Don't Believe the Hype : Tucson, Arizona (Phoenix, Glendale: upkeep, apartment, vacation)

[LovinWA19]

I was fortunate enough to grow up in the foothills on the north side of town. I loved Tucson as a young boy. I loved living close to the catalina mountain range, taking walks out in the open desert while the most incredible sunsets ignite the richness of the city. I loved the monsoons and the winter months. Nothing like seeing a saguaro's flowers bloom in the spring. But as I got older I started to lose my affinity for the town. That open desert got replaced by housing developments, every year it became harder and harder for me to walk my dogs without having to be in constant stress that I was tresspassing near my own neighborhood. Living on the north side, the commute is a pain in the ass to get to the meat of the city, The traffic situation pissed me off, so many stoplights, nothing was in walking distance from my house, it seemed like road construction was everywhere and constant.
Besides widen, repave, and build new roads, Tucson could be putting money aside for better education and giving the downtown and business districts a much needed face lift. I hear that a plan is in place to upgrade the downtown, but it'll probably get set back because of all the **** time and money we put into roads and housing developments.
The heat after a while bogged me down, those oven breezes I hated, the sunsets didn't seem as enjoyable, for a metro area nearing a million people, not really a lot going on. I feel that Tucson is a good place to start a business, a good place to START a family, a good retirement community, and a good town for the college kids. For those of us that are young and ambitious and want to move up in the world such as myself, Tucson was not the ideal situation, so as soon as I could I packed my bags and got out.
The old tucson will always have a place in my heart, but as I hit my teens the reality set in that this wasn't the same place anymore. Tucson is no longer the best kept secret in the desert, more of the majestic sonoran desert is becoming asphalt for roads and ground for outrageous homes. The charm is fading and I hope that those of you planning moving there consider trying to restore it back to what it once was, or at least what I pictured it as a chlid.

[Julie'sTrulli]

---you guys are scaring me... I have lived in the Sf, CA Bay area most all my life and in the process of selling our house to move to Tucson. Please don't tell me crime could be as bad as Oakland CA! -(we bought our house in Oakland because we couldn't afford to live in SF anymore and have experienced drive by shootings)- and no jobs and crummy wages"-- worse than here I hope not??!!
We are moving to Tucson because my Husbands parents live here the past 30 years- and they are getting too old with no family close by- we thought it would be cheaper and more relaxed life too for us, than CA-- we are young 50's. I don't know what generation you all are but I can say the same things for SF and Bay area-- How things have changed-- crime, outrageously expensive and overrun with people-- esp. yuppies and dot com opportunists not from the area that say "frisco" and pronounce Gough St(natives pronounce it GAWF) "guff" and stuff like that really grates on you. I hope we will be welcomed even though it will be new to me??? I am a licensed cosmetologist-- and husband works in the building trades. Any advise for us?

[Amybear]

Hi Julie,
I know how you feel..since I'm moving out to Tucson from n.y.c. in February and some of the opinions I've read on this post have been less than flattering..
But when I've visited Tucson over the years , all the people I meet out there are nothing but kind...and always show a great love for their city...so I think it depends who you talk to ,,and what their lifestyle is.
For me, I'm a 40 year old woman, not married, no kids (just my pug) and I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to escaping to Tucson.
I don't need alot of excitement and city-stimulas to make me happy...I do medical billing, so I'm not too worried about job prospects out there, I just want to land a decent job,,,a nice little apartment with a pool, and have time to go hiking and biking in the mountains or desert on weekends. Make some new friends, and enjoy a healthier, less stressful life than I have in New York.

Tucson has culture, a ballet, theatres, even opera I think. You and your husband will do fine, follow your heart and your instincts
Amy

[Julie'sTrulli]

Thank you AmyBear and Amen! Sounds good to me! We have only two fur children as well--so schools etc. are not a concern for us, too. I don't care if I live in a shoebox as long as the place has a pool. The summer's I know are so hot! I'm looking forward to a change-- and likewise feel it will be a healthier lifestyle-- less stress- less condensed and crowded as the Bay Area-- Not s lop- sided standard of living, 3 quarters of your income here- goes to rent or mortgage!

