Watching the Old Pueblo (Tucson) Grow-up...Hotel Congress

Tucson is a very old pueblo here in the southwest. The city itself was found in 1700 by Hugo O'Conor and yet the "Old Pueblo" has managed to stay very young and wild at heart. The best way to describe the development of this city I call home in the winter is scattered and even disorganized. At least that is the way I see it. People resist development for reasons of their own and it has been very difficult for civic leaders to drag the community into the 21 century. But things are slowly changing.

Local artists display work in the lobby of the Congress Hotel (history)

A cup in the Cup Cafe...just because.

Cactus in the window of Cup Cafe

Many years ago the city leaders managed to get a development plan for the downtown passed by taxpayers and now locals are beginning to see changes in the city center that are remarkable and exciting. Brew pubs and restaurants dot every corner. Lofts, condos and apartments line the streets. Before the downtown was a collection of abandoned buildings and seedy tattoo parlors. The main advantage this city core had was it close proximity to the University of Arizona. The one place worth seeing was the Hotel Congress and we managed to visit their Cup Cafe once a year for breakfast just because it was fun.

On our anniversary last week we revisited Cup Cafe to find it full of college students, loft dwellers and hipsters. The lobby of the Congress was very crowded. The traffic downtown let us know that Tucson is growing up and living up to the all possibilities it holds. We love it!

Note: Be sure to take a look at a previous post called Looking for Ghosts.... I think you will like it too.

Arizona Color decorate columns in the lobby of the hotel.

Pueblo/art deco design in Hotel Congress lobby.

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