An Expat Talks about Living in Tucson, Arizona

What is the name of the city or town that you are reporting on?

Tucson

How long have you lived there?

8 months

What activities, clubs and organizations would you recommend to newcomers to help them meet others?

There are tons of things to do - check out the free weekly newspaper "Tucson Weekly"; the daily "Arizona Star" and "Arizona Citizen"

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In terms of religious, racial, economic and cultural diversity, are the people of this city or town diverse? Are they accepting of differences? Describe.

Very very diverse. Big groups from just about anywhere, including politival and economic refugees (central and eastern Europe, Middel East, Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia etc etc) Strong Mexican and South American influence. The city is surprisingly very accepting of differences; big support for Dean, Kucinic, Liebermann, Kerry, McCain, Bush ....

What are the main industries in this city? What types of career opportunities commonly exist? How do most people find new jobs?

A little bit of everything but other than Air Force, hospital, university etc nothing dominates. Great for small businesss and/or entrepreneur. Arizona is one of the top small businesss / entrepreneur states in the US at present. Also the state is moving up on every indicator - employment, quality of life, longevity, education, arts, sports ...

In general, what are peoples' priorities in this city? For example, do lives revolve around work, family, socializing, sports, etc.?

Tucson has some of everything, including three symphonies, a dozen live theatre companies, an opera company, a zillion museums and art galleries, too many restaurants to count. It is home of the University of Arizona with all the activities that a big (and improving) university involves, plus a huge community college, plus satellite campuses of other colleges.

If a friend of yours was thinking of moving to this city or town from far away, what other advice would you give them.

Do it - summer can be a bit warm, but not as bad as Central / Northern Africa, Middle East, Mongolia etc. Great place for kids. Tons and tons of stuff to do. New international school. Mountains, Desert. Wild West. Cowboys. Affordable housing (three bedder in the 'best' suburb under $150K. We escaped from LA and would never go back.