Sometimes we get requests from people that are relocating to Tucson from out of state, or even out of the country. Some of the request are fairly easy to meet.
- We want a good view of the mountains
- We want a place near a hospital
- We want a place bear a lot of golf courses
- We want a place with easy access to hiking
- We want a place with. . .
- We want a place on a river.
The last request is the one we do get, not often, but we do get it. It is possible to get a home on a river in Tucson. This might be a surprise to some. What is really surprising to those wanting river front property is the discovery there isn’t any water in the river.
This image is taken from the “River Walk”.
This is what a normal river in Tucson looks like.
Notice there is a little vegetation in the bottom providing cover for the fish.
Also notice it is mostly filled with air.
You will also notice, at least the real perceptive among the crowd will notice, there aren’t any people fishing along the river.
All right even the non-perceptive will notice there is no one fishing along this river.
When we tell people the rivers don’t have any water in them, they at first have kind of a nervous laugh then ask what do we mean. I don’t know how many ways there are to interpret “there isn’t any water in them”. We mean, there isn’t any water in them. For the most part they are dry riverbeds. Sometimes people hike in them, sometimes they drive in them, but not in town. One thing they never do is boat ride or water ski. I suppose you could sand ski, but I never see anyone doing it, so it must not have ever caught on as a sport. My guess, too much dust.
There are a few places you can fish around Tucson, Silverbell lake is one, and if you live at “The Lakes at Castle Rock” there are good places to fish, but that’s about it for here in town. There are a couple of others but. . . you get the idea.
Finally, on this Labor Day weekend I’ll introduce you to the little fish I mentioned in the title. It is a local trout found here in Tucson. They are hard to catch and not any good to eat. “Too Hard” They only surface at night, and since there isn’t much for fish to eat in Tucson rivers they feed mostly on sand and gravel.
It is amazing I was even able to get a picture to show you, but I went out late one moonlight night and managed to catch one.
If you don’t have anything to do, and you want to go fishing for supper here in Tucson, I would suggest you try Fry’s, or Safeway, or Albertson’s, and stay away from the rivers. A Big Plus, no mosquitoes to bother you while you’re fishing.
There is a difference between a “Wash” and a “River”.
A wash only has water in it after a big rain storm. A river used to have water in it when it wasn’t raining. Tomorrow is Labor Day 2007. Have a safe and enjoyable day.
LOL :) Now I know where the fish came from. hate to ask but what kind of bait did you use?
Bait,
I did forget to mention the bait. Small piece of sandstone with cheese whiz on it.
Just drove across the “river” today. It’s totally beyond me how in the world this ugly place can be mentioned as an attraction and how anybody can possibly enjoy being there… And when it is a “river,” it’s just running mud just like any other wash in town. Oh, yeah, remember it mentioned as a “location” regarding real estate, too… I mean, it’s not a bad area around, but Rillito “river” contributing to it being desirable… gimme a break.
I love Arizona, for one I do not find it ugly, far from it. Its not flat either like other states. Arizona is lovley really. Sure the River might as well be a wash but hey Arizona is a desert.
Ari,
I agree, I love Arizona. It is not flat. Hard to find a flat spot sometimes. And if I want fish I go to Trader Joes or Red Lobster.
The rivers do have water just not for long.
I grew up in Tucson. I lived there for 20 years. I moved to Tucson in 1972 when there was about 200,000 people. I attended Hudlow Elementry, Ficket jr. high and Sahuaro High School. I graduated from Pima College. We had just moved to Tucson from Utah. My mother found it strange that in the desert where there is supposedly a shortage of water that water was free!!!! We received no water bill from the city for the first few years we lived there.
in 1972 traveling east on Speedway the road narrowed to 1 lane in each direction east of Wilmot. Traveling south on Wilmot the road narrowed to 1 lane in each direction south of 22nd street.
The drive in at McDonalds across the street from Park Place Mall sits over the wash. McDonalds had a store on Speedway near Craycroft that they closed to open the McDonalds across the street from Park Place Mall. The drive in sat right over the wash so they built a bridge that the drive in currently sits over.
Before Park Place Mall was constructed (it was originally called Park Mall)there was just a big dirt lot to the west of Sears with a Furrs Cafeteria in the back.
There is no better place to live than Tucson. It has the most beautiful vegetation anywhere. It has mountains and valleys. The weather is a little warm in the summer but perfect all other times of the year. There is no wind, no earthquakes, no humidity, no tornado’s, no hurricanes, no basketball sized hail, no rain, and the best part, no snow. I would like to return to Tucson (or at least Phoenix) once I retire.
Scott Hansen
Scott,
Your comment for some reason was trapped in the spam filter.
Your information is priceless. I agree that Tucson is a fantastic place to live and the eco-system, mountains, vegetation and way of life make Tucson a very desirable and unique place to live.
I learn more about it every day.
Thanks for sharing, and come on back to Tucson when you retire. Hopefully I’ll be here and we can get a cup of coffee.