Marana

[colin]

I know there are already lots of topics, but I couldn't figure out another place to put this:

Gladden Farms

I saw a banner ad for it today while looking at the Daily Star's web site. It's near I-10 and Tangerine, which would put it about 20 miles from Downtown.

I remember hearing about it, but only that it was close to the proposed Marana Heritage Park, which is integrated into the plan. It looks like a typical suburb, but at least it has some commercial development so people won't have to drive to Cortaro to get milk. They're also promising greenbelts and bike trails.

Houses are said to start in the mid-200's.

The interesting thing to me is that there's a Yaqui village very close to here, if not next to it. I passed it once, but I don't remember exactly where it is, and Google was no help. I just wonder how the Yaquis are reacting to this sort of thing, if it is indeed close by.

[MJLO]

wow It looks alot like Phoenix.

Does Tucson resemble Phoenix in it's suburbs? Outside of Tucson is it one big "other" valley. Beige middle class homes. Fast food joint, drugstore repeat? I know that Tucsonans are diametrically opposed to anything Valley related. At least it is made to sound that way on here. But from where I stand, alot of what I see looks like neighborhoods near Val Vista Lakes where I live.

[colin]

Yeah, I think Marana specifically looks quite a bit like the East Valley.

The big difference here though is grass. It's extremely rare in Tucson for a home to have a lawn, but I know they seem to love it up there. Lots sometimes have little patches of grass, but Winterhaven is the only neighborhood I can think of where it may as well be back east (the neighborhood association there actually requires it too).

[MJLO]

one could only imagine with a name like Winterhaven.

[ErinJ]

one could only imagine with a name like Winterhaven.

Its cool to walk through there in the month before Christmas.

And yes to your question about looking like the valley, just on a smaller scale.

[colin]

A while ago when I was learning about the George Johnson/La Osa Ranch debacle (article on it here if you're interested, but the link doesn't seem to work right now), I emailed Pulte about their development at Red Rock, and since then, they've just been my bestest friends.

This email came yesterday insinuating that I should be excited about the opportunity of owning a home 40 miles from Tucson built on old farmland and next to a stockyard.

"Dear Colin,

It won't be too long before you start seeing construction activity! As the largest master planned

community yet to be built by Pulte Homes in the Tucson area, Red Rock Village will offer a great

value, unparalleled amenities, and the superior building quality you would expect from Pulte Homes.

Some of the amenities that are planned for Red Rock Village include:

http://info.pulte-delwebb.com/Apps/DCS/mcp...428ny0m9_Dz9_8r

- 3,000 square foot Olympic Length natural gas heated lap pool

- 3,000 square foot beach entry family pool

- Two waterslides

- Splash pad

- Skate park

- Three+ baseball fields

- Two sand volleyball courts

- Full court basketball court

- Full length soccer field

- Click here to view the conceptual drawing of the Community Park

Don

[convulso]

...

[convulso]

It won't be too long before you start seeing construction activity!

lol - only a developer could get so excited at words like these, especially when a suburb is involved.

i hate marana. i guess there's someone out there who loves marana and will flame me for saying that. supply / demand. these things will be bought, and more will be built, i fear. that whole northwest corridor along I-10 seems to be on the fast track to s*itsville, despite the newness of it all. such low-denisity development in a place where that is the rule. i keep hearing murmurs about commercial and supposed 'mixed use' development going up all the way out towards benson in the opposite direction along I-10. where is the control?

I feel that Sasco is a little safer right now.

so what is this place? weird.

I've never liked the idea of farming in Arizona

how so? it strikes me as odd, especially in the valley, but i haven't been able to form an opinion on it. kinda reminds me of the coachella valley projects in CA. i prefer farming to low-density development, but it still seems to alter the landscape (not to mention the...drain...on water resources). why here? why irrigate for commercial desert farming? it's not like indian irrigation for subsistence, that's for sure.

[MJLO]

Pulte has perfected building entire suburbs.

What else would you expect from a Detroit based home building company.

[colin]

Rumbles at Red Rock

Very interesting article in the Tucson Weekly this week about the Red Rock Village development in Pinal County. It actually echoes my sentiment exactly about the project: "At least it's Pulte" but there's concern about the lack of retail support for the project. I mean, I have no idea where these people are going to go for groceries and other shopping. Gladden Farms, to the south at Tangerine Road, plans to build some retail, but that's still several miles away and several years off. As it stands, the closest retail is the Circle K at Marana Road.

[colin]

It looks like Biosphere will be around for a few more years at least, and the gorgeous, rolling hills that surround it are safe for now.

http://www.azstarnet.com/business/149472

[colin]

Another twist on the Biosphere story:

Biosphere might end up as UA research campus

I think this would be the best solution for the site. It would allow it to remain open to the public as a tourist attraction (ticket prices would even probably go down), the UA would be able to expand its research capabilities, and the structures would remain in tact.

With the recent UA budget cuts though, it remains to be seen if the university has enough money to do this.

[convulso]

'twould be a shame if it doesn't happen, because it would easily make the most sense (for all the reasons you named).

[colin]

Big-box look is out

Hooray for Marana for actually taking a stand on big box development.

