Moving to Tucson from England (Phoenix, Scottsdale: crime, hotels, employment)

[Tamzyn]

Hey all .. I know its been asked before but I'll be moving from London, England to Tucson in November as my fiance is going to be based in Davis-Monthan (US airforce). I've never lived away from England (except 4 months in Ecuador) and so I really have no idea what to expect. I have been to the states before but that was Philly and Atlanta and I know those places are a world away from Tucson. Can anyone advise me on what to expect and basically any advise about jobs, environment, the people and culture etc etc .. thanks

[gabygirl]

Better learn Spanish! Tucson is not bad, and if you're part of the AFB it's esp. not bad. Stay away from South Tucson!!! There's skiing in the winter in the NE part of Tucson and the nicer places to live are in the northern part of the city. FYI: the base is near South Tucson, you should consider living in Sahuarita, which is a suburb south-south of Tucson, and a neat place to live w/lots of families and retired folks. (My bro in law is a police officer -that's the area where he lives -he workes in South Tucson-ugh).
Hope this helps a bit! Good luck!

[afvet]

Hi Tamzyn,

You're in for quite a change! Tucson in a small city but is pretty expensive. Of course nothing like you're used to in London. The weather is nice with a lot of sunshine and little rain. Grass is not a common sight here and most yards are just dirt, but we do have a lot of cacti and bushy looking trees. Skin cancer is a big concern here, so be prepared with sunscreen.

It does get very hot in the summer, making outdoor activities uncomfortable during the day, but the winters are fantastic. It didn't snow here last year, but Mount Lemmon is nearby and offers some skiing during the winter. We have several astronomical observatories and wildlife museums. There are a lot of places to hike, also. I recommend getting a visitors guide from the visittucson dot org website.

The people are friendly and the atmosphere is pretty casual. People also dress very casually, but I'm a city gal and refuse to give up my high-heels and dressy clothes. We have one upscale shopping center on the NE side of town but you'll have to go to Scottsdale/Phoenix to get the higher end stores.

The University of Arizona offers a variety of employment opportunities especially with at their hospital. We also have Raytheon, Honeywell and Ventana Medical Systems. The optics industry is supposed to be one the best in the country. There are several resort hotels and spas and we also have several malls if you're interested in retail. From what I understand, the majority of jobs in the area do not pay the salaries you'd expect for the cost of living in the city.

I don't know much about the area around DM AFB, so I can't make any suggestions about housing if you won't be living on base, but I have heard that some people chose to live in the town of Vail which is right outside of Tucson. I can say that the base in on the south side of town, which tends to be the higher crime area.