Is Tucson about to get "Boise'ed"? (Phoenix, Flagstaff: transplants, HOA)

[dump1567]

If you look at prices of homes from the past, the Tucson area seems to still be coming out of the recession. Some homes have just finally caught-up to what they sold for in 2007. So yea, prices are going up, but they seem to being going up to where they're suppose to be based on the rest of the country.

There's also few job opportunities for young families here. Plenty of retires, but that's been the case since the 60's.

Tucson to me seems like a Retiree, Military, College, & Cowboy town. Unless more higher paying jobs show-up, it will probably stay that way.

And anyone coming from So. Cal will be shocked by the poverty in the Tucson area (similar to parts of Riverside/SB County). The Phoenix area is much nicer (due to growth & new areas) & there's much more to do there. And as the prices rise in Tucson, the out skirt cities of Phoenix look much more appealing.

I've wandered the streets of downtown Boise and it was fairly nice. Downtown Tucson, not so much.

I like the smaller town feel here, but try to get across Tucson. All stop and go. No freeway infrastructure to get anywhere. And than the snow birds show-up to add to the congestion.

A lot of crime here. Even in what you think would be a "safer Neighborhood". Just read the Sahuarita Sun Newspaper.

And to the countless posters that are looking into this area. My advice would be to rent for the first 3-6 months (preferably during part of summer) and find out what area you want to buy in. Or if this area is even right for you.

Anyway, this is my assessment after being here over a year. And even with all the negatives I listed above, I wouldn't change a thing. And I don't think this will turn into the next Boise anytime soon, but who knows?

[Katera]

Originally Posted by dump1567

Anyway, this is my assessment after being here over a year. And even with all the negatives I listed above, I wouldn't change a thing. And I don't think this will turn into the next Boise anytime soon, but who knows?

I love the ending to your comment. That's how you can really tell about an area.....quite literally its not perfect, but the sum outweighs the negatives. Cool.

[JSinAZ]

60 miles to Mexico. Not likely.

[wildcatmd]

It seems like people here haven’t really kept up with some of the recent job developments. Raytheon is on a path to 15,000 employees up from 9,000 just a couple years ago. The Tucson campus was also named one of the major headquarters of the Raytheon-United Technologies merger. Caterpillar moved its mining and technology headquarters downtown with multiple suppliers coming with it probably adding something like 1500 engineering jobs. Lots of new start ups coming from UA particularly in the health sciences which is coming on top of a billion dollar investment joint investment with Banner into the UA’s clinical and research enterprise. Also a lot of recent national media has been promoting Tucson as a tourist/living destination.

So will Tucson become like Boise? I think not quite but we’re on the path.

[grmi66]

Originally Posted by wildcatmd

It seems like people here haven’t really kept up with some of the recent job developments. Raytheon is on a path to 15,000 employees up from 9,000 just a couple years ago. The Tucson campus was also named one of the major headquarters of the Raytheon-United Technologies merger. Caterpillar moved its mining and technology headquarters downtown with multiple suppliers coming with it probably adding something like 1500 engineering jobs. Lots of new start ups coming from UA particularly in the health sciences which is coming on top of a billion dollar investment joint investment with Banner into the UA’s clinical and research enterprise. Also a lot of recent national media has been promoting Tucson as a tourist/living destination.

So will Tucson become like Boise? I think not quite but we’re on the path.

Interesting points, but after living in both cities I don't see Tucson becoming quite like Boise. I saw more families moving to Boise, but around my neighborhood it's all people that are retired or telecommute and plan on retiring in 10 years.

[ctr88]

Originally Posted by Roli

. Tucson has the highest education level in the state, exceeding Phoenix. Sorry, Phoenix. .

This is a totally false statement.

Percentages of people with bachelors degrees or higher per the U.S. census bureau for various Arizona cities:

-Phoenix - 28.2%
-Scottsdale - 57.2%
-Tucson - 26.8%
-Chandler - 43.7%
-Flagstaff - 46.2%
-Prescott -38.1%
-Boise ID 41.1% (just throw that one in since its in title of thread)

Tucson is actually not that great in terms of educational levels. And that is DESPITE having UofA, which is amazing.

[Hal Roach]

Originally Posted by grmi66

Big difference in having the C-Suite in town vs having the Regional VP's of a satellite facility in town. More community investments, larger opportunity for upper level jobs and the feeder effect of companies that can be local suppliers.

That is a good point..and Arizona is ok d of notorious for putting the red carpet out for tech companies, when they are often the worst, lowest paid jobs in their entire corporations..Many of the call center jobs come to mind..kind of obvious the turnover will be 25%+..per month.

[grmi66]

Originally Posted by Hal Roach

That is a good point..and Arizona is ok d of notorious for putting the red carpet out for tech companies, when they are often the worst, lowest paid jobs in their entire corporations..Many of the call center jobs come to mind..kind of obvious the turnover will be 25%+..per month.

Living in Boise you had parks, theaters and community investments done in the name of Albertsons, Simplot (one of the largest privately held companies in the world - one piece of their empire is making french fries for McDonald's), Boise (the paper company), Micron, Winco, and several others. Something to be said for the ego of F500 CEO or large shareholder who wants to see their name on a park, hospital wing or building on a college campus. One small thing that made an already desirable place to live just a touch better.

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by ctr88

Tucson is actually not that great in terms of educational levels. And that is DESPITE having UofA, which is amazing.

It's not really that hard to figure out why that is and what is happening. It just means people that go to UofA and graduate, the 8,000+ each year, don't stay in the Tucson metroplex. I would guess a good chunk/majority of UofA students (90%+) are from other parts of Arizona, outside of Tucson (mainly the Phoenix metroplex) and SoCal.

Having lived in Tucson twice for a totally of 7 years, hearing the, "You go to Tucson for your degree and Phoenix for the jobs, once you graduate." was quite common, and also a dig at ASU!

Sure Tucson has some good employers, like Raytheon, the UofA, Ventana Medica, etc., it just can't compete with places like the Phoenix metroplex or SoCal.

Tucson will always be one of those places that won't fit into one stereotype, you have some military aspect, you have the large state university aspect, you have the retiree aspect and a pinch of OK employers.

When I volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in Tucson every Saturday, we would get groups from Raytheon that came out all the time. These groups were mostly made up of young engineers in their mid to late 20s, that came from all over the country and were just "paying their dues" (their quote not mine!) for a few years before they can move on within Raytheon to other locations or other big defense/aerospace contractors mostly in California. Very few had plans on staying in Tucson long term and to try and plant some roots, so to speak.

[Katera]

^^^ Interesting. Still....the prices are going up really really fast. Hence, me starting this thread. Nothing has changed since I asked this question. They are still go up at break neck speed.