By
Lora J. Mackel
Tucson, like all good cities, is changing. However, the changes that have occurred in the last couple of years are not good. While the inner-city's vibrance is fading, the outskirts are expanding and looking more and more commercial. What used to make Tucson a great city with a unique flavor were its open spaces and slower pace. But those characteristics are being lost as more and more name-brand stores go up and the local favorites begin to close.
As our city begins to sprawl, we must choose between maintaining our distinct lifestyle and environment or sacrificing it for bland commercial comforts.
According to local historians, Tucson has the distinction of being the longest-inhabited settlement in North America. Native Americans who first made this valley their home would never have imagined what is has become. After the Native Americans came the Spanish, and after the Spanish, the Mexicans, and now the rest of us. But up until the late '40s, Tucson was a sleepy little town with a great deal of charm and little else. People came to settle in the early 20th century either for their health (the dry air made it a haven for people suffering from tuberculosis), or in search of a different type of life. World War II and several key businesses really made Tucson boom.
Of course, the invention of air conditioning also helped to facilitate a population expansion. The rapid growth we see now began then and shows no signs of stopping. But with a larger population come more problems. Tucson was built in a sprawling fashion, giving the city no real center. It also made mass transit difficult and car ownership a must. Coolers required constant energy to keep the non-adobe homes livable in Tucson's summers.
The water table sank as well. Many people our age did not know that the arroyos actually flowed until the 1970s. More and more desert was cleared. And the bulldozers kept coming. Now parts of the developed city are being abandoned in favor of fresher spaces. One perfect example is the downtown area.
People know about the downtown area. In fact, it seems to be a source of communal shame. Just like neglected church services, the downtown area reminds us that we should be somewhere else. Independent shops and galleries on the Northwest and East sides of town thrive, but the same kind of shops and galleries in the supposed arts district come and go. El Con mall is now a shell, forsaken for the shops in St. Phillip's Plaza and malls in more remote locations. Another example of just how out of hand the city's growth has gotten can be found in the numerous Walgreens, Wal-Marts, Starbucks and other vestiges of corporate over-saturation that dot the city. Sure those places are convenient, but are they necessary? We all know they are not. Many of us remember a time River Road was rural, now it could safely be turned into a four-lane highway.
Our city is spilling out and swallowing the desert in its path. In fact, our Saguaro National Parks are now fenced in on all sides by development that shows no signs of slowing. At the university, we tend to keep to our own little part of the city because we really are a community unto ourselves. However, our professors live here, and chances are some of you will end up settling here. Tucson's growth impacts all of us. If it continues on in the same way, Tucson will became another soulless L.A. look-alike with urban sprawl problems that will negatively impact Tucson's ecology.
