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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hype hype HOORAY!  Hype hype HOORAY!  [/quote]

I think BASIS will live up to a lot of the hype.  Not all of it, but enough.[/quote]

Considering that even Deal doesn't have the [b]built-in demographic advantages of their flagship Tucson school[/b] (which the boosters keep hyping ad nauseum) I don't share your enthusiasm.  In fact, it makes me wonder if you share our former Mayor's pharmaceutical addiction.

As a tax-payer, I'll be happy to be proved wrong, but the fantasy DC rival to TJ?  I'll wager against that big-time.

[/quote]

From a previous post on the topic of supposed "demographic advantages":

[quote]Tucson has been repeatedly portrayed as though it were some wealthy dream demographic.

The fact is, the demographic in Tucson and the other Basis locations are far from perfect.

Tucson and DC make an interesting case study for comparison, since they are nearly the same population, though Tucson is a bit more spread-out, lower population density. DC has 598,391, Tucson has 545,166.

DC does not even remotely have anywhere near the hispanic and non-native English speaking population that Tucson does - Tucson is nearly half hispanic, with a great many for whom Spanish is their primary language. Tucson has more divorcees and single parents than DC does. Tucson has a greater percentage of school-age children, and larger households, but a smaller percentage of working-age adults, and a greater percentage of elderly than DC does. As such, Tucson has more mouths to feed and less to go around coming from the working populace. Median household income for Tucson: $35,565, Median household income for DC is $58,526.

In terms of costs, about the only big thing that stands out is that housing costs are about twice as much in DC as Tucson (but then again, DC salaries are typically double what Tucson salaries are). All other cost-of-living aspects are generally equal, groceries and utilities are slightly higher in DC, but healthcare and other goods and services are slightly higher in Tucson.

More violent crime in DC, commensurate with their respective population densities, but Tucson is by no means not without a significant amount of violent crime and in fact has more burglaries and other types of crimes than DC does. Poverty rates are similar between both cities, 18-20%, but unemployment rates are higher in Tucson.

So no, DC is not Tucson, but in many ways DC actually has more going for it than Tucson does, and so much for that fantasy demographic that the other poster seems to have stuck in his or her head. [/quote][/quote]

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