Tucson

This historic oasis is arid, extra dry
Tucson is a hot tourist spot and an even hotter relocation destination. Conde Nast Traveler readers voted it America's friendliest city and one of the America's Top 10 must-visit sites. Clearly, the nation's oldest continuously inhabited community (for the past 12,000 years) remains robust in the popularity department. In fact, a recent population boom has planners balancing the city's historic distinctiveness against the bulldozer of urban renewal.

The rationale for Tucson's appeal is multifaceted. Its housing costs stay impressively low and its therapeutic climate offers more sunny days than any other U.S. city. Clear night skies make for productive stargazing, so much so that Greater Tucson has the world's highest concentration of observatories and telescopes within a 50-mile radius. And for fun beyond its attractions and events, the city offers an acclaimed arts district, high-quality resorts and hotels, professional and collegiate sports, and year-round golfing, bicycling and rock-climbing.

Nicknamed the "Old Pueblo", Tucson proudly touts its rich history, which involves adobes and Apaches, pioneers and priests, and gunslingers and gold diggers (the prospecting kind). The city's multicultural blend of Native American, Spanish, Mexican and Anglo heritages can be seen in its shopping options, diverse cuisine and historic neighborhoods. Although Arizona's second largest city counts its formal birth year as 1775, University of Arizona and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base help keep Tucson fresh, demographically and psychologically. The resulting melting-pot culture is as varied as arias, mariachis, country swing, rock and reggae, all of which can be heard within the city limits.

If you think Tucson's setting dictates a dusty and desolate atmosphere, ditch your stereotype of desert towns. Yep, Tucson sits in the Sonoran Desert, ringed by mountain ranges. Sure, it accommodates prickly pear and saguaro cacti -- but you might be surprised by its prodigious flora and fauna, such as the 14 species of hummingbirds alone. In the nearby mountains, you can take a dip in a waterfall or swimming hole. And come wintertime, the city's Mt. Lemmon gets enough snow to serve as the nation's southernmost ski resort. With the modern miracle of air conditioning to nullify its chief liability - blistering summer heat - Tucson seems unstoppable in broadening its fan base.

Tucson Transportation

Airports
Tucson International Airport

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
About two hours away from Tucson's airport

Bicycling
Pima County Bike Paths
Path maps for Tucson and its surrounding areas

Bus Services
Sun Tran

Van Tran
Provides para-transit service for qualified disabled passengers

Rail Services
Amtrak
Provides nationwide service. The Tucson station is not staffed.

RideShare
Free computer-matching service for those interested in carpooling.

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Tucson Attractions

It's hard not to notice the grandeur of the desert when you're in Tucson. Its location makes it the perfect host for myriad museums and national parks that highlight all that is unique in desert life. Those wonders can be found anywhere from six and a half stories under the earth in Colossal Cave Mountain Park to the night sky as seen from the Biosphere 2 Observatory. And as you would expect, there's also plenty of Western flavor. The close proximity to the Bird Cage Saloon, where "Doc" Holliday played cards, and the OK Corral, home of one of America's most famous gun fights, allows visitors to get up close and personal with the legendary Old West.

Arizona Railway Museum
Arizona State Museum
Arizona State Parks
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Asarco Mineral Discovery Center
Bird Cage Theatre
Catalina State Park
Center for Creative Photography
Colossal Cave Mountain Park
Columbia University's Biosphere 2 Center
Coronado National Forest
DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun
Flandrau Science Center at the University of Arizona
Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West
Golf N' Stuff
International Wildlife Museum
Kartchner Caverns State Park
Kino Sports Complex
Kitt Peak National Observatory
Mission San Xavier del Bac
Mount Lemmon
OK Corral and Tombstone Epitaph
Old Tucson Studios
Pima Air & Space Museum
Ramsey Canyon
Reid Park Zoo
Sabino Canyon Recreation Area
Saguaro National Park
Sosa-Carrillo-Fremont House
Titan Missile Museum
Tohono Chul Park
Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park
Trail Dust Town
Tucson Botanical Gardens
Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block
Tucson Rodeo
Tucson Symphony Orchestra
Tucson Children's Museum

