Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies moving near Scottsdale (Phoenix, Tucson: buy, income)

[KarmaPhx]

Originally Posted by Greatday

Why? You said you were moving to California, didn't you?

I was being sarcastic.

[Ritchie_az]

"Besides, I could not find anything else of interest in Tucson."

There are a lot of really neat things to do in the Tucson area (and all of southeastern Arizona for that matter) if one were to look...
Mission San Xavier, Sabino Canyon, Mt. Lemmon, Colossal Cave (and the Kerchner Caverns are close), Pima Air Museum, Titan Missile Museum (which is one of my favorites), Old Tucson Studios, and Saguaro National Park come to my mind pretty quickly (I'm sure I'm missing some obvious ones).
If you travel a little further, Tombstone, Bisbee and many of the other small desert towns are worth a visit, and offer a lot of interesting and nearly forgotten history.

[Boompa]

And in a few years they'll move somewhere else leaving you stuck for the cost of the facility. They are charging more for a Pre Season game than a regular season game.

[Greatday]

Originally Posted by KarmaPhx

I was being sarcastic.

No. You have mentioned that you were moving to California, soon, in any number of posts Josh.

[mhouse2001]

Originally Posted by Ritchie_az

"Besides, I could not find anything else of interest in Tucson."

There are a lot of really neat things to do in the Tucson area (and all of southeastern Arizona for that matter) if one were to look...
Mission San Xavier, Sabino Canyon, Mt. Lemmon, Colossal Cave (and the Kerchner Caverns are close), Pima Air Museum, Titan Missile Museum (which is one of my favorites), Old Tucson Studios, and Saguaro National Park come to my mind pretty quickly (I'm sure I'm missing some obvious ones).
If you travel a little further, Tombstone, Bisbee and many of the other small desert towns are worth a visit, and offer a lot of interesting and nearly forgotten history.

I've been to everything but the two caves you mention and Sabino Canyon (unless that's what you drive through to get to Mt. Lemmon). I just find Tucson very uncomfortable. The roads are interrupted by the military installations and I always end up in the wrong part of town. It's dirty compared to Phoenix, in my opinion. It feels dangerous. On the other hand, pretty much the entire west side up here feels dangerous to me! Tucson does have a wonderful mountainous backdrop, which is its best feature. The area north of downtown with its funky restaurants and bookstores is its other best feature. Feels like Tempe or Ann Arbor to me. There's not much else locally there that holds my interest, sorry. I do like the drive from Tucson to New Mexico though, but since I live in the other direction, I don't get down there much.

[mhouse2001]

Originally Posted by Boompa

And in a few years they'll move somewhere else leaving you stuck for the cost of the facility. They are charging more for a Pre Season game than a regular season game.

Yes, the prices at the Dodger/White Sox facility were outrageous. I go primarily to see the players practice which is usually free. You get up to three hours of seeing the players go through their drills on practice fields with them walking among you. It's great. But you still had to pay $5 to see them at Camelback Ranch and the whole place was poorly laid out to allow for public interaction, in my opinion (maybe it was just that they had only recently completed construction). One can enjoy a lot of spring training and baseball without even paying a dime or attending a game.

I don't think there's any reason to fear a team abandoning a facility here or "sticking" us with the bill. Having what will be 15 teams within a 40 mile radius would preclude that from happening. The more the merrier. Now if we could just get them to abandon Florida!

[Ritchie_az]

"pretty much the entire west side up here feels dangerous to me!"

Wow! Have you been west of 75th Ave?

"Tucson does have a wonderful mountainous backdrop, which is its best feature."

I completely agree. Most people don't realize just how tall the mountians here are: Mt. Lemmon 9,225', Mt Wrightson 9,453', Mt. Bigelow 8,790', Mt. Micah 8,664' and Rincon Peak 8,482'.

"I've been to everything but the two caves you mention and Sabino Canyon"

They're both wet caves/caverns. Kerchner Caverns is more interesting, but also further away. Sabino Canyon is a really neat place in the Catalina Mountains, but it is not on the way to Mt. Lemmon. If you are in Tucson again, it's worth a visit--be sure to wear something you can both hike and swim in.

"The roads are interrupted by the military installations"

The biggest problem with the roads (besides lack of maintenance) are there are no helpful freeways. I-10 is only helpful if you live near it, which most people don't.

"I just find Tucson very uncomfortable."

Me, too. I think the city government has done a criminally poor job for decades. The anti-progress attitude has made the city stale. And the high crime-rate, well, is high.
Those are some of the reasons I like Phoenix better, and why I'm moving there (to Goodyear).
I just wanted to make sure you weren't missing out on the good things Tucson does have to offer. I know I judged Tucson (somewhat) incorrectly before moving here.

[Finger Laker]

I didn't think prices were that bad at camelback ranch ..... they had a couple "premier" type seating arrangements that drove up the average price and got people on the "overpriced" bandwagon

the seats ran a few dollars higher than the average in the phoenix metro - however, they weren't "professional" prices ...... they aren't even as expensive as what you'll pay in the grapefruit league where berm seats often go for $15 ...... with the dodgers and a new facility they can justify a couple extra dollars, because they were able to easily get it

i agree about the access though ....... the grounds are very nice and pleasant to walk around, but they aren't designed for much access

i think my favorite place for spring training is maryvale though ..... seems like the lowest ticket prices in the phoenix metro, brewers fans are great with good tailgating etc, great ballpark fare, good access ....... a nice facility for sure ..... nothing fancy, but gets the job done real well

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by Ritchie_az

"Besides, I could not find anything else of interest in Tucson."

There are a lot of really neat things to do in the Tucson area (and all of southeastern Arizona for that matter) if one were to look...
Mission San Xavier, Sabino Canyon, Mt. Lemmon, Colossal Cave (and the Kerchner Caverns are close), Pima Air Museum, Titan Missile Museum (which is one of my favorites), Old Tucson Studios, and Saguaro National Park come to my mind pretty quickly (I'm sure I'm missing some obvious ones).
If you travel a little further, Tombstone, Bisbee and many of the other small desert towns are worth a visit, and offer a lot of interesting and nearly forgotten history.

Boring, I need some world renowned restaurants, some amazing and well known nightclubs, world class museums like PAM and The Heard, Taliesin West (Frank Lloyd Wright), and on and on. Thanks but if I wanted to catch some outdoor activity vastly different from Phoenix (which Tucson is not) I would head North/Northeast. But, that's just my opinion. Now, I can't wait to watch my team during Spring Training. I like going to the games (for spring) but since I have no interest/like for other clubs, I'll get my full money's worth soon.

[Ritchie_az]

"Boring, I need some world renowned restaurants, some amazing and well known nightclubs, world class museums like PAM and The Heard, Taliesin West (Frank Lloyd Wright), and on and on. Thanks but if I wanted to catch some outdoor activity vastly different from Phoenix (which Tucson is not) I would head North/Northeast."

It's your loss, not mine.