Who's familiar with Tucson?

[Rick Lee]

Just returned from four days of hell in Tucson. I loved the tiny bit of the city I saw. But our company had us cooped up in the Lodge and Loew's the entire time and we had barley an hour of free time to go see stuff outside the hotel complex. So frustrating. Anyway, it looked to me like a smaller, nicer version of Phoenix, though the roads need some redesigning. I so want to move to AZ and my new/old job may finally offer me the chance to do so, better yet, working from home. I hear Tucson is a tad cooler than Phoenix in the summer and that July is monsoon time. How are real estate prices? I always grab those real estate magazines in supermarkets when I travel. But I was nowhere near any business other than the hotel this time. It really blew. So, please tell me how good or bad Tucson is for car, motorcycle and gun culture and job market for my lady, who's a business analyst.

[Joeaksa]

Tucson is wonderful and has a smaller town feeling than Phoenix. No, it does not have all the "big city" stuff like an opera and so on but its only a 2 hour drive to PHX if your lady friend really needs things like that.

If you are doing well financially get a place in the foothills and the view is excellent. You are correct that Tucson is 5-7 degrees cooler than Phoenix year around. Monsoons hit the entire state and they can be very exciting. Beautiful lightning shows.

I would move to Tucson in a heartbeat if I was able but am holding out for a couple of jobs here in the PHX area so will stick it out for a while.

No idea on jobs for you guys, but some work on the internet should give you more info on that. As far as driving around, the roads South of town are wonderful for a Porsche. This is Arizona so guns and shooting are normal here. Iron Horse BMW is one of the best dealerships in the country, nuff said.

Next?

Joe A

[austin552]

Tucson is nice and different than other cities. Lots to see and do there too. We have a home between Tucson and Phoenix. Best of both worlds. Plan on going back for good one day.

[artplumber]

Originally posted by Rick Lee
Who's familiar with Tucson?

Moneyguy

Oh and choosing between 110 and 115 degrees.....Not that much cooler.

[austin552]

Originally posted by artplumber
Moneyguy

Oh and choosing between 110 and 115 degrees.....Not that much cooler.

It's a dry heat...

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by artplumber
Moneyguy

Oh and choosing between 110 and 115 degrees.....Not that much cooler.

Peter,

I have lived in both cities and the big difference is not so much the temps but the humidity. Tucson is less humid than Phoenix and you can tell it, especially in the summer.

Also in the summer the monsoons make it to Tucson all the time while many days they peter out before getting to Phoenix, so the two places are vastly different in their weather.

As well Tucson just feels different. Smaller town feeling compared to Phoenix.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

I was out there on business about a month ago. Liked what I saw, but then again, it wasn't 115 degrees either. The roadway system going into the downtown area from the east (onto Congress Street) is in dire need of redesign if the city is going to see any growth. I haven't seen that much traffic in that small of a city originating clearly from nothing more than stupid traffic planning before - ever.

I did get the feeling that it's a place ripe for growth though.

[tabs]

U of A is in Tucson. the Foothills are the place to live but U need BUX, medium sized town, AF base nearby, a lg Defense contractor is in town Rayethon? as well as Intel or is it HP. Growth will be limited due to the land being owned by the Govt. Cultural life is good because of the university. Good restruants etc. Property values are strong.

No Grass or Green...snakes and all sorts of crawling things all over the place.

[Rick Lee]

I want a place that's almost done growing. I am so sick of planning my life around rush hour traffic, which is more like rush 4-5 hrs. traffic in the DC area and getting worse all the time. I can work from home just about anywhere, so the concern is where the lady can work. Will take another trip out there and to NV in the summer to see how hot it really feels and if my lady can handle it. I can't wait to get out of DC. I've really had it here.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

The problem with Tucson is the freeway is just to the west of downtown and the downtown area has NOTHING for parking. All these major arterial streets (like Congress, and I suspect the freeway offramps) just end right into a maze of one-way streets with poorly-timed lights and people wandering around looking for non-existent parking spots. If I were to live there, I'd either live right downtown or try to work it out so I could avoid the major streets and/or freeway.

[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by tabs
No Grass or Green...snakes and all sorts of crawling things all over the place.

You mean kinda like Vegas and Phoenix where both of us live???

Rick, you would like it in Arizona...

[artplumber]

Originally posted by Joeaksa
...
Also in the summer the monsoons make it to Tucson all the time while many days they peter out before getting to Phoenix, ...

Are you making fun....?

Actually, the lack of freeway was by design. The folks there didn't want a Phoenix, so they intentionally made it harder to get around (surface streets only). It is beautiful if you really like the desert. My obs was that it was hard to get to if you travel a lot for any reason - partly because I hate flying AmericaWorst now wishU-waS-thAIR. Also, hot is hot Joe. Prob it doesn't seem so bad after going to Dubai, but to me it's hot.

[Gogar]

My parents live about 5 min from the Loews where you were, and they love it. I think it's not bad, either. Whatever the stats are, it "feels" cooler than Phoenix most of the time. And hopefully, it will NEVER get that big.

If you're used to the cost of living and real estate prices in DC, you shouldn't be too shocked by real estate prices up on the hill in Tuscon.