[ChrtnsMom]

(just my pug) and I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to escaping to Tucson.


I too moved from NY (Long Island) to Tucson with my 2 pugs...they are so loving the weather, and doubt they will miss the snow.

Debra

[ChrtnsMom]

but traffic? Tucson? Please...
I've spent hours in nyc traffic and can tell you Tucson has nothing on new york for car congestion and aggravation.


ROFL........so true. How many days did I spend on the Belt Parkway for 1 1/2 hours to go 22 miles, or 1 hour to go 11 miles into NYC.

[BlueLexa12]

Originally Posted by ChrtnsMom

but traffic? Tucson? Please...
I've spent hours in nyc traffic and can tell you Tucson has nothing on new york for car congestion and aggravation.


ROFL........so true. How many days did I spend on the Belt Parkway for 1 1/2 hours to go 22 miles, or 1 hour to go 11 miles into NYC.

Ladies, I too spent about 3 years on the L.I.E.! Pure HE-double- hockeysticks! I recently left NYC, to move here, and really don't have any regrets. So crime is big here, and yes I was surprised to hear it at first, but compared to NY, I'll take my chances. I love the mountains, the culture, and don't mind if there's not too much to do. I don't mind the weather, I'll take hot any day over SNOW! Things may have changed for many of the people born here, and some may be looking to get out, that's understandable. But from where I stood in NYC, Tucson was looking darn good, and I'm glad I made the move!

[Groovymommy]

Tucson is a great town to grow up in, and work in. It is outgrowing itself, but thats a given in any city with a good economy, decent cost of living, and below average crime. Yes I said it... below average crime

-Good economy ..I must be missing the "good" part

-Decent cost of living....no where close to the truth..unless you move from SOUTHERN CAL. area

-Below average crime...( maybe for a 3rd world country)WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I Would reconsider the Arizona idea. We are trying to get OUT of AZ ( Tucson) as fast as we can. Many reasons here a few:


1.) Tucson was rated the #1 rated crime ridden city in the NATION, following close behind is PHOENIX!!! Home invasions are becoming an everyday item on the news here. If you are unfamilar with home invasions it is were several armed gunman enter your home with an intent to harm/ kill you while cleaning out your home of anything they can sell/ barter for DRUGS!!!!!!!!!!!
DRUGS FROM THE BORDER ( APPROX 80% of the drugs are from south of the border) Major drug issues, gangs & CAR THEFT

2.) HOUSING- housing prices have increased 70% in the past decade, but minimum wage is still $5.15 an hour. Insane .....now that the investors from CA are done reeking havoc on our market , we cant afford a house ( average price for a 3-4 bedroom is between 300-400K, in a cookie cutter development) Really for the "nicer areas" ( which is all relative) is 400-500k

3.) SCHOOLS- AZ was just awarded the 50th place out of the 50 states for their education system ..sadly poor education here is an UNDERSTATEMENT!!

4.) ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION- 300,000 illegal immigrants living in AZ alone and 450,000 apprehended yearly. 1/3 of our tax dollars are spent on immigration issues and donT even get me started on the impact of immigration on crime and the economy. Dont get me wrong we WELCOME ANYWAY REGARDLESS OF THEIR NATIONALITY HERE if there are here LEGALLY.


Regardless of what our horrible GOVENOR thinks Arizona is becoming an armpit!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.edweek.org/rc/states/arizona.html

5.) TRAFFIC- The only city in the nation I can think of that has 1 freeway for oh..about 1 million people............!!!!!!!!! oh, I forgot there is is one more freeway that leads right down to the border....anyone want to go???


6.)FRIENDLINESS- people here as a whole just seem much different and not as a friendly , we have lived in our home 7 years and dont know any of our neighbors..LITERALLY. We try to wave when we do see them and strike up conversations but as a whole people are too busy to care. I am NOT saying there are NOT nice friendly people in AZ as we have alot of great friends here, ironically most transplants from other parts of the country though!!


