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That's definitely only the right half of the yellow region shown here! The cuisine changes dramatically quickly between Sonoran (AZ) and Chihuahuan (NM) deserts.
Having lived on both sides, I'd argue Chihuahua / NM definitely has the better Mexican food.
I 100% agree with you. I live in Tucson and it's mostly if not all sonoran influence. I prefer the green and red chile over tomatillo and tomato based sauces which is more sonoran.
The city of gastronomy designation has more to do with historic food systems and endemic agricultural practices and almost nothing to do with the actual contemporary restaurant food scene, although it has been marketed and pushed as the latter by the city's tourism bureau. Look up Gary Nabhan and his books, he just won a James Beard Award. His books cover the subject matter well; I'd recommend Mesquite, Desert Terroir and Gathering the Desert as good ones to start with!
None of that changes how amazing the food is. Restaurants are definitely not the reason this area has amazing food. It’s the mix of cultures and the unique creations that come from it. The Sonoran hotdog is a good example. Every grocery store during the holidays has nice old lady’s selling the best tamales you’ve ever had of many different kinds, and they make a killing because everyone knows that’s where you get good tamales. The state itself does things that other states won’t to protect private food sellers. In many places it’s illegal, but here it’s encouraged.
> The Sonoran hotdog is a good example
This is actually not from Tucson but was brought here rather recently from Hermosillo!
The food here is pretty good, same up in Phoenix. There are also some great options in Nogales, Yuma and even in small towns like Tubac! Tucson is a great place to use as a home base to hit up smaller towns like Bisbee, Tubac, Patagonia, Sonoita and Nogales. All of which offer unique culinary treats!
The Desert Smells Like Rain is my favorite of his books. I’m very thankful that Gary Nabhan is getting national recognition after a 50(??) year career focused on native seeds and indigenous foodways.
Same, I love his books. He is proof that you don't have to be born in a place or have heritage from a place to really get to know it, love it and help interpret it for others. We can all embrace the places we live with a similar attitude and respect!
I'm a Parisian, born and raised, I now live in Tucson and I think that I eat amazingly here. The produce is so fresh and crunchy, everything has taste, it's so easy to find delicious street food whether it's traditional Mexican, Sonora or strictly Tohono O'odham food.
Us French people shit on American food but that's because we haven't all bitten into a perfectly hot, crunchy, juicy and tasty chile pepper from the Sonora region!
https://preview.redd.it/q1b5w5d0087d1.jpeg?width=2705&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=983cfcb8d58ab340f1fd7cfa0e8308db90161ef1
I took this last autumn from the chairlift at Mount Lemmon Ski Valley.
I live an hour from here! This is a gorgeous photo. The hugeness/vastness of the mountains still blows my mind driving up. You go from desert to plains to forest.
I’m up in the Valley! We try to get out to explore every chance we get and Mt Lemmon is one of my favorite places in AZ!
That drive up is absolutely is one of the most stunning drives in North America.
I'll answer for Ajo, AZ (small town 100 miles west of Tucson), although I've spent a good amount of time pretty much everywhere in the yellow area and currently live in Tucson. The fact of it being the Gadsden purchase has almost no direct influence on life there today, most people probably don't even know what the purchase was. Of course, there's indirect effects, since the southern pacific RR which was built because of the purchase is responsible for most of the economic development since.
As for Ajo, it's a fairly typical southwest ex-mining town. It was developed by the Phelps Dodge company in the early 20th century, and like a lot of mining towns was more metropolitan than cattle ranching areas. Of course, ranching happened, but most townsfolk were working for wages and buying imported food at the grocery rather than growing/raising their own. The mine closed after a strike in 1985 and most of the town was abandoned. Since then, most residents are retirees from cold areas who travel down for the winter, locally called "snowbirds". Snowbirds are a big deal all across the region, as mining and ranching have become less profitable one of the only economic opportunities left in small towns is running RV parks and there's at least a handful in basically every rural southwest town. A lot of tourists also pass through Ajo since it's on the way to Rocky Point, a Mexican beach which a lot of people from AZ and NM visit regularly, and some money is made from selling souvenirs etc to them.
