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Old 02-14-2019, 06:49 AM
 
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Back a little while someone posted, asking if Grant & Alvernon area was sketchy; IIRC a number of people said that midtown was very convenient, and I remarked that the Tucson Botanical Garden was one of my favorite places and that Yume Japanese Garden even went in just south of there 5+ years ago.

Sunday in the Arizona Daily Star there was this column about Grant & Alvernon retail; was wondering if anyone has some insight into this situation. Midtown is indeed very convenient, and I'm wondering how impactful the situation is in light of that.

https://tucson.com/news/local/stelle...0edbe3b66.html


Quote:
(By Tim Steller) As business at Grant and Alvernon has gradually dwindled, a sort of gallows humor has sprung up about the place.

Adam Lehrman, founder of the Tucson Foodie website, printed T-shirts in stark white print on a black background saying simply, “Grant & Alvernon.” They aren’t intended to poke fun at anybody, he told me, so much as to simply observe “It’s a crazy intersection.”

Tucsonan Herm Guzman refashioned a photo of a famous Civil War general in uniform so that he’s carrying a giant Polar Pop mug and a bag of Church’s chicken, and Guzman headed the photo “Ulysses S. Grant & Alvernon.”

If you frequent midtown Tucson, you probably get what they’re talking about. For a couple of reasons, East Grant Road and North Alvernon Way is one of Tucson’s most notorious intersections. The simple one is traffic — the intersection is crowded with vehicles and dangerous, especially at this time of year.

The more complicated reason is there are a lot of poor people on foot around that intersection, some of whom are drug addicts or mentally ill people. Over the years, halfway houses have located in the area, which is also home to mental-health facilities and methadone clinics. Refugees have been resettled in the area, too, which has cheaper housing than much of the rest of the city. It’s a crazy quilt of Tucson life, with a lot more people who travel by foot and bus than in most of this car-centered town. Continued…
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Old 02-14-2019, 09:06 AM
 
Location: Tucson, Arizona
100 posts, read 174,625 times
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Wilma, Grant and Alvernon is a tough zone, but the problems don't go far into the neighborhoods. To the southeast and southwest of the intersection the neighborhoods remain almost as quiet and peaceful as they were twenty years ago. Crime was probably worse on my street in 1998-2002. The drug treatment centers are north of Grant, mostly northwest I think. As you mention, many great homes are located near the Japanese Garden and young married couples are definitely buying them. Great neighborhoods are all over midtown including Poet's Corner, Miramonte, Highland Vista, etc. As downtown rents rise, the midtown area gives young people a chance at an affordable first home or business. It takes me seven minutes to be downtown, so that's an amazingly short commute for anyone who works there or at the U of A. Already the midtown neighborhoods have a younger feel. Events like Cyclovia have promoted the neighborhoods. Old style chain restaurants have closed (Village Inn on Speedway and Denny's). A small noodle restaurant called Noodleholics is on Grant only a few blocks from Grant and Alvernon and it's absolutely packed from the minute it opens almost every day. We have an African grocery on Pima and Alvernon, and several other African markets on Grant. Midcentury or older are the styles hipsters are attracted to. Tucson's older housing stock, which people posting here often call run-down, is attractive to this set of much younger people. They want brick homes with individuality. Similarly, dive bars are being replaced by coffee bars and craft beer bars, all with big windows and lots of light. Tastes have changed a lot in America with the younger set. I have a feeling they will be driving the culture of Tucson and America in the near future. I look at it as a change for the better, going back to a respect for craftsmanship, permanence, and individuality.

Last edited by Roli; 02-14-2019 at 09:25 AM..
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Old 02-14-2019, 10:02 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Roli View Post
Wilma, Grant and Alvernon is a tough zone, but the problems don't go far into the neighborhoods...
That’s great news; thanks so much for the excellent post. I will have to get with you again if we are looking for a place in a couple of years.
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Old 02-14-2019, 10:04 AM
 
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Tough not to judge a neighborhood by what you see near it's major intersection. But I used to live in one of the historic neighborhoods near downtown Phoenix. Two blocks away we had transvestite hookers, bum's nest with 5-6 people living in them and your friendly neighborhood meth head or two. Go inside of our neighborhood and it changed for the better within half a block. Full of $400-$600,000 homes and many young professionals. Like night and day between my block and what I saw 200 yards away on the busy intersection.
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Old 02-14-2019, 02:21 PM
 
