Reviews & Comments
Tucson, AZ
No Vision and No Resources to Create One -
3/24/2017Tucson is such a disappointment because it could be so much more. It wants to see itself as the next Austin or Portland but it is not even on par with Tulsa or Topeka. In 2015 Wallethub survey of the largest 150 US cities, it was rated as the least recession recovered. Tucson's roads were considered the worst in the West and some of the worst in the nation. There is also very little code enforcement or money to hire new enforcers so as the recession wore on and on here, neighborhoods just got worse. Most of the city housing stock is in deplorable condition and needs to be bulldozed. It's not even like it's that old or just in bad shape. There's nothing redeemable architecturally or otherwise about most of the housing or buildings here. The city turned a blind eye and allowed anything 'cheap' to go in and now that's what it is left with. There's little reason for many people to keep their property values up because the surrounding areas are still in decay or not worth redeeming. Tucson has become the poor child in the state, maybe in part because of it's proximity to the border and all of the issues with immigration. Perhaps Tucson should be considered a border city and will continued to be plagued by border city problems. What I can see after many years here is that that is no vision, no unifying vision that brings anything together in a way that is sustainable and shows promise. It's hollow talk. I think Tucson has fallen into a state of inertia where it just can't get up and really get going and stay going. It's adrift. Rio Nuevo was an attempt by the city to start tackling problems downtown and go area by area to create a vibrant urban core but when that imploded, they just let things go adrift. There was no Plan B.The politicians and the city will tell you that it's coming back but the comeback is paltry compared to what was lost and what is going on in Phoenix, Prescott, Sedona, and Flagstaff. Tucson is really falling off the map. If all you want is a cheap place to live in the Southwest, this may do it for you. But if you really want a vibrant scene, you won't find it here.
Tucson, AZ
re: Sad downfall of a city. -
3/24/2017Very Good Assessment. Completely Agree. Move here to retire or to isolate in the desert, not if you're looking for vitality and career options. Real estate market here is still way down while Phoenix is booming back which tells you a lot of about Tucson and the lack of a viable economy down here. They all have their heads in the sand.
Tucson, AZ
re: Thinking about moving to Tucson? - 12/29/2015 -
1/3/2017You obviously just want to sell your book and make money working with buyers and sellers in real estate. The picture in Tucson is anything but rosey.
Tucson, AZ
Area is Deceptive; Looks Healthier Than It Really -
11/24/2016Many people who come to Tucson see the big homes in the foothills and mountains around Tucson and think that the area is doing well. After all, when we see wealth like that, we assume that it is reflected by the local economy and says a lot about the city itself. Well, Tucson defies the norms. It is not a normal city. Many of the big beautiful homes and spectacular views that one sees are no reflection of the city and its economic health. While there are a lot of them, these homes mostly belong wealthy retirees who contribute little in the way of taxes or an economic base or are second homes for Snow Birds (winter residents). The property taxes that these homes generate don't even benefit Tucson for the most part but stay up in Phoenix. SO DON'T JUDGE TUCSON'S HEALTH BY THE MANSIONS SURROUNDING THE CITY. They are in their own little world.
Tucson is not run by professional politicians. It is run by mostly nice people, yes, but not very aggressive or assertive politicians who can take the bull by the horns (so to speak) and get things pushed through. They are amateurs. Thus, Tucson lags the rest of the state in rebounding from the Great Recession, if indeed it has rebounded at all. The city likes to throw statistics at you about how it is coming back but the rebound is paltry compared to what needs to happen and in comparison to other Sunbelt cities. Tucson's politicians are all homegrown, which is part of the problem.
I get no pleasure out of saying this because this really is a nice place with great potential but also a place that continues and continues and continues to disappoint. Get the point. In short, Tucson is still a Cowtown, run like a cowtown, falling apart like a cowtown, surround by rich people in the foothills who have nothing to do with the city and who could care less. Tucson is a poor city, with poor economic prospects, with poor wages and worker conditions. Add to it that it's a very backward and Red State that puts all its money in its capital, Phoenix and surrounds, and things don't look good for the ole' Pueblo.
Tucson, AZ
Anti-Growth & Anti-Jobs -
10/15/2016Tucson's problem and the reason that it will not be on anyone's 'places to be list' for decades is that it has shunned growth and jobs for so long that it will take decades to recover what it lost in the housing bust and great recession. They won't tell you this here but there's not going to be any recovery or much of anything you can measure, just a slow slog out of the mire...a mire of its own making. It's depressing and it should be depressing for anyone who had investments here. Five to six years after the trough, just about every other Western Sunbelt city has come roaring back and then some - except for Tucson. Phoenix is going gangbusters. You can't find property in Flagstaff. Prescott has come back. Tucson just never got its act together; they took growth for granted. They didn't work with neighboring cities, town, and counties to come up with coordinated plans for smart growth. They didn't market the city to businesses or seek to diversify their employer base. How long have we had the big four - the U of A, Raytheon, DMAFB, and hospitals/healthcare? We lost commercial and residential construction so no longer have the big five. I would say that this city has another 15 years or so to go before it reaches the level of excitement or housing prices before the big bust. By then, every other decent city in the nation will be comparatively far out of reach.