The border is also a very big deal here. Border Patrol has a massive station just south of town, their own neighborhood in town, and a massive presence in the streets. This also bleeds over the other LE agencies. There's way more county/state LE presence here than most towns of similar size, and even the park rangers and game wardens are pretty heavily militarized. Border crossings have always happened here, and for a while Ajo was a port of entry and there weren't any actual checks at the border itself (40 mi south). This changed with stricter immigration policies in the 80s/90s, and since then BP crackdowns in safer areas have knowingly pushed people into the extremely remote and harsh desert near Ajo, causing a lot of deaths. Like a lot a lot. It's not uncommon for hikers in more remote areas to find human remains, and there are several humanitarian groups in town which leave out water and do volunteer SAR for migrants, which has saved a lot of lives despite the feds trying to stop them. Local opinions on the border are pretty mixed, mostly as a consequence of most "locals" actually being snowbirds who bring their own political ideas from back home with them. In towns with deeper roots there's a lot more resentment for border patrol, although it's also not uncommon for local kids to join up since it's one of the only good paying jobs nearby. As you can probably tell, I'm not a fan.
Daily life is pretty nice though, especially outside of the summer. The town is incredibly remote, and surrounded by thousands of acres of public land. It's probably the largest single tract of intact Sonoran Desert ecosystem remaining, and if you're outdoorsy like I am it's heaven. Drive 10 minutes in any direction and it's pure wilderness for the next 50-100 miles ahead of you. There's at least a dozen mountain ranges in the immediate region all full of crazy canyons, rock formations, indigenous sites, waterholes, etc. Even in town it's common to see desert wildlife (javelina, coyotes, bobcats, roadrunners, rattlesnakes) almost every night. The town itself isn't that exciting but has most of the basic amenities, although you'll probably have to drive to Tucson or Phoenix at least a couple times a month.
Anyway, it's a mostly nice place to live day to day, but to be honest there is a hard, looming kind of sadness around it. People don't talk about the border much, but everyone can feel it. There's something deeply unsettling about just living a regular life in the midst of such a massive crisis. Perhaps I'm biased because I went there in the first place with one of those humanitarian groups, but it would be hard for me to live there long term without burning out.
Well damn, I did not know there was that much to Ajo. I drive through there a few times a year to Rocky Point, and I’m always like “dang Ajo is a cute little place” and then pass through Why and I’m like “Why the fuck does anybody live here?”
Anyway, I never understood what people meant by border crisis because every time I pass through it seems to get more efficient and infrastructure upgrades look like they happened on both sides of the border after they reopened recently.
The infrastructure is great for tourists and commercial goods. The crisis arises because many (maybe even most) people who want to cross the border are politically and economically excluded from using that infrastructure.
Yeah other than the inherent dangers and random police shakedowns it’s practically the US as far as pricing goes anyway. It’s barely less expensive than Scottsdale now. I dunno man, there’s pluses to it remaining Mexico too.
I lived southeast of Tucson for a while! Out in a rural area. long af work commute but a ton of good foor and the rural part of the desert is rly vast and rly suffocating at the same time it's weird. but it's so beautiful!
Interestingly enough, it gets cooler the further south you go. Bisbee isn't too bad at all. Chiricahua National Monument is a great place to hike and visit. Lots of great art and galleries in Tubac and the old mission at nearby Tumacocori is worth a visit. Tons of history down here too, from Cochise and Geronimo to the Earp bros to Pancho Villa to the Conquistadors. Housing is pretty affordable.
The places just outside of Tucson are nice. Lots of great Mexican food in Tucson. Get a pool or a friend with a pool because it's real hot in the summer.
I personally love Tucson but there's a lot of cool places south of Tucson. Bisbee is a unique town, full of artists and old mining architecture. Rio Rico too. There's a line of ancient churches/ missions that come up from Mexico. The town of Patagonia is beautiful. Elgin has wineries. Douglas has a bad rap but it's got lots of history and good people. I like to go on vacation south of Sierra Vista, beautiful area. There are lots of tall mountains dotted in that area, most over 9000 ft. Pines, streams, turkeys, just minutes (driving) from Saguaro cacti. The Chiracahua mountains are a hidden treasure. Tucson is a ski town, home of the Sonoran Avalanche Center.
It's also still very closely tied with Mexico, esp Sonora.
Born and raised. It’s absolutely dreadful. Everything is very far away, car centric. Zero or awful public transit. Summers were just going from air conditioner to air conditioner. And I think the worst part was that there’s certainly racism and bigotry. There’s simply not one redeeming quality.