I CAN THINK OF MUCH SAFER, MORE ECONOMICAL STATES IN THIS BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY THAN HERE

[tucsondesertdweller]

Well I would not say Tucson is the armpit of the southwest, we do have problems, but it also has some beautiful weather part of year and the scenery is beautiful.
I agree the economy is not good in Tucson, unless you happen to be an engineer or medical professional, etc.
Housing has gone up a lot, qauality of housing is poor in my opinion.
Crime in the Tucson city area of awlful.
The suburbs seem to be doing ok in the crime dept, but I don't feel as safe living here as I did a few years ago.
People, well people are people. I find it hard to believe that you don't know any neighbors, I know every neighbor on my street and I know a lot of the people in my subdivision.
Business comminity is a problem, when you get a good person to deal with, wow thank your lucky stars and treat them well. Too many unethical business people out here, they seem to be m on a mission to either purposely rip us off or subconsciously making us pay for moving here.

[redshift]

Dear Julie and Amy,
I too relocated to Tucson 4 years ago -- without ever having even been here before! And I don't regret it at all.

I had lived in Myrtle Beach (which visitors often refer to as heaven, HAHA!) for 6 years. There are only 2 main N/S routes in the 60+ miles of The Grand Strand, and it can take well over 2 hours to get from one end to the other in good weather, and stay home if it's raining. The crime rate is nasty, the weather often suffers frequent hurrianes, public schooling is joke, and housing is outrageous!

Before that, I lived in the surburbs of Raleigh, NC. Traffic, even with all the freeways around the city, comes to a halt most days at rush hours, rain or, god-forbid, SNOW! Their public schools are better, but have forced desegregation which forces children as young as 6 to ride well over an hour each way to attend schools. Housing prices are insanely outrageous. People from all over the world move there for high tech jobs, so the crime rates of auto theft and home invasion are high too, as the center city of Raleigh has a large population of gangs and undocumented workers.

I have also lived in Houston, Bridgeport, CT, New York and other, smaller cities. in Houston, even had a guy point a shot gun at my husband while we were driving because of some perceived bad driving on my husband's part . I have to wonder how many people who bad mouth Tucson have lived out of state in cities as big or bigger ...

Every city has problems with road construction, and poor roads - try living anywhere it snows! Housing prices seem steep since we lack industries which require a highly educated work force, but compared to other urban areas, especially those older than Tucson, they could be worse.

However, Tucson is a growing city in denial. It wants to still think and behave like the town it was 20 years ago, all the while wringing its hands over the problems that growth brings. It is also in the epicenter of our immigration problems, the push and pull of state, local and federal moneys and policies of provding health care, education, socialization, employment, etc. Until the federal government can either pay what they promise, solve these problems or allow the communities to do so, Tucson will continue to have unique issues.

But Tuscon also has so many unique benefits - the UofA; great medical care; unparalled beauty of the mountains, deserts and sunsets; some of the nicest, friendliest people I have ever met; and the potential for getting better and better every year.

It saddens me to read some of these posts, but I have to ask WHY are they still here if they are so terrorized, bored or just plain disgusted?? Sure there are better schools, or lower crime, or more activities, or whatever you want -- why not relocate ASAP? BUT while you ARE here, use some of the energy you use in bad-mouthing it and put it to better use by trying to make it a better place!!

And Amy and Julie, I welcome you to one of the best or worst places you will ever live!! It all depends on how you handle life's challenges and changes. All I ask, is give the people in this wonderful city a chance to live up to your reasonable expectations. Oh, BTW, I don't live in the newer, richer parts of town. My daughter takes the city bus to the Univ every day, and I am disabled (that's how I know about the great medical care here). I am not even sure if I want to move back east when she graduates next year. If you have any questions, I will gladly try to find answers for you

Best wishes to you both!