Don't Believe the Hype : Tucson, Arizona (Phoenix, Oro Valley: middle-class, high crime, credit)

[bigbiceps]

Originally Posted by ILL23MATIC

All these people bagging on tucson, shame.

I was born and raised in Tucson. I moved away for several years, and found myself missing it, so I moved back. I graduated from the University of Arizona, and plan on stayin here as long as I can.

As for the crime statistics, don't let them fool you. A lot of those numbers are vehicle thefts, and small property crimes. Being smart (staying out of a few areas at night, theft deterrant devices for vehicles, etc) will help lower ur chance of being another "high" number. The city itself is pretty safe. Murder rates, although increasing this year, are still low. Most of the murders are on the southside ghettos. There are more than just a few nice areas to live. The far eastside is calm, the northeast is calm and has many beautiful homes, the northern foothills is calm and beautiful, the northwest for the most part is nice. There are plenty of calm and peaceful neighborhoods in the central part of town as well. Its just a matter of picking the right neighborhood to live in. In college, I lived one neighborhood over from the biggest cocaine/crack infested neighborhood in the city. Never once had a problem. Im not a big guy, nor am I a tough guy, but there are only a few places in the city (outside of the southside) I would be scared to walk through at 2 in the morning. Matter fact, in the past I had gotten **** drunk and walked through several neighborhoods deemed as "bad" and didnt have a fear in the world. Most people that call tucson ghetto, or scary are those outsiders who are intimidated and not used to mexicans. There are some knuckleheads, but most mexicans arent gonna rob, assault, stab or shoot you. Compared to other big cities, pick your poison in california, phoenix, vegas, houston, denver, etc in the southwest/west, tucson seems like a retirement community.
The traffic isnt bad. Ive lived in phoenix, salt lake city and been through california in multiple parts multiple times, and tucson is not even comparable. Rush hour can be frustrating with no freeways, but it will never take u longer than 30 min to drive home from work unless u work on the far east and live on the far west.
What is most underrated about Tucson is the culture. Its a neat town to live in. Most of the people here are easy to get along and live with. There are problems like in every major city, but I have never seen a closer knit multi ethnic community like this one. Its one of the biggest "small cities" you will see. Everytime I go out somewhere, to a bar, a restaurant, the store, etc, I always run into someone I know, and every person you meet knows someone you know. Not bad for a population coming close to one million people.
People that hate tucson havent lived here long enough to appreciate what the city means and has to offer. They see a lot of mexicans, a lot of graffiti (im not seein it, they must live on the southside) and a dry desert.

Where is the graffiti in Tucson? I really do not see graffiti anywhere in this city. I'm quite amazed at this actually and I don't understand why some people who have posted negative comments about Tucson have said Tucson is filled with graffiti. The graffiti I've seen is actually and art painting that was allowed as art on 6th avenue and congress, downtown. I guess the city cleans it up quick or it just hardly transpires.

So once again where is graffiti in Tucson?

[michael krotchie]

One of the few places I see it is on those new freeway interchange ramps they built where I-10 hits I-19... Other than that I don't see any.

[bigbiceps]

Originally Posted by michael krotchie

One of the few places I see it is on those new freeway interchange ramps they built where I-10 hits I-19... Other than that I don't see any.

The freeways are extremly clean before ever officially moving to Tucson I used to drive right through Tucson and merge onto the I-19 going to the interior of Mexico and to this day I don't see any graffiti. The interchanges are very pretty with dessert style decorations.

[michael krotchie]

Originally Posted by bigbiceps

The freeways are extremly clean before ever officially moving to Tucson I used to drive right through Tucson and merge onto the I-19 going to the interior of Mexico and to this day I don't see any graffiti. The interchanges are very pretty with dessert style decorations.

Ever since the new interchange was completed every now and then they do get tagged, and then quickly repainted. Tucson city force is pretty good about removing the little graffiti we do get.

[bigbiceps]

Originally Posted by michael krotchie

Ever since the new interchange was completed every now and then they do get tagged, and then quickly repainted. Tucson city force is pretty good about removing the little graffiti we do get.

That's what I was thinking or maybe that taggers got punished severly. That's great that Tucson gets rid of graffitti quickly.

[brian_2]

Steve97415 said:

"..but with peak petroleum being only about a decade away.."

Mr. Kunstler at kunstler.com would disagree with you, he believes peak oil is here now.

[janelandbob]

I agree that there is a lot wrong with Tucson, but I tend to dwell on what is right. Where else can you:

*Watch night blooming cerus at the Tohono Chul park
*Attend the ever-so-fun and culturally diverse street fair in South Tucson
*Smell the rain as it comes in from the Gulf of Mexico, and know that a monsoon rain is on it's way
*Drive about an hour to Mt Lemmon to escape from the heat. Do a little fishing or camping while you are in the Catalinas
*Have your dinner on the patio, most nights, watching the gorgeous sunsets and the changing colors of the mountains
*Find a circle K or Walgreens on every corner

OK.. so the last one was added as a little comic relief

I have lived in the Tucson area since 1992, when I moved from So Cal.
I actually lived in Oro Valley from 1992 til Jan of 2007, then my hubby and I moved into our first house in the N/W Tucson (unincorperated Pima Co.)
I can not conceive of living anywhere else anymore, so that is why we bought our home here.

