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People joke about "dry heat" but 100 degrees here is more comfortable than 90 degrees with humidity elsewhere.
LOL
I was just down there last Saturday, stuck in traffic on the I-10 (they had it re-routed on the side streets), sittin in 110 degrees. It is NOT more comfortable than 90 degrees and humidity. If anything it feels like the same thing: HELL. Humidity or not, 110 degrees is absolute, positive, uncomfortable garbage. That was an experience Ill never soon forget. I came back to Illinois to 76 perfect degrees. You can keep that heat, along with Tucson, what a disappointing dump. Driving along I-10 was nothing but ghetto (there were a few nicer new parts east of downtown), abandoned motels and gas stations, and a nasty huge plant (electric?). Those new homes were cookie cutter and ugly, the rest of Tucson was quite scary,minus Oro Valley, but that wasnt anything to write home about either. Needless to say I was very disappointed in Tucson, I should have listened to my brother in law.
We Are Considering Moving To Tucson From Ohio
I Need 10 Good (legit) Reasons Why We Should Not
I Will Respect Your Opinions
Late in the game, but I'll throw in my 2 cents--I lived in Tucson from 1991 until 1998:
10. Monsoon storms in Jul/Aug come with nasty flooding, wind, rain.
9. Scorpions in your kitchen drawers, shoes, and closets (esp in new homes)
8. Lonely feeling you get when it is 112 degree heat outside in July and the streets look like a ghosttown.
7. Dusty and sandy everywhere (blowing) when it doesn't rain for months.
6. Cost of housing has gone crazy I've heard in past 3-5 years from somewhat affordable in some areas to almost out of reach.
5. Prime time TV shows start @ 7pm!! (not 8)
4. Snowbirds everywhere, all the time. (older, retirement folks from other cold states)
3. That damn Southwestern theme gets OLD as hell, especially the flute playing guy--cocoapelli I think it is called.
2. Tucson doesn't get the top tier concerts, touring Broadway shows, or other "major" events (for the most part--of course there are exceptions) like a city with over 1,000,000 people (metro).
1. It ain't green here. At All.
I don't get why Tucson gets bashed. Its a city with a ton of potential. It has a major university, great climate, and beautiful scenery. It sucks but it seems that the citizens and young folks have such a negative attitude that they just can't see the opportunities. Tucson to me could be the Portland, Austin, Seattle, Raleigh of the southwest.....
I'm still interested in coming. I want to start a business and live somewhere affordable and laid back. DC/Baltimore to me is the ultimate ghetto and the people and business climate is just so toxic. You guys complain about crime but you haven't seen anything until you've lived in Cleveland, Detroit, Baltimore, and DC which are top 10 cities for crime every year in the U.S, all places I unfortunately had to live in for my job....I can deal with property crime, I just can't handle high body counts
I agree with Zippy, much of what everyone says against Tucson is what makes this such a great place to live!
Yes, it's hot. But isn't it great walking around on Christmas day in shorts?
Yes, there are scorpions. So get a good pest service.
Yes, there aren't headlining rockstars and major events going on much of the time. But that's why you go to Phoenix!
Tucson is slowly coming into its own and I would hate to see all the beautiful landscape turn into the freeway dominated scene of major cities. I think it's kind of neat when you can drive a half hour and be up in the mountains, hiking on a deserted trail, or golfing on a world-class course.
Hey, I agree with you guys--I had to struggle to come up with 10 negative things. I love Tucson and would consider retirement there in a heartbeat. If my 10 things are the worst about a place, the place ain't bad! I graduated from the University of Arizona and loved every minute of the city and campus. I want to buy a home someday in the foothills. Sunsets are amazing in Tucson. I miss the open space of the west. CT ain't nothing like it!
I agree with your post, Beanchokiki, life is what you make it. As far as critters go, we moved in on them. They have as much of a right to live as we humans. If I had a cougar in my back yard and needed to leave the house, I'd throw him a steak and take off while he was occupied. Otherwise, I'd enjoy watching the beautiful puddy tat at the window.
Here in Columbus, Ohio we have a lot of immigrants from all over. The most prevalent cultures here are Somali and Mexican. I speak Spanish okay and I get along just fine. My neighbor is from El Salvador. We usually speak in Spanish; my Spanish is better than his English. I also agree that parental involvement is extremely valuable.
