Help! We're thinking of moving to Tucson and need your opinion (Phoenix: crime, homes)

[DKNorthwest]

Hello! My husband and I are thinking of moving our family to Tucson from Portland, OR, for his job opportunity. We have a 5 month old daughter. We've heard mixed reviews about the area but are particularly concerned about drug issues, crime, and the school system. (I'm a teacher btw) My thought is that like any city there are good and bad areas and you just have to stick to the good...am I off base?

[teshorr]

[quote=DKNorthwest;2536952]Hello! My husband and I are thinking of moving our family to Tucson from Portland, OR, for his job opportunity. We have a 5 month old daughter. We've heard mixed reviews about the area but are particularly concerned about drug issues, crime, and the school system./quote]

DK--What exactly is your husband's job opportunity? Are you natives and/or long-time residents of Portland? I am from here, but lived in Seattle for a couple of years. It's quite different!

I will do my best to answer your questions...As far as raising your daughter here, Tucson is generally regarded as a wonderful place to raise children, provided you live in a safe area and your children attend school in a good district. A "good" district probably means living southeast, northeast, or northwest (including Oro Valley and Marana). The Foothills district is the best in terms of awards won every year, I believe. I went to Sabino High School, which was awesome, but that is considered a very priveleged school. I'm a college student with no kids, so parents can better advise you there Since you are a teacher, however, my best advice would be to stay away from the far west and south schools. If anyone disagrees, that certainly isn't an insult, just my understanding.

With regards to drug and crime issues, they go hand-in-hand for the most part. Again, staying southeast, east, northwest or northeast would be your best bets in terms of safety. Anything in the "foothills" and you should be fine!

Hope this helps as a start. If you could provide more details about your hubby's job, your potential timeline, and where you may consider moving and/or your budget, I think everyone could help more!

[AZgarden]

Tucson is a dumping site for litter, used cars, trash, beer bottles and garbage. That is all you see when you drive down from Phoenix. I would never live in such a trashy place.

[michael krotchie]

Originally Posted by PhxBarb

Tucson is a dumping site for litter, used cars, trash, beer bottles and garbage. That is all you see when you drive down from Phoenix. I would never live in such a trashy place.

I don't agree, what makes you say this Barb? Are you talking about towns between Phoenix and Tucson?

DK, I would take a look at the crime statistics for those areas you are interested in. The crime maps from the Tucson Police Department only go back to 2005 but this with this following link you can look at crime by address, neighborhood, and by a few other criteria.

Crime Stats

Here is some local school information:

Amphi School District
Catalina Foothills School District
Flowing Wells Unified School District
Marana Unified School District
Sahuarita Unified School District
Sunnyside Unified School District
Tanque Verde Unified School District
Tucson Unified School District
Vail School District

Here is a link to the high school boundary map for Tucson:
Tucson school boundary maps

Here is a link from the Arizona Department of Education that shows "report cards" for each school, very handy also.
Arizona School Report Cards

[Beliy Plashik]

Originally Posted by PhxBarb

Tucson is a dumping site for litter, used cars, trash, beer bottles and garbage. That is all you see when you drive down from Phoenix. I would never live in such a trashy place.

Phoenix is much worse then that though, and it smells too. LOL





But Tucson on the East Side has many good schools.

Sabino High School considered "privileged" yes it is a rich school on the northeast. (Most of my friends went to Sabino) But it has a reputation of a drug school. Because the children can afford expensive drugs, there have been issues. That are not adressed publicly because those high schoolers are still minors (I am still a minor too, but first year in college)

Checkout Catalina Foothills, and Sahuaro High School. Really good schools!!

[Daniel_T]

Hi there, I moved to Tucson from Alaska in 2003. I am real glad I've had the opportunity to experience Tucson but can't wait to leave. To answer your questions, the school system sucks. I went to Amphi High and was good friends with one of my teachers. She was making nothing and drove a beat up car. She explained why she hated being a teacher in tucson. The city is cheap.

Tucson, for its size, is fairly dirty. Things are not well kept, there are sporadic abandoned buildings all over, and my GOD, there is trash everywhere. Not like back in AK. Really if you want a nice neighborhood, look north of River Road. Anything south is not good, which is most of Tucson. If you go south of tucson to Sahuarita or Green Valley, those are nice areas. North you have Marana (I don't like marana but others do), Oro Valley (Rich and pricey), and more of the Foothills.

The crime in the past few years has gone up. I never witness gunshots until I moved here. In my neighborhood in central tucson (1st & Fort lowell) there are gunshots and gang activity all the time. No part of Tucson is real safe anymore. I work for the library system here in town, and a few months ago, a deliveryman bringing breakfast to our Main Library was severly beaten by thugs downtown at 8 in the morning!!! Fortunately he was okay but was in a coma for a while.

If tucson would clean itself up, pay better wages, get a better school system, and enact better public transit, and fix the crime problem, I would consider giving this city another chance. I've been to other desert cities and larger cities across the US for that matter, and Tucson is a pretty trashy place compared to other cities.

[JoeWLaw]

My wife is from Portland and we have three kids ages 1.5-12. Tucson is great three months a year and hotter than hell in the summer! You're going to have to drive alot (no crosstown freeway). The schools really aren't bad but it is hard to find a good, kid friendly neighborhood. Long term, having lived here since 1985, I'd seriously consider other options and visit in July before commiting.

[contrerry]

I moved to Tucson from the east coast and regret it big time..in fact, I'm making plans to move back. I do agree, if you can afford to live in the Foothills area (which I can't on a teacher's salary...teachers don't get paid much in AZ), it is quite beautiful and The Foothills District is excellent. But even they have had a lot of issues with drugs at the high school. Crime is a scary thing in Tucson...drive by shootings, gangs, robberies, hit and runs...and this is not just in south Tucson....check out a newspaper online for yourself. I don't really care for the layout of the city, either....I haven't found one of those "live, work, and shop in neighborhoods" as you would find in other cities...it seems like I am always driving from one side of town to the other...and the traffic sucks here & I think many drivers got their licenses in a Cracker Jack box! No real music scene or night life. Winters are nice, but summers are too hot! I don't even go in my pool until after 3-4 pm in July & August. If your move is only for a few years, it would be OK....long term?...I wouldn't recommend it! Sorry to any Tucson lovers out there!

[El General]

TUSD is downright uncivilized. The weather is better than Phoenix, though. The mountains are pretty.

[butte50]

I loved there for 2 yrs. Loved it. Wages are low so if you have a good job it is great. It is desert and a REAL contast to OR. I suggest a visit first. It isn't Scottsdale. There are some very nice homes but a lot of Tucson is natural desert. Not landscaped. I lived on the far West side and we never had any trouble. South Tucson is mostly hispanic. Depending on what you can afford there are some gated areas. Mine home was not but across from the public park near the high school and middle school. I miss Tucson but I will telll you there are a lot of not bright people there as well. I don't thnk the schools are winning awards but then again it probably has to do with what area you live in.

Originally Posted by DKNorthwest

Hello! My husband and I are thinking of moving our family to Tucson from Portland, OR, for his job opportunity. We have a 5 month old daughter. We've heard mixed reviews about the area but are particularly concerned about drug issues, crime, and the school system. (I'm a teacher btw) My thought is that like any city there are good and bad areas and you just have to stick to the good...am I off base?