Mercado Del Lago Coming 2009!

This is a question that everyone who lives in Vail asks at some point.  "Why is there not more retail in Vail"?  It is a great question.

My intention is to answer this question in a series of posts, but first, let's understand the basics.

There is no Vail.  Vail is an old train stop of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  The land was donated by Walter (or was it Edward) Vail in the late 1800s.  So the community was named after him.  This was years before Arizona became a state.  Over the next half century, Vail grew a little bit - even adding a school and a post office.  But Vail is not a town or a city.  It is simply unincorporated land in Pima County.

It's hard, really, to say what the population of Vail is.  If you consider the population within the Vail School District, including those who lives in Rita Ranch and Corona de Tucson, the population is around 40,000-50,000 people.  If you drew a circle around the housing clusters surrounding Rancho del Lago the population drops to around 10,000-15,000.

Why consider population?  Because population typically drives retail. If you look at any other community with a population of  10,000 you will find it supports much more retail that Vail.