We are looking to pack up and move from Seattle to the Tucson/ Ora Valley area in 2 or 3 years. I know about monsoon season, the heat (thats one of the main reasons why we are moving there) and I know that the further North in Tucson you go the nicer it is. What I want to know is what it is like from a real car guys' point of view. You know what I'm talking about, how hard is it to track down parts, are there a lot of shows year round, swapmeets, can't work on your stuff with the garage door open because you don't want some creep to see your welder and get the idea that he wants it more than you, ect. Up here there is a car season that only lasts for so long then everyone locks their cars up hibernates and grows a giant "I can't let my car get wet so I'm not gong to drive it for the next 9 months" vagina. It is really sad and sucks!
The car scene is ok, parts and clean donor cars are a multitude out here. Plenty of custom shops and a fair amount of swapmeets during the summer. Oro valley is a very nice area, anything NW or NE is really nice and quiet ( with the occasional exception of an attempted assassination of a congress woman.) I live NW myself and have no worries.
great town, and not far from Phoenix, where everything really happens there are a few good hot rod shops there, and bunch of good independent guys. Talk to Metalshapes, and Hot Rod Ron. Ron is up here now, but he lived down there a long time.
pm me your number and we can talk and I will give you the 411. Meatball here on the HANB is the president of the local chapter for over the hill gang so you need to get hooked up with him as well.
In my opinion you made a really, really good decision. Heat is a highly over-rated problem. It's why God invented AC and swimmimg pools. I love Tucson. Going there tomorrow for my wifes annual cancer check up. Relly neat place close enough to all kinds of car stuff. The only way you could have made a better decision is if you had picked Lake Havasu City Hope to see you at a future Run to the Sun in LHC.
Arizona is a great place to search for old iron. My parents live in Benson, just out side Tucson. The drive to Tombstone from their ranch is awsome, usually filled with customs and bikes out for a weekend cruise. Because of the dry climate, cars and parts are in good shape. Also NO RAIN! I'm gettin' ready to boogie from Seattle as well. Back home to SoCal is where I'm heading. Good luck.
I grew up in Tucson in the 60s-70s, it was a nice place. It's gotten kind of crowded since then. I've been down here in Sierra Vista since 1983, it's cooler here (hardly ever gets over 100), but there ain't a lot going on. There are plenty of old cars, I know half a dozen guys who have steel 32 fords for example. I would guess that if you stay on the far north side of Tucson it would be pretty nice.
The further North or North West in Tucson you go, the worse traffic is going to be, and the real estate prices are going to be a bit steeper. There are a lot of good buys on the East side, Rita Ranch, Vail, etc. Monsoon is nothing. This is why air conditioning was invented. In a year, you will be acclimated and 100 degree days will seem cool to you.
I was out there last January and fell in love. We wish we can pack up and go but the housing market in NY right now blows and we cant afford to do it just yet, but once it comes back we are out of here and Tucson will be the place.
First off I don't blame you for wanting to move. It has been one of those things my wife and I struggle with quite a bit as we aren't big fans of the rain or cold but all our family is up here. I have been in the area many times during the summers. The heat isn't that bad after a little while. The first day you feel like you submerged your whole body in an oven but after a week it is not that bad. The mornings and evenings are great during the summer. Plus you can work on many of your projects outside and not have worry too much about rust like you do around here. But there winters are awesome. It is like our spring and summers.
wildearp is right the further north you go the houses get overpriced and lots of traffic not to mention the home owners association who hate noise,hotrods and an un kept yard stick to central, anywere on the east,vail,ora valley etc i live on the east and theres always classics and projects all over the car seen is pretty good too local cruise ins weekly as well as car shows several times a year and swapmeets in the spring and fall as far as the heat youll get used to it tucson is a great place to live in general
I love where I live. Just east of Tucson, within earshot of the dragstrip ( which is next door to a go kart track and an oval track) and about an hour away from a brand new road race track. And close enough to Tucson to get to all the welding and parts suppliers. I like the heat...
you'll get used to the heat. between the phx metro area and tucson areas you will never run out of car related stuff to do. just wait til you buy your first desert car and you realize that all the parts will still unbolt without a chisel and a torch, it spoils you fast.
The heat is no issue for us at all. My wife is from O.C. and was born in Palm Springs and the most comfortable I have ever been was when it was 119* in Palm Springs and I was working outside on freash blacdktop.
From a "where to retire" joke I saw a few years ago ..... You can retire to Tucson where....... 1. You are willing to park 3 blocks away because you found shade. 2. You've experienced sweat on your Butt from the hot water in the toilet bowl. 3. You have over 100 recipes for Mexican food. 4. You know that "dry heat" is comparable to what hits you in the face when you open a blast furnace. 5. The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME??!!
If you have pics of the area post them up! I need a dream to keep me motivated for 2 or 3 more yeras!
And don't miss Bisbee, just south of Tombstone... Temps in Tucson are a bit lower than Phoenix in the summer... nice area.
I'm currently located in Massachusetts originaly from Pheonix, awesome city! I miss the weather, the cars, and not knowing what it feels like to be COLD!! Good luck on the move.
If you're in Tucson in the summer, and it's just to damn hot for you, drive up to Phoenix and spend the rest of the day there. You'll feel great when you get back to Tucson
I hope I too could move to southern AZ or NM some day. Driven road trips there couple of times and really like the views and climate. For me as a foreigner it will be much more difficult since I need to get the Green Card to legally work and live in the USA. All I can do now is to save money and then sell everything I own if I get the paperwork. It may take years but I'm patient. Anybody need a seasoned parts guy with US car and Harley experience for example export sales?
Spent a year in Phoenix. Almost melted... Got out of there as fast as I could, this was in '83/'84 before all the crime and violence. Went back for a week in June '06. Feet and hands cracked and bled the whole week (yes I was using lotion like there was no tomorrow). It sucks every last bit of moisture out of you... Have fun being inside all summer!!!
summers are kinda warm,however we have 9-10 months of good hot rod season,and yeah if ya want to cool off just roll up to the mountians for the days........oh yeah...its about 90 today.NICE>.and sometimes its cold as hell here too.............
Wow ! Sierra Vista....boy that brings back bad memories. I did my advanced infantry training at Ft Huachuca. The US Army apparently thought Veit Nam was a desert country. I just about wet my pants on a training mission when a seasoned vet from Nam droped from a tree I had just walked under , yelled "hey GI" and when I turned , fired his 45 at me from almost point blank range. Of course he was firing blanks, but it was a lesson I never forgot.
i lived in Seattle for 21yrs, i now live in Scottsdale, i am 1.5 miles from the worlds largest every weekend car show, barret jackson, good guys all close, car shows all the time, (do i miss the NW sure but if you love cars etc. this is the place to be ) sell and move on down. go Seahawks !!
Been hanging out with you guys for 33 years, it's time to get the hell out of this cold wet shithole of a state! Your 56 looks familiar, are you in the Saints Car Culb? I'm from Port Orchard and my dad drives a full custom 50 Dodge.
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