TUCSON

TUCSON, the second-largest city in Arizona, takes its name from a Tohono O'Odham (Papago) Indian village that stood at the base of Stjukshon Mountain, later known as Sentinel Peak. Situated in the lower Sonoran Desert basin, Tucson is flanked by the Santa Catalina and Santa Rita Mountains. In 1700 Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Kino founded San Xavier del Bac Indian mission, and the Spanish established the Presidio de San Augustín de Tuguisón in 1775. Tucson became U.S. territory with the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, and served as the capital of Arizona Territory from 1867 to 1877. The Southern Pacific Railroad reached Tucson in 1880 and the city was incorporated in 1883.

From World War II to the year 2000, the city grew by more than four times, to a population of 486,699, with the metropolitan area including 843,746 residents. Tucson's economy in the 1990s included everything from agriculture and mining to state-of-the-art electronics. The rapid population growth threatened a dwindling water supply, but in 1992 the Central Arizona Project began supplying Colorado River water to Tucson. One of the most environmentally conscious cities in Arizona, Tucson is home to the Biosphere experiment and several national environmental groups.

The city offers activities for every taste. Wilderness enthusiasts enjoy mountain climbing and desert trekking, wealthy tourists visit expensive resorts and art galleries, while modest spenders patronize the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Old Tucson, a movie site for more than two hundred films. All visitors can enjoy cultural and athletic events at the University of Arizona plus a variety of theater, symphony, ballet, and opera productions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Logan, Michael F. Fighting Sprawl and City Hall: Resistance to Urban Growth in the Southwest. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1995.

Sonnichsen, C. L. Tucson: The Life and Times of an American City. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1982.

Walker, Henry P., and Don Bufkin. Historical Atlas of Arizona. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1979.

Roger L. Nichols

See also Arizona ; Gadsden Purchase ; Southwest .

Tucson: Population Profile

Metropolitan Area Residents

1980: 531,000

1990: 667,000

2000: 843,746

Percent change, 1990–2000: 26.5%

U.S. rank in 1990: 62nd

U.S. rank in 2000: 57th

City Residents

1980: 330,537

1990: 415,444

2000: 486,699

2003 estimate: 507,658

Percent change, 1990–2000: 16.7%

U.S. rank in 1980: 45th

U.S. rank in 1990: 34th

U.S. rank in 2000: 30th (State rank: 2nd)

Density: 2,500.1 people per square mile (2000)

Racial and ethnic characteristics (1999)

White: 341,424

Black or African American: 21,057

American Indian and Alaskan Native: 11,038

Asian: 11,959

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander: 796

Hispanic or Latino (may be of any race): 173,868

Other: 81,988

Percent of residents born in state: 38.2% (2000)

Age characteristics (2000)

Population under 5 years old: 35,201

Population 5 to 9 years old: 34,189

Population 10 to 14 years old: 31,939

Population 15 to 19 years old: 38,170

Population 20 to 24 years old: 47,428

Population 25 to 34 years old: 76,394

Population 35 to 44 years old: 72,289

Population 45 to 54 years old: 57,608

Population 55 to 59 years old: 19,597

Population 60 to 64 years old: 16,056

Population 65 to 74 years old: 29,117

Population 75 to 84 years old: 21,394

>Population 85 years and older: 7,317

Median age: 32.1 years

Births (2003)

Total number: 12,799

Deaths (2003)

Total number: 7,719

Money income (1999)

Per capita income: $16,322

Median household income: $30,981

Total households: 209,609

Number of households with income of . . .

less than $10,000: 25,225

$10,000 to $14,999: 16,717

$15,000 to $24,999: 34,714

$25,000 to $34,999: 31,708

$35,000 to $49,999: 33,463

$50,000 to $74,999: 29,487

$75,000 to $99,999: 11,946

$100,000 to $149,999: 6,531

$150,000 to $199,999: 1,713

$200,000 or more: 1,380

Percent of families below poverty level: 13.7% (47.8% of which were female householder families with related children under 5 years)

2002 FBI Crime Index Total: 50,171

Tucson: Communications

Newspapers and Magazines

Tucson readers choose from among three daily newspapers: The Arizona Daily Star (every morning), the Tucson Citizen (Monday through Saturday evenings), and the business paper, the Daily Territorial. Desert Airman is a weekly newspaper for military personnel at Davis-Monthan U.S. Air Force Base. Magazines published in Tucson include Tucson Weekly, which contains information about the arts and area news, Tucson Guide Quarterly, which publishes Tucson Official Visitor's Guide and Tucson Lifestyle Monthly Magazine. Several scholarly journals are also published in Tucson.

