Overcast-weary Portlanders thinking about moving to Tucson. (Phoenix, Green Valley: high crime, tornadoes)

[LadmoFan]

Originally Posted by NW4me

Indeed, the gun thing would be creepy! Are you set on Arizona? If not, Albuquerque might meet your criteria... sunny, but without broiling summers (because it's about the same elevation as Denver).

Nothing wrong with open carry if you are trained to use weapons. Statistics show open carry states are typically safer.

[marjpf]

Originally Posted by LaylaM

Two years ago we were facing the exact choice that you are. Though we were in the Seattle area - same issues, basically. Also, our oldest daughter and her husband live in Portland so we well understand all of the amenities you're looking for. Our criteria was the same, with the exception of housing price range.

Initially, Tucson was near the top of our list. We love so many things about that city and it is a little blue dot in a red state. Plenty of like-minded people and a live and let live attitude from people with differing views. There is also a very prevalent libertarian vibe which we have no problem with.

Pros for us were:

* COL much lower than the PNW
* Incredible weather in the winter, early spring and late fall
* Whole Foods and TJ's are there
* Housing is still, relatively, reasonable
* Plenty of retail and other basic resources for a decent lifestyle
* Saguaro National Park is a wonderful place for hiking https://www.nps.gov/sagu/index.htm
* One of the best bookstores anywhere called Bookmans. Bookmans East | Bookmans Entertainment Exchange
* Southwest art and architecture is awesome
* Plenty of restaurants and cafes to choose from. Good Sonoran-style Mexican food

Cons for us:

* We visited throughout the year but ,once late spring rolled around, it was just too intensely hot for us. We know plenty of people who feel differently and others who sunbird elsewhere during the summer months.
* After all of our years in the PNW we had difficulty with the extremely dry climate
* We have dogs and decided that they were too old to adapt to the dusty, dry terrain
* The open carry gun law, which we do respect as a constitutional right, was just too foreign to us
* The crime rate is rather high and, if I was alone, wasn't sure I'd feel safe

Please keep in mind this is an 'outsider' point of view and, surely, others may have a very different perspective. And BTW, I agree with other posters that you will not find too much difference in temperature between Phoenix and Tucson - we considered both areas.

Where did you end up? I have looked all over California, Arizona, Nevada and Oregon so far.

[LaylaM]

We travelled to 6 states and 12 cities before ending up in Northern California, more specifically, Sonoma County wine country. We love absolutely everything about it.

Best of luck. It's a huge decision and finding the right fit is not easy..

[JonathanLB]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Tucson is only a few degrees cooler than PHX. Its still hot.


If you don't like guns, low taxes, etc, stay in liberal Portland. Don't move here and change AZ to OR.

So true. The worst thing you can have is an infestation of CA / OR liberals, trust me I live in Portland, and one reason I'm leaving is not to go ruin some other perfectly great state, it's because my state is ruined and I know it'll never be fixed since these high tax liberals insist on running them into the ground.

If you like the politics so much of Portland, STAY! Don't go ruin an awesome state like Arizona.

[mr.drama]

Please!Does everything have to DEVOLVE into a Blue vs. Red ,Gun Rights vs. Control,MSNBC vs. FOX shout-out?The poor OP simply asked for some info on relocating.Yes,political climate is a factor in where you'll feel comfortable-but it's only a factor! Tucson is a hard place to describe in a few sentences and no place is perfect.Come out for for a few weeks during a couple of our seasons and just get about,observe,listen to whats going on around you.Like many cities in the US(PHX is a bit of an outlier) the city leans liberal but things change quickly as you head out of town.So what?You come here for the weather,the open space , reasonable COL,the college-town aspect-to me more positive than negative-,air quality,great Mexican food,and the sky-big during the day and Dark at night.It "exposes itself slowly"is how a friend visiting described it.OK: I saw a guy walking through the CVS lot in a suburb with a huge gun strapped to his waist ,bullet belt-the whole deal,got in his hiked-up,noisy beater truck and drove away.Big deal-Not my thing really, but it's his right.I've lived in Philadelphia almost all my life,and the assumption there would be he just held the store up.Well he was walking real slowly,so maybe not :-) Anyone who has spent that much time in a city knows what you need to do to co-exist.The same demand will be made on you no matter where you choose to go.Strolling through the parking lot at an Eagles night game is a whole lot more "interesting" than that cowboy encounter@ the drug store.Talk about "open carry"(beer not weapons)and lots of it

