page_title: Tucson, Arizona
section_title: Downtown and Central Tucson
hierarchical_section_title: Tucson, Arizona / Geography / Neighborhoods / Downtown and Central Tucson
caption_attribution_description: English: Downtown Tucson Congress Street scene near Fifth Avenue.
context_page_description: Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States, and is home to the University of Arizona. The 2010 United States Census put the population at 520,116, while the 2015 estimated population of the entire Tucson metropolitan statistical area was 980,263. The Tucson MSA forms part of the larger Tucson-Nogales combined statistical area, with a total population of 1,010,025 as of the 2010 Census. Tucson is the second most-populated city in Arizona behind Phoenix, both of which anchor the Arizona Sun Corridor. The city is 108 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 mi north of the U.S.–Mexico border. Tucson is the 33rd largest city and the 58th largest metropolitan area in the United States.
  Major incorporated suburbs of Tucson include Oro Valley and Marana northwest of the city, Sahuarita south of the city, and South Tucson in an enclave south of downtown. Communities in the vicinity of Tucson include Casas Adobes, Catalina Foothills, Flowing Wells, Midvale Park, Tanque Verde, Tortolita, and Vail. Towns outside the Tucson metro area include Benson to the southeast, Catalina and Oracle to the north, and Green Valley to the south.
context_section_description: Similar to many other cities in the Western U.S., Tucson was developed by European Americans on a grid plan starting in the late 19th century, with the city center at Stone Avenue and Broadway Boulevard. While this intersection was initially near the geographic center of Tucson, that center has shifted as the city has expanded far to the east. Development to the west was effectively blocked by the Tucson Mountains. Covering a large geographic area, Tucson has many distinct neighborhoods.
  Tucson's earliest neighborhoods, some of which were redeveloped and covered by the Tucson Convention Center (TCC), include:
  El Presidio, Tucson's oldest neighborhood
  Barrio Histórico, also known as Barrio Libre
  Armory Park, directly south of downtown
  Barrio Anita, named for an early settler and located between Granada Avenue and Interstate 10
  Barrio Tiburón, now known as the Fourth Avenue arts district, was designated in territorial times as a red-light district
  Barrio El Jardín, named for an early recreational site, Levin's Gardens
  Barrio El Hoyo, named for a lake that was part of the gardens. Before the convention center was built, the term El Hoyo (Spanish for 'pit' or 'hole') referred to this part of the city. Residents were mostly Mexican-American citizens and Mexican immigrants.
  Barrio Santa Rosa, dating from the 1890s, is now listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places
  Other historical neighborhoods near downtown include:
  Feldman's, just north and northwest of the University of Arizona. The neighborhood is named for Alther M. Feldman (1833-1906) an Eastern European immigrant who arrived in Tucson circa 1878. Neighborhood streets Helen and Mabel are named for his daughters. Feldman owned a photographic studio known as the Arizona Tent Gallery.
  Menlo Park, situated west of downtown, adjacent to Sentinel Peak
  Iron Horse, east of Fourth Avenue and north of the railroad tracks, named for its proximity to the railroad, informally known by that term
  West University, between the University of Arizona and downtown
  Dunbar Spring, west of West University
  Pie Allen, west and south of the university near Tucson High School and named for John Brackett "Pie" Allen, a local entrepreneur and early mayor of Tucson
  Sam Hughes, east of the University of Arizona, named after a European-American pioneer in Tucson
  At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, city planners and the business community worked at redeveloping the downtown. The primary project was Rio Nuevo, a large retail and community center that had been stalled in planning for more than ten years. Downtown is generally regarded as the area bordered by 17th Street to the south, I-10 to the west, and 6th Street to the north, and Toole Avenue and the Union Pacific (formerly Southern Pacific) railroad tracks, site of the historic train depot on the east side. Downtown is divided into the Presidio District, the Barrio Viejo, and the Congress Street Arts and Entertainment District. Some authorities include the 4th Avenue shopping district, northeast of the rest of downtown and connected by an underpass beneath the UPRR tracks.
  Historic attractions downtown with rich architecture include the Hotel Congress designed in 1919, the Art Deco Fox Theatre designed in 1929, the Rialto Theatre opened in 1920, and St. Augustine Cathedral completed in 1896. Included on the National Register of Historic Places is the old Pima County Courthouse, designed by Roy Place in 1928. The El Charro Café, Tucson's oldest restaurant, operates its main location downtown.
  As one of the oldest parts of town, Central Tucson is anchored by the Broadway Village shopping center, designed by local architect Josias Joesler and located at the intersection of Broadway Boulevard and Country Club Road. The 4th Avenue Shopping District between downtown, the university, and the Lost Barrio just east of downtown, also has many unique and popular stores. Local retail business in Central Tucson is densely concentrated along Fourth Avenue and the Main Gate Square on University Boulevard near the UA ca
caption: Bikes along Congress Street near Fifth Avenue
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