Local opinion: Tucson’s road problem is a heart issue

The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:

Every election cycle in Tucson, the same complaint resurfaces: Our roads are terrible. We share stories about blown tires, bent rims and endless construction cones. We blame deferred maintenance, shrinking budgets and mismanagement. And yes, those factors matter. But the real reason our roads are always crumbling is bigger than potholes. It’s philosophical. Tucson’s road problem is the symptom of a hollowed-out city.

Over the past few decades, families and professionals have steadily moved farther from the heart of town. Midtown neighborhoods that once housed teachers, engineers, nurses and business owners now struggle with visible homelessness, crime, and long stretches of blight. Many of these neighborhoods are beautiful — mature trees, stunning mid-century homes, walkable grids, close to culture and commerce. Yet too many families no longer see them as stable places to raise children or invest long-term. And there’s another factor we rarely acknowledge: jobs.

For years, city leadership has talked about economic development while allowing meaningful inner-city job centers to erode. Outside of a few institutional anchors, Tucson leadership has failed to cultivate diverse employment hubs in the urban core. Office space has emptied. Employers have clustered outward or bypassed the city entirely. The result is simple. There is less reason to live in the center because there are fewer jobs drawing people there.

When employment disperses, housing demand follows. Families make rational decisions. They move to Vail, Marana, Sahuarita, Oro Valley — chasing safety, schools, and economic opportunity. And when they do, something predictable happens: Roads designed for local neighborhoods become de facto freeways. Streets meant to serve community traffic now carry thousands of daily commuters streaming in and out of town. Roads like Houghton, Grant, Swan, and Valencia strain under volumes they were never designed to handle. The more we stretch outward, the more lane-miles we must maintain. The farther we spread development, the thinner maintenance dollars are stretched. Potholes are inevitable in a city expanding its footprint while hollowing out its center.

But outward growth is only half the story. Stagnation and neighborhood resistance are at the core has made matters worse. Drive through central Tucson, and you’ll see block after block of dirt lots and defunct strip malls sitting unused for years. Infill housing that could bring families closer to existing infrastructure stalls under restrictive zoning, prolonged reviews, and neighborhood opposition. Protective neighborhood associations empowered by outdated zoning regulations have become powerful, well-intentioned gatekeepers against housing, townhomes, and mixed-use projects that would add vitality. Housing gets pushed outward, density gets spread into the desert, and economic energy turns to online retailers.

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Ironically, in trying to preserve “neighborhood character,” many of these same areas have invited a different kind of change. When housing and job-producing development are blocked, what often slides through are the lowest-resistance, zoning-approved, Drive Through Economics like car washes, chain coffee shops, storage facilities and fast-food drive-throughs. Instead of walkable vitality, we get drive-through economies built for commuters passing through. We cannot escape the simple truth that when the heart of town no longer serves as a magnet for work and life, it becomes a corridor people pass through.

If Tucson wants better roads, it needs to start with a functional philosophy.

That means restoring safety and order in midtown neighborhoods. It means reforming zoning to allow thoughtful infill housing on vacant lots. It means welcoming mixed-use projects near existing corridors. And it means treating job creation in the urban center as essential infrastructure. Those actions will last longer than the freshest asphalt.

An economically vibrant city generates the tax base to maintain its streets. A hollowed-out city chases its own tail, paving farther, commuting longer, repairing more, and falling behind every year. Do you want Tucson to be more environmentally stable? Stop cheering when we plant unirrigated mesquite saplings, and start demanding we build a resilient core that makes cross-town commutes unneeded.

Our potholes aren’t just holes in the asphalt. They are cracks in a development pattern that has drained the life from Tucson’s center. Fixing our roads requires more than patching pavement. It requires rebuilding the heart of the city.