Real Arizona Blog

More people means more ideas. More ideas mean more opinions. More media options mean more access to these ideas and opinions.

When it comes to our homes and communities more people means more homes are contemplated, dreamed about and built. Where are we getting our inspiration from when it comes to considering the kinds of homes we would like to live in? Well, local magazine articles like those found in Tucson Lifestyle Home & Garden are a good source of inspiration and tend to bias our exposure to current trends and styles. Of course we have all purchased books on homes and kitchen & bath designs if we have been thinking about remodeling our home like those from Taunton Press. But there are now soooo many options as to where to derive inspiration from on the internet it is truely amazing.

I have been thinking about regional architecture and how now, it is becoming so influenced by important styles, designs and building techniques from all over, that the term regional is getting complicated. Arrol Gellner who writes for Inman News writes in a recent article Bugged by today's architecture  "There's only one cardinal sin in architecture, and that is not thinking."

There are lots of people with thoughts on home building but here is a blog post from the Inman News blog that is quite eye opening... and it has to do with building homes from recycled material.... Sounds interesting but...

With in this post by Todd Carpenter Guest post: Shipping containers as building material is a link to this CBS video which is surely going to make the point that Regional Architecture is changing along with Globalised markets. So, is this considered "thinking"? as Arrol Gellner discusses...?

Lawrence W. Cheek has an article linked to in the post above titled On Architecture: Transforming cargo containers into a weekend studio that ends with this "There isn't a lot of what we normally think of as architecture in this prototype. It isn't picturesque, refined or sensual, and its cultural associations are all about sweaty cargo ports and Chinese industrialization -- not exactly the stuff of home-sweet-home dreams. But it's a stunning reminder of what architecture ought to be about: solving some of civilization's thorniest problems by radically reconsidering the built environment."

Addis Containers in New Zealand has a portfolio of Container designed homes at the following url http://www.containerarchitecture.co.nz/index.html 

Arizona Regional Architecture is certainly changing to a more global perspective as our needs, styles and influences expand.

Blog Post 8-21-07

Tubac is undergoing some significant land use changes as development both adds to and takes away lifestyle options for it's residents. We who live here, may have thought things would never change as we came to like the idea of a "good" coffee shop & "upscale" food market in Tubac. But even that is a change from the way things were and represents "growth".

This article by Tony Davis in the Arizona Daily Star Tubac mired in debate: Stay rural or go suburban? poses an interesting question. Will Tubac be able to grow up AND remain an attractive community for it's residents and visitors? Will the community be able to achieve growth with constraints that will foster and preserve the essence of Tubac's rural character?

Given some of the projects that have been proposed and ones in the process of trying to gain county and community support it appears that there is a clash of intents. Large scale development like so many other things "American" has gone toward "super sized" to bring an economy of scale to the projects. This makes sense given that there are some very expensive hurdles to building out a high density development east of the Santa Cruz river. Such improvements as access roads and bridges will be necessary for these types of developments and they come with a price.

The clash that developers have with long time residents and would be residents is one of expectation. Current Tubac residents and many people who hope to live there like the town the way it is. Their expectation is that things will pretty much stay the same. They do realize however, that some improvements would be desirable and enhance their lifestyles. Some developers on the other hand, see the potential in building out the Tubac area with more homes & the roads needed for traffic flow, as a plan to build the kind of developments they have built elsewhere. These developers expect things to go as they have gone elsewhere and after overcoming some community and county imposed hurdles they will begin to change the area for the better. An earlier blog post on commuting I made, discussed the process of community reaction to development.

Most of the people I have discussed this with don't want Tubac to become like all the other areas and loose the unique character it has now and those developers who work with small scale or "boutique" style projects vs "super-sized" ones could be in a better position to actually improve the community and gain support for their projects.

If Tubac didn't have such a rich history of settlement by the Spanish, a lovely siting in a valley of the Santa Cruz River, wonderful mountain surroundings and a fine Arts Community, it probably wouldn't matter if the area developed into more residential subdivisions and retail shopping.... But Tubac IS different and is not likely to support any development that compromises the character of the community.

Summer Monsoons here in Arizona are to be enjoyed by all... well almost all. The summer monsoons that affect specific areas of the globe can be quite devastating and if you live or travel in flood prone areas, watch out. Here in Southern Arizona we have major advantages of an educated public and Storm Alerts that help us all plan for possible flooding. In India & Bangladesh millions of people are affected this year by monsoon floods. This Reuters news video of the effects on flooding in India show just how fortunate we are in this region.

Pima County has a Flood Alert website that I use to check for rainfall over the last 24 hours to see if I need to take care about river and stream crossings. Since I drive through the Santa Cruz River in Tumacacori it is best to check to see the likelyhood of having to drive south and cross the bridge in Rio Rico. For this I use the USGS Real-Time Water Data site for seeing the actual flow and this will give me a measure of the cubic feet per second running where I want to cross the Santa Cruz. If it looks higher than normal, I don't even get off the Highway in Tubac and go straight to Rio Rico. Most locals here in Southern Arizona pay attention to the river & stream crossings but if you are visiting, you may not know to be careful.

Tubac is in the area called the "upper Santa Cruz valley" and we who live here are in the "upper reaches" of the Santa Cruz river drainage. A little known fact is that the Santa Cruz River has its headwaters in the San Rafael valley in Arizona but flows southward into Mexico before turning north and flowing back into Arizona. This Santa Cruz River Map from the Friends of the Santa Cruz River shows the river's upper reaches. What it doesn't show is the many tributary streams that feed into the river and add water to the basin. I have one such tributary stream crossing my property on Salero Ranch that feeds into Bond Canyon Creek which in turn flows into the Josephine Creek. Josephine is the main drainage from the south side of the Santa Rita mountains and is a primary tributary for the upper Santa Cruz.

Map courtesy of the Sonoran Institute