[quote=Mudd;638093]9 - Not being able to go out of doors between the hours of 9am and 8 pm 6 months out of the year due to the heat. 3rd degree burns are common just for touching a steering wheel or seat belt, or falling on the asphalt.
QUOTE]
this one's absolute bull, are nights cool off very quickly in the summer, and the mornings are beautiful. Also it's not 6 months out of the year it's about three months(june, july, august, and thats pushing it.) where you really want to stay inside between noon and about 6 o'colck. You don't have to though, you're not gonna get third degree burns for falling on the asphalt. Yes it is hot here, but it is not unbearable like phoenix, or yuma. Personally I prefer these summers to east coast summers. It's so humid back there, I'll take 104degree days (which is our average high during the summer, it rarely exceeds 110.) with 5% humidity, than 90 degree days with 90 % humidity.
We Are Considering Moving To Tucson From Ohio
I Need 10 Good (legit) Reasons Why We Should Not
I Will Respect Your Opinions
MIXED FEELINGS. LOVE THE HEAT - but dangerous critters.
LOL ! the one about cougars in your yard is hysterical, well, not really funny, but...we had one on our backyard wall--they can jump 30 feet among other things and they tend to come out here around december. there were a few large dogs that were killed in their own backyards here last year at that time. the coyotes are as large as german shepards; i've measured their tracks and some are as big as wolves. and the javalina will chase you in packs and if you're unlucky enough to get bit by one, good luck. i've got a big ol' pit bull and when we go walking in the desert we are careful let me tell you, the critters here (rattlers, mountain lions and packs of javalinas) could swallow up my dog in a heartbeat. then there's summer here, what that other guy saying about watching out for every poisonous snake and scorpion--he is right, YES THIS IS TRUE. if i didn't own cats who are always on the prowl in my home, i'd probably have gotten bit by scorpions (cats can disarm a scropion in about 10 seconds and they are immune to its stings); oh and there's the tarantuals too, again, thank God for my cats. however, there's no getting around the rattlers and unless you've got your yard wired from any entry, you will see them in your yard, so he's right, you've always got to be on the lookout. someone mentioned that the things in tucson people complain about are true in almost every city in the u.s. this is definately NOT true. i've lived in 40 different states (Airforce brat) and let me tell you, i never seen tarantuals and snakes in a house); and no one told me about valley fever, which i GOT the first year i was here, thinking i was back in calie gardening in the dirt all day...WRONG!
now, about the heat and cost of homes. personally i disagree with those who say the prices of homes are outrageous here--being from so cal where just an average 3-bedroom home is 500k, i can tell you tucson has some mightly good and low prices at $150-$180k, i bought when they were only $105k. as for the weather ?? if you don't like HEAT then please don't move here. as for me, i love the heat and moved here from california because i was ALWAYS COLD IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, so for me the 105 degree weather was perfect. my home is always at 90 degrees WITH my air conditioner on, and i rarely wear shorts...however, i KNOW for most folks it is definately NOT the case and i am not the norm in that respect. so most normal people would not like the heat here, of course it's worse in phoenix. and don't get me started on the homeowner associations...
it is sort of insane to live in tucson really. i wouldn't have come here if i wasn't too broke to own a home in calie, and if i didn't love the dry heat for my health. one other good thing is no traffic here (well....that's in comparison to Los Angeles where it takes 30 minutes to drive to the neighborhood post office; and 2 hours to get 20 miles home from work on a freeway--on a good day). so to me, there is NO traffic here in north tucson. southern tucson, yes that other guy is right, is a dump.
bottom line to anyone who's deciding whether or not to move here: if you don't like heat, don't move to tucson period. let me rephrase that, if you LOVE heat then move here. not just if you can tolerate it. you would have to love it. most people don't. even the trees here have thorns - everything is desperately trying to live in this tough hot dry terrain.
p.s. another good thing here, at least in north tucson, there are no fleas i noticed and that is good when you have indoor cats for sure. i've heard other people in so tucson say they have fleas but i haven't seen one in 4 years i've been here and neither have my pets. so this is a good thing. but the downside is you can never let your cats outdoors here, they will be eaten by a coyote or a bobcat within a few hours.
the birds here are cool though. quail and doves and hawks.
so it's critters (dangerous ones) and heat. a good training ground if you're going to be stationed in the middle east desert i heard...
all in all i'm here and loving it, although the critter thing (rattlers) is pretty much the main thing i do not like, still, probably won't bother those who do not like the outdoors like i do.
