10 Reasons Not To Move To Tucson (Yuma, Guadalupe: apartment, insurance, crimes)

[statetostate]

interesting how when reading this forum for states i have lived and visited, i can see the pros and cons for each one. it seems like everyone is right - it is all perspective based on individual priorities... and priorities change with life stages. i grew up in tucson. kicking and screaming i live in san diego. moved back and forth several times. now looking at oregon. the forum does show the facts but based on individual viewpoints. none of us are the same. i was hoping to learn more about oregon by reading these commentaries but realize i do not know whether the people making them have the same priorities as me. so gleening the facts is the best that can be done. tucson is desert, it rains in oregon, san diego is crowded. tucson still has lower cost housing, oregon has lots of outdoor recreation, san diego has great weather. i will just have to try oregon to see if i can stand the rain. i admit, outdoor activity in tucson was tough during the summer but make sure you have access to a pool if you live there. and i saw my share of critters including snakes, scorpions, spiders. san diego has all of these too depending on where you live - i have not seen any but know others that have.

[odinloki1]

I moved to Arizona as a for a teaching job because the economy in MI was killed by greedy cowardly companies whose profits weren't big enough. Before I list my reasons I will state that for a lot of people here this is ideal and thats great but its not for me and I just need to vent.

1. The housing costs: As a teacher housing in your district (unless its poor and crime ridden) is unaffordable, at least in other states if you work hard and put in time (do extracurriculars and such) you get paid for your time. Here if you put in 200 extra hours on a project you get maybe 500 bucks. I didn't go into teaching for the money but I did want to be able to get by and you can't unless you don't eat or don't have health insurance. I just left teaching for the healthcare field (and I was a good teacher and my kids had good test scores and I never missed a day in 2 years) and I don't regret leaving teaching here, but I know if I was somewhere where the culture and policy made me feel worthwhile I would have stayed.

2. The long drives: this goes to finding a decent apartment because I can't afford a house and there's no safe apartments (no major crimes) nearby, the public transportation doesn't go to my school because its on the edge of the urban sprawl.

3. The lack of community: everyone moves in and out so fast that you don't get to know your neighbors. I don't know any of my neighbors and the last time I tried introducing myself just to be friendly, I was given the cold shoulder and a look like I had 3 heads. I've been here 2 years and know none of my neighbors. Its hard living anywhere when everyone is so closed off you can't make friends.

4. The dry overpowering heat: You have to take a big bottle of water everywhere it seems especially because tap water has a weird taste. Skin cancer (yeah I know everyone loves the sunshine, but I like my skin better). You really can't go out and do anything outside from May-October because of the heat and oppressing sunshine. I like to hike and backpack but you can't for the majority of the year because you can't carry enough water. At least back in the midwest I could go outside for the majority of the year and all I need is a light coat here you can't go out because you can't carry enough stuff to survive.

5. Pollution: long commutes, no trees to eat up the smog LA, here we come!!

6. No trees. THere really aren't trees here, they're bushes. Trees are taller than houses and provide shade.

7. No grass, I understand why you don't have it, but there are days where I enjoyed laying outside and having a nap on a warm 75 degree day. Its kinda hard to lay on rocks and dirt. Especially when you have to worry about rocks and scorpions.

I can go on but obviously you get the idea, for me this is hell on earth. I wil say that I have known some good people and at least the public radio stations are good and the sushi restaurants are also good, but there's not much else that I can say is great. I will leave at first opportunity but unfortunately the economy is not allowing me to. For all of you that do love it here thats great and I'm glad you have a situation that you enjoy.

[milliebfit]

odinloki1...my son moved to Tucson 18 months ago from NJ..big change for him.
He lives in a nice apartment and has made plenty of friends. He is an auto mechanic, financially he does just fine. It is beautiful where he lives, the mountains are gorgeous. There are no big trees like here in NJ, or grass..but it is the desert!
Compared to NJ it is a whole lot cheaper..my son's apartment is only 450 a month..here in NJ that same type of apartment would be about thousand dollars.
My son loves Tucson and he plans to stay for a while...
I wish you luck with finding a place you can call home.