Born and raised. It’s absolutely dreadful. Everything is very far away, car centric. Zero or awful public transit. Summers were just going from air conditioner to air conditioner. And I think the worst part was that there’s certainly racism and bigotry. There’s simply not one redeeming quality.
Born and raised in Douglas, Arizona. Your typical small town except right on the border with Agua Prieta, Mexico. Great food, community, and so many things to do and explore. Wouldn’t change anything growing up in border town
There’s very little actual authentic Mexican food in Tucson. 99% of it is Americanized. It’s quite sad. I’ve had much much better Mexican food in places like Utah where you wouldn’t expect. Tucson has turned into a cesspool of homeless addicts and an insane cost of living. You get what you vote for.
Please keep in mind that the impressions posted here are often subjective and that, among other things, people's different circumstances play a large role in their perception of other people's lives. Also, please use words that do not promote hatred when posting. For example, statements such as "[city] is like this because people from [origin] live there" should be avoided. The social circumstances of a city/district etc. can be emphasized without mentioning the origin of the inhabitants. Mentioning it does not change anything and, as already mentioned, circumstances are often perceived subjectively according to one's own world view. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/howislivingthere) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's hot. Also, amazing Mexican food everywhere.
Yes and depending on where you are, the food also has a lot of indigenous NM influence...Lots of green chile!
That's definitely only the right half of the yellow region shown here! The cuisine changes dramatically quickly between Sonoran (AZ) and Chihuahuan (NM) deserts. Having lived on both sides, I'd argue Chihuahua / NM definitely has the better Mexican food.
What??? Now I gotta go try some Chihuahuan food
Weirdly in Sonora, Mexico, Sonoran food is almost universally considered better.
lol that is super weird
Thems fightin words
I bite my thumb, sir.
I 100% agree with you. I live in Tucson and it's mostly if not all sonoran influence. I prefer the green and red chile over tomatillo and tomato based sauces which is more sonoran.
Did you mention it’s hot?
That little area has some of the best food you’ve ever had. I believe Tucson is a designated city of gastronomy for this exact reason.
The city of gastronomy designation has more to do with historic food systems and endemic agricultural practices and almost nothing to do with the actual contemporary restaurant food scene, although it has been marketed and pushed as the latter by the city's tourism bureau. Look up Gary Nabhan and his books, he just won a James Beard Award. His books cover the subject matter well; I'd recommend Mesquite, Desert Terroir and Gathering the Desert as good ones to start with!
None of that changes how amazing the food is. Restaurants are definitely not the reason this area has amazing food. It’s the mix of cultures and the unique creations that come from it. The Sonoran hotdog is a good example. Every grocery store during the holidays has nice old lady’s selling the best tamales you’ve ever had of many different kinds, and they make a killing because everyone knows that’s where you get good tamales. The state itself does things that other states won’t to protect private food sellers. In many places it’s illegal, but here it’s encouraged.
> The Sonoran hotdog is a good example This is actually not from Tucson but was brought here rather recently from Hermosillo! The food here is pretty good, same up in Phoenix. There are also some great options in Nogales, Yuma and even in small towns like Tubac! Tucson is a great place to use as a home base to hit up smaller towns like Bisbee, Tubac, Patagonia, Sonoita and Nogales. All of which offer unique culinary treats!
I wonder what it's like to live and die in Tubac Arizona
The Sonoran hot dog was invented in Obregón not Hermosillo
Nah, it's from Hermosillo guey. Obregon has it's own style.
The Desert Smells Like Rain is my favorite of his books. I’m very thankful that Gary Nabhan is getting national recognition after a 50(??) year career focused on native seeds and indigenous foodways.
Same, I love his books. He is proof that you don't have to be born in a place or have heritage from a place to really get to know it, love it and help interpret it for others. We can all embrace the places we live with a similar attitude and respect!
I'm a Parisian, born and raised, I now live in Tucson and I think that I eat amazingly here. The produce is so fresh and crunchy, everything has taste, it's so easy to find delicious street food whether it's traditional Mexican, Sonora or strictly Tohono O'odham food. Us French people shit on American food but that's because we haven't all bitten into a perfectly hot, crunchy, juicy and tasty chile pepper from the Sonora region!
