Each issue we link up with Rachel Miller's Love Letters to Tucson blog for a letter from a Tucson inhabitant about why they love this fair city. This month: Fabiano Moura remembers Christopher City. Photos by Rachel Miller.
Fabiano Moura, with fond memories of the now defunct Christopher City.
"Dear Tucson,
My introduction to you was a bit of a shock. Imagine growing up for the first ten years of your life always within minutes from the Brazilian beaches and tropical surroundings, only to land in Tucson on (what I know to be a rare) cold and dismal day in December of 1989. After landing, we made the drive across town from the airport to Ft. Lowell and Columbus, to an area that was then Christopher City, our new home. I was young, but can remember two prevailing questions ringing through my mind: 'Why are all of the trees dead, and why is the sky grey?'
It was chilly and dry and my body was still craving the warm Brazilian tropical summer, but the excitement of being in a new country soon overcame my discomfort.
My father was brought to the University of Arizona to finish his doctorate program and my family, along with many other families in similar situations, was placed in the housing development we affectingly grew to know as Christopher City, or CC for those of us who were still learning English and had a hard time pronouncing “Christopher”.
CC was unlike any place I have ever experienced and holds a special place in my heart to this day. Speak to anyone who lived there and you would be hard pressed to find a different statement. For the next four years we lived in Christopher City and the stories I could tell are a tale of a different time and place, a hidden cultural melting pot and a breeding ground for adventures and childish mischief.
As kids, we of course started with the essentials: find a group of friends, find a desert, build a fort, maintain it, and defend it against all foes. My group of friends consisted of four Navajo Native Americans, two Mexicans, two Iranians, two Koreans and one kid who no one really knew where he was from. Our nationalities, religions and cultural differences came second to our love of the outdoors, building forts, roaming the surrounding desert and forbidden walks to the Circle K at Alvernon and Columbus.
The cultural center was a large building in the middle of the housing complex where we separated the boys from the, well, smaller boys, with amenities such as a swimming pool, diving board, ping pong table, pool table and a playground where we would have a healthy dose of daily competition for no other reason than being kids. The sun dictated our curfew… and the sun told us to stay out from sun up to sun down.
Our sunscreen consisted of a thick layer of desert dirt, and our version of war included real BB guns and a thick layer of clothing. We knew nothing of bike helmets and the front yard bushes served as a perfect catching net for jumping from the rooftops. A crowd favorite was strapping on roller blades and grabbing on to the bumpers of city buses as they entered the complex - and seeing how long we could hold on. Thinking back, I have no idea how we made it, but I would not trade the experience for anything!
Christopher City was a place of culture, a place of friendship and most of all a place that represented the opportunity to pursue the American dream. I will never forget it and now, as a parent, all I wish for is that my kids have even a slice of what I had growing up in that place.
love,
Fabiano"
Christopher City was a full-service community constructed in Tucson on 70 acres at Columbus Boulevard and Ft. Lowell Road. It opened in the spring of 1963. Construction was sponsored by the Catholic organization the Knights of Columbus at a cost of $5,600,000. There were efficiency and one- and two- bedroom apartments, limited nursing care, a club house, stage, pool, and small shopping center on the grounds. The community was initially marketed towards Catholics and later towards members of the Jewish and Protestant faiths. The community didn’t do well financially and in 1966 the Federal Housing Administration foreclosed on the property. In 1967, the University of Arizona purchased the property at a price of $2,450,000 for married student housing. In 2000, the property was found to be infested with mold and was demolished.
* For more Love Letters to Tucson, and photos, click here.
