Don't Believe the Hype : Tucson, Arizona (Phoenix, Pima: lease, find a job, schools)
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Actually, we've bought land out at J-6 near Benson and are at about 4200 ft elevation, so I doubt that we'll personally have much issue with the heat. As it happens there's a wunderground.com weather station less than 1 mile from our lot with historical data going back to May of 2004 so I think I have a pretty good idea of what to expect in our particular neck of the woods. It looks like we've had a total of 10 days since then where the temp got above 100 - all of them in July of the various years, all of them over about 1 week's time each year. Highest temp recorded during that stretch was 102.5.
We're actually very much looking forward to getting some sunshine and heat - particularly after this current winter when we had record rainfall (and flooding in my daylight basement family room - nothing like an event like that to make you want to get out into the desert).
Our land is actually meant to be a retirement destination for us, but it may turn out that we don't wait quite that long.
You may in fact be right about us getting tired of it, but I'd sure as heck like to give it a try and find out. We're certainly tired of cool, grey, wet Seattle.
Well I suppose everyone has an opinion to share when it comes to Tucson..
Personally, I'm moving there in February of 2007 and I can't wait!
I love Tucson, and have for years. I currently live in the heart of New York City...I grew up here and lived here for 40 years so if you want to talk about crime- let's go...So I think we need to put this all in some perspective...perhaps it depends on your frame of reference?
Amybear,
I'm with you. I also think it's beautiful. I live in NY too, and compared to NYC, Tucson is a piece of cake. To compare 'crime rates' to the national 'average' is very misleading because an average does imply that about half the country is higher than the average. The half that's lower includes all those small midwest towns where virtually nothing ever happens, aside from their Meth and Extacy labs--but those folks don't get caught because those 2-cop small towns don't have the manpower to actually investigate suspected criminal activity.
Tucson's crime rate is lower than Phoenix. I believe that NYC's is also lower than Phoenix.
I'm moving to Green Valley in 5 years--see ya' then.
The Phoenix violent crime rate (per 100000) is signifcantly lower than it is in Tucson. Both are higher than NY. But the numbers can fool you. It only includes crimes reported to the FBI, for example. Illegals, drug addicts, homeless, etc often do not report crimes. There are many safe areas in both places.
From 2006 FBI data:
Phoenix: 360 violent crimes per 100,000 people
Tucson: 470 violent crimes per 100,000 people
It seems to me like most of the supports of Tucson are people that don't actually live here. Almost all of the people I know that live here or have lived here want out, or at least agree that Tucson's significantly worse than most of the rest of the country. Granted, it's (marginally) better than your El Pasos and Fresnos and Alberquerques, but that's kind of like saying it's the least dangerous serial killer.
Crime here is VERY high. Phoenix isn't nearly as bad, but it's not good either. I wouldn't let me wife walk outside in the dark in just about any areas of either city. Phoenix has better traffic and a better layout. Weather is about the same, if not 1-2 degrees higher.
I live in Green Valley now. And while I'm sure it's different than NYC, and definitely slower-paced, it's also boring and hot. It's mostly a retirement community. Crime isn't near as bad as Tucson, but there's a good amount of trash closer to the Sahuarita.
Can someone tell me about the crime. Is it mostly between gangs or people that know each other or is it random "Walking down the street and someone pulls a gun or breaks into your home while eating dinner". All these crime stats can be misleading. I lived in Baltimore/Washington Dc area and Detroit/Cleveland areas because of my job so Tucson definitely not scare me in regards to crime......
It's a little of both. There's a significant drug issue here, being so close to Mexico where most of it comes in. Lots of meth labs are in the news, especially on the south side. Property crimes are the worst though, and they run rampant, even in the better parts of the city. Cars and trucks get stolen constantly, and they're on the other side of the border before you even know they're gone, so measures like On-star and Lojack are worthless often.
Violent crime is there for sure. Maybe not on par with Detroit or DC, but it's there. It's to the point where I wouldn't want to walk outside alone in a good chunk of the city.
Didn't the national guard have any influence on all the non sense and why doesn't the governor and mayor do something about it. Tucson has a potential to be what Austin is for Texas or Seattle is for Washington. I don't get it..........
Didn't the national guard have any influence on all the non sense and why doesn't the governor and mayor do something about it. Tucson has a potential to be what Austin is for Texas or Seattle is for Washington. I don't get it..........
Twice in the past month armed intruders have come North across the border (not at the legal crossing) and the National Guard have retreated. They then called the border patrol. The intruders had already gone back into Mexico before the Border Patrol arrived. The first incident had the Guard calling them Armed Militia from Mexico. There was a big uproar about the Guard retreating but the Guard said that they were following orders not to confront, but to notify the Border Patrol. So far the thinking at the border is that the US doesn't want to start a war over the border. They seem to want to play games there, but avoid an international incident.
I have a Hispanic cleaning lady who has become a US citizen. She has family in Mexico and goes back and forth frequently. She said that it is common knowledge that holes are cut in the fencing between Mexico and the US. The fence/wall piece is then put back in place and held there by dirt. Hispanic person/persons on the Mexican side claim ownership of the "hole" and charge each person $200 to use the hole. The hole is used mostly at Border Patrol shift changes. My cleaning person knows all the stuff that goes on in Mexico because she lived there for many years before moving here and becoming a citizen. She added the fact that Mexico doesn't want to stop its people from sneaking across. Mexico wants them to work for money in the US and then bring it back to the families there.
I don't see an end to this problem in the near future. The joke around here is that if a 10 foot wall is built Mexico will start selling 11 foot ladders.
I actually remember Tucson when there was 25k in the city and about 40,000 in the county....well it certainly has changed.
The crime is an issue that will need to be addressed by the voters. Barbara La Wall's office (DA) is not focussed on property crime to the extent that she is on violent crime. That's just a fact. With all the plea bargining in effect for larceny and with the amount of larceny-related crime the courts are severly over-burdened. There are no easy answers to this. Plus there are low growth and strong growth forces at work that have a serious effect on the community.
The So-Cal issues are very serious. The folks who come here from California generally DON'T want another California. But they need to realize what growth means in that respect. Spreading a highway to make travel easier WILL enable growth forces to sell more homes and the city will spread just like LA did in the 1950's. Laws that may work (or garner votes) in California will alienate the established old-timers. That is something I can promise! This is a western town. It will not become another San Fransisco. This is a socially Libertairian community politically. Your business is YOUR business so long as it does not infringe on my rights and freedoms. This has been the thinking here for many, many years. We have been very fortunate not to have a lot of restrictive legislation and we have done just fine. but with growth comes crime and that had been dealt with via the "85%" law (a criminal does 85% of his time in prison; no early release - no short time for violence, minors get a trip to jail for violence as well). These concepts work well for a small city. Will they work if this town get as big as Phoenix? I doubt it.
People will start getting in other's business and politicians will get some big votes out of "feel-good" laws that we didn't need some time back.
I thank the Lord that I don't live in the City; but the County's laws is driven by the City's woes.
We did very well when we got the bums out of town years back by enacting a "no-begging" law. We had a bum on every street corner with a sign and it looked pretty bad. But then the mayor was newly elected and responsive to the city's needs. We realized that shelters and food give-away programs needed to be better managed so that the city didn't look like a big hostel for the parasites from elsewhere. Our parasites are now going to country clubs and dealing in land.....and we need some effective action to stop them from ruining our community.
I lived on miracle Mille right by I-10 and spent alot of time on South 6th. Downtown and out on the south Side of Tucson. The gangs are real for sure but its not that bad. Anyway for you all reading this if you go to Tucson put it down for the WEST SIDE
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