10 Reasons Not To Move To Tucson (Phoenix, Mesa: live in, restaurants, prices)

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by junkman18

How about the illegal alien problem and the crime that goes with it.

But...but...but...Tucson doesn't have an illegal alien problem anymore now that they've passed that new employer sanctions immigration law.

They'll all have left the state - taking with them ALL the states' crime, problems with underfunded underperforming schools, and overcrowded emergency rooms - remember?

Arizona is going to be a paradise now.
Isn't that right?



Ken

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by LordBalfor

Arizona is going to be a paradise now.
Isn't that right?



Ken

I've been wondering why my local fellas have been scratching their shoulder blades this month! The wings must be growing!

[AngelfaceAZ]

Originally Posted by sickofIL

It amazes me at how tere are so many that either hate or love Tucson. There doesn't seem to be much said here from people that are in between.

It is my very humble opinion about why people love or hate Tucson has to do with the ASU/U of A rivalry....those people HATE each other. A popular "sign slogan" I've seen at a few different ASU/U of A games is "Give Tucson back to Mexico"...seems to be the general consensus among ASU Alumni that Mexico would be a good place for U of A...its a long history and an even longer rivalry...and it's ugly!

[mandapanda07]

My husband wants our young family to move to the Tuscon area, we live in Kansas. He really wants us to move but I am very apprehensive after reading about the spiders, scorpions and snakes. I am scared to death of spiders. Are they prevelent everywhere? Is there anything a person can do about them or do you just live with them?

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by mandapanda07

My husband wants our young family to move to the Tuscon area, we live in Kansas. He really wants us to move but I am very apprehensive after reading about the spiders, scorpions and snakes. I am scared to death of spiders. Are they prevelent everywhere? Is there anything a person can do about them or do you just live with them?

Well, let me chip in here with my experience as a visitor (and future resident).

I have to say, that I've never been anywhere (including Hawaii and the South Pacific) that has anywhere near the amount of strange (and to be truthfull - HUGE) bugs as Arizona. In a two week period last summer I saw everything to 6 inch tarantula, to a flying, nectar-feeding beetle the size of small hummingbird, to a crazy little white ball of fluff that looked like a living snowflake and scurried around so fast I couldn't even figure out if it was a beetle a spider or whatever. There are so STRANGE (and admittedly fascinating) bugs down there - many of them pretty darned big.

Now, will you ever seen these things.?
I dunno.
Maybe.
Depends on where you are I suppose. I saw all these things out at the "edge of civilization" - either in the Catalina Foothills (backing on to undeveloped land that goes all the way up into the mountains) or out near our property not far from the tiny town of Benson.
If you live in an extremely developed area I would guess your chances of encountering anything scary or exotic are considerably less.

That's my guess anyway.

For what it's worth,

Ken

[Howest2008]

Tucson is a wonderful place to live if you are a mature sort of person that focus on the good and doesn't have the time or energy to magnify and blow the negative all out of portion. My aunt and uncle have lived in Tucson for the last 50 or more years until their's untimely deaths and Tucson is a place that I used to visit every time I would venture back and forth to Tulsa Oklahoma from California. I have past Thur AZ many times because I was Born and Raised In Tulsa but thought that the green grass was green-er in California and self transplanted myself into the California lifestyle with none of my relatives following me to California and What I notice about Tucson during my 2 or 3 days even sometimes 2 weeks layovers in Tucson is that Tucson has unlimited potential for people that have theirs wits about themselves and,don't put their's hand down holes and reach under rocks and walk around the streets from 10:00 AM to 5:00PM during the peak of the heat. So before I go let me tell you that I never once heard about one single person being killed by a Mountain Lion or Rattle Snake...My advice is do as you always should make the best of your situation no matter what City You Are Living In Or Moving To.Order the local newspaper at lease 6 months before you move out to Tucson to get a better feel simply keeping up with the local NEWS then take youself a short mimi-vacation a look and see around and about town...

[Aruba9]

Originally Posted by JMadison

Well let's see. I lived in Tucson for 2 years. I can't say I have a list of 10 things. But some things really jumped out at me.

1) Everything is 2 feet from a former landfill. Los Reales borders the airport. Pantano Wash is almost literally in the down town. So literally everything that gets flown in gets a nice coating of landfill filth from Los Reales. Marvelous planning there.

2) There's a PCB problem in the water on the west side of town that has led to a "statistically significant cluster" of cancer over there.

3) Many, many years ago American Atomics leaked radioactive tritium into the adjoining chocolate cake factory and it was fed to about 40,000 kids.

4) I seem to recall some sort of water contamination problem down town where they were considering pumping water back in, to force the contamination away, or some such.

In the end, I'd say try to live in the Catalina Foothills if you can. That's about the nicest section in my experience.

I Heard it was Hughes Aircraft and well water was contaminated. I lived in Mission Manor in the early 50's and was one of the kids. Two girls on my block ended up with cervical cancer. My brother's kid is deaf, my sister's kids have diabetes and mine are ADD. So far we haven't been directly sick. I don't know whether Hughes is still there or not. But they were the culprit.

[Howest2008]

Originally Posted by purpleflowers

I'm thinking of moving to Tucson--waiting to hear from a job offer...

I've read a lot of the posts and they have been very helpful.

My questions are regarding diversity. I know there are white and Latino/a, but what about African-Americans?

If you were to walk into a grocery store or walk down the street, what would the racial picture look like?

For example, I'm from a small town in the midwest and I'm a bi-racial woman (African-American and white). I can go to a grocery store and here's the break-down:
49 white people
1 bi-racial (me)---this is what it looks like everywhere I go. I'm usually IT.

What about Tucson?

Your options for finding other Afro-American is to go to Arizona Uniersity and also to the Local Community College there are a lot more opportunities in finding other Afro-American at AZ University than the community at large and even if you aren't the Church Going Type drop in on some Local Black Churches And Do A Little Networking....i'm Afro American Myself and the only reason I know about Tucson is My Aunt and Uncle Left Tulsa Oklahoma And Settled In Tucson And I Left tulsa And Settled Into California Los Angeles Long Beach San Francisco Oakland And Ended Up In Vallejo Cali All By Lonesome self So I Would Religiously Make My Journey Back To My Family In Tulsa Oklahoma And Make A Layover In Tucson For A Week Or Two Or At Lease I Did Up Until 2003.

[Dmdback]

Well if your gonna move here from Ohio. You will need to get used to there not being trees and alot of green grass. Totally different terrain. But the big difference you will notice immediatley is more shiney days & warmth. and here in tucson if you miss the snow in the winters you can drive up to mount lemon and throw some snowballs and ski. Then drive back down to the valley when your done and put on some sun screen and shorts : )

[PhxBarb]

Tucson IS a landfill. Garbage, eyesores, trash, rundown ghetto houses, graffitti, etc, etc. You will see it all if you drive down I10 from Phoenix. Just did it today....