SperlingViews - Tucson, Arizona

a native of Tucson for 50+ years please do not make the mistake of moving to this dump.a skill,college degree,and experience will not help in earning a liveable wage.geography has been a reason for wages being so low the thieves,robbers that hire illegal labor for decades has created this mess.a notorious burglary and drug addict population does not help.a anti business attitude from the socialist,communist pricks adds to the issues.when my parents came to america from a country south of the border back inthe late fifties legally not snicking in like mice this nation was still a powerhouse. the high taxes relative to income adss more burdens thank you demorats the democrat party died with John and Robert Kennedy, they are a hypocritical,robbing crooks worse than the Republicans today.as a american of latin descent when wil the american people wake up.Commerce and Industry created a middle class and wealth,goverment steals and does not produce any,but more strangling regulations and taxes the second plank of the communist manifesto has been incorporated into the american system without the majority of the people aware.Wake up America.[read more...]

as a native of tucson for 50 +years this place is a land of dishonest mean spirited thieves.you can expect to make thousands or tens of thousands less per year even if your a skilled worker,experience does not matter,a college degree barely helps.you have to be fortunate to find an employer that gives yearly raises.is it any wonder we have some of the highest per capita burglary rates in the u.s. so much for the left leaning liberals that have run tucson since i was born.yes, illegal labor has been an issue in southern az. for well over a century but the root of the probelm is the nature and culture of this sorry part of the world.only here to help my elderly mother.[read more...]

I would not want to live in or even visit Tucson again. The roads are horrible. There are an incredible number of potholes that can cause serious damage, poorly marked streets, lanes that end with little or no warning. Travelling in town is scary. Many drive 80 or 90 in 40 MPH zones/cutting mainacally across traffic. A lot of people try to jump the lights. That is they take off when the light turns yellow the other way but has not yet turned green their way. There are a lot of serious accidents. The only thing is Phoenix drivers are worse (though the roads are better). The central part of Tucson looks like some 3rd world country. Crime is through the roof. There are some good resturants and places to go but risking you life to go there is just not worth it. If you really want to see southern Arizona, I would recommend the small towns. Safford, Benson, Bisbee especially. Sierra Vista and Tombstone as well but I think Tombstone is too commercialized Also Nogales for shopping (it is helpful to speak Spanish there) and you can walk over to Mexico. if you go to Nogales you can stop in Patagonia or at Patagonia Lake for a swim ($10.00 per car). Thre are large mountain ranges near Safford and Sierra Vista. Safford has several campgrounds at 9000 feet which would be much cooler in the summer.[read more...]

I live in tucson[read more...]

I have never been prompted to write a review until I read Sperling's outrageous view of my hometown, Tucson, AZ. Nothing could be further from my perspective than his ignorant assessment. I have lived in NY, Denver and Paris and have traveled far and wide, but nowhere have I found the richness of Tucson's natural beauty or cultural history. It is a haven for the arts, a mecca for outdoor enthusiasts and a bright spot on the otherwise right-wing looney fringe that governs the political landscape of our state. With an attitude like Sperling's it's no wonder our friendly city gave him the cold shoulder.[read more...]

MY JOB IS TRYING TO RELOCATE ME TO TUSCON, AZ AND I AM REALLY THINKING ABOUT COMING MY MAIN CONCERN IS MY HUSBAND FINDING A JOB HE IS AN INSURANCE AGENT, MY 5 KIDS SCHOOL, AND ALSO CHURCHES IN THE AREA..IF SOMEONE COULD GIVE ME INFORMATION ON WHAT TO EXPECT THAT WOULD BE SO GREAT!!! I HAVE LOOKED ONLINE AND FOUND SOME REASONABLE HOUSES THAT ARE REALLY NICE. WHAT AREAS ARE GOOD AREAS AND WHAT SCHOOLS WOULD BE GOOD SCHOOLS FOR MY CHILDREN TO ATTEND?? THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! :)[read more...]

I lived in Tucson for 2 months. All I can say is you are supremely screwed here without a vehicle. I know it's like that in most every city in the country, but riding the bus in Tucson is particulary dreadful. Mainly druggies and the decrepit ride. If you dream about a warm sunny place in the winter, don't come to Tucson unless you have a vehicle, because otherwise that daydream will just become a nightmare.[read more...]