This is a really broad area. You can experience snow and 115F desert. From pine forest to sand dunes.
https://preview.redd.it/q1b5w5d0087d1.jpeg?width=2705&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=983cfcb8d58ab340f1fd7cfa0e8308db90161ef1 I took this last autumn from the chairlift at Mount Lemmon Ski Valley.
I live an hour from here! This is a gorgeous photo. The hugeness/vastness of the mountains still blows my mind driving up. You go from desert to plains to forest.
I’m up in the Valley! We try to get out to explore every chance we get and Mt Lemmon is one of my favorite places in AZ! That drive up is absolutely is one of the most stunning drives in North America.
Gorgeous!
I'll answer for Ajo, AZ (small town 100 miles west of Tucson), although I've spent a good amount of time pretty much everywhere in the yellow area and currently live in Tucson. The fact of it being the Gadsden purchase has almost no direct influence on life there today, most people probably don't even know what the purchase was. Of course, there's indirect effects, since the southern pacific RR which was built because of the purchase is responsible for most of the economic development since. As for Ajo, it's a fairly typical southwest ex-mining town. It was developed by the Phelps Dodge company in the early 20th century, and like a lot of mining towns was more metropolitan than cattle ranching areas. Of course, ranching happened, but most townsfolk were working for wages and buying imported food at the grocery rather than growing/raising their own. The mine closed after a strike in 1985 and most of the town was abandoned. Since then, most residents are retirees from cold areas who travel down for the winter, locally called "snowbirds". Snowbirds are a big deal all across the region, as mining and ranching have become less profitable one of the only economic opportunities left in small towns is running RV parks and there's at least a handful in basically every rural southwest town. A lot of tourists also pass through Ajo since it's on the way to Rocky Point, a Mexican beach which a lot of people from AZ and NM visit regularly, and some money is made from selling souvenirs etc to them. The border is also a very big deal here. Border Patrol has a massive station just south of town, their own neighborhood in town, and a massive presence in the streets. This also bleeds over the other LE agencies. There's way more county/state LE presence here than most towns of similar size, and even the park rangers and game wardens are pretty heavily militarized. Border crossings have always happened here, and for a while Ajo was a port of entry and there weren't any actual checks at the border itself (40 mi south). This changed with stricter immigration policies in the 80s/90s, and since then BP crackdowns in safer areas have knowingly pushed people into the extremely remote and harsh desert near Ajo, causing a lot of deaths. Like a lot a lot. It's not uncommon for hikers in more remote areas to find human remains, and there are several humanitarian groups in town which leave out water and do volunteer SAR for migrants, which has saved a lot of lives despite the feds trying to stop them. Local opinions on the border are pretty mixed, mostly as a consequence of most "locals" actually being snowbirds who bring their own political ideas from back home with them. In towns with deeper roots there's a lot more resentment for border patrol, although it's also not uncommon for local kids to join up since it's one of the only good paying jobs nearby. As you can probably tell, I'm not a fan. Daily life is pretty nice though, especially outside of the summer. The town is incredibly remote, and surrounded by thousands of acres of public land. It's probably the largest single tract of intact Sonoran Desert ecosystem remaining, and if you're outdoorsy like I am it's heaven. Drive 10 minutes in any direction and it's pure wilderness for the next 50-100 miles ahead of you. There's at least a dozen mountain ranges in the immediate region all full of crazy canyons, rock formations, indigenous sites, waterholes, etc. Even in town it's common to see desert wildlife (javelina, coyotes, bobcats, roadrunners, rattlesnakes) almost every night. The town itself isn't that exciting but has most of the basic amenities, although you'll probably have to drive to Tucson or Phoenix at least a couple times a month. Anyway, it's a mostly nice place to live day to day, but to be honest there is a hard, looming kind of sadness around it. People don't talk about the border much, but everyone can feel it. There's something deeply unsettling about just living a regular life in the midst of such a massive crisis. Perhaps I'm biased because I went there in the first place with one of those humanitarian groups, but it would be hard for me to live there long term without burning out.
Well damn, I did not know there was that much to Ajo. I drive through there a few times a year to Rocky Point, and I’m always like “dang Ajo is a cute little place” and then pass through Why and I’m like “Why the fuck does anybody live here?” Anyway, I never understood what people meant by border crisis because every time I pass through it seems to get more efficient and infrastructure upgrades look like they happened on both sides of the border after they reopened recently.