Television and Radio

Tucson's eight television stations include five network affiliates, two public stations, and one independent; a cable system is also available. Twenty AM and FM radio stations broadcast from Tucson, which also receives programming from neighboring communities.

Media Information: The Arizona Daily Star and Tucson Citizen, TNI Partners, PO Box 26767, Tucson, AZ 85726-6767; telephone (520)573-4400.

Tucson Online

The Arizona Daily Star home page. Available www.azstarnet.com

Arizona School Report Cards home page. Available www.ade.az.gov/srcs/main.asp

City of Tucson home page. Available www.ci.tucson.az.us

Greater Tucson Economic Council home page. Available www.futurewest.com

Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau home page. Available at www.visittucson.org

Tucson Citizen home page. Available www.tucsoncitizen.com

Tucson Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce home page. Available at www.tucsonchamber.org

Tucson-Pima Library home page. Available www.lib.ci.tucson.az.us

Selected Bibliography

Griffith, James S., Hecho a Mano: The Traditional Arts of Tucson's Mexican American Community (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2000)

Hait, Pam, Shifra Stein's Day Trips from Greater Phoenix, Tucson, and Flagstaff (Charlotte, NC: East Woods Press, 1986)

Tucson: Convention Facilities

With an expanded convention center and with additional meeting facilities available in many of the more than 200 hotels and resorts, Tucson is emerging as a primary convention and meeting destination in the Southwest. Besides a consistently warm climate and a wealth of leisure activities, Tucson offers more than 16,000 hotel rooms in the metropolitan area.

To keep pace with hotel and resort developments that have gained for Tucson a reputation as an ideal setting for large and small group functions, the Tucson Convention Center offers flexible facilities for all types of meeting and convention needs. The center offers 205,000 square feet of meeting space and 3 exhibition halls as well as a music hall, arena, small auditorium and 8 meeting rooms for groups of 50 to 1,000 people. A spacious foyer and galleria are designed to accommodate pre-function activities.

Convention Information: Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau, 100 South Church Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701; telephone (520)624-1817; fax (520) 884-7804; email greatmeetings@visittucson.org.

Tucson: Introduction

Traditionally known for its dry and sunny climate, Tucson is gaining a new reputation for high culture and high technology. With record increases in population, the city has become a Southwest center for opera, theater, ballet, symphony, and visual arts as well as the economic and industrial focal point of an area known as the "Silicon Desert." Consistently pleasant weather and a beautiful desert setting continue to make Tucson a popular tourist attraction. Proud of a multicultural heritage composed of Native American, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo influences, residents call their hometown "Old Pueblo," a name hearkening back to rough and exciting pioneer days.

Tucson: Geography and Climate

Tucson is located in southeastern Arizona, 60 miles north of the Mexican border. Established in the valley of the Sonoran Desert, the city is surrounded by the Sierrita and Santa Rita mountain ranges to the south and the Rincon Mountains rising to 7,000 feet above sea level to the east. With more than 300 days of sunshine a year Tucson's climate lends itself to a variety of outdoor activities and enjoyment.

Area: 194.7 square miles (2000)

Elevation: 2,390 feet above sea level

Average Temperatures: January, 39° F; July, 78° F; annual average, 68° F

Average Annual Precipitation: 11 inches

Tucson: Municipal Government

Tucson, the seat of Pima County, has a council-manager form of government, with a seven-member council that includes the mayor. All are elected to a four-year term.

Head Official: Mayor Bob Walkup (R) (since 1999; current term expires December 2007)

Total Number of City Employees: 5,933 (2002)

City Information: City of Tucson, PO Box 27210, Tucson, AZ 85726-7210; telephone (520)791-4533

Tucson City on the Santa Cruz River, s Arizona, USA. The Spanish built the presidio fort of Tucson in 1776, and the city was state capital from 1867 to 1877. Today, it is a foothills resort with a dry, sunny climate. It is a port for cotton and cattle. Industries: textiles, meat packing, copper smelting, aircraft parts, electronics, optical instruments. Pop. (2000) 486,699.

Tucson, Arizona/USA Chuk Shon In 1700 a Jesuit mission was established in a Native American village called Chuk Shon ‘(Village at) the Black Creek’.

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