Moral Idiots
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11/28/2017
Tucson has always liked to see itself as better than Phoenix, superior in morality and care of its citizenry and environment.
Tucson has long seen Phoenix as a cancer in the desert and caring only about growth for growth's sake. Tucson made its choice to be the alternative to Phoenix, a more down home and friendlier place.
Coming from another metropolitan area, I don't see much that Tucson has to be proud of, certainly not its lack of vitality, its decaying neighborhoods, and its dead economy.
Phoenix is booming. Have you been there? The growth that Tucson calls cancerous is coming together quite nicely. Streets and landscaping are well taken care of. The downtown is beautiful. The freeway system is among the best designed and most beautiful in the world. And the traffic while bad at times does indeed flow. It's no worse than the traffic on surface streets in Tucson with all the stop and go. Of course, Tucson didn't want highways or better flow so in reality every hour is rush hour because there are no freeways and every intersection is a red light.
Tucson's superiority complex covers a long history of social and economic sins. What Tucsonans call a controlled approach to growth is really neglect and lack of any action, period. This is not a town to be praised or given accolades, but to be pitied for its lack of planning and inability to get itself going. It is not resilient. Loss of one industry or one large employer would bring the city to its knees or better yet, keep it on its knees. The city can't afford to pay salaries and do the things it wants (but says it doesn't) to make it more attractive. Almost every effort is amateurish and short lasting.
I'm so glad for Tucson and its citizens that they feel so superior and blame Phoenix for their ills. It keeps the focus off of themselves and their inferiority.
Clive | Tucson, AZ