10 Reasons Not To Move To Tucson (Phoenix: income, to live, costs)

[liliknows]

Hello to all of you out there....I left the prime-time in San Diego and got a place with land in an area called Pearce AZ It is very scenic and beautiful with mountain ranges all around. I discovered alot of nice things like the Chiricahua National Monument, Shadow Mountain golf course, Lots of ghost towns, Bisbee, Tombstone, Douglas, Willcox, Bowie...alll very interesting and notably fertile areas with plenty of water. I understand that an aviation strip will break ground out here in the spring and 142 homes are planned which will be high-end for all you retired pilots that want a clear airspace and rural lifestyle...There are a few stores that provide really all you need in town and other towns close by for Walmart. Sierra Vista is also not too far with alot the big stores. It is very mild out here with awesome monsoons, summers are usuall under 100 degrees....winters can freeze but any snow is a surprise and welcome as it melts off the same day....The snow capped mountains are breathtaking...Pecans, Pistachios, Apples, Grapes, all grow abundantly out here...It is still a very pristine area where people wave to each other on the roads...amazing and affordable only an hour from Tucson. You have to like yourself and the rural lifestyle but I tell you it has been a surprize to me how I have discovered a sense of peace out here....Best of luck to you in your searches.....!!!

[azhiker]

liliknows,

Wow. Pearce is REALLY remote. The Chiricahuas are truly beautiful.

What's the population of Pearce? Less than 2,000? Do you have to go to Wilcox to shop? How close to mountains are you? Are the Dragoons the closest ones?

I looked at Paradise/Portal on the other side of the Chiricahuas as a possible retirement place, but it just seems too small. Is Sierra Vista only about an hour away? I love the whole SE quadrant of AZ.

[LordBalfor]

Yup. SE Arizona (at least the areas in the extreme SE corner) is doing much better water-wise than much of the rest of the state - though keep in mind that there is much less development out there than say, near Phoenix, so there is less pressure on the water supply - but the fact that is rains a bit more in that area is big help in that regard. The area is not really what most folks consider to be desert - instead it is largely grassland. On our visits there, we found that part of the state to be surprizingly lush and green - and when we toured the Sunsites complex found it to be an extremely attractive community. Very nice indeed. I think you wil be very happy there.

Very happy to see someone representing that area on this board. Hope you stick around.

Ken

[azhiker]

Ken/LordBalfor,

I'm new to the board. Just curious, are you from Tucson?

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by azhiker

Ken/LordBalfor,

I'm new to the board. Just curious, are you from Tucson?

No I live in Seattle, but we own some retirement property in J-6 Ranchettes just east of Whetstone/Benson. Plan to move down to the area sometime in the 5-10 year time frame. Drove through Sunsites and did the highway 181/191/186 loop and enjoyed the trip very much. Sunsites is a pretty nice little town - prosperous and well-maintained, looked very safe and probably has a pretty good sense of community (I would guess) among it's residence.

It IS pretty remote out in Pearce/Sunsites, but if folks are OK with that, it can be a great option (better for retirees than working stiffs since it's a long commute to where they'll likely find work).

Ken

[azhiker]

Aw, I see. Thanks. Wow, big change from Seattle to SE AZ. Good luck with it.

The Patagonia/Sonoita area is really pretty and nice too, if you can handle super small. I think you'd have to shop in Nogales or Sierra Vista from there.

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by azhiker

Aw, I see. Thanks. Wow, big change from Seattle to SE AZ. Good luck with it.

The Patagonia/Sonoita area is really pretty and nice too, if you can handle super small. I think you'd have to shop in Nogales or Sierra Vista from there.

Looked at that area too. Very pretty indeed.

Yeah, it will be a BIG change and I can't say there aren't things I will miss. I love the lush greeness of the Pacific Northwest, but we are sooooooo tired of the cool, cloudy weather up. Been in Seattle since 1974 and my wife has lived here all her life. We're ready for a major change. Would prefer to live in Hawaii where it's sunny, warm AND green - but it's just too expensive.

Really like Arizona though, so I think it will do just fine.

Ken

[jimisru]

The water situation in Arizona is beyond critical. It's a mess and the cost of water goes up monthly.

Someone said there are great hospitals. That's not true. Tucson has the worst and it's in the paper a lot about how bad they are. The wait at the local ERs is the highest in the country.