[Tim Rankin]

For all the "Mexico bashers" out there:

International Living Study Says Mexico Best Country to Retire - MarketWatch

Affordable real estate and Old World charm...sound like what so many American cities need...

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by Tim Rankin

For all the "Mexico bashers" out there:

International Living Study Says Mexico Best Country to Retire - MarketWatch

Affordable real estate and Old World charm...sound like what so many American cities need...

And; if Mexico is such a great place, there would be far fewer illegal immigrants from SOB working for wages that us Americans would spurn-----yet, such crap earnings are 3-6 times higher here for the same work vs. Mexico.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

And; if Mexico is such a great place, there would be far fewer illegal immigrants from SOB working for wages that us Americans would spurn-----yet, such crap earnings are 3-6 times higher here for the same work vs. Mexico.

It is! For a vacation! You know, I've come to the conclusion that there are two types of places in this world: where you can make a living and where you can have fun. They hardly overlap... short of maybe Western Europe, mostly the Mediterranean countries.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by sierraAZ

It is! For a vacation! You know, I've come to the conclusion that there are two types of places in this world: where you can make a living and where you can have fun. They hardly overlap... short of maybe Western Europe, mostly the Mediterranean countries.

And the California coast-------anymore; I doubt that Europe is any cheaper these days.

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by ArizonaBear

And; if Mexico is such a great place, there would be far fewer illegal immigrants from SOB working for wages that us Americans would spurn-----yet, such crap earnings are 3-6 times higher here for the same work vs. Mexico.

First off, being a good place to work when you are poor unskilled labor is a lot different from being a good place to retire when you are an American with a guarenteed retirement income. A place can easily be be one but not the other.

Secondly, keep in mind that not all illegal immigrants come from Mexico. There are a great many of them who come from much poorer countries further south who simply pass through Mexico on their way into the US. These largely destitute people make up many of the folks you find in border towns in northern Mexico, trying to scrape up enough money to pay someone to help them across the border and get them further north. I definitely found that you should NOT judge Mexico by looking at the border towns - no more than you should judge NYC by looking at it's darkest slums.

Ken

[LordBalfor]

PS - Meant to add that part of the reason Mexico and so many other foreign nations beat out the US as good places to retire might very well be the cost of living. Folks that could just barely get by here on their retirement income can often live pretty darned well on that same income elsewhere. That can make a HUGE difference to someone's retirement - especially in todays world where modern conveniences and good medical care are not just limited to here in the US. I recently read a very interesting article in AARP that was about folks going overseas for medical care because the cost here in the US (in many cases, even after their insurance paid their share) was so darned high. In some cases, folks who would have been left with bills of $50,000 or more ended up having to pay only 1/10th that cost overseas (including the travel cost) - and these were in places you wouldn't expect, such as Thailand, India and Mexico. In each of these cases the care the folks received was on a par with care in the US - using US trained doctors and the latest equipment and techniques. In fact treating Americans overseas has become a big business and one particular hospital in Thailand treated something like 50,000 Americans last year. With so many uninsured Americans nowadays (45 million or so) around 500,000 head overseas for their medical needs.

It used to be that only the US had the latest and greatest of everything, but this is no longer the case. The world is changing and everyone else is catching up with us - and in some areas surpassing us. Look where the biggest buildings and other large impressive construction projects are - few are in the US anymore. The tallest building in the world is in Dubai (1,800 feet and STLL climbing - it will dwarf anything in the US) with the next tallest in Taiwan, then Singapore and with other giant structures going up fast in China.

Like it or not, the rest of the world is modernizing and standards of living are rising fast in many of the countries that have been traditionally very poor. The 21st century is going to be very interesting indeed and it will be a far different world in 2100 than it was in 2000.

Ken

[Zorina]

One thing I like about Tucson compared to Phoenix, other than it is not quite as hot, is that Phoenix is an endless urban sprawl whereas Tucson can't expand unless you want to go up the mountains it is surrounded by.