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Old 09-18-2009, 09:45 PM
 
Location: TUCSON
106 posts, read 364,378 times
Reputation: 87

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Quote:
Originally Posted by sierraAZ View Post
NO city looks like its marketing materials!
Oh so true.
The first several times I visited Tucson I thought it was one of the most desolate places and anyone who would live there was, generously speaking, crazy.

The last six or seven times I have visited, I have seen Tucson with different eyes. Earlier I had been visiting Tucson from such places as the Ozark Mountian area and from Hawaii and Guam. Green was the color of all these areas.

In recent years, two things have happend: I have matured and I no longer live where green is the color of dominance.

We last visited Tucson this past August intentionally to see if we still liked it at its worst high temperature time. WE DO/DID. I was pleasantly surprised to see the great degree of green and especially the trees. No, not the forested lushness of Hawaii, Guam, nor the Ozark mountainous areas, but there is a nice diversity of trees.

Now, you might also take into consideation: If it seems to good to be true, it probably is (too good to be true, that is).

But Tucson has a great deal of green space, beyond ridiculously water-squandering golf courses and the cemetaries.

You will just have to visit and make your own determination. When in my twenties (several decades ago, BTW), my company assigned me to a couple of locations in the Texas panhandle area. HATED IT! But, I had always lived in areas of the world where there were lots of trees. After moving from that area to "Green Country", a friend from Dumas, Texas, came to visit. After three days of their intended week visit, the husband announced that he just had to leave. There were just too many trees and he was suffering from dire claustrophobia.

Just different strokes for different folks. Come visit and make your own determination. As for us, we are planning our relocation to Tucson in February/March, 2010.

Have a great day.
Joseph
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Old 09-21-2009, 06:09 PM
 
Location: Tucson
522 posts, read 1,568,758 times
Reputation: 705
I'll add my 2 cents as well.....

Any place can be good or bad; beautiful or ugly. It all depends on your perspective, state of mind and preferences. I despize the weather here in IL along with the general attitude. I don't like the idea of tornadoes hitting all around me. A year ago during some tornado weather I went outside and saw that we were in the core. (the center of a cluster of storms that begin to rotate and can be the source of a tornado) That isn't a place I want to be. I don't like the cold and snow.

But there are others that just love everything about it.

I love the desert and most things about it and there are some that despize it.

My advice is to visit yourself and explore the area. Then make your own decision.

Before I visited Tucson, I had been to Phoenix many times. Phoenix isn't what I like. Although I love the desert, Phoenix has too much city, (too big) and it is a little too hot for my liking. Tucson has something that I haven't experienced anywhere else. I don't exactly know how to explain it but I wouldn't have experienced this without visiting. And my kids and wife also share this feeling.
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Old 09-21-2009, 06:25 PM
 
Location: Baja Arizona
2,916 posts, read 8,348,546 times
Reputation: 1141
Quote:
Originally Posted by sickofIL View Post
I'll add my 2 cents as well.....

Any place can be good or bad; beautiful or ugly. It all depends on your perspective, state of mind and preferences. I despize the weather here in IL along with the general attitude. I don't like the idea of tornadoes hitting all around me. A year ago during some tornado weather I went outside and saw that we were in the core. (the center of a cluster of storms that begin to rotate and can be the source of a tornado) That isn't a place I want to be. I don't like the cold and snow.

But there are others that just love everything about it.

I love the desert and most things about it and there are some that despize it.

My advice is to visit yourself and explore the area. Then make your own decision.

Before I visited Tucson, I had been to Phoenix many times. Phoenix isn't what I like. Although I love the desert, Phoenix has too much city, (too big) and it is a little too hot for my liking. Tucson has something that I haven't experienced anywhere else. I don't exactly know how to explain it but I wouldn't have experienced this without visiting. And my kids and wife also share this feeling.
The Sickster knows...
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Old 09-21-2009, 09:06 PM
 
602 posts, read 2,064,138 times
Reputation: 407
Well, just a little more on difference in greenness between Phoenix and Tucson (and Vegas, for that matter). Vegas gets 4" annual rainfall and looks like the surface of the moon. Phoenix gets 8" a year and is significantly greener than Vegas. Tucson gets 12" a year and has a lot more greenery than Phoenix. As deserts go, it's a green desert, but still a desert.

There are microclimates within Tucson too. The foothills seem greener than most areas. The East side seems greener than the West, and the Tanque Verde area seems the greenest in the entire area. Most of the Chamber of Commerce type pictures are taken near sunset, and I think most photos (or a lot) are not retouched, it really does look very green at that time of day, particularly when you look out on the horizon rather than down seeing the brown dirt. Instead you see mostly a canvas of the green of Palo Verdes and Mesquites and Sahuaros, but a desert nonetheless.
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Old 12-19-2009, 10:55 AM
 
1 posts, read 6,559 times
Reputation: 10
Phoenix happens to be very beautiful. There are irrigation ditches, and this irrigation system dates back to the natives that lived here long before Arizona was part of the United States. When you live in a neighborhood with irrigation, it will be very different than a neighborhood without irrigation.

