Why move to Tucson?

[banddranch]

Originally Posted by PylesinAZ

I moved to Tucson from Florida about 3 years ago. BIG MISTAKE>
I will say that Tucson has two things going for it:
1. Nicest people (locals) that you will ever meet
2. Nicest weather that you can possibly have (if you like sunshine and blue skies)
Other than that...
Not one other thing is worth mentioning. I am trying my best to get out of here as soon as possible. My house is for sale and my wife is as ready as I am.
Texas is the next stop and if it sucks, then we are going back to Florida.

Not one other thing is worth mentioning? Jeez. Here goes: Botanical Gardens, Reid Park Zoo, Rillito and Panatano bike paths, San Xavier del Bac mission church, Desert Museum, Saguaro National Park, Barrio Viejo and Armory Park, U of A museums including one of the vest archaeology museums in the country, South Tucson Mexican restaurants, the Wishing Well, and on and on. Not to dis Texas or Florida, but really - Texas or Florida?

[d.N.d.]

Originally Posted by banddranch

Not one other thing is worth mentioning? Jeez. Here goes: Botanical Gardens, Reid Park Zoo, Rillito and Panatano bike paths, San Xavier del Bac mission church, Desert Museum, Saguaro National Park, Barrio Viejo and Armory Park, U of A museums including one of the vest archaeology museums in the country, South Tucson Mexican restaurants, the Wishing Well, and on and on. Not to dis Texas or Florida, but really - Texas or Florida?

Well as a resident of tucson for over 12 years I would have to say that after the first three years everything becomes stale. Reid Park Zoo is a joke and Reid Park has the big artificial lake that they have a tough time taking care off and the grass is brutal because of the weather. Not to mention taking the kids to the park in the middle of summer with the park offering minimal shade is tough.

Everything you have mentioned is on a small scale. The mountains are beautiful but compared to a beach or the ocean, the entertainment and the offerings do not compare especially if you do not like to hike, which compared to swimming, not everyone enjoys or participates.

Parks are tough in Tucson, summer you can not enjoy unless its cloudy or below 100 (especially with kids). Tucson has a tendecy to not take care of their parks and unfortunately they are a gathering point for the homeless.

Now in Texas and Florida you have the heat but you have the ocean, amusment parks, bigger locations to get away from besides local parks and our cheap zoo. More opportunities for fun and relaxation without paying big money. You could go to a resort in Tucson and swim but like I said you would have to pay to stay their for the day.

[anfro81]

Tucson does need more theme parks or areas for families but that will come. Marana and Oro Valley is the spot to be now IMO. Having grew up and lived back east I wouldnt go back for anything. The snow and constant rain is terrible. Leaves always have to be raked, snow shoveled and gutters cleaned. Driving and living in ice is no fun. Florida is played out and way to humid. The cost of living sucks, stupid toll roads everywhere and the hurricanes will kill you eventually. I think Texas would be a good second choice. What scares me there is the humidity and crappy weather. Tucson is relatively safe.

[luvmyelement]

We tried Texas out before moving to Tucson. DFW area is way too overpopulated for my liking. We loved Austin but the cost of living is pretty high. If you have lots of money it's a great place to live and would probably be my #1 choice. Unfortunately they haven't been hit by economic issues that most of the country has and real estate prices are close to east coast prices. Weather was pretty good - but not as good as Tucson IMO. We chose Tucson because of the affordable real estate, nice weather, nice people, etc. I would much rather live in Tucson and be able to pay cash for a foreclosure than to live in Austin and have a hefty mortgage and be stressed about keeping my job to pay for that house. Now if Tucson would get Central Market they would move to my #1 spot.
;-)

[d.N.d.]

Originally Posted by anfro81

Tucson does need more theme parks or areas for families but that will come. Marana and Oro Valley is the spot to be now IMO. Having grew up and lived back east I wouldnt go back for anything. The snow and constant rain is terrible. Leaves always have to be raked, snow shoveled and gutters cleaned. Driving and living in ice is no fun. Florida is played out and way to humid. The cost of living sucks, stupid toll roads everywhere and the hurricanes will kill you eventually. I think Texas would be a good second choice. What scares me there is the humidity and crappy weather. Tucson is relatively safe.

I would agree but honestly I feel shoveling a driveway, raking leaves, cleaning gutters offers a more "homely" feel to me.
Here in Tucson I have a small patch of grass that my girls play on however during the summer it is so hot they dont go out there. They would rather stay inside and play. In say the East coast or somewhere else I want the front yard grass the backyard grass, I want fall leaves that I have to rake and winter snow. Because it offers diversity and a change from the mundane heat all the time and the lackluster winters. Which can be very cold and offer no enjoyment of winter.

I lived in Nebraska and loved the weather, the diversity and felt more of a community sense then anywhere else I have lived. However, it also lacked in family entertainment.

