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TUCSON |
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After serving as a colonial outpost under the Spanish and Mexicans,
and then as territorial capital for both the US and Confederate
governments, TUCSON (pronounced TOO-sonn ) a mere sixty miles north of
Mexico on the cross-country I-10 has grown into a modern mini-metropolis
of nearly a million people without entirely sacrificing its historic
quarters. It suffers from the same Sunbelt sprawl as Albuquerque and
Phoenix, it does have a wanderable center, some enjoyable restaurants
and a pretty good nightlife, energized by the 35,000 students at the
University of Arizona. It is also redeemed by having so much superb
landscape within easy reach, from the forested flanks of Mount Lemmon to
the rolling foothills of Saguaro National Park .
The Town
Tucson has two main historic centers: the downtown core along the (usually
bone-dry) Santa Cruz River, bisected by Congress Street, and the quarter
around the University of Arizona campus, a mile to the east. |
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