That is compared to what there is to know. I am always amazed by how few people who live in Tucson know about even a few of the great things to see and do here. I know that my tastes are a bit catholic, but really, Tucson has something for everyone. If you love Opera, Symphony, Pops, Local Professional Theater, dance, museums or zoos, (and of course there’s the Desert Museum which is neither a zoo nor a museum but much more than both) we’ve got it.
If, on the other hand you’re more of a gardener . . . wow! What about the Tucson Botanical Society, Thono Chul, or the Tucson Bonsai Society to name a few. Perhaps your thing is Hiking, City Biking, Mountain Biking, four-wheeling, nature walks, birding, telescopes, minerals & gems, mining, history . . . as you can see from these few links, whatever it is we’ve got it in abundance.
So, in some ways I can see why it’s so hard for us to form a city center . . . we all have so many different directions we can go and few of them lead downtown. This, however, could be our real strength, if we can find a way to make the center a vital connection between all of these disparate destinations. How? We can do it with public transportation. So, will the planned Streetcars do the trick? No, unless we follow that small plan up with an immediate second, third and fourth stage. Let’s be forward thinking here and encourage our representatives to do the same!
For those of us who live in Tucson, subjects like Rio Nuevo can raise hackles. Still, there seem to be signs that something may be happening. Unlike the so called Rainbow Bridge or the now mostly forgotten Aquarium, substantive things are happening.
Take for example the call for a Tucson Town Hall by local media and government, or the recently approved Streetcar . . . or even the more sober, infrastructure approach proposed recently at the Fox by the Pima County Real Estate Research Council. What do you think? Here's a place to voice your ideas and hash out your concerns, vision and plans. As for me, I'm getting involved.