I dont mind humidity that seems to be played out by a majority of people and honestly can not stand the dry heat. I feel like a blow dryer in my face most days.

Guess the Tucson desert is not my thing. With the hot summers and terrible offerings that are not coming to Tucson or Arizona in that matter. Phoenix is the seventh populated metro in United States and they cant even land an amusment park. It would have to close down during Summer time (the most travelled time) due to extreme heat. And lack of neighborhood and community makes it not be the place to raise my family.

[DaynesWife]

Originally Posted by d.N.d.

I would agree but honestly I feel shoveling a driveway, raking leaves, cleaning gutters offers a more "homely" feel to me.
Here in Tucson I have a small patch of grass that my girls play on however during the summer it is so hot they dont go out there. They would rather stay inside and play. In say the East coast or somewhere else I want the front yard grass the backyard grass, I want fall leaves that I have to rake and winter snow. Because it offers diversity and a change from the mundane heat all the time and the lackluster winters. Which can be very cold and offer no enjoyment of winter.

I lived in Nebraska and loved the weather, the diversity and felt more of a community sense then anywhere else I have lived. However, it also lacked in family entertainment.

I dont mind humidity that seems to be played out by a majority of people and honestly can not stand the dry heat. I feel like a blow dryer in my face most days.

Guess the Tucson desert is not my thing. With the hot summers and terrible offerings that are not coming to Tucson or Arizona in that matter. Phoenix is the seventh populated metro in United States and they cant even land an amusment park. It would have to close down during Summer time (the most travelled time) due to extreme heat. And lack of neighborhood and community makes it not be the place to raise my family.

I would also consider shoveling snow, raking leaves & cleaning gutters "homely"...in the true sense of the word! (I think the word you were looking for is HOMEY.

It's all a matter of perspective. Some may enjoy all the seasons. I do..in small doses. I love to see the snow from afar, the kids love to play in it, and there is truely something about the first heavy snowfall..but after about a month I'm done. I hate cleaning off my car just to run out and get milk. Or bundling up the kids to go anywhere!! And the leaves..they are truely beautiful!! But if I have to rake up my small yard one more time I think I'll blow. It is seriously tedious work when you've raked all the leaves to one corner and then you turn around and more have fallen, then you look up at the trees and they still seem full!

I would trade it all in an instant for my kids to be able to ride their bikes year round. Or play basketball outside in February. Or for them to have a soccer season where they don't get rained on or snowed on. And my husband to play golf year round. If we got tired of the heat we could jump in a pool, or drive up to Mt. Lemmon. If we wanted to see the beautiful fall leaves just take a day trip out of the desert. If we wanted snow in the winter..another day trip.

The amazing thing about Arizona is that you can have all your seasons when you want them, but still live in beautiful weather most of the year. Of course the summers are blazing hot, every place you go is going to have something that you don't like, or some kind of extreme weather. I would take a few months of sweltering heat over deadly tornados, earthquakes or hurricanes!!!

Just my two cents...

[jksn75]

DaynesWife...very well said. I was born and raised in Nebraska. NO way were we outside playing in blizzards with -50F windchills! Winters are brutal and people stay indoors. I've always viewed the summers here, like I viewed winters at home...stay inside and be comfortable during that time frame. At least here you can ride bikes, play outside, etc in the morning or when the monsoon storms cool things down in the evenings. Can't do much outdoors during the winters in NE. Shoveling snow and frozen pipes suck! At least the heat is only unbearable for a couple of months and San Diego is a short drive away. In NE, we had no other inclement weather options within driving distance.

Also, I've always believed fun and family entertainment are what you make of it. Some people need to be constantly entertained with amusement parks, large zoos etc. I wouldn't say Tucson is terrible because of the lack of those things. Even amusement parks in the midwest close down during the winter! Besides, how many times would you actually go if one were located here? We were plenty entertained as kids by playing sports or board games with the family, seeing movies etc. Just seems a lot of people can't entertain themselves anymore and are quick to condemn a city because it lacks "stuff to do."

[Varula]

We moved to Tucson two years ago from rural western Massachusetts. Husband got a federal job here. I found full-time work about 18 months after we moved. It wasn't easy to even find temp assignments. The job market is tough, for sure. Here are some things we considered when moving our family:

We used to live 30 minutes from EVERYTHING, so being close to shopping centers was a nice change. We chose Rita Ranch because of it's tight community feel (like our small town back east), close to shopping, has a park with a pool, lots of places to walk and it's safe for the kids.

Choosing the right school system is important. Vail School District has an excellent reputation. That was our number one priority in finding a place to live.

The cost of living difference from MA was enough to allow us to sell our house in MA and buy a house in AZ that was double our sq feet for the same price.

We've been really happy here. Love the scenery, learning about new plants, weather patterns, Tucson's off-beat culture and have met some really great people. All in all, moving to Tucson was the best decision we've ever made! Hope it works as well for you.