Blog #2

At 10 a.m. yesterday I grabbed a pen and a note tablet and headed out the door for a drive. Before I interviewed any businesses or people affected by the U.S. economy I wanted to see with my own eyes just how things may be going right now. In total I drove a little under 100 miles covering as much ground as I could from where I live in East Tucson through Downtown through South Tucson and back home. Four and a half hours later I arrived back home with a few notes I wrote down while stopped at red lights and from what I could remember of what I observed. I'll try to decipher the scribble I have written down from some of these but I had to pay attention while driving.

-A huge warehouse near an entrance to I-10 was not in use by a business, but on the outside a sign said it was being used as a junior high and high school. Nice to see it put to use instead of being vacant.
-It seemed like there was a little food stand on every corner, some seem to be doing well, others not as well.
-It's only been an hour and I must have passed by 50 to 60 check cashing places already. I just passed by one that's open 24 hours. Nice to know I can cash a check at 3 a.m. if I want.
-Near South Tucson traffic has picked up and from the looks of it most people have just gotten out of church.
-Many of the businesses in strip malls are hair salons, dollar stores and check cashing places.
-Mechanics in and around South Tucson were open today, haven't seen too many others open around town.
-A lot of expansion seems to be going on Valencia past I-10 with car washes, a neighborhood Wal-Mart, new gas stations and fast food places going up.
-What?? Gas at some stations in South Tucson is cheaper than I usually see at $3.34/gal.
-Have seen a couple groups of people sitting together outside homes, cooking food and listening to Mexican music.

Those were just some of the notes I took down but I more focused on just observing with my eyes instead of writing everything down. Things may not seem to be so bad from the outside but maybe there just isn't too many visual signs indicating people and businesses are struggling in the economy. Observing from the outside is only one side to the story. While I would have liked to stay at home and watch football all day, I thought observing around Tucson was a lot more interesting than I originally thought it would be.