The
oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States, Tucson is
now home to over a million residents. Surrounded by spectacular Sonoran
Desert mountain ranges and vast saguaro forests, it inspires an active
outdoor lifestyle while keeping true to its old west heritage.
Tucson
offers all the big city amenities, such as museums, a university and the
arts, yet retains that small town feel. Readers of Conde
Nast Traveler magazine rated Tucson as the “friendliest city” and one
of the Top Ten U.S. cities to visit. The Wall Street Journal describes
Tucson as a “mini-mecca for the arts.” Zagat has rated it as the number
one city in the United States for resorts and spas.
With a long and rich history, Tucson was first home to the Hohokam Indians who irrigated fields and farmed the land over a thousand years ago. Then the Spanish explorers and missionaries established the town, followed by cowboys, ranchers and farmers.
Today,
residents enjoy every conceivable art form, including visual arts and performing
arts, such as opera, symphony, ballet and theatre. The Pima Air and Space
Museum is the largest aviation museum west of the Rockies. Sports fans find
year-round golf, an historic annual rodeo and a winter horse show circuit,
as well as three Major League baseball teams during spring training.
At the heart of desert living is the wonderful climate, with more than 300 days of sunshine every year. Spring, fall and winter are unmatched. At an elevation of 2,700 to 4,000 feet, Tucson summers remain cooler than many other desert cities.
