City looked brown at first, but is now green

After graduating from Winona State University, where he studied criminal justice and public safety, he decided to look for a job in a medium-sized city.

His first impression of Tucson: "It was brown. I was used to trees and green," he said. "But my perception's changed — I think it's green now."

And when he went home after applying with the Tucson police, a February cold snap hit Minnesota.

"It was 25 degrees below, and with the wind chill, 75 below. That's when cars stop working and pipes freeze in basements, and I was thinking, 'Gosh, I hope I get that job,' " he said.

"But still," he added, "I didn't run away from the cold, I ran for a job opportunity."

So what's kept Scott in Tucson since the '90s?

"The weather's very easy. You don't have the ice. You don't have to shovel your way out of the driveway. The harsh summers in Tucson, I think, are a little easier than the harsh winters."

And he definitely knows the heat — he spent some summers on the bike-patrol unit.

"If I can acclimate on a bicycle in Tucson in the summer, it's not that bad," he said.

Plus, he likes the ocean, and Rocky Point and San Diego aren't too far away.

The roots started to sink in when he got married to a local girl and "started to pump out babies." He and his wife have four sons.

His mother moved west in 1997, to be close to her grandchildren and for the warm weather.

Sometimes, though, he thinks about where he grew up.

"I still get drawn back for fall deer hunting and spring turkey. I used to trap and hunt on the farm," he said.

"I miss the four seasons."

But don't forget to ask him about Sonoran hot dogs.

"I love 'em," he said. "I must have gained 30 pounds when I first moved here."