[Saguarogirl507]

mr. drama, I am so glad you said that. I too am tired of all the red state vs blue state stuff. Who cares? So I am a liberal Bostonian moving to Tucson. Why all the negativity. We are all just trying to live the best life we can live in the beautiful Sonoran desert. We get enough politics all day long whether it is TV, our computers, our cell phones etc. We don't really need to add to it here. There are other forums where people can argue politics, let's leave this one for the suggestions and ideas about Tucson living.

OK. stepping off my soap box now.

[LaylaM]

More importantly, this thread failed to truly help the OP or offer her a welcoming hand while considering a new home in Tucson. Anyone notice that she is long gone now? Gee, wonder why.

[Adamson865]

Originally Posted by mr.drama

Please!Does everything have to DEVOLVE into a Blue vs. Red ,Gun Rights vs. Control,MSNBC vs. FOX shout-out?The poor OP simply asked for some info on relocating.Yes,political climate is a factor in where you'll feel comfortable-but it's only a factor! Tucson is a hard place to describe in a few sentences and no place is perfect.Come out for for a few weeks during a couple of our seasons and just get about,observe,listen to whats going on around you.Like many cities in the US(PHX is a bit of an outlier) the city leans liberal but things change quickly as you head out of town.So what?You come here for the weather,the open space , reasonable COL,the college-town aspect-to me more positive than negative-,air quality,great Mexican food,and the sky-big during the day and Dark at night.It "exposes itself slowly"is how a friend visiting described it.OK: I saw a guy walking through the CVS lot in a suburb with a huge gun strapped to his waist ,bullet belt-the whole deal,got in his hiked-up,noisy beater truck and drove away.Big deal-Not my thing really, but it's his right.I've lived in Philadelphia almost all my life,and the assumption there would be he just held the store up.Well he was walking real slowly,so maybe not :-) Anyone who has spent that much time in a city knows what you need to do to co-exist.The same demand will be made on you no matter where you choose to go.Strolling through the parking lot at an Eagles night game is a whole lot more "interesting" than that cowboy encounter@ the drug store.Talk about "open carry"(beer not weapons)and lots of it

But if you re-read the OP, it's mostly about politics. OP specifically used the word "politics" as the first criteria, and then wrote that they were in a liberal place and wanted someplace "progressive". OP brought it on herself.

[Marie Joseph]

Originally Posted by rah62

This.

In my 11+ years of participating here on CDF, I think the most frustrating type of post I see would be from folks who move from one place to a quite different place in a quite different state, and then post sad plaintive comments like "How come I can't find good bagels in Rapid City?" or "I moved from Anchorage to Phoenix and it's so-oooo *hot*!!"

The secret is to take your new city and state as it is, and not try and change it to the city you left. You want to leave for a reason! Whether there's a Whole Paycheck in Tucson should be the least of anyone's worries.

I think it's normal for people to miss some of the features from back home or their prior city but agree that it's best to take it as it is

We had a fellow from the Los Angeles location of my company take a transfer to my plant. We heard a lot of things like "It's ALWAYS gloomy/cloudy here!" and "Does it EVER stop raining/snowing here?!" Ha ha...I won't even go into what he said about his first winter here He transferred back at the first opportunity.

It's always an adjustment I think but there are positives about any new place you move to or visit.

[Jimrob1]

Originally Posted by fumbling

Living in a state that doesn't have open carry, I have never seen anyone open carry, even though I've been to Oregon and Arizona but must have not noticed before. How do they typically open carry their firearms, is it in a holster at their hips like the cowboy movies?

The first time I ever saw open carry. I'm sorry but the people seemed rather strange, It was at Wal-Mart in suburban Tucson. There was a number of them men and women wearing gun and holster. They were walking thru the aisles, as if in some sort of a parade. It was all I could do to keep from laughing out loud.

By the time I checked out it was obvious it was a demonstration of some sort. Now there were people with T-shirts that read Arizonans for gun rights. I payed. my bill and was glad to leave the parking lot.

That actually was the only time I saw anyone with a gun. Though I wasn't in A Z very long.