. But for now I just get in the car and drive 11 hours.

[elkotronics]

Oh, I think that Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was quickly carted to UMC in Tucson. Can anybody confirm that? My point is, wherever she went, she was quickly and efficiently taken care of. Know why I know that? The TV news was all over that story, we almost knew more quicker watching on TV than her astronaut husband knew right away. So Tucson has some heady medico's working in it's hospitals...very important information to digest if you're interested in coming to Tucson to live.

And, you're right, DOUBLE H, Bookman's is a great store. There's also Barnes and Noble on Broadway, sort of near the Park Place Mall at the corner of 22nd and Wilmot, that's a great bookstore to go to.

[coatimundi]

Yes, Gabby was at UMC. You can find pictures online of the wall of flowers that people set up outside that hospital just after the incident.

Man, I love Zia's. It's one of those last remaining awesome CD stores. They have a good points program too. I don't know how much money I've gotten knocked off CDs over the years, nor how many times I've made that walk across the parking lot to there from Ike's. Gotten some great used DVDs there as well.

[elkotronics]

Yep-I believe I still have my Zia points card in my old wallet that I used down there when we were last in the area. We left in May 2010 ta head up to Nevada. Now we're in the panhandle of Idaho and I tell ya, once spoiled by the warmth of Arizona, it is hard to take these nasty cold winters over here! I wanna come back down south to Arizona!

[elkotronics]

Well, had a phone interview for a Tucson job and they gave it to someone closer to Tucson. Can't blame them, really. The good thing is is I met an executive during the call that needs medical workers over in California, southern California-on the coast.

I am going to pursue that like I would helping to get Seattle back the NBA franchise that was stolen from us. Sounds like a fulltime opportunity, with training, moving expenses paid and all that good stuff. And one that can be pursued over a period of time, planned out, which the Tucson one didn't have time for evidently. So the prognosis was definitely improved by that interview-good old-fashioned networking in the first degree!

[robabeatle]

excellent, good luck