my experience is that farther ne past the u of a is better for cycling starting/ending points but not as good for cycling widows/hubbys/so's or post-ride endeavors.
last viz out to tucson, kicked it in the ne corridor and the riding access was closer/better but drove more with the lady to hit civilization/hotel. apples/oranges.
we made it work but still lyfted to both dtown and the college area. didn't realize/see a must stay ne tucson area to hit sabino canyon/mt. lemmon/saguaro np east and other rides that included a "hipster/cool cat" area that easily accessed restos, bars, drug stores, markets, etc better than the college or dtown areas-asp within walking disto. may have missed it.