Don't Believe the Hype : Tucson, Arizona (Phoenix, Flagstaff: relocating, military, vacation)

[FilmCutter]

Sorry C-Dizzle,

I have to agree with the Tucson bashers. I lived there for 2 years and I'm convinced that Tucson is the 5th reign of Hell. Nothing to do but go to the movies or the mall, the clubs are crap and way too loud, and there's nothing but bars everywhere, which sucks if you don't drink or smoke like me. There are no jobs, only slave labor for minimum wage. My son's dad lives and works there and he might as well be chained to his desk. They're not good about giving people time off. I am so super GLAD not to be living there anymore. The ONLY reason I go to visit is for my son to see his dad and for me to visit my dad. Why he likes it there is beyond me.

[Coyote_Blond]

There's troubled areas in ANY city in ANY state. The bigger the city, the more room for knuckleheads. I travel nonstop and trust me...trouble comes in all shapes and sizes. Don't be mislead by small-town comfort. I've found in country towns, especially in the southern states that Meth cuts their boredom. Border towns are higher in theft & gangs. They wouldn't like my ideas on how to clean up and out the bad spots/people. But in general, it's everywhere. It sounds like the original poster has a more personal beef with Tucson than just seeing too much tagging.

[Kev1StopAZ]

I agree with Sandoval that Tucson is very overated as a city. even with all the problems that it has , it faces a severe critical water shortage problem withen the next several years.
Rents are going upward very quickly
Quality jobs are not that great percentage wise
I am moving back east at the end of July,
Good luck to the ones that are staying.

[hisfirewithin]

I moved to Tucson 9 yrs. ago from N. California. I was priced out of the San Joaquin valley by the SF Bay Area commuters moving inland from the bay. Property and expenses went so high it became impossible to live and work in the Valley. The Tucson I moved to 9 years ago was the BEST KEPT secret in the US. It reminded my mother of San Diego in the 50s, minus the ocean. We all loved it.

Over the past 9 years, I've visited all over the Southwest and all over the US. To be honest, Tucson is slowly turning into Albuquerque. It's losing it's shine really quickly.

The problems have already been adequately stated. There is no longer a buffer zone between the Ghetto areas, the middle class, and the wealthier neighborhoods. It's all over the city now. I live literally in the middle of what is supposed to be a ghetto area, and I live in a very nice little neighborhood in it. However, I do try and stay out of my area as much as possible. I drive northwest to shop, dine, and enjoy entertainment. I only sleep here.

Tucson is very diverse and liberal. There are many cultures represented here, which I love and embrace. There is something for everyone, and lots of opportunities to expand your horizons and learn about other people.

The job outlook is bleak. The big industry drivers are call center jobs and healthcare. Both are extremely stressful lines of work with very little upside. The pay is commensurate with what the cost of living was about 8 yrs. ago. I was working toward buying a home here, however, costs have tripled in the past 5 yrs., pricing me out of the market entirely. In much the same way as my N. California experience, I am now being priced out of AZ by Californians who have discovered Tucson and are exploiting it. I don't fault them. If I had the money and resources, I would do the same.

I am honestly thinking of saying goodbye to the West altogether and looking at the South, primarily North Carolina and South Carolina. Preferably a smaller town or city. Also considering the Midwest. Especially Nebraska, Iowa, and Indiana. My last bastions of hope in the West are anything from Eureka, CA. north. I know clearly I need to get out of the Southwest, or anything south of Sacramento in the extreme west. I need to learn to love cold weather, I guess.

The bottom line is that Tucson is not what it used to be. It's getting harder to live here. There's too much money, too many drugs, and too much of a ghetto mentality in too many parts of the city. It no longer has the "college town" feel it had, nor does it seem to have a lot of professionals. The Tucson I see now when I walk outside is dirty, filled with drugs, riddled with ghetto sensibility and crime, lacks in terms of wages, professional opportunity, and self-respect, and is no longer a place I want to live and raise a family. And since I can't afford to move to Vail, Oro Valley, or the Ina/Cortaro district, I think it's probably time for me to move out altogether.

I don't mean to trash Tucson. I just see it becoming what I moved away from in California.

[ibarrio]

Greater Phoenix and Greater Tucson are in the top-20 most dangerous metropolitan areas in the country, both are worse than Boston, New York, Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, Washington DC, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. Arizona is the 4th most dangerous state in the country.

check these links out. Feel free to use the Map tools to scroll around the Area. This is LA. Most likely (In reality) much more dangerous then Phoenix and Tucson put together. Homicide_Report by Map

latimes homicide report/ First page is just for this month by the way. The previous months are on the right side menu under Archives

[OREGONRAIN]

I have been to Tuscon a number of times, I have no idea why Tuscon is considered bike friendly. Bike friendly to me does not mean sharing a road with cars in states or cities that are completely auto dependent. With the great weather in Tucson, I would think a extensive series of bike pedestrian paths would be built especially with the gas problems getting so out of hand. I mean paths that are not on the side of streets that are way to dangerous to be driving on let alone riding a bike. That could be done in Tucson, a very extensive series of these paths that are away from street traffic, I can guarantee with the gas like it is, if those paths were there, people would eventually get themselves in gear and get out of their gas hogs

[azloafer]

Most of the places that are not on the roadway are private property. This is something that should have been thought about a long time ago. It's too late for some of these changes. It's too bad...

