General Tucson Thread

[MJLO]

I visited Tucson for the first time today with my sister. I was really taken with Downtown. I was suprised at how much traffic was on the streets and stuff. I love the layout, the density in some spots. I have to say the Pima county building has to be one of the damn ugliest high rises i've ever laid eyes on. The retail facades were pretty much on par with what I thought. Alot of empty spots, and the places that were full were pretty cool. Some cool sandwich spots. One big difference I noticed is driving in to the Tucson area on the I-10 from the north. Is that it wasn't very pretty. The land and the corresponding buildings looked pretty ugly and unkept Marana wasn't so pretty from the expressway. Whereas in Phoenix everything seems perfect and clean when you're entering the metro area. Although from the freeways you really can't see to much because of the way they are built. I took some pics. I'l be posting them soon.

[colin]

Well, I'm certainly glad that you finally made it down here!

The Daily Star runs a feature called "Road Runner" where people write in with concerns or questions regarding local Tucson streets and highways. One recent one remarked about the I-10 landscaping here versus Phoenix, and the reason given was that the landscaping was planned for the widening project, which just "broke ground" and should take anywhere from 3-5 years. There are a couple of cool spots though, like the I-10/I-19 interchange, the Miracle Mile overpass on I-10, and the Valencia Road overpass on I-19. It is a shame though that more landscaping isn't done. It may have had something more to do with the Phoenix domination of the legislature.

[MJLO]

It must have been a while since I-10 was last updated. Because of the lack of landscaping, that must have come around within the last 20 years or so. That makes sense. I was just taken aback by how ugly the outskirts were. Once in the city It was very cool though. I'm sure that things will change if they are doing infrastructure improvement to that stretch of road. Tucson is totally a city I can see myself living in.

[colin]

Tucson is 3rd on list of 'digital cities'

You know it's a strange list when Corpus Christi is first on it.

But I feel like I'm a big part of this. The article mentions "paying a ticket online" and you can not only do that with my web site, but you can also appeal a ticket and then view its progress (something the City doesn't offer). Not to brag though, of course...

[MJLO]

haha Colin it's all good, give yourself a little pat on the back. Can you come up here and do it for us too?

[MJLO]

One thing I was thinking about today, is how pretty the valley that Tucson is. The mountains that surround it are much prettier than the ones in Phoenix, That must have something to do with the fact that Phoenix's mountains are so spaced out. How tall are Tucsons tallest?

[colin]

How tall are Tucsons tallest?

[MJLO]

I check up on the AZ Star online. I remember Colin, that you mentioned once about Tucson papers liking to point out the faults of the Phoenix area. The past couple days i've noticed more than a few negative Phoenix stories. I thought it was kinda funny

[colin]

I check up on the AZ Star online. I remember Colin, that you mentioned once about Tucson papers liking to point out the faults of the Phoenix area. The past couple days i've noticed more than a few negative Phoenix stories. I thought it was kinda funny

[colin]

Hotel coming soon in Oro Valley

This will be Tucson's first Wingate Inn and will be a very nice addition to that area. Like the article mentions, there's a lot of medical businesses up there and there aren't really that many hotels. A non-resort type lodging is exactly what is needed.

[colin]

At last, the missing link on parkway path is near

This is quite a relief. The bike path running along Aviation Parkway was built several years ago (along with the Diamondback "bridge to no where") but this gap was never completed. On a bike, it was best to actually stay on Broadway and go south on Park into the Lost Barrio to meet up with the trail. With this "basket bridge" (I'll have to see this), the bike trail will effectively be completed.

[colin]

Council approves red-light cameras and photo radar

Apparently only about four people turned out to speak against it at the meeting. It will be interesting to see how far this goes.

But there's also this:

Panel: It's OK to hide your license plate

Edited January 24, 2007 by colin

[MJLO]

lol big brother has made his way to Tucson!

[colin]

Summerhaven work being OK'd

Summerhaven is our little mountain village at the top of the Santa Catalina Mountains just to the north of town. The village includes the Northern Hemisphere's southernmost ski area (which was open this week for the second time this season), several cafes and small shops and some natural recreation areas.

The village was virtually wiped out in the 2003 Aspen Fire.

Summerhaven has made an excellent comeback. People are not only returning, but it's actually gotten quite crowded with the new lack of facilities and businesses. Expanding the village back to its previous state will be the best thing for everyone.

[colin]

Mayor to reveal SE-Side project

I've made mention of the Houghton Area Master Plan in previous posts, but this is the first real example of it. Being that it's from the developer of La Encatada, it should really be something and attract some higher end retailers.

[MJLO]

Is Tucson similar to Phoenix in the sense that it has a weak city center, with influential and wealthy surroundings. IE malls and higher end box retailers thriving?

[convulso]

the short answer is yes. the longer answer would require some elaboration on the phrasing of your question. colin can do that better than i...but tucson's city center is very small given the population, it's not the heart of the city that it could be, and when growth happens, it seems to happen at a faster pace outside of downtown and to be of the variety that would never happen in the middle of any town anyway (chains, big boxes, etc.) you know about rio nuevo and how that is supposed to ideally affect tucson's downtown, but that has its own problems and in the best case scenario cannot and will not transform the downtown area fully.

[colin]

Tucson's Downtown is definitely weak and small. One issue is that we're pretty much boxed in by the railroad, and any expansion past that railroad is difficult because it creates a huge barrier. Even Fourth Avenue isn't really considered to be part of Downtown. The only way to go is west, and that's what they're trying to do with some of this Rio Nuevo stuff. The TCC is technically part of Downtown, but it's so lifeless that Downtown sort of ends at Chruch Avenue.

But, no, Tucson does not have wealthy surroundings. The neighborhoods surrounding Downtown are historic, usually more liberal/artsy, and are in the mid-level of income, despite having some fantastic old homes (especially in El Presidio).

The rich areas are in the next ring: Sam Hughes and El Encanto, but then it's back to middle class until you get into the suburbs. Kinda strange, really.

[colin]

The whole blading issue was brought up in another thread regarding what can and can't a developer do when they want to build on a piece of property. Well, here's the answer, at least here in Tucson:

West Side lot bladed without OK

How cool is it that, here in Tucson, people react to seeing the blading of saguaros the same way others would react to seeing someone getting mugged??

[MJLO]

The city must be pretty tight about that kind of thing. Tucson seems way more responsible about it's environment and stuff. It's definately a hippy city.

[MJLO]

can anyone tell me how much passenger traffic has passed thru TUC last year? I'm trying to figure out where it ranks in terms of midsized city airports.

[colin]

TUS

C'mon, Matt, let's show some research initiative:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucson_International_Airport

[MJLO]

damn you. you're right, but it's more fun to put up questions and then have you all do the work heheheheheh

[colin]

Good call. Opens the discussion. I was just messing with you, but Wikipedia is usually a good fact checker (not a resource!).

I don't know what these new direct flights will do for Tucson's passenger counts. I mean, it will increase, of course, but I'm not sure how much because they're talking about small jets like those they use to fly many of the Phoenix and Vegas routes out of here now. Those flights usually aren't full.

But at least we'll have some more directs. That'll just encourage my avoidance of Sky Harbor.

[MJLO]

well Tucsons airport is decently busy as cities of it size go, I think it helps alot that they have airlines like Southwest, and USAirways so close, it give it more options, where as Grand Rapids, which is a metro area of like size has an airport that's half as busy, with the biggers airports further away. I think having Southwest makes a big difference, If GR did the fares would probabally be more competitive.