Where to go? (Tucson, Pima: crime, townhouse, to buy)

[sebastiano.padovan]

Hello all,
I'm moving to United States from Italy. I don't know exactly where I'll live but there is a limited number of possible locations:
-Boulder, CO
-Austin, TX
-Tucson, AZ
If someone has visited/lived in these cities can he/she tell me something that could help me in the choice? (cost of living, music scene, outdoor activities, peole's kindness, ecc., not necessarily in this order).
Sebastiano

[awsun1980]

Hi,
I live in Denver which is about 35 miles or so from Boulder. Boulder is known to be expensive & is a college town. It has a reputation of being a 'hippie town'--you will see a lot of different kind of people, so if you are not into diversity, then you should steer clear of Boulder. It is definitely not for everyone. Lot of outdoor activities, though & you are at a much closer drive to the mountains---about 30 miles west of you is the Rocky Mountains which are BEAUTIFUL. So if you are into outdoor activities & can handle the cold (it's really not that bad) & altitude, then you would probably really enjoy Colorado.

I've also lived in Dallas, but not Austin--Austin is also a college town---good place for the nightlife, if that is your thing. And I've heard the music scene is great there.

And how funny, but I'm considering a move to Tucson in the future as well. Funny how I found this post---I've seen all these places.

Hope this helps

[potranco]

Tucson is the city you think of when you think of living in the desert. The mountain ranges are close, the cactus are tall and it is hot in the summer. At about 1,000,000 people live in the city has been able to maintain its feels as much smaller city. At only 60 miles from the border with Mexico, there is a lot influence in culture and feel from Mexico. I think the complaint about Tucson would be the southern part of the city, where crime can be high. However, other parts of the city are another world away from there.

Austin I know less about but lived near by in San Antonio. The layout of Austin is centered around the river that runs through it and the rolling hills that surround it. It is very lush and green, can get cold but not freezing the the winter and is very humid in the summer. Austin motto is: "KEEP AUSTIN WERIED". Austin prides itself as the feel of big city for its small size. The city is very political motivated, as it is the capitol of the state of Texas. There a lot of excellent resturants and an amazing night life.

These two cities are very different in feel and direction. However, both have a long history and a lot of pride for their heritage.

[mdtoaz]

The only city on your list I've been to is Tucson, so I can't give you any comparison.

As potranco said, it's definitely what I thought of as desert living. It's a great place for outdoor activities, and when it's hot in the desert, take a drive up Mt Lemmon, and you'll be in a ponderosa pine forest that's notably cooler.

I think all of Pima county has 1 million people, but the actual city of Tucson is around half that. A lot of what's considered the city limits feels more like the suburbs with strip malls and developments. Tucson has a very small downtown area.

Just as a reference I'm from the outskirts of Baltimore. Although the two cities are close population-wise, Baltimore feels like a city, where Tucson feels more like a town. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but that's the only way I can put it.

The cost of living is lower here. We were able to buy a single family home (new construction) with an inground pool for what we sold a townhouse for in Maryland. With that in mind, the salaries are lower as well. I'm lucky enough to still be employed by the same company I worked for in Maryland as a telecommuter, so I'm still on the Baltimore pay-scale. My husband took quite a pay cut initially, but just got a raise today that makes his salary just slightly less than in Maryland.

There's not a lot of night life in Tucson, which is cool with us... got all that out of my system in Maryland. There are some great restaurants in the area, so that's a plus. One other great thing is the proximity to some cool road trips (not that we've taken advantage of this yet)... Vegas, San Diego, Rocky Point Mexico are several places that are an easy drive away.

We've been here since the end of July, and it does get hot but you learn to adapt... quickly. The monsoon storms are very cool to experience - great lightning, there's actually water in the rivers and it makes some awesome sunsets.

Hope I've been helpful, these are just some of my observations since moving here.