Sahuarita

[colin]

Sahuarita (pronounced "Sir-EE-ta" by locals) has begun developing a plan for its fast-growing community south of Tucson.

Big, Flashy PDF, not for dial-up or slow machines

The town used to be basically just pecan farms and a little roadside gas station, but has become the home of several large-scale developments (most notably Rancho Sahuarita and the newer Quail Creek) for commuters to the Tucson area.

The plan is just a draft, but I was really excited to see "live-work mixed-use" and "pedestrian-oriented" in the text. The Sonoran Institute developed it, so who knows how much of this will get through, but live-work has become a very desirable concept, especially as the tides turn in Tucson against sprawl.

It also discusses a Santa Cruz River Park, which will almost certainly be adopted as it would just be an extension of the one in Tucson (save for the gap in the San Xavier Res).

I'll go down there sometime this week or this weekend and get some photos, or, if someone wants to beat me to it (i.e. - Convulso), feel free.

[MJLO]

Holy cow that's good stuff. I still haven't been to Tucson, everytime I try plans get nixed. I'd love to see a whole bunch of developement explode out there in Pima County.

[colin]

Tucson has had a bunch of development explode, but it's more the explosive diarrhea variety.

That's why I think it's really exciting for Sahuarita to incoporate something like this. The South and Southeast sides of Tucson are poised to be the next big places for development, and Sahuarita is already somewhat occuring.

[uconn99]

Tucson has had a bunch of development explode, but it's more the explosive diarrhea variety.

That's why I think it's really exciting for Sahuarita to incoporate something like this. The South and Southeast sides of Tucson are poised to be the next big places for development, and Sahuarita is already somewhat occuring.

The Tucson foothills (Catalina foothills?) is a very nice area. I compare it to Awautukee (SP?). I had to work on Ina Rd a few times this past winter and enjoyed the area.

[colin]

The Foothills are already built-out more or less. They've pushed both to the north and east boundaries of the National Forest already.

People up there are also much more conscientious of what goes up around them and wouldn't stand for tract housing or anything that changes the character of the area. That's for those peons in Marana to deal with.

[colin]

Alright, I went down there and patrolled Rancho Sahuarita and Rancho Resort (what a terrible name) today. Rancho Resort is age-restricted, Rancho Sahuarita is a pretty typical planned community with maze-like, unconnecting streets, unused nature trails, and absolutely devoid of internal commercial development.

However, I did find a KB (of all companies) development with rear-loading driveways. Not exactly New Urbanist, but this seems to be a new trend amongst housing developments.

Presido del Cielo!

Rear-loading driveways:

The fronts have yards, but the trails connect so the neighbors have to at least see each other:

More unfinished fronts:

And what's this? Visitor parking!

Looking east:

Sahuarita Lake, part of Rancho Sahuarita but still a public park:

Some sort of massive kids waterpark. That bucket tips over every once in a while:

I've always heard that human beings inherently equate symmetry with beauty. But it's just disturbing sometimes:

And the lame Rancho Resort. The big hill in the back is actually the mine (don't you want to live next to a mine!?):

[MJLO]

You know, after looking at those pics of neighborhoods with rear loading driveways and such, I'm starting to realize that these communities exist all over the valley here. I know that one is in the Tucson area, but i've seen online many communities like that. I think that the cities in AZ are growing pretty responsibly.

[colin]

Score one for sensible development:

Builder drops plans for 15,000 homes west of Sahuarita