Country Glenn Neighborhood Profile
Country Glenn by CJ Boyd
Named for two of the roads that make up its border, the Country Glenn neighborhood is a solid square stretching from Glenn Street to Grant Road, Tucson Blvd to Country Club Ave. According to 28-year resident Mike Meyer, "It was established shortly after World War II with the first house being built in 1949. More rapid expansion began in the early 1950's with single family dwellings to meet the housing needs of returning veterans and the continuing westward expansion of Americans.”
Prior to this expansion of houses, Country Glenn, along with many of the adjacent neighborhoods were part of one massive ranch that stretched all the way to the Rillito river. Neighborhood Association president and six-year Country Glenn resident David Winslow said, “My understanding is that it was mostly citrus and melons. The soil here is fantastic for certain agricultural purposes.”
Safe Shift Thrift Mural
The neighborhood is home to Tucson Fire Department Station 5 (one of only two fire stations in Ward 3), on Grant Road between Treat Ave and Loretta Drive. Next door to the station is Safe Shift, a thrift store run by the Greater Tucson Fire Foundation. The foundation serves “to provide firefighters with health and wellness services” and the building displays a large mural dedicated to fire fighters who have risked their lives in service.
Coyote Wore Sideburns on Grant Rd
On Grant road edge of the neighborhood are some fantastic restaurants like Culinary Dropout, Jun Dynasty Chinese Restaurant, and LemonShark Poke. There’s also Fractal Gardens, a local business that provides garden consulting, specializing in grafting, cloning, and transplanting plants. Next to the Fire Station, there's a very cute building that houses a hair salon called The Coyote Wore Sideburns.
The pocket park on the corner of E. Alturas St and N. Treat Ave
Along Glenn Street, there’s The Drawing Studio, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that brings art and the benefits of creating art to the Tucson community. And Country Glenn neighbors can walk to Aqua Vita, a local natural food market that also features a kitchen with vegetarian and vegan options.
The only school in its bounds is Southern Arizona Community Academy, a tuition-free charter high school with self-paced courses and flexible hours for students. Its two churches are World Mission Society Church of God and Tucson Church of God of Prophecy.
While it doesn’t have an official city park, it does have a small unnamed pocket park at the corner of Alturas Street and Treat Avenue. This features some lovely rain water basins, great for capturing rain and putting it to use for irrigation rather than contributing to flooding.
Like many neighborhood associations, the Country Glenn NA became less active during Covid when meeting in person safely became more difficult. But they have their first meeting in 2 years coming up next month on April 13th.
When asked what he loves about Country Glenn, Winslow said, “Our family appreciates the rich agricultural history behind the neighborhood. It inspired us to cultivate our own property. Accessibility to resources within the community was also a big factor in choosing to live here."
“As far as resources," Winslow Added, "we like that we're close to the U of A but not so close; the local and large scale markets” and “Aqua Vita is a staple in our house. We're also located on the Treat St bike boulevard which makes commuting by bike very nice.”