This is my third year living in Tucson--both my boyfriend and I are grad students at the U of A. Definitely incredibly bike-friendly, with good LBSs scattered around town. As Biciclista mentioned, Central Tucson is very flat, but go just a few miles away and there are many formidable hills to ride on (not to mention Mt Lemmon). All your major supermarkets are represented within a couple-mile radius of campus, plus places like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and independent stores as well, so grocery shopping (and most other errands too) by bike is very feasible.
DBF and I rent a house ~2.5 miles from campus, and both commute by bike on a bike boulevard--a residential street that's been designated as a bike route, limited access to cars, special traffic light actuators just for bikes. It's pretty fabulous.
Biking ON campus generally stresses me out, as for every responsible, respectful cyclist there are probably 5 people who are veering all over the place, cell phones and/or iPods distracting them from where they're going. This isn't really a problem away from campus.
All of that being said, Tucson as a whole is still very car-centric by my perception. Lots of spoiled kids who live closer than I do drive alone to campus every day and pay for parking. It's pretty absurd. Bikes and cars do co-exist relatively peacefully, but it does seem like most of the time the only people who use the bus (which I've also used quite a bit and really is not bad at all) are people who don't have the option to drive.
DBF and I are Midwestern transplants. He absolutely loves the heat; I hate (but generally tolerate) it. Your mileage may vary. When walking, you learn to not always take the shortest routes, but rather the shadiest. Similar idea goes for clothes--I'm often wearing long sleeves in the summer--I figure I'm going to be hot either way, so I might as well give myself the extra layer of sun protection.
I have found cost of living to be generally lower than other places I've lived (metro Chicago and Madison, WI), but we do have a pretty high sales tax at this point (I think it's up to 9.5% now??). So... meh.
Feel free to ask more specific questions here or by PM!
Last edited by badgercat; 11-22-2010 at 09:32 PM.
'09 Jamis Satellite Femme | stock Jamis Road Sport -- road
'08 Trek 7.2FX | Terry Cite -- commuter
'77 Raleigh Grand Prix mixte | stock Brooks (vinyl) -- just for fun!