I am not saying that Tucson is perfect. I work in law enforcement, so I can be one of the first ones to KNOW how unperfect Tucson is. But.. having also worked in L.E. in So Cal too, I much prefer to work here. As someone in an earlier post said, there are different types of crimes for different parts of the city. Oro Valley has gangs; they just happen to be richer and perhaps more "white" than the South Side gangs. No matter where you live, whatever state, whatever country, there will always be gangs, or people who just can't (or don't) conform to the laws.

I love my *new city that I now call home (*new, as in 15 years) I plan on staying here until I retire, or die... whichever.

I'm not trying to be negative in any way but I do want to inform anyone who's confused about where the graffiti is that the starter of this particular forum mentioned. Well, I do remember that when the I-10 & I-19 construction for our brand new freeway "system" was finished there was graffiti for a full week between the Ajo exit on I-19 and the Interchange from I-19 TO I-10 after Ajo way. Also, if anyone has payed attention to detail there is also graffiti on the northeast block of the stone & speedway intersection. There is also graffiti below many small & large bridges on the walls of "the Washes" in the city of Tucson. Also, when you stray off in the industrial and residential areas just off of 4th avenue there is also tagging very visible. There is a lot of "old school" tagging that has never been cleaned up on the southside of town and the infamous "Westside" of Tucson. There is tagging everywhere....new and old but I will agree with many previous Los Angeles residents.....that we live in a paradise compared to THEIR tagging aka. The capital of modern Gangsters. I was just in L.A. almost a year ago with some friends and once we entered the VISIBLE nasty air pollution of smog and visible solid pollution all over the freeways with old flat tires, rims, fast food baggies, plastic cups, soda and beer cans, and Lord knows what else was in those PILES of garbage I knew at that point that Los Angeles is not at all what the founder of that town invisioned it to be. I have read what the founders of Los Angeles dreamed for that city and in my humble opinion I would not hesitate or feel 1 ounce of guilt if I were responsible for wiping at least the county of Los Angeles off the face of this earth. Ofcourse, if I had it my way, since I would not want any harm on any human being living within those boundaries I would still rid of the architect, pollution, streets, intersections, housing, and every single material in between. It's awful there. The current residents would have to treat the situation like Katrina and declare a state of emergency and RELOCATE to a better environment with a decent quality of life but atleast the modern day (United States version) of Saddam & Gomorrah would be non-existent.

[soflagirl]

I haven't read all the messages on this thread. I've lived in Oro Valley for the past four years. We're moving back to the east coast next month and I can't wait. Tucson just isn't for everyone. I agree with the poster who called it ghetto because most of Tucson IS ghetto. I think most Tucson itself looks dirty and run down. The infrastructure is the absolute worst. I do see graffiti everywhere, especially going down Thornydale. Schools are terrible. My oldest is about to start kindergarten and I'm glad she won't be doing that here, even in Oro Valley or the magical district 16. Shopping here sucks. La Encantada is okay, but why build an outdoor mall when it gets so hot here in the summer?? Also, it cracks me up when people say Tucson is a big town with a small town feel (and other variations of that). They are in total denial. The native Tucsonans and people that have lived here for a long time can't seem to get the fact through their heads that almost 1,000,000 people live in the Tucson metro area. Driving here is the worst. IMO, it's due to, again, the infrastructure and the fact that people like to drive 5-10 miles an hour under the speed limit and are in total la-la land. The long timers and native Tucsonans have fought against improving the infrastructure for years because they don't want to lose their small town feel and they don't want to become another Phoenix, etc. Wake up people!! I could go on and on. I'm just glad we're out of here!! The only plus of living in Oro Valley is I have a huge house and yard that I'd never be able to afford on the east coast, but that isn't enough to keep me here. That's my $.02.

[exxon_valdez]

I think the crime in Phoenix and Tucson are a little misunderstood.
I'm a California transplant who moved to the Baltimore-Washington DC
metro area 5 yrs ago (go figure). I live in a beautiful neighborhood in
Columbia, MD, halfway between Baltimore and Washington DC. Although
Baltimore and Washington DC have art and culture to offer the world,
they are almost always in the top 5 most violent cities in the annual
FBI stats. That's a fact. Go to Federal Bureau of Investigation - Home Page and see for yourself.
If you want to see crime, watch the evening news from Baltimore and
Washington DC. I guarantee, you haven't seen violence like this
in Tucson/Phoenix. However, you wouldn't notice this violence living in my
neighborhood. It may not stay that way, but for now, Howard County, MD
is one of the most safest counties in MD.

That said, stealing a car, tagging a wall is not fatal. However, shooting
someone over a cell phone in broad daylight in Takoma Park, Washington DC,
is alot different. BTW, the new deputy mayor of Washington DC was mugged
in broad daylight in Takoma Park and had his government ID, cell phone, his
briefcase, etc. all stolen by some punk ass thugs in DC.