Is Tucson about to get "Boise'ed"? (Phoenix: low income, rent)

[Hal Roach]

Too much of a poverty culture in Tucson, even though U of A has a lot of merit. It will remain in the shadows of Phoenix, economywise, but may still get pretty expensive.

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by gman4gov

If you look at the wages, they are quite low in Tucson and probably don't compare to a city like Boise. There will be a recession eventually, and how will Tucson respond? I don't think it will be like 2007, but cities like Tucson will be affected.

Yeah, most state capitals, like Boise, are almost "recession proof" are at least less effected by recessions because of the somewhat stable economy related to the amount of government workers in these type of cities.

Having lived in Tucson twice for a total of 7 years and seeing some similarities between Tucson and Boise, like both having large state universities and some high tech employers although Boise probably has more of those, I don't see Tucson becoming another Boise, but that's just my opinion.

[JGMotorsport64]

Tucson won’t get Boise’d. It’ll grow at the periphery and near the University like it always has but it’s a proudly economically depressed area that will probably stay that way, somewhat on purpose.

The UofA is a great school and is a huge part of any success Tucson has, but as an alum, it is rare that it’s graduates stick around for long since upward mobility in Tucson is difficult.

That said I really like Tucson but it’s too slow for me to move back.

[Roli]

Tucson has a very active biotech industry. Here briefly are the details. Ventana Medical in Oro Valley is the number one producer of cancer detection machines and has active research in many other products/processes. They run three shifts of production all day, except a week at Christmas. They employ scientists and factory workers. A professor from the U of A developed the cancer machine. They are owned by Roche now and people fly in and out from Basel, Switzerland all the time. Ventana employs 1,300 people in all kinds of positions. The pay is quite high. The commute from central Tucson is 30 minutes. Accelerate is another firm located near Bannor South. They have a blood pathogen detection machine which was developed and manufactured there. This company is expanding rapidly. The commute from central Tucson to Accelerate is about 15 minutes. HTG is another company located further south of the city. I don't know what they produce. In addition to these, there are several smaller startups in town. A firm is working on 3D printing organs for transplant. There are heart valve manufactures and artificial limb manufacturing. Tucson has the highest education level in the state, exceeding Phoenix. Sorry, Phoenix. The medical school is located in Tucson. If you want a complicated medical procedure, UMC has some of the nation's greatest surgeons in many special surgical fields. There are extremely talented and wealthy people living in the Tucson foothills who fly under the radar because they don't want people to know who they are. Many people in the smaller midtown homes have larger bank accounts than you would imagine. The town is full of people who are not conspicuous consumers. It's a different kind of mindset to want what you have. Mexicans score higher in happiness than Americans. What do they value? Family. You can't buy it.

[grmi66]

The freeway system in Boise and Tucson are very similar, skirts the south side of town. So if you need to get across the north side of town you are stuck on surface streets (Ina/Sunrise in Tucson, State Street/Chinden in Boise).

Plus Boise has corporate headquarters that Tucson doesn't. That affects quality of life with charitable contributions from companies like Micron, Boise Cascade, Albertsons, Simplot, Winco and others.

Wages are similar though, when I left Boise to move to Phoenix I stayed in the same industry and got an immediate $20,000 raise plus better benefits.

I see people moving to Tucson to retire, telecommute and maybe land a job with the larger companies that are expanding. But it won't be anything like Boise. Both cities are great and I'd have to flip a coin to decide which one was better. I've lived in 6 different cities as an adult and bounced around another 4-5 growing up, along with traveling a lot for work. Tucson & Boise are the two favorites so far.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by Roli

Tucson has a very active biotech industry. Here briefly are the details. Ventana Medical in Oro Valley is the number one producer of cancer detection machines and has active research in many other products/processes. They run three shifts of production all day, except a week at Christmas. They employ scientists and factory workers. A professor from the U of A developed the cancer machine. They are owned by Roche now and people fly in and out from Basel, Switzerland all the time. Ventana employs 1,300 people in all kinds of positions. The pay is quite high. The commute from central Tucson is 30 minutes. Accelerate is another firm located near Bannor South. They have a blood pathogen detection machine which was developed and manufactured there. This company is expanding rapidly. The commute from central Tucson to Accelerate is about 15 minutes. HTG is another company located further south of the city. I don't know what they produce. In addition to these, there are several smaller startups in town. A firm is working on 3D printing organs for transplant. There are heart valve manufactures and artificial limb manufacturing. Tucson has the highest education level in the state, exceeding Phoenix. Sorry, Phoenix. The medical school is located in Tucson. If you want a complicated medical procedure, UMC has some of the nation's greatest surgeons in many special surgical fields. There are extremely talented and wealthy people living in the Tucson foothills who fly under the radar because they don't want people to know who they are. Many people in the smaller midtown homes have larger bank accounts than you would imagine. The town is full of people who are not conspicuous consumers. It's a different kind of mindset to want what you have. Mexicans score higher in happiness than Americans. What do they value? Family. You can't buy it.

Just want to point out that Phoenix has three medical schools (UofA, ASU/Mayo Clinic, Midwestern) and another on the way (Creighton/Dignity).

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by JGMotorsport64

Just want to point out that Phoenix has three medical schools (UofA, ASU/Mayo Clinic, Midwestern) and another on the way (Creighton/Dignity).

As well as two dental schools.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by grmi66

Plus Boise has corporate headquarters that Tucson doesn't. That affects quality of life with charitable contributions from companies like Micron, Boise Cascade, Albertsons, Simplot, Winco and others.
.

I think that the largest corporate sponsors in Tucson are the two Indian casinos and Jim Click Automotive. While there are large corporations in the area - Caterpillar Mining, Raytheon and GEICO come immediately to mind, I do not see them sponsoring a lot of activities.

[Finper]

right now I live in Orange County so cal and am planning on moving to Oro Valley next spring. I see that area growing since so many people from liberal states like NY Ill and Ca are fleeing to AZ. Most seem to be going to PHX but there will be spill over to Tucson when Phx just gets too crowded. The 10fwy already has traffic jams there.

Right now I see Tucson as a hidden gem but there are too many pluses there for it to be hidden forever. I can def see Tucson as the next Boise. When??? I don't know but Tucson better start working on their infrastructure.

[grmi66]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

I think that the largest corporate sponsors in Tucson are the two Indian casinos and Jim Click Automotive. While there are large corporations in the area - Caterpillar Mining, Raytheon and GEICO come immediately to mind, I do not see them sponsoring a lot of activities.

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.