Location: Tucson, Arizona
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Glad I could reassure you, Wilma. Yes, grmi66, mostly the people on the streets don't go into the nearby neighborhoods. Maybe it hurts them too much. One day a really messed up, strung out young man walked along my street as I happened to look out my front window. He saw about five kids, boys and girls, across the street playing fort with an old blanket hanging in an olive tree, a typical Tucson activity on a spring afternoon. I saw the saddest, most wistfully depressed smile on his face as he passed the playing kids. I teared up to see that. Where had he come from to arrive on a street in Tucson in that condition? What childhood memory did he have of playing fort? It doesn't bother me to live this close to troubled people. Actually, I feel kind of blessed to have seen that guy and be able to write about him here.
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Old 02-14-2019, 09:19 PM
 
Location: Dayton OH
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I live about a mile and a half southwest of that intersection. My neighborhood has some gritty parts nearby, near Speedway, but you get 1-2 blocks away from the main street, and the residential areas are pretty good. Yes, there are some places that need work, but most are in good condition. I walk around the area alone on the quiet side streets, day or evening, no problem.

I noticed a new Korean "7 ounce Steak house" opened on the corner of Swan and Speedway. Sprouts is in the same retail strip mall, so that might help the restaurant. This afternoon I ate at a Lebanese / middle eastern restaurant just around the corner from Sprouts and it was a good place. I like the convenience and variety of the mid-town area.

The Fry's grocery closed at Grant and Alvernon, but I go to the Fry's at Grant and Swan. That one is an excellent grocery store with very good fruit and veggies at good prices. No scary people hanging around the parking lot. I wonder if Fry's closed the Grant and Alvernon store because of the people hanging around that corner scared off their customers?

Anyone interested in moving to mid-town area, I recommend finding a place 2 blocks or more from the main north-south or east-west streets like Alvernon, Speedway, Grant, Swan, Pima. Much less vehicle noise and contamination by having a few blocks separation.
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Old 02-14-2019, 10:05 PM
 
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Grant and Alvernon is a default bad spot of town. It’s almost iconic and is on T-Shirts. Let’s not kid ourselves
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Old 02-14-2019, 10:19 PM
 
Location: Arizona
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Quote:
Originally Posted by recycled View Post
The Fry's grocery closed at Grant and Alvernon, but I go to the Fry's at Grant and Swan. That one is an excellent grocery store with very good fruit and veggies at good prices. No scary people hanging around the parking lot. I wonder if Fry's closed the Grant and Alvernon store because of the people hanging around that corner scared off their customers?
That Walmart market was put there for the sole purpose of taking Fry's business and running them out of the area.

It's too bad the property owners didn't accept the botanical garden's offer to buy the place. Would've been a win/win situation for the gardens and the neighborhood.
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Old 02-15-2019, 05:52 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tumamoc View Post
It's too bad the [Fry's] property owners didn't accept the botanical garden's offer to buy the place. Would've been a win/win situation for the gardens and the neighborhood.
The first thing that came to mind when I heard it closed. Wonder if the TBG can buy it now...for less. That would be an unforeseen welcome outcome. Did not notice any discussion of that in the article.
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Old 02-15-2019, 08:12 AM
 
Location: Tucson, Arizona
100 posts, read 174,625 times
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Word in our neighborhood on social media is that after Grant is widened (which will take property off the front) an upscale gym has agreed to take the Fry's building. It is a chain from Texas and I don't remember the name. That's probably another good sign for the area. I looked at the pictures of their Texas facilities three months ago and it looked very fancy. There's a gym like it on Grant and Tucson Boulevard; this seemed larger, but similar. The Botanical Garden did try very hard for months to buy the lot, but unfortunately their efforts failed. I've only been in the WalMart once and it was empty except for a few elderly customers. It sold grim choices between highly processed junk food. Given all the higher end groceries with real produce at reasonable prices nearby (Trader Joe's and Sprouts), I think they might have to cut and run. It's one of their mini WalMarts. The people who shopped at Fry's moved immediately to the Fry's down the street or Trader Joe's or Sprouts.
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