Letter to the Editor: This is what ugly Tucson is like; it should make you fight for your water, St. George

February 9, 2018 Utah Channel 3

OPINION — In 2016, my small family and I moved from St. George to Tucson, Arizona. The first time we visited Tucson before accepting the job, I remember being heavy-hearted to be leaving my beloved Dixie. I knew that no place would ever be as beautiful or have as perfect a climate as St. George.

So, I wasn’t at all surprised that I thought Tucson was ugly (and yes, I just said ugly).

The job offer was good so we dismissed our concerns about the barren desert that Tucson appeared to be. Besides, over a million people reside in Tucson, so there must be redeeming qualities about it, right?

Landscape photo from a Tuscon neighborhood, Tuscon, Arizona, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Courtney Wallace, St. George News

We packed up and moved. Our home there was xeriscaped, front and backyard … like 95 percent of all homes in the Tucson area. You see, in the ’70s Tucson hit its prime and started to run out of water. Lazy politicians cut off water privileges and cracked down on water conservation, upping the cost of water to a ridiculous amount. Homes that once had lush green grass were (and in a lot of cases still are) covered in weeds and dirt. People who couldn’t afford to instantly pay to re-landscape their homes just turned off the water in their yards. This drove down property values, which led to a once thriving downtown turning into a wasteland.

There are rebuilding efforts happening in suburbs outside of Tucson, but that comes from investors more than the city. This is a city that is dealing with billions of dollars from decades of neglected-road damage and trash to be cleaned up and medians to re-landscaped – none of which the city can afford to do currently.

So, why am I writing this letter? I am writing this letter as a voice of warning to all St. Georgians who are comfortably letting their water run while doing the dishes and are too busy going to soccer games to get informed on the water issues that surround St. George. Give up 15 minutes of your social media time to get informed. That grass in your backyard is going to disappear the second your water bill triples. When costs go up that much, like it did for many Tucsonians, not everyone can afford to redo their landscaping, so many people just turned their water off.

This really changes the way homes look. Do you know if all of your neighbors can afford to redo their yards? Our average water bill in St. George was $100 (xeriscaped front yard, grass in the backyard). Our bill in Tucson (xeriscaped front yard and backyard) was $350.

Our quality of life is lower in Tucson because finding grassy places to play are rare, something I so took for granted while living in St. George. There is almost nothing to do when my kids’ friends come over because we have no yard to play in. Turns out, you can’t play soccer in gravel. We don’t have big parks with rolling grassy hills around every corner. There are no splash pads at public parks. It is concrete on concrete, which makes an already hot place feel even hotter.

St. George is a practically perfect place to live. If you value your quality of life, your home values and the politicians working to find solutions, now is the time to speak up and get involved!

St. George and its beautiful homes will not look the same without water … the most precious resource in a desert community. Do not let St. George become a Tucson. The water is worth the fight! Fight for any water you can get, St. G!

Submitted by COURTNEY WALLACE, Tucson, Arizona.

Letters to the Editor are not the product or opinion of St. George News and are given only light edit for technical style and formatting. The matters stated and opinions given are the responsibility of the person submitting them.

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