how judgemental, rude, meanspirited and racist is Tucson? (contractor, landlord)

[lemon&lime]

People won't want to respond to this thread. That's OK. I'm not asking this question to push any buttons, accuse anyone of anything, or assume anything. I'm open minded and believe that all places have plusses. I would not assume Tucson was a bad place. I live in Albuquerque and have grown tired of the constant judgemental, holier-than-thou attitudes. The area is also rough with a lot of mean spirited people who say rude things, etc. I'm tired of having my feelings hurt by total strangers. I know people say there are mean people everywhere but in my opinion Albuquerque is meaner and more racist than other places I've lived.

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by lemon&lime

People won't want to respond to this thread. That's OK. I'm not asking this question to push any buttons, accuse anyone of anything, or assume anything. I'm open minded and believe that all places have plusses. I would not assume Tucson was a bad place. I live in Albuquerque and have grown tired of the constant judgemental, holier-than-thou attitudes. The area is also rough with a lot of mean spirited people who say rude things, etc. I'm tired of having my feelings hurt by total strangers. I know people say there are mean people everywhere but in my opinion Albuquerque is meaner and more racist than other places I've lived.

Very strange question, Lemon

There is no way a city has the ability to be "judgmental or mean spirited! Very possibly a few individuals or groups may display these characteristics but an entire city, Tucson or Albuquerque . . . NO WAY.

Are you certain you are not searching for and/or inviting this type of behavior?

[lemon&lime]

Originally Posted by Bummer

Very strange question, Lemon

There is no way a city has the ability to be "judgmental or mean spirited! Very possibly a few individuals or groups may display these characteristics but an entire city, Tucson or Albuquerque . . . NO WAY.

Are you certain you are not searching for and/or inviting this type of behavior?

Nope. Albuquerque is an overwhelming racist, meanspirited town. I've written about it on the Abq board and gotten a lot of rep points.

[observer53]

No, what you are actually saying is that there are people who live there who, to your mind, have that attitude. The fact that you've received a lot of rep points on this board for making those statements in the Albuquerque forum proves nothing but that which those of us who've spent any time here already know -- that a lot of people come to this forum to complain and/or agree with those who do. I'll go out on a limb here and say that nothing close to the majority of people in Albuquerque fit your description. I'll state the obvious and say that you will find a number of people who fit that description in ANY city in this country. I don't know anything about you, but if you are often in situations where you will encounter those people in ABQ and experience that attitude, it could feel like the whole city's that way. It's not. And I don't care how many rep points you got for your opinion. And, you don't sound open-minded yourself at all, if you'll take that position.

Edit: I went and read a few of your posts. Hmmmm. The way you describe your neighbors (which you have now applied to the entire city) and one neighbor in particular, whose ethnicity you chose to put in the post even though it had nothing to do with why you thought he got you in trouble with your landlord and got you evicted (or you were about to be). I think I understand now. I'm with Bummer on this one.

[lemon&lime]

That is so not true and you know it. You don't live in Albuquerque, don't have years of experience with the area & really don't know what the hell you are talking about. My question is very straightforward: how mean is Tuscon? There's a whole lotta attitude in Albuquerque, that I know for sure. I've also lived in Austin, Portland, Oregon and most recently Salt Lake City, Utah, which I complained about heavily. My issues on with SL are verrrrry common and discussed relentlessly on that board. There are tons of outsiders saying the same things I said about the Mormon culture etc. People on the SL board are very open minded and tolerate the discussion whereas I've noticed Albuquerque and now Tucson can't take it. What is that all about?

[observer53]

Originally Posted by lemon&lime

That is so not true and you know it. You don't live in Albuquerque, don't have years of experience with the area & really don't know what the hell you are talking about. My question is very straightforward: how mean is Tuscon? There's a whole lotta attitude in Albuquerque, that I know for sure. I've also lived in Austin, Portland, Oregon and most recently Salt Lake City, Utah, which I complained about heavily. My issues on with SL are verrrrry common and discussed relentlessly on that board. There are tons of outsiders saying the same things I said about the Mormon culture etc. People on the SL board are very open minded and tolerate the discussion whereas I've noticed Albuquerque and now Tucson can't take it. What is that all about?

