I live in the area. I wouldn't call the town cookie-cutter and strip-mallish. I moved here five years ago with my family from Houston, Texas, and we like it enough to want to stay here when we are no longer working.
Here is what I think the city has going for:
- Anything outdoor is great. More than a hundred miles of bike trails, many hiking trails in and around the mountains.
- Agreeable climate. Yes, June can be hellishly hot. But Mount Lemmon is 23 miles of twisting highway away from the town and, at 9,000 feet, 30 degrees cooler.
- Food! Oh, the food! Tucson is now the only UNESCO-designated City of Gastronomy in the United States. It's not that the food is expensive - no, the best food is cheap and local.
- Local booze includes several microbreweries and at least two distilleries. Sonoita - Patagonia area south of town has now its own wine appellation.
- Downtown is rebuilding. A lot more bars and restaurants there now than even just a few years ago. Two or three hotels are under construction now, and many apartments and lofts, too.
- A lot of small locally managed businesses and stores.
Not everything is perfect:
- It's a desert. Trees do grow in this desert, but it only gets some 12 inches of rain a year. It's not lush green and it's got good reasons not to be. If you prefer lush green, however, you will be disappointed.
- The town is quite poor. Because Tucson does not want to be the next Phoenix, the town economy is not growing as fast as Phoenix economy. There are jobs, but it takes effort to find good ones, and a layoff usually means that the next job offer will come with a pay cut.
- Roads are in poor shape, particularly in unincorporated areas. I found much better quality of pavement in rural Poland(!) than around the airport, which, one would think, would be the advertisement for the city. Some roads have been paved so long time ago that they have reverted back to gravel.
- There is no fast way to get around town. Because the powers that be have long opposed expressways crossing the city, most of the traffic moves on local streets. My inner conspiracy theorist believes that the traffic lights have been set out of sync on purpose to discourage car commutes and move everyone onto bikes.
Since you mentioned South part of town, I have seen more of cheaply built subdivisions there than elsewhere around the area. But the town isn't that big and you might have good housing options about 20 to 30 minute commute away. I hope this helps.