[RCL]

Geez, it sounds like Tucson is becoming a mini-version of the Bay Area. Yuck. What a shame. I visited in 1995 and loved it. But now after reading so much here, and elsewhere, I think I'll avoid it. Same with Kingman, which I hear is even worse with drugs and ghetto mentality.

Originally Posted by hisfirewithin

I moved to Tucson 9 yrs. ago from N. California. I was priced out of the San Joaquin valley by the SF Bay Area commuters moving inland from the bay. Property and expenses went so high it became impossible to live and work in the Valley. The Tucson I moved to 9 years ago was the BEST KEPT secret in the US. It reminded my mother of San Diego in the 50s, minus the ocean. We all loved it.

Over the past 9 years, I've visited all over the Southwest and all over the US. To be honest, Tucson is slowly turning into Albuquerque. It's losing it's shine really quickly.

The problems have already been adequately stated. There is no longer a buffer zone between the Ghetto areas, the middle class, and the wealthier neighborhoods. It's all over the city now. I live literally in the middle of what is supposed to be a ghetto area, and I live in a very nice little neighborhood in it. However, I do try and stay out of my area as much as possible. I drive northwest to shop, dine, and enjoy entertainment. I only sleep here.

Tucson is very diverse and liberal. There are many cultures represented here, which I love and embrace. There is something for everyone, and lots of opportunities to expand your horizons and learn about other people.

The job outlook is bleak. The big industry drivers are call center jobs and healthcare. Both are extremely stressful lines of work with very little upside. The pay is commensurate with what the cost of living was about 8 yrs. ago. I was working toward buying a home here, however, costs have tripled in the past 5 yrs., pricing me out of the market entirely. In much the same way as my N. California experience, I am now being priced out of AZ by Californians who have discovered Tucson and are exploiting it. I don't fault them. If I had the money and resources, I would do the same.

I am honestly thinking of saying goodbye to the West altogether and looking at the South, primarily North Carolina and South Carolina. Preferably a smaller town or city. Also considering the Midwest. Especially Nebraska, Iowa, and Indiana. My last bastions of hope in the West are anything from Eureka, CA. north. I know clearly I need to get out of the Southwest, or anything south of Sacramento in the extreme west. I need to learn to love cold weather, I guess.

The bottom line is that Tucson is not what it used to be. It's getting harder to live here. There's too much money, too many drugs, and too much of a ghetto mentality in too many parts of the city. It no longer has the "college town" feel it had, nor does it seem to have a lot of professionals. The Tucson I see now when I walk outside is dirty, filled with drugs, riddled with ghetto sensibility and crime, lacks in terms of wages, professional opportunity, and self-respect, and is no longer a place I want to live and raise a family. And since I can't afford to move to Vail, Oro Valley, or the Ina/Cortaro district, I think it's probably time for me to move out altogether.

I don't mean to trash Tucson. I just see it becoming what I moved away from in California.

[victoriana]

Hi. Tucson is "diverse" and "liberal," all right. However, over the past twenty years since I used to remember Tucson (when it was a special, history-filled, friendly and gorgeously clean city) loosey-goosey attitudes towards simple little things like law ENFORCEMENT, runaway social services paid for by taxpayers for illegals, not doing anything and in fact hiding the facts of just how MUCH violent crime is being done by illegals has made poor Tucson what it is today. Diverse is great. I love it too. However, let's get honest here. People have been allowed to move there and then turn it into what looks like a third world country in areas of the city. There are lots of American towns who are also "diverse" and "liberal" but they don't carry it so far that they let groups move there and destroy the quality of life in a city. I know that even high-paying health travel agencies have a hard time getting RNs and doctors to come to Tucson because of the crime. (These are high paying jobs too.) They come, stay that one contract in order to fulfill it, and skeedaddle outta there. Sorry Tucson residents, I couldn't have recommended Tucson MORE twenty years ago. People got along, it was plenty diverse and it was beautiful. Thank your local politicians for what it is now. I hope you can somehow take it back to what it once was... I need to say, I never LIVED there. Back when I was going to high school in Sierra Vista in the 1970's, we kids had summer jobs at places like Old Tucson and went to Tucson EVERY SINGLE WEEK nearly - I really did know the city well.

[Elizabeth726]

My boyfriend's job is relocating him to Tucson in November. I really don't know much about the area and am having a hard time deciding whether or not I should join him. I am 26, currently living in Buffalo, NY, so this would be a giant culture shock for both of us. I would be leaving a good job and a city with lots to do. Need some honest opinions on what it is like to live in Tucson. Thanks.