Hello! I have a few questions for you all out there. My family and I are looking at relocating to Tucson from Kelowna British Columbia, Canada. The housing market is VERY expensive here and it appears we could sell our house up here, move to Arizona and be house debt free. We also like the thought of leaving behind long winters. Questions: Are the schools really that horrible? If so, are charters schools an improvement? Summers: Are they too intense or does one acclamate to the intense heat once you have lived in Arizona for awhile. snakes: HATE them!!! I enjoy the outdoors and are snakes going to be everywhere? We are thinking about living on some land in the Tanque Verde area. Will I have to inspect the area everytime I let my children out to play? And do these creatures get into your houses? Uggghhh. Gardening: We love gardening. Is this common in Tucson? I saw in one post that somebody said it is pricey to live in Tucson? Could somebody expand on this? Do we mean taxes, amenities...? Thank you so much! I would love to hear some thoughts. p.s. I have a dual citizenship and my husband is working on a green card, so that is how we are able to move down the U.S.A[read more...]

The sun, the beauty, but its pricey to live here, but the view is goregous. I love the mild weather in the winter, and it can get congested with traffic but the weather / beauty make up for it hands down!!! I hope that the ecomony gets better though.[read more...]

Weather is great most of the year - not at all hot like Phoenix.. but has little to offer in the way of culture or theatre.. unless you particularily enjoy some fairly hokey stuff then you're right at home. But if you enjoy great art museums, or good theatre... then you have to travel to find it.... [read more...]

The people that had written the reviews above are the ones that seem to be the depressed ones. They are saying Tucson is a horrible place and that there is no culture in Tucson!...Give me a freaken break. This place is full of culture. Maybe they didn't want to leave their apartment or homes because it was to hot. Waaaa!....You are living in a nice and sunny place, what do you expect. I think Tucson is great. I lived in California and Oregon growing up and I would say that the suicide rates were alot higher there. Someone above said that we all want to commit suicide. Man, how negative is this guy! I know that I run into nice people around here all the time...Don't believe what these people say. I found that most people that write reviews are people that hate life and just want someone to listen to them....If you are a good natured person with good inteligence, I bet you would love Tucson[read more...]

So very hot in the summer, yet lovely in the fall/winter/spring. 4 months of scorching heat generally. [read more...]

One of the things that's really difficult about Raising children in Tucson is that you are always wondering one year to the next if the schools are going to be able to have the necessary funds to maintain class size, provide computers, text books, P.E., the arts, Spanish, library, school nurse or principle. You always feel lIke you might be required to go on the warpath and fight for the bare necessities. It's sad but it feels like this might be the lost generation for education in Arizona. [read more...]

Having lived in Tucson for over 5 years I thought I'd provide my take on this city. By the way, I do agree with many aspects of what a few other commenters have written. Pros: Coming from coastal Oregon, I'd say home prices are fairly inexpensive. Right now you can easily buy a decent 3-bedroom home in a fairly nice neighborhood for about $140K. Of course you can buy a brand new house, in less than desirable neighborhoods for around $100K. Depending on area, Tucson can be a viable place to raise a family. Several private schools, not so much public ones, are said to be good. Gas prices, while climbing, are generally cheaper compared to many other parts of the country. And for those who don't like long cold winters, rainy or partly cloudy days, you "may" appreciated Tucson's weather. More on weather later. Tucson has mountains. Tucson is indeed a slower-paced city with a little less hustle and bustle. Cons: While homes and rents are fairly cheap, the pay scale is pretty low here. For example. If you were making $22/Hr working in IT, expect $18 here. In other words, expect to possibly make about 20% less than you're used to making elsewhere. While jobs are hard to come by anywhere in the US these days, it's particularly hard to land one in Tucson. As other commenters have stated, speaking Spanish often helps. Crazy huh? I'll keep my mouth shut one that one. Back to that weather thing. Tucson has lots of sun. In fact, the sun is utterly relentless! Yes, I know, It's the desert. I suppose if you're a lizard 100 to 116 degree weather, from around May thru October, is optimal? But for humans? On a positive note, we do experience about 2 to 3 months of really nice weather. Then again, Southern California experiences more like 12 months of good weather. As for the mountains. Unless you are close up they appear rather drab. It's when you are closer that you can see signs of life, i.e. green cactus. I have to be upfront. Apart from the mountains Tucson is not a real pretty place. Tucson has no meaningful bodies of water. Downtown is worn out and tired looking. Now the more important stuff. Among a few area to avoid are the southern areas of Tucson. From a freeway prospective, you really want to avoid areas south of say the Grant Rd exit. And forget about living remotely close to the airport. Lots of gangs, graffiti, liter, and trailers that look completely unlivable abound. By no means does this applies to everybody, but I'll say Tucson does have its share of brain dead, out-of-touch, unmotivated people. You'll notice this almost daily when it comes to the customer no service mentality that infects most businesses. Tucson is also not a place to live if you like going out for great food. Good restaurants, including Mexican, are sorely lacking. To close, I'd say that if you elect to live on the north side of town or out towards the further east side of Tucson, and you can leave during the stupidly hot summers, you may find happiness.[read more...]

