Hope you like "beige" - whenever I travel out west I miss the "green". I've got friends there who just love it. Gary
A few years back I was stationed in Tucson for a year. When I first moved there I hated that place, I hated the city, and mostly I hated the Brown. There was no green then not at all and I just hated that place. Then one day someone mentioned Mt Lemmon and said I ought to drive up there and take a look. Man that was a game changer for me. I drove up there and if I remember correctly you pass thru 5 or 6 different ecological areas on the way up. At that time there was a Chalet when you got to the top. It was Green up there and cool temp wise as well. There was just something about being up there I really liked, maybe a big part of it is the drive up there. When I came back down off of that mountain I looked at Tucson in a completely different way. I spent many days driving around and seeing that city for the first time. I did a complete about face and grew to love the City, the people and the things going on around that town. Today Tucson is one of my favorite city's in the country and I get back a couple of times a year just to visit. Look at it (Tucson) in an objective way, get your butt up that mountain as soon as you can and I believe you will learn to like it a lot.
3 words.....good bye snow......I can't wait to hopefully one day never see the stuff or the temps tired that bring it again...13 more years.....I say 5 months in Ac is better than 8 months with the furnace on...good luck to ya...hey not a bad drive over to so cal for things like the grand national roadster show, Father's Day deal, etc...
I must have had my facts wrong I thought caterpiller was a big employer in the quad citys, As for my work I,m a self employed trim carpenter.
Mt Lemmon is a trip for sure. I moved from Madison, Wisconsin to Tucson and it was good to see pine trees again. If you look down some of the ravines you can see old wrecked cars that went off the road. The terrain is so rugged they just left them there and with the climate so dry, they don't rust. Enjoy, I miss those wide open spaces. I'd retire there but my wife refused. [emoji15]
Glad to hear that CAT is moving here....most of the politicians are taking credit for the score. To them, this means more working people to tax so they can buy the votes of the folks on welfare. Tucson is two towns, the bad is a low wage, zero skill, left leaning group that abhors progress. Being on THE major drug transportation route, Tucson is a hub of dark activity. The city welcomes a new call center so we can add minimum wage jobs. On the other hand, there is a decent amount of skilled jobs, good neighborhoods, great schools, etc. Don't buy a house until you get the feel for the layout of the town and suburbs. Tucson is great in that you can drive 25 miles and be completely away from town to ride dirt bikes, shoot, or whatever. Lots of outdoor activity year round. Hot rod scene is mediocre but that is common for most towns (unless its CA). Since Phoenix is only 110 miles away, it is easy to get the stuff Tucson doesn't have. The worst things about Tucson are the (1) snowbirds, (2) drugs, (3) homeless, and (4) lack of higher-end jobs. Hopefully CAT will help with the higher end jobs.
Thanks again for everyone's input. Was bragging to my coworkers about how awesome of a community this is. I really appreciate te assurance and insight!
As a Cat retiree myself I'll share this with you. My brother, also a Cat retiree and lives seasonally in nearby Benson, and I went to a great Tucson Street Rod Assoc. show on 4th street in Tucson on May 7th. Great variety of early Hot rods and the most T buckets I've seen in years. Nice folks too. Gotta be cruise events also. Tons of other stuff to and see also. Hombre nailed it, if you get tired of beige hit the canyons. Also great advice from mike in Tucson re neighborhoods. Hey keep Cat profitable, I need the check. Good luck with the move, I'm confident you won't regret the move.
Thank you for the kind words Lou39. I take my job very seriously in honor of those who paved the way and made my job possible. So you have my word I will work hard and do whatever I can to keep this monster rolling positively!
One thing when you pack up you won't need your snow shovel you can yard sale it LOL, You might want to check out this link too: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tucson-dragway-reunion-2016.1016555/ I left Champaign,Il years ago no way I would go back to snow and ice storms and humidity.