RE: An HONEST Review of Tucson, Arizona
The US cities with the highest crime rates: Albuquerque, NM, Memphis, Tennessee, and Wichita, Kansas ... but not Tucson. The top cities for car accidents are Columbus, OH, St. Louis, MO, Los Angeles, CA, Sacramento, CA (and pretty much anywhere in California). Not Tucson. We have these people called Snowbirds. They bring a lot of money - over ten times more than those under 55. It's why Costco is focused solely on making them happy. They're only here half the year. Perfect. You can rent your home to them for thousands per month (if you can move in with a friend). Great schools. The world's best test scores are in Tucson at FREE Charters run by Basis, where two thirds go to FREE Ivy Schools. My son, in the Foothills School District, was on a state winning chess team most every year and his team won nations about once every decade, starting in Kindergarten. Like Catholic schools anywhere, ours all have 100% graduation rates. There are LOTS of great education options. It gets to 100F in Philly and 100 people die. Tucsonans are never stupid when it comes to heat. I often say "true" Tucsonans are known for being emotionally connected to a blue sky that goes on forever and our religion about hydration. Philly recently went four days with NO power. Tucson has far better utilities. Wildlife. Lizards (and tarantulas) are common pets. Everywhere else I've been has worse mosquitos and flies (from Denver to New Jersey). The best chance to see a drunk student is in State College, PA (home to the best fireworks - a great place to visit but you wouldn't want to live there). Light on the freeways. For 60 years, it's taken over 45 minutes to drive 6 miles into Philly. You can always get from one side of town to the another other in under 45 minutes. More roads do NOT speed up traffic, they just increase the number of cars on the road. If you've a 30 minute commute (nobody I know) there are beautiful homes on the other side of town (in whatever direction that might be). Tucson is the very BEST place to live. I did so well in IT and engineering here that I was able to retire at 42. Yea!