If you ask Tucson music fans and artists alike they will tell you: Tucson is a great music town.

Best Music City: Tucson, AZ

A national survey released in 2016 shows that we’re better than great: We are really, really great.

In the list of top music cities in the United States, Tucson comes in seventh overall. Yay Confetti!

In the regional rankings, Tucson is second overall, right behind Austin, Texas — to which Tucson is often compared to.

The Value Penguin does demographically-based consumer lists and this is what they found about music cities in the U.S.:

• Tucson Ranked 7th Overall Nationally

1. Nashville, Tennessee
2. Urban Honolulu, Hawaii
3. Seattle, Washington
4. Madison, Wisconsin
5. Austin, Texas
6. Albany-Schenectady, New York
7. Tucson, Arizona
   *Phoenix-Mesa landed at 103rd overall.

• Tucson tanked to the bottom of the pile though, for having the most radio stations, coming in at 104 on the list of 200 cities

• We are number 39 for the number of record stores.

• Tucson came in 31st for the percentage of the population with music degrees.

The Value Penguin study evaluated 200 metropolitan areas using statistical data from sources including the U.S. Census Bureau, Thrillist, the Burau of Labor Statistics and several media surveys including USA Today and Travel & Leisure.

Here is a PDF of the original article if you’d like to see it.
https://www.valuepenguin.com/2016/best-cities-music-fans

The Tucson Music Scene, from a Local’s Perspective

To expand on this article’s findings, as a Tucsonan, I can provide you with some first-hand feedback about the music scene. If I were going to describes Tucson’s music scene with a movie title I’d name it, Boogy Nights.

From local musicians – to emerging underground artists – to the biggest names in music, you will find it all here.

Geography

Simply thinking about geography, Tucson is a convenient travel stop next to L.A., San Diego, Las Vegas and Phoenix.

Artists Love the Crowd at Tucson, Unless they Tell that to Everybody…

Not only is Tucson a convenient stop, but artists say they love coming to Tucson because the crowd gives them all “the feels”.

This isn’t a surprise to me — Tucsonans are friendly, energetic and love to dance. It’s a pleasure to be a part of a good community and then to show artists and visitors what we’re all about.

Intimate Venues

If big crowds aren’t your thing and you are more into the private party style vibe, you’ll appreciate how the style is in Tucson. You won’t have to fight LA style crowds here and smaller venues = better views.

Tucson Music Venues

One of Tucson’s most popular music venues is the Rialto Theater, and it has a capacity of 1,200 people making it a small-big venue. This historic venue is congruent with Tucson in the same way that  Tucson is a big city with a small-town vibe (Tucson’s population: 500,000 people).

There are many popular Tucson venues that are a lot smaller than The Rialto, like Hotel Congress, The Rock, Flycatcher, Solar Culture, 191 Toole and many more. Bigger venues are also present in Tucson like the Fox Theater, Tucson Convention Center, Casino del Sol and The Pima County Fairgrounds.

Proximity to Other Happening Places

Did you know that Phoenix is the 6th largest city in America? The drive to get there is easy and simple, a nice straight-shot up I-10 for about 75 minutes will open up another world. Enjoy the happenings and amenities of this big city and then return home to your quiet, safe, better-weathered community (Yes, Tucson has better weather than Phoenix, it’s cooler.). When the moment strikes for different adventures, you also have Vegas, San Diego, and L.A. all in close proximity for a road trip or a short flight.

Smaller Town Lifestyle with Big City Amenities

This is what Tucson is known for. It’s easy to have the best of all worlds living in Tucson. You get small town community with all the big city action coming straight to Tucson and nearby.

Do you want to learn about upcoming concerts in Tucson? Here’s a music meetup group and you can also check our events calendar.

Are you wanting to know even more about Tucson? Do you think Tucson might be a good place for you to live? I am a Tucson realtor with a passion and appreciation for this city. There are many articles on this site for you to go through to learn more and I am happy to help you learn more about Tucson and maybe even help pick out the perfect home for you. As one of the most affordable places to live in the country, home prices are low, making the point-of-entry to own a home actually accessible. There really are some great reasons why you should consider Tucson to build your life, home and business. I’d love to talk with you.

Take care of yourself and if we don’t speak on the phone soon, I will see you on the dance floor.

Have a great day,
Tony Ray
(520) 631-TONY (8669)
Free relocation package and Tucson fun info

10 Cheapest Places for Millennials to Live

Housely.com published an article, The 10 Cheapest Places for Millennials to Live in the U.S. where they considered data about cheap housing, availability of jobs, and social + cultural advantages.

In the past, New York City and Silicon Valley were enticing millennials in groves with fast paced tech jobs and other business opportunities; unfortunately, housing prices were so high (and they still are!) that millennials had trouble finding affordable housing and those with dreams of home ownership had a difficult decision to make and the opportunity cost was high. But now people are saying that Tucson may be the next Silcon Valley.

On the flip side, Florida is known to have an abundant affordable rental housing market, but the retiree demographic and job availability makes it a less desirable long-term destination for millennials.

Young people today are being challenged to think-outside-the-box and find destinations that will offer a more complete package and Tucson definitely does.

Without further ado, The Cheapest Places for Millennials to Live:

10. Austin, TX

9. Dallas, TX

8. Louisville, KY

7. Columbus, OH

6. Dayton, OH

5. Wichita, KS

4. TUCSON, ARIZONA

Tucson ranked #1 Best City for Young Creatives by CreativeLive.com.

Could the Southwest be the new Silicon Valley?

Organizations like Startup Tucson and the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship seem to think so.

With collaborative co-working spaces like Connect Co-Working, The RailYard, Spoke6, GangPlankHQ, and Co+Hoots plus entrepreneurial, art and tech meet-ups springing up across the sunny city, Tucson is wooing young entrepreneurs like crazy, and was even named one of the top tech hubs of last year.

Top it off with really cheap rent, one of the lowest housing markets in the country and a happening downtown, Arizona starts to looking like a delicious place for young creatives with an idea and a dream.

The affordable housing market really does set Tucson apart from big cities.

Young creatives thriving in these cities are obviously pulling in a chunky paycheck, but when you factor in how much of that money is going towards housing, the big city appeal starts to dwindle. Not to mention many of these rentals are tiny, and crowded and lack privacy.

Home ownership still is a great way to build wealth and invest in the future. The peace of mind that comes with having this kind of stability and not having to move every year or every few years is also incredible.

Another thing to consider when you’re looking for a place to live and deciding where to buy a house, is would the property and location also make a good rental? Because you never know, with your more settled and thriving life, maybe you’ll be in a place to buy another home and rent out the first, or possibly you’d want to travel and rent out your house to a long term tenant or even AirBnB. There are many options and benefits of home ownership.

With the way things are booming in Tucson, self-starters, smarty-pants and other hard workers could even pull in those fat, big city paychecks. Mix that with a low cost of living and you’re on track to build actual wealth.

Another cool thing about Tucson is we have one the best music scene’s in the country and a huge population of young people… around 30% which is the same as Austin, Seattle, San Francisco, Portland and other young people melting pots.

I’d love to talk to you more about this!