Possibly moving to Tucson, AZ; will it be a good fit for me?

Question

I'm considering U-Arizona for grad school, and am uncertain about the quality of life in Tucson. I went to school/lived in Vermont, absolutely loved the mountains/laid-back, progressive-minded people/artistic-intellectual scene/small town community. I know a place like Seattle/Vancouver, Denver, etc. would be a great fit for me (being similar to VT), but have no idea about Tucson. I'm also 28, so may be older than my peers at U of A (and may want to explore the downtown, etc.). Are people pretty approachable, or more cliquey? How easy is it to meet a quality guy in Tucson? Are hiking/biking/outdoors clubs a good way to meet people? Having lived in Milwaukee and Cleveland as well, people's attitudes *do* vary from place to place.

Answer 1

Within the past 5 years, I've lived in 6 different cities (Knoxville, Tn, Johnson City, TN, Detroit, MI, Huntington Beach, CA, and Denver, CO) and you are absolutely right about each city having its own personality. Of all the places I've lived, I love Denver the most, mainly because I'm an outdoorsy, active kind of guy. One of my friends is at U of A getting her Doctorate in Audiology so I visit frequently. if you love the outdoors, enjoy mountain biking, have an active lifestyle, then Tucson is one of the best places you can live. The average demographic consists of young professionals. Also, if you like Denver, you'll also like Tucson. The only negative is the 100+ temperatures during the summers. Otherwise, it's a happening place.

Answer 2

I lived in Tucson a long time ago. I remember it was really spread out and the desert was beautiful. It didn't have much of a downtown area when I lived there. My guess is that if you went there your life and friends would revolve around the University where you would be with people like you with the same interests. I remember blue-grass music, turquoise jewelry, great Mexican food, close proximity to CA and Mexico , lots of people from the Midwest( snowbirds) I thought people were really friendly. There is a great mountain on the outskirts of town called Mt. Lemon. By the time you reached the top there was snow sometimes and evergreen trees.The city , I'm sure you realize is nothing like the other three you mentioned. Boulder is probably more like your Vermont experience. If you can, go there and check it out. See if it feels right for you.

Answer 3

I lived in Tucson for five years and kind of have mixed feelings about the overall experience. Lots of crime even in neighborhoods that are suppose to be fairly safe (had a car stolen, two broken into and someone was shot dead outside my apartment not far from the U of A). Tucson has the highest crime rate in the nation, the U of A has the highest crime rate of any university in the U.S.A. Traffic is horrible, it takes forever to get across town and people drive like they are all on meth. People are not real friendly, sort of like no one trusts anyone else. And if you are planning to be in Tucson during the summer I would suggest visiting in June or July and see if you can handle it. I never got used to it myself, its zaps all you energy. And forget about hiking / biking / jogging during the summer months unless its at the crack of dawn or up in the mountains, people die in the area every year from heat exhaustion.

On the bright side, the winters are fabulous, rental housing is cheap and plentiful and the city is very bike friendly, lots of bike paths to and from the campus. And Mt. Lemmon is only an hour away and is a great escape during the summer. 4th ave. near the campus has a Boulder / Seattle kind of hippy feel to it. And the monsoons, everyone loves the monsoons. I saw more lightning the first couple weeks of my first monsoon season then I had seen in my entire life before that.

Hope this helps

Answer 4

I have lived in Cleveland OH, Long Island NY, Miami FL, Muncie IN and Flagstaff AZ. I was 40 when I went to grad school in Flagstaff. I made friends of all ages and all nationalities. I think people in Arizona in general, are very open minded as they are in most of the western states. I only lived there for 2 years but it was my favorite place.

Might I suggest that you also check out Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. http://home.nau.edu/ It's a smaller school but still has a lot to offer.

Summer's are warm to hot (80-90 highs), breezy with low humidity and cool (lows around 50) nights. The winters vary from chilly to cold and the snow comes and goes. The lowest temperature that I saw in 2 years was a wind chill of 8 degrees. I saw about 3 feet of snow one year but it was gone in less than a week. (Very intense sun light)

I never made it to Tucson but the people I encountered in other parts of the state always seemed friendly, helpful and laid-back. I think you'd love it in either place. Check out the weather stats to decide for sure.

Answer 5

If you like Meth, low paying jobs, poverty, and enjoy living in an oven then Tucson would be a good fit. Trust me AZ is NOT filled with laid back progressive minded people at all. Nobody in AZ seems to love and most seem to live there b/c they have to or b/c it's cheaper and between May and November about 1/2 of AZ heads to San Diego.

Answer 6

I LIVE IN TUCSON AND I THINK ITS OKAY BUT ITS THE ONLY PLACE I HAVE LIVED.THE SEASONS REALY SHOW IN TUCSON LIKE WHEN ITS SUMMER YOU KNOW ITS SUMMER AND WINTER KNOW ITS WINTER.I THINK THAT JUST GOING TO CLUBS AND PROBLY BIKING WILL BE A GREAT WAY TO MEET NEW PEOPLE AND IF YOUR GOING TO SCHOOL IT WILL BE ANOTHER WAY TO MEET NEW PEOPLE. PEOPLE HAVE THE SAME ATTITUDE HERE AS THEY DO IN ASIA OR CLEVELAND. THERE ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE SO THAT MEANS A LOT OF DIFFERENT TUDUDES. WELL GOOD LUCK ON MAKING FRIENDS AND YOUR SCHOOLING.

Answer 7

Wild country, a tombstone reads, Here lies Les More
Shot three times with a 44, no Les no More............might
not be for a college kid without a 44.......................lol