Catalina Foothills Unified School District is #1 in Arizona

jamesportis
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Catalina Foothills Unified School District is #1 in Arizona

We’ve got a lot of great things going on in Tucson, but I’m here to tell you about one specifically, the Catalina Foothills Unified School District. You might not be aware but birth rates in the USA are declining

Catalina Foothills High School Student Plaza
Catalina Foothills High School Student Plaza

And in our beloved home state of Arizona, that number has declined almost 22% in the last decade. While that figure may sound shocking to you, I’m here to tell you that it’s actually not a bad thing. It’s common knowledge that our teachers are burdened with disproportionate class sizes to what a single teacher can effectively handle. 

Where am I going with this? I’m so glad you asked. Kids need teachers, teachers need schools, schools have districts, and some are better than others. This is why we are so very happy to inform you that one of ours has been ranked the TOP school district in all of Arizona.

Drumroll, please! If you live in Tucson you may have already guessed but for those of you looking to move here with kids, pay attention. The Catalina Foothills Unified School District has been rated #1 in Arizona according to Newsweek!

Catalina Foothills School District
Catalina Foothills School District

Let’s look at some of the statistics.

What You Need To Know

  1. It’s located in Tucson, obviously the best city in Arizona by far. 
  2. CFUSD has a teacher to student ratio of 1:19, while not ideal it’s comparatively better than the competition. The next jump in other districts is 1 teacher to 23 or more students. Sometimes even 35 students are being wrangled by 1 teacher.
  3. Catalina also boasts a 98% graduation rate, that’s the highest in the state!
  4. According to Zip Recruiter, “As of July 2021 the average annual pay for a teacher in AZ is $26,553 a year.” For Catalina Unified they pay their teachers an average of $45,311 a year. That’s an extra $18,000 for our educators and we believe they deserve every penny and then some.

So, there you have it. If you live in Arizona and have children, you might want to consider relocating to Tucson. Parents should always want the best for their children, Catalina Foothills Unified School District is the best in Arizona, hands down.

Congress Street Award

Tony Ray Baker
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Congress Street Award
Accolades or Kudos for Congress Street Award in Tucson, Arizona.
Accolades or Kudos for Congress Street Award in Tucson, Arizona.

Congress Street Award

A view of Tucson's beautiful sunset down Congress Street to Church Avenue. Photo courtesy Steven Meckler.
A view of Tucson’s beautiful sunset down Congress Street to Church Avenue. Photo courtesy Steven Meckler.

Again, another accolade for Tucson, Arizona. Recently, Congress Street was awarded Great Street by the American Planning Association. Congress Street was a happening place back in the day. However, due to a skyrocketing population and increased car traffic, it ever so gradually became less friendly to the pedestrians walking on the street. This was a huge problem. The city planners wanted to address the situation head-on which ended up labeled from the American Planning Association as a 2017 Great Street Award.

In early 2000s, city planners, Tucson officials, and engineers planned out a series of inventive plans to breathe new life into the local economy and restore its commercial opalescence. Since then, Congress Street, has had several makeovers to try bringing mode-sharing back to the street.

Congress Street Award: Renovations Since Early 2000s

  • Reduced the street from three lanes to two
  • Sidewalks widened to encourage more pedestrian activity
  • Trees planted to help with the relentless Arizona heat
  • Bike parking added for cyclists
  • SunLink, a modern streetcar added
  • Restoration of the Rialto Theatre and the Fox Tucson Theatre

Congress Street Award: By The Numbers

Congress Street is a major cultural hub for Tucson and hosts an array of events, including the annual Tucson Jazz Fest every January. Photo courtesy Steven Meckler.
Congress Street is a major cultural hub for Tucson and hosts an array of events, including the annual Tucson Jazz Fest every January. Photo courtesy Steven Meckler.
  • 67 new businesses have opened along the street since 2008
  • 25 restaurants are currently operating along Congress Street, 16 of which are in historic buildings and 22 of which are locally owned or Arizona based
  • 40 years is how long the Fox Tucson Theatre sat empty before it was revived as a significant community resource
  • 12 historic buildings have had facades restored with private investment matching public funding at a ratio of 6:1
  • 4 of SunLink’s 23 stops are along the street

Congress Street Award: The Designated Area

The designated area for Congress Street extends 1.63 miles from Toole Avenue on the east, which serves as a gateway to downtown, to Silverbell Road on the west, home of the historic Menlo Park Neighborhood and the Mercado District. The street’s commercial corridor runs about four-tenths of a mile between North Church Street and East Toole Avenue.