Last edited by yerr_sister; 07-07-2007 at 01:12 AM..
MIXED FEELINGS. LOVE THE HEAT - but dangerous critters.
LOL ! the one about cougars in your yard is hysterical, well, not really funny, but...we had one on our backyard wall--they can jump 30 feet among other things and they tend to come out here around december. there were a few large dogs that were killed in their own backyards here last year at that time. the coyotes are as large as german shepards; i've measured their tracks and some are as big as wolves. and the javalina will chase you in packs and if you're unlucky enough to get bit by one, good luck. i've got a big ol' pit bull and when we go walking in the desert we are careful let me tell you, the critters here (rattlers, mountain lions and packs of javalinas) could swallow up my dog in a heartbeat. then there's summer here, what that other guy saying about watching out for every poisonous snake and scorpion--he is right, YES THIS IS TRUE. if i didn't own cats who are always on the prowl in my home, i'd probably have gotten bit by scorpions (cats can disarm a scropion in about 10 seconds and they are immune to its stings); oh and there's the tarantuals too, again, thank God for my cats. however, there's no getting around the rattlers and unless you've got your yard wired from any entry, you will see them in your yard, so he's right, you've always got to be on the lookout. someone mentioned that the things in tucson people complain about are true in almost every city in the u.s. this is definately NOT true. i've lived in 40 different states (Airforce brat) and let me tell you, i never seen tarantuals and snakes in a house); and no one told me about valley fever, which i GOT the first year i was here, thinking i was back in calie gardening in the dirt all day...WRONG!
now, about the heat and cost of homes. personally i disagree with those who say the prices of homes are outrageous here--being from so cal where just an average 3-bedroom home is 500k, i can tell you tucson has some mightly good and low prices at $150-$180k, i bought when they were only $105k. as for the weather ?? if you don't like HEAT then please don't move here. as for me, i love the heat and moved here from california because i was ALWAYS COLD IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, so for me the 105 degree weather was perfect. my home is always at 90 degrees WITH my air conditioner on, and i rarely wear shorts...however, i KNOW for most folks it is definately NOT the case and i am not the norm in that respect. so most normal people would not like the heat here, of course it's worse in phoenix. and don't get me started on the homeowner associations...
it is sort of insane to live in tucson really. i wouldn't have come here if i wasn't too broke to own a home in calie, and if i didn't love the dry heat for my health. one other good thing is no traffic here (well....that's in comparison to Los Angeles where it takes 30 minutes to drive to the neighborhood post office; and 2 hours to get 20 miles home from work on a freeway--on a good day). so to me, there is NO traffic here in north tucson. southern tucson, yes that other guy is right, is a dump.
bottom line to anyone who's deciding whether or not to move here: if you don't like heat, don't move to tucson period. let me rephrase that, if you LOVE heat then move here. not just if you can tolerate it. you would have to love it. most people don't. even the trees here have thorns - everything is desperately trying to live in this tough hot dry terrain.
p.s. another good thing here, at least in north tucson, there are no fleas i noticed and that is good when you have indoor cats for sure. i've heard other people in so tucson say they have fleas but i haven't seen one in 4 years i've been here and neither have my pets. so this is a good thing. but the downside is you can never let your cats outdoors here, they will be eaten by a coyote or a bobcat within a few hours.
the birds here are cool though. quail and doves and hawks.
so it's critters (dangerous ones) and heat. a good training ground if you're going to be stationed in the middle east desert i heard...
all in all i'm here and loving it, although the critter thing (rattlers) is pretty much the main thing i do not like, still, probably won't bother those who do not like the outdoors like i do.
Thanks for your honest perspective...I'm looking at opportunities between Austin, Tucson, Santa FE, Seattle, Portland or staying put in B/more-DC...I like where I live but the cost of living is so unreal and deep down I believe the sw is where I belong with the heat, beautiful scenery/sunsets, and the critters too.....
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are nights cool off very quickly in the summer, and the mornings are beautiful. Also it's not 6 months out of the year it's about three months(june, july, august, and thats pushing it.) where you really want to stay inside between noon and about 6 o'colck. You don't have to though, you're not gonna get third degree burns for falling on the asphalt. Yes it is hot here, but it is not unbearable like phoenix, or yuma. Personally I prefer these summers to east coast summers. It's so humid back there, I'll take 104degree days (which is our average high during the summer, it rarely exceeds 110.) with 5% humidity, than 90 degree days with 90 % humidity.