It isn't a matter of "not taking it". This is just a ridiculous topic. To complain about a city being judgmental and racist (assuming that can even be the case) based on your experience with your neighbors and perhaps some other people, together with just a sample of your other posts, have just helped demonstrate how judgmental and racist you yourself are. You are going to believe whatever you want to believe, and if you now go looking for racist, judgmental people, with your attitude, you'll find them.

If Austin or Portland were so great, why don't you head back there? Or did you complain about them, too? I'll bet there are judgmental, rude people there, too, just like anywhere. Heck, there probably ARE some in Tucson, too, but the whole city isn't that way. NO whole city is. Your words on past posts speak volumes about you, and how you perceive and, yes, judge, people.

[kdog]

Originally Posted by observer53

If Austin or Portland were so great, why don't you head back there? Or did you complain about them, too?

You must be psychic. One from their posting history...

Originally Posted by lemon&lime

I left Texas 7 years ago and will never move back.

This thread has "troll" written all over it.

[azdr0710]

hey l and l.....

guess it's time for my quarterly reminder:

wherever you move, don't forget you have to take yourself with you

[Dreamdeer]

My experience, as brown-skinned and eccentric lady, until recently has been positive. (I am Indian of a Mexican tribe by ancestry, and it shows.) I'll take your question section by section:

JUDGMENTALNESS: I have encountered none, though I suppose that it depends on what company you keep. I can go to the bank or to church with flowers and leaves braided into my hair and get nothing but friendly smiles. Where I go to church, some of the churchladies have tattoos, and the song-leader often wears a bandanna with skulls and crossbones on it, and nobody bats an eye. I have heard very little, over the years, of anybody speculating on anybody's sins (maybe a little in the New Age community, but mild.)

RUDENESS: I have found everybody amazingly polite! No one here has ever directed a racist remark to my face, whereas strangers used to do a lot of that to me in California, particularly (surprise, surprise!) the Bay Area which is supposed to be so liberal. People have a live-and-let-live attitude around here, on the whole. And I am continually amazed at how kind and considerate, even deferential, young people act towards gray-haired folk like me.

MEANSPIRITEDNESS: Obviously somebody is, judging by recent election results, but I think you'll find it mainly among wealthy old retirees and tea-party types. On the whole, people go out of their way to help each other out. And when I first arrived here some five years ago, there was a big hullaballoo about the border patrol arresting a couple people for rushing some dehydrated (nearly dead) illegal border crossers to a hospital, whereupon everywhere you looked you saw signs saying, "Humanitarian Aid is Not a Crime!" on lawns, in business windows, in front of churches, on the sides of contractor's panel-trucks, on lapel-pins, bumper-stickers, everywhere!

RACISM: It didn't used to be. As I said, I found a lot less racism here than I did in California...initially. Now the politicians have discovered that they can use Mexicans for a human shield to distract people from their own shortcomings, and have whipped up all manner of fear of "illegal aliens" AKA brown-skinned people who might possibly look like a non-citizen, with the result that lots of Mexicans and Indians get all kinds of harrassment even without SB1070 in operation. Fear breeds hatred.

Yet even saying that, in a huge rally to oppose SB1070, I saw a whole lot of white people marching shoulder to shoulder with brown folks. Tucson is probably one of the most liberal cities in Arizona, and there are a lot of good people here. I just wish the bad people weren't the ones in power, getting all the campaign funding. Because if 9 people out of 10 are good, it still takes only one bully to ruin your day or your life--and he'll only act if he thinks the folks in power will be just a little bit slower to defend certain people, slow enough for him to get away with it.

So that's the most honest assessment I can come up with. I hope it helps.

[JAinAZ]

I hear there are some beautiful spots in Alaska where you will not be judged by anyone, and there are absolutely no problems with race. Of course there are no other people there either. But remember, YOU will be there, so you will have to be careful of what you say to yourself in order to avoid any problems with judgemental, racist people.