Hardly a "Best Place"
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10/28/2009
Things to consider:
1. Housing is expensive. Yes it's cheaper than Los Angeles. No, it is not cheaper than most other areas of the country.
2. Property taxes are high. Really, realy, high. With essentially no commercial tax base, revenues come from property taxes.
3. Water is limited. Tucson began over-pumping ground water (pumping out several thousand more acre feet than can be recharged) in 1989. Scientific hydrology studies indicate Tucson could sustain a population of 64,000 - not the 700,000 in the Greater Tucson area. Figure we're out of water in 2015.
4. Schools are among the worst nationwide. Arizona is 49th in education, and Tucson schools are (a) overcrowded, and (b) underfunded.
5. The University of Arizona has huge impact on quality of life depending on whether classes are in session or not. It impacts everything, from transportation to cost-of-living through to what is available in the stores.
6. No - absolutely zero - cultural attractions.
7. No historical significance. If you watched "This Old House" when they were in Tucson, you already know that if it's more than 40 years old, we've already torn it down and paved it over...
8. Our economy is based on (a) government employment and (b) housing construction.
9. You really don't understand a HOT climate. In cold climates, in the winter, you can keep adding clothing. In a hot climate in the summer, you can only take off so much before you get arrested...
10. Our air quality is poor and getting worse. Tucson is built on the L.A.-Sprawl model, with no public transportation, high surface street speed limts, and traffic lights run by switches instead of timers. Stop-start, stop-start. It has an effect.
11. Arizona school districts are not local. They are vast areas spanning scores of miles and many communities.
11. Not child-friendly. The sprawl model and vast school districts have an added affect of separating neighborhoods and school classmates by great distances - 20 or more miles is not uncommon, and there is scant neighborliness to be found.
I don't regret living here - I have no kids - but this area has bug-ugly warts and we're doing nothing to clear them up.
If you have a choice, you want to think long and hard before moving here.
Tom | Tucson, AZ