In conclusion, I truly hope that you get a chance to take a trip downtown and checkout the newly planned and reconstructed Congress Street. There are so many things to do and plenty of fun businesses to take your money. lol 😉

Have a great day! 🙂

Tony Ray Baker & Darren Jones

Download the PDF of Planning Excellence - Congress Street

Tucson Rated 20th Best City to Live In America

Tony Ray Baker
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Tucson Rated 20th Best City to Live In America

Well, look what we have here! Yet another accolade and feather in Tucson’s cap. According to Resonance Consultancy Tucson is the 20th best city to live in America! That’s no small feat, there are a lot of other cities from sea to shining sea in the USA. And just so you know, that’s up 21 spots from where we ranked last year. Let’s take a look at what made Tucson 20th best city to live in.

Tucson Was Rated Using These Categories
Tucson Was Rated Using These Categories

The 20th Best City

Resonance Consultancy used 6 major categories to grade upon: People, Place, Product, Programming, Promotion, and Prosperity. 

Notably, we ranked #14 in Place,

“Fast-growing Tucson is buoyed by its sense of place, ranking #10 in both our Weather and our Parks & Outdoors subcategories. The city is poised to ascend up future national rankings, due to a torrent of new investment in all manner of green and common space,” said Resonance.

The company also rightfully credits the University of Arizona for our cities “youthful bounce” considering that almost 25% of our fair city are between the ages of 20-35 years old. We’ve all seen the construction blowing up around the UA and downtown. Growth is coming ready or not. And honestly, we think Tucson is ready for it. You can’t stop the march of progress.

We also ranked #10 nationally on Prosperity if you can believe it. We can. Housing prices are steadily climbing as more and more people take notice of our little jewel in the desert. And, despite the pandemics brutal economic impact on Tucson, we still ranked an impressive #17 in shopping!

What’s Next?

We have no doubt that by 2022 Tucson will continue to scale the Best City list from the 20th best city until we break into the top 10! Where do you think we will rank next year? What about 5 years from now? Well, no matter where we land, we here at See Tucson Homes are ready and excited for it.

The Condé Nast Traveler

Tony Ray Baker
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The Condé Nast Traveler
Condé Nast Traveler Logo
The logo of the Condé Nast Traveler Magazine
We all know Tucson is pretty amazing but, it’s always nice to see others recognize it too. In April Tucson received some well-deserved attention from Condé Nast Traveler. If you don’t know what the Condé Nast Traveler is or why we should care let me tell you.

The Condé Nast Traveler

This worldwide magazine is filled with high luxury and lifestyle as well as hard reporting. Originally the magazine was originally bought by Condé Nast in 1987 and has gone on to win over 25 National Magazine Awards. It’s kind of a big deal to be mentioned by them. They published a list of 11 must-see destinations around the world. Taking that into consideration we think that makes this honor even more prestigious.

What They Said

It goes without saying that Tucson is known for its food. We have tons of accolades and it’s no surprise that most of them revolve around our food. There’s a reason we were UNESCO’s first city of gastronomy. So, it is no surprise to us that the very first thing they mentioned was our food.
Image of 2 Sonoran Hotdogs
Condé Nast Traveler mentions sonoran dogs.
Specifically, they mentioned the hotdogs of El Güero Canelo which won the coveted James Beard Award back in 2018. If you are wondering what is so special about a Sonoran Dog? Well, for starters, it’s wrapped in BACON! From there you pile on beans, sour cream, caramelized onions… No words we have will do this hotdog justice. If you ever find yourself in the Old Pueblo you simply must try one.
Image of the Saguaro National Park
Condé Nast Traveler tips its hat to the Saguaro National Park.
Condé Nast Traveler also mentioned the Saguaro National Park, highlighting the majestic cactus and the abundance of beautiful wildflowers we see every spring. You may think you’ve seen flowers in spring before but the blooms of cacti and succulents you will find here are truly spectacular.
Boldly colored Tucson sunset
Condé Nast Traveler mentioned our beautiful sunsets.
And lastly, they rounded out the article mentioning our sunsets. We can’t blame them, it would really be a shame to not mention them. In fact, we’d wager that we have the most dazzling sunsets in the 50 states. Come to Tucson and find out for yourself!
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