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Tucson Shopping

One factor distinguishes Tucson shopping from the spending opportunities in most other cities of comparable size: the southwestern flavor. Arts and crafts representative of the region abound, ranging from Navajo jewelry and Hopi kachina dolls to Pueblo pottery and Mexican weavings. If you'd prefer wares of less cultural import, Tucson offers outlet malls, courtyard shops, upscale boutiques and antique stores as well. Of particular note is a nine-block stretch of historic Fourth Avenue featuring art galleries, specialty shops, bookstores and vintage clothiers.

Casas Adobes Plaza
Downtown/Fourth Avenue
El Con Mall
El Cortijo
Foothills Mall
La Placita Village
Park Place
Plaza Palomino
St. Philip's Plaza
Tucson Farmers Markets
Tucson Mall

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Tucson Nightlife

Applauded as a "mini-Mecca for the arts" by The Wall Street Journal, Tucson is among the U.S. cities with its own symphony, theater, opera and ballet companies. But, if dancing is more your style, check out the calendar of Argentine tango classes and milongas at www.tangoarizona.com. For a more modern spin at one of the trendiest clubs in town, stop by Club Congress at the Hotel Congress. Be ready for the crowds, this hip nighttime destination is known as "one of the ten best rock clubs in the United States". Other hot spots include Boondocks, which features blues and jazz; Maverick gets dancers stepping lively to country and western tunes; and El Parador heats things up with live salsa on Friday and Saturday nights. If you'd rather sit and watch some of the region's hottest dances, Club Congress hosts Flamenco Theatre with Tesoro every Saturday night. The Westward Look Resort features flamenco entertainment, tapas specials and a three course Spanish dinner at Flamenco Fridays every Friday night.

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Tucson Healthcare Facilities

One could argue that healthcare put Tucson on the map, in a modern marketing sense. In the early 1900s, the city touted its healing arid climate, and tuberculosis patients and asthma sufferers flocked here. That warm, dry weather is also indirectly responsible for Tucson's modern healthcare boom: Many, especially senior citizens, have moved here from colder states, and medical centers have flourished in meeting the needs of a growing population.

Tucson is home to the state's only medical school, University Medical Center, which manages one of the nation's nine transplant programs. And Tucson Medical Center, which originated as a tuberculosis treatment center in the 1920s, is today one of Southern Arizona's 10 largest employers.

Major healthcare facilities in Tucson include:

Carondelet St. Joseph's Hospital
Carondelet St. Mary's Hospital
Carondelet Tucson Heart Hospital
Carondelet Medical Mall of Green Valley
Kindred Hospital Tucson
Kino Community Hospital
Northwest Medical Center
Southern Arizona VA Health Care Center
Tucson Medical Center
University Medical Center

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Tucson Nursing Resources

Arizona Association of Nurse Anesthetists
Arizona Department of Health Services
Arizona Nurses Association
Arizona Public Health Association
Arizona Registered Nurses License Application Information
Arizona State Board of Nursing

Tucson Weather

For the most part, Tucson's weather lives up to the desert-valley stereotype of hot 'n' dry. But occasionally it has a few surprises up its short sleeve. Because the sun smiles down on Tucson about 350 days per year, it's no wonder city efforts are underway to harness this natural energy resource. While great for sunbathers and sunscreen vendors, all that sunshine generates hot summers, when average high temperatures are near 100 and lows are in the 70s. Surprisingly, winters push the mercury down to the 60s for highs and the 30s for lows, and may bring infrequent snow flurries.

Ringed by mountain ranges, where skiers benefit from consistent snowfall, Tucson's annual rainfall is only about 11 inches. The mountains also screen out most of the humidity for pleasantly dry (rather than oppressively muggy) heat. Sneaking over the mountaintops in the summer, intense thunderstorms dubbed "monsoons" produce more lightning strikes than anywhere else in the country except Florida. For Tucson's most temperate weather, visit in March, April, October or November.

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