I was born and raised in Tucson, I moved at 19 i've been to hawaii , florida, chicago, california, london and prague. In comparison Tucson is not a world class city. Tucson doesn't have a whole lot of opportunity for growth and great success. It just doesn't. Tucson is not for everyone. Neither are the afore mentioned cities and states. People like tucson because it's slow, it's lazy and non competitive. Its a small town disguised as a "growing metropolis" Tucson has unreal landscapes and great weather. It gets hot in the summer, we're in the DESERT. It's manageable. You use the a/c in the car and the a/c at home. Drink water. Wear sunblock. We don't have to shovel snow or worry about earthquakes ,tornados , tsunamis, crazy humidity did i mention shoveling SNOW?! This town is for people who are tired of high strung fast talking people who are money hungry and busy trying to keep up with the joneses. I liked Chicagos food and music scene but I got burnt out on how high strung everyone was all the time and how competitive people were with the house and clothes and where there son or daughter is getting married and how much her dress will cost yada yada yada.... Things I was taught were taboo to talk about seemed to be ok to talk about there. Money money money. Here, its slow. We drive slow, talk slow. Hell we even think abit slower haha. Are schools suck. That's true. I was lucky enough to be private school educated and even that was questionable. If you plan on staying here then the quality of education is sufficient for the types of jobs you can get here. I think that speaks for itself. My point is that Tucson actually does not suck. The people here are very nice and relaxed. I have conversations with everyone from people seated next to me at upscale restaraunt to bums on the street! They're all nice and friendly! And YEAH there ARE bums! Why wouldn't there be?! The weather is good enough year round that they can sleep on the streets and not die from exposure and like I said, people are friendly so they DO actually give out spare change. If you wanna have a quiet house thats still in the city, always near good food and only a couple mins away from grocery stores and theaters at all times. Then tucson is for you. Yes we have a mac store, versace, and world class resorts so were not totally archaic. We also have taco stands open till 2 am, dive bars where u can get a can of beer for a buck and a bad side of town that really isn't that bad believe it or not. You can walk down there at night and probably NOT get mugged. Over time city planners have been trying to make tucson something it will never be: a big corporate run town. Corporate doesn't quite work here. Tucsonans love to support the small business. We have a small town mentality. If you want to live in a small one bedroom casita and drive a crappy car and get a dead end job because your tired of high strung life, guess what? NO one will care, you will still make friends out here and they will be the same quality of friends you would make if you lived in the foothills and drove a nice car. Its laid back for sure. With that said I do have to say the kids here are idiots. Parents, if you have preteens and teens tell them that tagging is a dying trend and only dorks do it now, it's so ten years ago ;) Find them a hobby and show them where the off button is on the t.v [read more...]

I have lived in Tucson for 18 years now. The good is that it is surrounded by beautiful mountains, desert flora, and the most beautiful sunsets you will ever see. Mount Lemmon is about 45 minutes away for mountain biking, hiking and rock climbing. It is a cool escape from the scorching hot summers. There are also alot of historical sites in the surrounding areas to visit. The bad; I don't have kids but have friends who do and they are on waiting lists for charter schools because the public schools are so bad. The economy has seriously hurt the jobs here and they are hard to find, even harder if you are not bi-lingual. The summers here are hot and long, 100 to 115 degrees from about May to October. The ugly; being so close to the border the crime is bad here with lots of illegals and drugs pouring in every day and littering the local hiking desert areas that are now unsafe. The graffiti has become prevalent throughout almost the entire city. I have had 2 cars stolen here. We are moving away and I am looking forward to leaving. [read more...]

I've lived in Tucson for 16 years and just recently moved about two weeks ago to North Texas. (best move weve ever made) This place is okay for Students and retirees but if your a average middle class family, this is a terrible place! Unless you come here with money, it's very difficult to make a good life for your family. Nothing to do, no jobs, if your not bilingual even less jobs, horrible schools, some of the worst in the nation. Tucson is poverty with a view. Yes this is a pretty place but underneath it all is very ugly. I have never met so many unfriendly, backstabbing, ignorant, rude people in my life. I'm from the midwest. Alot of liberal democrats, it's become a mini-California. Minus the jobs and money of course! It's not the cool old-west that it was 25-30 years ago. Housing is a joke, unless you like cookie cutter stucco homes with a freeway in your back yard! If you have a lot of money and don't have to work for a living, if you like California, if your single with no kids, if your a liberal democrat, or if your hispanic you may like Tucson. If your trying to raise a family and want a better life for your kids, you have goals, and you believe in the American dream, you may want to reconsider moving here or even living here![read more...]