Tucson sealed its fate after years of sticking its head in the sand. It's not coming back. This is not a city for anyone who wants a healthy or thriving economy or social scene. It's so behind the times, you can smell the decay and rot in the air here. Short of Miami and South Florida going under water, Tucson will not be anyone's radar any time soon.
Tucson, AZ
Slowest Moving and Acting City -
10/6/2016Tucson is slow to move and act on just about everything, which will drive even the most patient of people mad. In Phoenix, Tucson is known as Hokey-Pokey Tucson and now I know why. They can't or won't (or just don't) fill city offices, so things don't get done or done well. They wait until things are at crisis proportions before they act. This is not a rising star of a city by any means but one whose luster is tarnished from years of neglect and uninspired leadership. They've had their wake-up call and are too deaf to hear it. Neighborhoods for the most part are deplorable with little in the way of uniform rules & regs in place for parking, architectural changes, colors, maintenance, etc. It's an Out-of-Control city that never recovered from the housing recession and doesn't look like it's heading anywhere good soon.
Tucson, AZ
Agree with Criticisms about Tucson - Most Inept Lo -
10/5/2016Haved lived in Tucson on and off for 50 years. The place is still the same do-nothing, going-nowhere cowtown that it always was. Am always thrilled when my job allows me to move somewhere that has some life and energy to it. The next move will be outta here for good. Nice people but but the town is in a permanent rut, lots of poverty, horrible neighborhoods with jumbled up infill housing, and a lot of junk homes. The city does nothing. It's either corrupt or permanently incompetent. The city council does nothing. The place is rotting and nature allowed to run its course. Not a place for anyone who wants a social life or culture. Best thing about Tucson is that Phoenix is 100 miles north.
Tucson, AZ
Problems with Tucson are CULTURAL and deeply embed -
10/2/2016Tucson should rank high on Sperling's "Most Disappointing and Wasted Potential" cities list. After having lived in various places in Arizona and the West for 50 years, Tucson is the most "Stuck-in-the-Mud" and oblivious places that 'could've been, would've been but probably never will be' in the West. There are three types of people who dominate the area (1) people who come here to retire and die; (2) students who leave as soon as they graduate because the city has nothing to offer them; and (3) people who can't afford to live anywhere else. Tucson has its devotees as well. The weather is pretty nice for the most part and the mountain views and drives if you can afford to live in the Foothills are spectacular. However, it's a love/hate. What good is a view and a pretty drive if the city is stuck in neutral? Don't expect change here. Don't expect a vibe here. Don't expect to be excited here. Tucson doesn't want change. Tucson resists change. The culture here is hands-off, laissez-faire, Libertarian, a little red-neck and anything goes - which is why most of the city, its infrastructure and it's neighborhoods have been rotting to the ground. From what I've seen the past 15 years here, Tucson wouldn't know how to begin promoting itself and doesn't have what it takes culturally to turn itself around. It really needs an influx of new professional talent and leadership from outside instead of this homegrown group that keep perpetuating the same ole cultural malaise.
Tucson, AZ
Run Away from Tucson - Fast! One of worst planned -
10/2/2016All Ye who enter here, leave hope behind!
Politicians in Tucson want you to keep your head in the sand. Make sure you keep your blinders on as you drive through crappy housing in crappy neighborhood after crappy neighborhood throughout most of Tucson. If you must move here, move outside of the city limits to Vail or Oro Valley (for your children's sake at least) and hope they eventually put a freeway in within the 'next century' or so. Tucson is the slowest moving and most apathetic place you can imagine. Their motto is to let nature takes its course so they let everything die and rot in place including roads, buildings, neighborhoods, and culture. There is little sense of a community that has the capacity to come together, cooperate, and make anything great here. It's hands-off in Tucson which means anything goes. Apathy rules the day. Denial is big business. Nobody seems to care and for the most part, they're lazy - que sera, sera.
The politicians are not professionals and don't know what they're doing. They're friendly to your face but don't expect anything to change. All of Tucson's problems were preventable if they'd ever hired talent and people with vision. But they haven't and they won't. The only things they seem capable of managing at all are their very small downtown and the area around the university. Other than that, everyone is on your own. Every other part of town is left to its own devices which means entropy rules - things always deteriorate and fall apart. The streets are ugly. 70s strip malls dominate. There's no landscaping to soften the view.
This is a relatively new western Sunbelt city that should be up-and-coming, not mired in a relentless housing crisis and an endless economic recession while the rest of the country has come bounding back with gusto. I hope you like to bike and hike because that's all there is to do. You also have to love retirees and a really slow pace because they run the show here. The rich ones from the Foothills and the poor ones in Tucson.