Overcast-weary Portlanders thinking about moving to Tucson. (Phoenix, Tempe: crime, neighborhoods)

[Adamson865]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Tucson is only a few degrees cooler than PHX. Its still hot.


If you don't like guns, low taxes, etc, stay in liberal Portland. Don't move here and change AZ to OR.

It might be too late! Ran into a petitioner gatherer last night trying to get signatures for higher taxes. Laughed, said no, and kept on walking. I just moved from CA - but I definitely didn't bring any high-tax wish list with me.

[Maroon197]

Tucson excels in outdoor amenities. Beautiful desert hiking in winter, and cooler alpine hiking up in the Catalinas in summer. Then you have the desert museum, two botanical gardens, and a lot of (shadeless) bikepaths. Everything else is pretty iffy. The roads are terrible and there is no freeway system so getting across town is such a chore you won’t even want to bother trying. The art museum is pretty sad, the libraries are mediocre at best, and the one independent bookstore in town is terrible (IMO). Beyond that, there aren’t any really safe walkable areas, and everything downtown in the urban core, including housing, caters almost exclusively to students. I love the setting of Tucson, but it’s not a very functional city.

[Saguarogirl507]

We live in the foothills right near Sabino Canyon. It is quite lovely. The roads are well maintained and it is quite safe. It is not exactly Tucson, we have Pima County Sheriff and Fire.

It is mostly retirees. Shopping is very close by. While it is a bit more expensive than other areas we really like it and do recommend it. We are quite citi-ed out from all our years living in Boston so we like the peace and quiet as well.

[Bygeorge]

You live in Tucson for the climate. While other parts of the country are flooded, blown away by tornadoes and hurricanes, volcanos, Tucson is just stable. Yeah. Gets hot! So you get up at 0430 and enjoy the morning with coffee and then around 0900 you stay indoors. Indoors can mean home, library, bookstores or whatever you like. In Dec, Jan, Feb etc. you can enjoy NO Winter. No evening news showing blizzards with some reporter telling us all about it for the umpteenth time. No recues of some soul from icy ponds etc. Weatherwise, Tucson is boring. I live here for the boring climate.

[Slater]

Yeah, if guns freak you out this may not be the optimum state for you.

[LaylaM]

Awol op??

[Bygeorge]

You know, everyday you can read about some woman being raped, beaten, murdered, kidnapped, disappearing. These anti gun celebs are a protected species. Here in AZ my wife can carry a firearm and go walking, hiking or whatever with some means of defense. She is not going to go shoot some kid in a school. There is a criminal war against women which I do not think is adequately reported.

I was thinking about the two bike riders in the NW who were attacked by a cougar or mountain lion with one being killed. A firearm would have been handy or even pepper spray. Both those are illegal in many jurisdictions. Thankfully in AZ you can defend yourself.

And for the record, I do not advocate shooting first nor being irresponsible with firearms. I am all for measures to keep known idiots from access as well as children. We live in a criminal society.

[Canine*Castle]

Originally Posted by More Rock

Green Valley is a nice area, right next to the Santa Rita Mountains, Ramsey Canyon. Try the drive!

Thank you for your comment. I am looking forward to checking it out when the time is right. Just checked out Ramsey Canyon online. It looks awesome.

[meo92953]

I was thinking about this post while driving home from the store. For some reason it brought to mind Minnesota & the many, many times I was housebound either because of the amount of snow, wind advisories or/and danger of frostbite. Cabin fever is a reality back there & I experienced it at least once, sometimes more, every winter. I still shudder when I think of it.

I'll take staying indoors a few hours a day for a few months rather than ever going through that again.

Here it is pleasant early morning and late afternoon & evening. I still haven't turned on the ac, just ceiling & floor fans. But, then again, I 'm Minnesota tough, lol.

[sueisme]

Originally Posted by NW4me

Indeed, the gun thing would be creepy! Are you set on Arizona? If not, Albuquerque might meet your criteria... sunny, but without broiling summers (because it's about the same elevation as Denver).

Thanks, fellow PNWer. No, we're not yet set on Tucson. The quirky vibe felt good to us, but we're going to visit again to see if it's more than a smallish part of downtown. Thanks for mentioning Albuquerque. We'd had Santa Fe on the list but thought it might be too cold during winters. Plus there's snow.

I *do* want to point out I'm not against guns (I noticed a poster tried to turn this into a gun discussion, something I have no interest in participating in), just that waltzing into a bookstore or restaurant and seeing someone packing heat is a bit .... different.