What is going on is that the old bird community is colliding with the young, fresh Tucson generations, I know that old people live a very long time this days, my 87 year old grandma lives a great quality of life in Tucson, but she's a Tucson loving old lady, unlike some of our sour visitors from other states. I've grew up in Tucson, I've seen how nice snowbirds can be, and how "crazy" others are, and I say crazy because I cannot choose the proper words. What did they expect when they came to Tucson, a place with white supreme dominance where everyone from other ethnic background bending over and taking it in the "rear"?, Of course they get frustrated when they see someone different and give them the classical look", you know, the gaze of mistrust, and they get the what the f are you looking at?, it's simple, logical. I see the comments from other people from other places claiming that Tucson is a living hell that they have been suffering for 30 years".,.. and so on, of course, not very successful are we? don't believe the negative, but if you're planning to move to Tucson and you can't stand hearing kids, families, speaking fluid english and spanish or a mix of both, or korean or chinese, and you can't stand white folks with tatoos, bikers, kids skateboarding, mountain biking, down hilling down your "walking trails", then it's probably, no, most likely, is not the Tucson you would come to expect.[read more...]

I've lived in Tucson since 2001 right before 9/11 happened. I've had many ups and downs here, but i'm proud of the city that i live in. I won't go into too much detail as to what has occurred since 2001, but I vote tucson as a livable place with an "okay" quality of life. Tucson is not hell on earth nor is it heavenly on any level. Tucson is what you make of it and I choose to appreciate what it has to offer. One obvious positive that outweighs the negative is the ethnic diversity. For a city that inhabits 800,000 people in the urban and 1 million metro, I believe it's diverse for its size. It's pointless and irrelevant to compare its diversity to a city double or triple its size. Water is limited and the city has a drought problem, which contaminates and increases our problem, so that's one negative that sparks my concern. Anyway, Tucson is a decent place to live in contrast. Not perfect, but tolerable to any personality who isn't naturally bitter or pessimistic. [read more...]

In 1992 I made the most grievous error of moving to Tucson. After living most of my life in New York City with a 7 year stint in Miami Florida, the move to Tucson was something I thought would be beneficial. Boy was I wrong. It is impossible to plant ones roots and grow in this desert hell hole. To begin with the people here are what really makes this place unlivable. I have met some of the most unfriendly,so called human beings to ever exist, living in Tucson. The schools here are producing the next generation of Morons! The collective intelligence of the town shows an IQ of minus 10! I come from New York City and I have heard it said that New Yorkers are rude. Well let me tell you that here in Tucson you will find the rudest people on the planet! This town is still trying to preserve its place in history as the quintessential cowtown. All you have here are phony Redneck Cowboys with a huge sprinkling of Latinos. Since we are a border town Tucson experiences a heavy influence from Mexico. Unlike Miami's progressive Cuban culture and New Yorks diverse culture, the Mexican sub culture has a Manana attitude. The constant flow of illegal bordercrossers, drugs and guns has turned this city into a video game of crime, low wages and despair. As per the culture here in Tucson, There is more culture in a cup of Yogurt! Sure we have the symphony but the season stops with the hot weather. The Opera is excellent, but only 5 performances a year! The Rodeo to me is one huge joke!!! Tucson is the worlds capital of Mediocrity and Melaise! Nothing is ever approached with any degree of panache and excellence. If you excell at any of lifes endeavors you are either put down or ignored! Witness the boondoogle of Rio Nuevo! What could have pulled the downtown area out of it's current state of demise has been mismanged and destroyed. Downtown Tucson will never happen because the local devlopers are too busy infilling the valley with ugly strip malls and cookie cutter communities. The only thing that could save this city would be handing the developing rights over to Donald Trump! We have lost Sports teams, a possible Aquarium that the voters approved and if we are not careful we will lose the prestigous Gem Show! On top of this the economy has never been good, not even in the best of times! Yes we have physical beauty due to the mountains surrounding the city but if you snap your fingers and make them disappear, you have an ugly city! The extreme heat of the summer is anything but comfortable! I should have thought a hundred times before moving to Tucson! 20 years of my life could have been spent elsewhere in a place that allows people to grow and achieve. If God wanted to create a place worse than Hell he could use Tucson as a model![read more...]