It angers me when people act like everyone is using sprinklers to waste drinking water. Yes, there's a lot of waste here - just like you'll find anywhere else. However, beautiful native plants do NOT need a lot of water, and are found in many different colors. Purple, red, pink, and yes, green. Plus irrigation does NOT use drinking water. It uses a combination of river water and filtered waste water. (It's great for plants, but dusty and not safe to drink.)


Golf courses and resorts are also not doctored photos. They DO look like that! They do use a lot more water than my natural desert landscaping, but the quality, eco-friendly courses use grass types that need less water and are dependent on sunlight. (This grass dies quickly when over-watered or placed in the shade, but that's not a problem on a sunny desert golf course.)


Saying a photo is "doctored" would indicate that someone used a specially tinted lens, or a computer to change the original photograph. I have seen many Arizonan brouches and they are all 100% genuine photography.


Yes, they are photographing the grass, not the streets. The front entrance, not the garage bin in the back. Duh?? Do you take photos of your garage disposal when showing off your new kitchen? No, you take photos of the cabinets and countertops, of course!


That doesn't change the natural beauty found in Arizona. Yes, it is different, and I love it.


The sunsets in Arizona are unmatched. Every night I see an array of color and light like I've never seen elsewhere in the world. The lightning storms are incredibly too. (Not for the faint of heart.)


If you are expecting a lack of color in either Phoenix or Tucson, then please visit. You will be shocked and pleasantly surprised. The brilliant rock formations are not something you will find in Oregon, and neither is the greenery of Oregon something you will find here. But it is insulting to call either type of wilderness unattractive when you have never seen it... and you like what you see in photos? Then check out the real thing, and enjoy it for what it is!

Last edited by Amirrah; 12-19-2009 at 10:57 AM.. Reason: Formatting
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Old 12-21-2009, 11:26 AM
 
Location: Tucson, AZ
38 posts, read 91,577 times
Reputation: 26
Have you ever looked at localism.com? It's a site Realtors can contribute photos and blogs about the area. There are some more "true to life" photos there to make judgments. Of course, everyone still puts their best pictures on there
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Old 12-21-2009, 11:42 AM
 
5 posts, read 20,179 times
Reputation: 11
Judge for yourself. The first two I took in Oro Valley on the north side of the Tucson area, the other two are further north at Saddlebrook.
Attached Thumbnails
Is Tuscon really beautiful or trick photography?-100_2249.jpg   Is Tuscon really beautiful or trick photography?-100_2248.jpg   Is Tuscon really beautiful or trick photography?-100_1878.jpg   Is Tuscon really beautiful or trick photography?-100_1873.jpg  
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Old 12-28-2009, 04:53 PM
 
6 posts, read 18,358 times
Reputation: 10
I have only visited Tucson maybe 6 times over the past 10 years, but now am in the process of moving here. I think the parts of Tucson I am most familiar with are very beautiful. I love the yellow tones of the soil, the shades of soft greens in the mesquite and palo verdes, the grasses and cacti. And of course the mountains. What I see is lush, but in a very different way than where I am from - the Pacific Northwest. The shades of green are different and the soft tones of the earth here in Tucson appeal to my idea of beauty. I didn't look at the video clip ... just telling you what I have seen while visting.
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Old 12-28-2009, 05:30 PM
 
21 posts, read 90,688 times
Reputation: 36
Quote:
Originally Posted by TacomatoTucson View Post
I have only visited Tucson maybe 6 times over the past 10 years, but now am in the process of moving here. I think the parts of Tucson I am most familiar with are very beautiful. I love the yellow tones of the soil, the shades of soft greens in the mesquite and palo verdes, the grasses and cacti. And of course the mountains. What I see is lush, but in a very different way than where I am from - the Pacific Northwest. The shades of green are different and the soft tones of the earth here in Tucson appeal to my idea of beauty. I didn't look at the video clip ... just telling you what I have seen while visting.
Tucson is surrounded by tall mountains and the fierce beauty of the Sonoran Desert, and it even includes 9,000 foot high Mount Lemmon within its city limits, but is Tucson the city itself beautiful? No it is not. It's hardly Santa Fe or San Francisco, and it has long since lost any charm of a western town.
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Old 12-28-2009, 09:50 PM
 
Location: SE Arizona - FINALLY! :D
20,460 posts, read 26,324,704 times
Reputation: 7627
Quote:
Originally Posted by dersu View Post
Tucson is surrounded by tall mountains and the fierce beauty of the Sonoran Desert, and it even includes 9,000 foot high Mount Lemmon within its city limits, but is Tucson the city itself beautiful? No it is not. It's hardly Santa Fe or San Francisco, and it has long since lost any charm of a western town.
I agree completely and your post is exactly on target.

Tucson's SETTING is gorgeous - but the city itself is not that pretty. There are parts of the outskirts - notably to the north and east - that are newer and exhibit very beautiful desert landscaping around the developments and shopping centers, but Tucson itself is pretty dry and dusty-looking - without much in the way of atmosphere or charm.

Still, when I think of Tucson, it's that gorgeous setting that comes most immediately to mind. I can't help it - I LOVE the setting.



Ken
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