The Goods on Tucson

I've been living in Tucson since 1993 (with a break from 1997-2000 when we lived in Florence Italy, my husband's hometown)

the center of Florentine life: the Duomo

I guess the biggest compliment I can give is to say that we moved back to Tucson, from Florence Italy willingly... seriously, we chose to move back to Tucson from Italy. WHY?

I'm not crazy....Tucson and Florence are vastly different for many things, but for ease of living, Tucson has the win. Florence is absolutely stunning and filled with life, it was really hard to live there, day to day ( without the typical big family support that many Italians live with- that not only help emotionally but also directly plugging one into the sea of social and economic possibilities) FIRENZE does NOT do convenient.

Tucson City Hall

Tucson is really easy to live in: the houses have big lots of land for gardening, we always have a parking space (a massive plus for any urban area) and with the internet and our small but mighty airport we have access to really, anything.

Tucson is artistic: so many great murals! The public art! The galleries! Open studios almost every weekend! Festivals! Workshops! I'm a Jeweler, so the giant collection of Gem Shows are incredibly enriching (as long as I can resist spending too much at the shows....believe me, it's tempting!) And of course, I can't forget the tremendous All Souls Procession ( the first weekend of November)

Politically, it fits me.
Tucson is BLUE and Funky.  It's comforting to me that we don't live in the BIG RED parts of this state. I appreciate not being surrounded in traffic by giant Luxury SUVs filled with blonde Barbies and Kens with their 2.4 giant athletic kids, pedigree dog and Tr@mp bumper stickers. They are alien to me.

Nope, in Tucson (aka the Olde Pueblo) I'm more likely to be driving by moms / dads on their customized bikes, heading to drop off at school (or the slightly ramshackle yet beloved Tucson racquet club). People who don't care that I choose to sport funky colored hair. Their kids with impressive personalities busy with unusual hobbies ... hybrid rescue dogs in the back seat of dusty, slightly dented Subarus with a lime green "Be Kind" bumper sticker from our Ben's Bells Kindness project.

I do believe we will probably move back to Italy to retire ( who wouldn't want to do that?!) but- at least until the kid graduates High school- Tucson will remain our beloved dusty desert home.
Pass the sunscreen 😜