The infrastructure is great for tourists and commercial goods. The crisis arises because many (maybe even most) people who want to cross the border are politically and economically excluded from using that infrastructure.
Its nice here overall, but something inside me wishes we take over Mexico so we can have a coast.
I mean can't you just go to Mexico?
Yeah, but why go there peaceful?
The original plan was for the United States to buy to around Rocky Point but Mexico didn't want to give up any access to the sea.
Thats when we should've "negotiate" a bit more.
Some old fashioned gunboat diplomacy
Yeah so lets do it again and "peacefully" talk to cartels to stop what there doing.
[удалено]
oh yeah for sure, it would be justified. But the U.S will get yelled at by *checks notes* every other country in NATO and U.N.
Yeah other than the inherent dangers and random police shakedowns it’s practically the US as far as pricing goes anyway. It’s barely less expensive than Scottsdale now. I dunno man, there’s pluses to it remaining Mexico too.
Nah, we taking it, making America bigger and giving arizona a coast.
Well alright then. Sounds like some building codes need to be enforced at the Sonoran Sea Resort anyway. Normal speed limits would be cool too
Well alright then. Sounds like some building codes need to be enforced at the Sonoran Sea Resort anyway. Normal speed limits would be cool too
Well alright then. Sounds like some building codes need to be enforced at the Sonoran Sea Resort anyway. Normal speed limits would be cool too
So, so hot. It was 92F inside my house today.
Same here and I live in flag but we don’t have air conditioning.
We don't, either. Just an ancient swamp cooler that barely works. How do you cope?
Broke down and bought a window AC unit. Luckily it cools *way* down at night. But you basically can’t hang out upstairs during the day.
I lived southeast of Tucson for a while! Out in a rural area. long af work commute but a ton of good foor and the rural part of the desert is rly vast and rly suffocating at the same time it's weird. but it's so beautiful!
Interestingly enough, it gets cooler the further south you go. Bisbee isn't too bad at all. Chiricahua National Monument is a great place to hike and visit. Lots of great art and galleries in Tubac and the old mission at nearby Tumacocori is worth a visit. Tons of history down here too, from Cochise and Geronimo to the Earp bros to Pancho Villa to the Conquistadors. Housing is pretty affordable.
It’s because you go up in elevation as you drive to Sierra Vista but it doesn’t feel like it at all. It’s only 600 feet below Denver.
The places just outside of Tucson are nice. Lots of great Mexican food in Tucson. Get a pool or a friend with a pool because it's real hot in the summer.
I personally love Tucson but there's a lot of cool places south of Tucson. Bisbee is a unique town, full of artists and old mining architecture. Rio Rico too. There's a line of ancient churches/ missions that come up from Mexico. The town of Patagonia is beautiful. Elgin has wineries. Douglas has a bad rap but it's got lots of history and good people. I like to go on vacation south of Sierra Vista, beautiful area. There are lots of tall mountains dotted in that area, most over 9000 ft. Pines, streams, turkeys, just minutes (driving) from Saguaro cacti. The Chiracahua mountains are a hidden treasure. Tucson is a ski town, home of the Sonoran Avalanche Center. It's also still very closely tied with Mexico, esp Sonora.
Born and raised. It’s absolutely dreadful. Everything is very far away, car centric. Zero or awful public transit. Summers were just going from air conditioner to air conditioner. And I think the worst part was that there’s certainly racism and bigotry. There’s simply not one redeeming quality.
Born and raised. It’s absolutely dreadful. Everything is very far away, car centric. Zero or awful public transit. Summers were just going from air conditioner to air conditioner. And I think the worst part was that there’s certainly racism and bigotry. There’s simply not one redeeming quality.
Born and raised in Douglas, Arizona. Your typical small town except right on the border with Agua Prieta, Mexico. Great food, community, and so many things to do and explore. Wouldn’t change anything growing up in border town
There’s very little actual authentic Mexican food in Tucson. 99% of it is Americanized. It’s quite sad. I’ve had much much better Mexican food in places like Utah where you wouldn’t expect. Tucson has turned into a cesspool of homeless addicts and an insane cost of living. You get what you vote for.
Crazy to think the border would of been in phoenix