[MJLO]

What is Marana really like Colin, everytime I drive thru it, I see a bunch of weeds and creepy looking old structures. But that is the vantage point from I-10

[colin]

What you see of Marana from the interstate is sort of it. There are the cotton farms near the original town's center (it grew south toward Tucson), the civic building and high school in the middle of no where, the enormous quarry surrounded by a golf course, and the Continental Ranch development visible from the interstate. The big Wal-Mart pictured there is in this huge big-box utopia at I-10 and Cortaro that includes a Kohl's. Marana also owns some slightly older commercial and residential development along Ina Road.

But I think you're thinking it's a little further into town than it actually is, because there are very few old structures in Marana.

[MJLO]

this is probabally the wrong place to ask it, but does Tucson have any upscale suburbs? or are they pretty much all like Marana?

[ErinJ]

this is probabally the wrong place to ask it, but does Tucson have any upscale suburbs? or are they pretty much all like Marana?

[convulso]

some of the in-town areas, like the sam hughes district, might also be considered 'upscale.' the eastern portion of tucson (outside the city and in pima county) has upscale leanings, in places, though only where housing is concerned. there are no 'districts' with upscale 'lifestyle' shopping centers in that direction, certainly, but there are a lot of very expensive houses sitting on valuable lots.

the foothills is not really a district, so calling it 'upscale' is kind of like saying that eastern phoenix is upscale. the whole stretch, from I-10 to craycroft and kolb roads, is affluent (except for us, in our crappy apartment, of course!), but there is no real distinction that i can see between everything just east of oro valley, say, and the neighborhoods around ventana canyon. maybe the richies out on bear creek cyn road and tanque verde road feel somewhat separate from the rest of the foothills, since there're suburban strip malls and restaurants / bars in greater concentration in that area (though they're nothing to write home about). that area is more just its own zone, but there are no boutique centers of commerce there.

from I-10 traveling east, most of the posh retail stuff in the foothills peters out in the campbell avenue area, with its art galleries and spas (and the venerable la encantada). east of that, there's no retail to speak of until you go down to the tanque verde road area, and that's mostly just suburban shopping in strip malls - you've seen it all before. i think the rich types who own property in the foothills consider the area 'posh' because of their housing choices, and not quite so much for the selection of stores and restaurants - at least, not compared with the wealthy 'burbs of phoenix.

[colin]

Catalina Foothills is a defined CDP as is Casas Adobes. Not sure of the boundaries on either, but I know 85704 is all considered part of Casas Adobes and is what that zip's post office is named.

Shopping centers are usually a good indicator of an area's nature. Several in the Foothills plus Casas Adobes Plaza, but here in the city we have the more upscale Rancho Center with a Wild Oats, two yoga studios, a hoity-toity restaurant and a salon. Further east there's the slightly high-end Monterey Plaza. Then, on Campbell, you've got the shopping center with Pastiche, a Xoom Juice and a Chipotle, and it just looks upscale. Then, on North Swan you've got Plaza Palomino with a few upscale restaurants.

But nothing close to what's in Phoenix, even in the Foothills. La Encatada is still the best offering. It's probably better that way.

I think there will be something popping up around Vail or Civano within the next 10 years or so. There's also going to be something more happening with Oro Valley, although probably not on Oracle itself and probably nothing that great.

Just crystal ball stuff... Man, it's late.

[nuplanner]

I am not a fan of these sprawling ugly master planned communities. I thought Tucson area was going away from this kind of stuff. Especially the ugly, 4 models, cracker jack boxes. They are so car dependent and cheaply built and designed.

Civano is very sustainable, especially when you compare it to Marana community site plan with grass, stick housing and so forth. But if you look at how our communities are being developed, it is atrocious. For some reason, things just keep getting worse? Could design have something to do with it??? I think so. But no one seems to get it. We have gone to plan everything around the automobile as gas continues to skyrocket, and no one seems to care.

Did you guys see the tanker that caught on fire and collapsed two bridges in the Bay Area? It has crippled the commuters, and luckily, they have other modes of transit. Think of big metro areas like Phoenix? It would come to a crawl if something like this would happen. For some reason, many of the residents, government leaders and developers are blind to see our shortcomings in the way we build, plan and think to move people around. That is what happens when you only plan for one mode of transit. The light rail is a start.

Tucson is a nice area, but to me, the city is pretty ugly. The foothills have some nice homes and Oral Valley is ok. I had some friends live there a few years back. Tucson has a great opportunity to reinvest into the existing infrastructure and communities.

[MJLO]

Tucson is a nice area, but to me, the city is pretty ugly. The foothills have some nice homes and Oral Valley is ok. I had some friends live there a few years back. Tucson has a great opportunity to reinvest into the existing infrastructure and communities.

[colin]

I had a friend that called it that. I'm not sure exactly what the significance is though.

"Denture Valley" may work better.

[colin]

NW Medical Center plans Marana site

As the article states, it's a great location, and there aren't really any hospitals for many miles around that site.

[colin]

DDevelopers offer to pay $40M to fund new interchange at I-10 and Tangerine

It would be the first developer-funded highway project to occur in Pima County since the Arizona Department of Transportation began allowing such projects in the mid-1990s.