Here are a few reviews I have found on the internet from people who have lived in Tucson.

I moved to Tucson from the northwest in 2003, and I think it is the worst mistake ever. Tucson is violent, run down, and poor. You drive down the road, and there is decay everywhere. I would never have suspected that Tucson is like this. Downtown is scary even during the day. But at night, I won't go near downtown. The south side is very run down and dangerous with lots and lots of gangs. I can't understand why anyone would want to move here. Phoenix is ten times better. Sure the weather is nice, but you can find the same weather somewhere else, that is better. If anyone has any questions,feel free to contact me at TrueDaniel_G@hotmail.com

I want to give you my perspective on living in tucson, az. I have lived in The bronx, NY, Lakewood, nj, phoenix, az, denver, co, new york city, and now tucson, az. I am a family man and have been working over 20 years in my profession. There are positives and negatives of any choice, to be fair. Positives: the air quality is really good here. Visually, that means you can see the natural beauty here. You can't in phoenix. Although Tucson smells like a sewer everywhere. (Sewer problems). There is a lot of beautiful nature here. That means you have areas that are wonderful to be in and enjoy with hiking, biking, etc. although that can be dangerous here because of the out of control crime. That's it for the positive. Now the negatives: crime-completely out of control everywhere and authorities have no plans of changing that neither does anyone care. Expect to get victimized here. Poverty, whoa! Massive and everywhere. The rich here separate themselves from the poor. This is a very poor town. Tucson is very run down and the authorities dont care. It looks like the great depression never left here. We are the northern border city of the U.S. it kind of looks like mexico. That accounts for the poverty, crime, and rundown look here. Pay is horrifying here and so is the housing stock. There are no families downtown, mostly singles from the universities. They like it here because lots singles here, but this is not an ideal place to raise a family. Landlords are running lots of scams because they can easily take advantage of students. You can walk downtown and bike, but not designed for bikers, could get killed on your bike. Downtown becoming yuppie now and dont care for it. They are just taking every dollar out of working man's pocket. Cultural stuff is repetitive and useless and overcrowded, although some of it is good. Tucson people are arrogant about Tucson which is obvious ridiculous. Weather: yikes! Global warming is here. 10 months of year 100 degrees is almost here and 2 months freezing weather, occassion nice day. Overall, i would recommend to run as far as you can from this place. It's not going to make it. If you are thinking about moving to Tucson, DON'T unless you are going to retire! This is the most backwards state ever. I've lived here for 5 years because my husband's job relocated him. I wished we would have not taken the promotion. The people here are nice and welcoming, but that's it! The wages here are so low you can't earn a decent living. It doesn't matter if you have a degree, skills the pay is still crappy. The schools suck. Although I live in a upper middle class neighborhood the quality of education in the public schools is lacking. If you don't believe me research AZ's ranking among educating. My husband and I are trying desperately to leave this place. It robs you of you spirit. It is a college town and a prison town. The market is saturated with low paying service jobs and the employers are so use to paying low wages because they hire illegal workers, I think it will take decades to catch up and stop living in fantasy land. There is a lot of hate towards the Mexican people here, there is a lot of crime, drug abuse and child abuse. Please do you're research before coming here. The weather is great, but that's it.