Teen pregrnancy is among the highest in the country because nothing is spent on education. Traffic accidents at interesections, highest in the country.

It also has the highest larceny rate in the country.

As for the beauty of the environment, it's been completely trashed with developers tearing up the desert at a rate of one acre per hour. KB homes expand for miles where once there was desert.

The mountains have gun nuts roaming them shooting at anything that moves.

Traffic in Tucson is unbelievably bad. There is one freeway and so everyone has to use city streets. The bus system is horrible, runs infrequently on evenings and weekends and try sitting at a bus stop in 110 degree heat sometime.

As for the heat, it's oppressive. It easily gets over 105 and 115 is not uncommon, and it stays that way for months. The air is choked with pollution and the heat makes breathing difficult.

Tucson has the highest asthma rate in the country.

People use to come here to escape health problems. Now, allergies are among the worst in the country.

The city could have been a shining examples of planned community which respected the unique desert it is in. Instead it's been plowed up, paved and there's little but strip malls, bad air, bad traffic and bad water.

Oh, and speaking of the water, don't drink it from the tap without reading about the health problems recently found with doing so.

Tucson will soon run out of water. Hopefully this will happen before what's left of that unique environment is completely destroyed and people will be forced to move out before building more strip malls and houses.

As for the sun making people happier. That's nonsense. NO ONE goes out in the sun unless you're already quite mad. You just don't hang out in the sun when it's 110 degrees, and yes skin cancer is the highest in the country.

Bike accidents.... highest in the country.

Tucson ranks first and last in so many categories it would be difficult to list them all here. Move the Phoenix. They've already destroyed that valley. Let's try to save Saquaro National Monument before it's too late.

[jimisru]

Housing prices are dropping because of the predatory lending and people are foreclosing on their homes. Again, Arizona in general is number one in this area.

Tucson has ZERO interest in preserving the environment. It's is completely run by developers and large car dealerships. They control what happens politically.

Phoenix and Tucson are melding into one large city, with endless beige homes being built across the desert.

But if there is one thing to inform your decision, again, and others have said too....

WATER.


It's a desert.

The water comes from the Colorado River, which also feeds, Colorado, LA, Southern California, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson.

Which of those cities do you think has the least political, monetary pull to maintain water rights?

If you think you can live without water, then good luck.

[LordBalfor]

jimisru -

Though Arizona in general and Tucson in particular obviously have water issues, the housing market is rather battered, and recent growth in the Tucson area considerable, you have so many inaccuracies and exaggerations in your post that it's hard to take any of it seriously. It seems to me that you left out "hoards of illegals gunning down everyone they meet in the street" and "aliens from space abducting whole families from their beds".

For example - best info I've seen tells me that Arizona isn't even in the top 3 for foreclosures - that honor goes to Nevada, followed by Florida then Califorinia (numbers as of Sept 2007 - Trendocracy: September 2007 Foreclosure Report). Furthernore, at least of of data I saw last month, housing prices in Tucson have actually climbed since this time last year. True, sales are down and are taking quite a bit longer to happen, but prices have hardly plummeted in Tucson the way they've dropped in Las Vegas and Phoenix. The housing situation is not that great for sellers (and will probably get worse before it gets better) but neither is the sky falling. Besides, if it did, your complaints about the desert beling paved over would no longer be a concern, would it?

Another example - "The mountains have gun nuts roaming them shooting at anything that moves." Yeah, right! Give me a break!

Yet another inaccuracy - "As for the sun making people happier. That's nonsense". - Not at all. Lack of sunlight causing depression in people is well documented - it's called SAD. You don't need to be in the sun to enjoy it - plenty of ways to have some shade.

The list of apparent inaccuracies and exaggerations goes on and on. If I'm wrong in this show me. Certainly Tuscion has it's share of problems - but WORST in all those categories - I doubt it. Tucson traffic may seem bad to you, but try living here in Seattle for a while and you'll see the traffic is Tucson is nothing in comparison

So, if you really believe everything you've posted, post supporting links for each of your points.

Wild, inaccurant rants will do nothing but reduce your credibility. You obviously have some legitimate gripes, but you'll be a whole lot better served if you leave your emotion out of it and simply stick to the facts.

Ken