Meet Me on La Doce: How a Documentary Series Positioned a Cultural Destination
- Alejandro Mendivil
- 7 days ago
- 3 min read
12th Avenue, known by generations of residents as La Doce, has long been one of Tucson’s most important commercial and cultural corridors. More than an avenue, it is a gathering place where family-owned businesses, culinary traditions, and stories tied to the growth of the city’s Latino community come together.
As part of Visit Tucson’s original campaign and series Meet Me on La Doce, we participated in the production of four episodes centered on the people, businesses, and spaces that have shaped the identity of this historic corridor.
Watch the full series at: https://www.visittucson.org/la-doce/
Stories Rooted in Belonging
The narrative was built around business owners, cooks, cultural advocates, and residents who have found a sense of belonging along the avenue. For many Latino and Mexican families in Tucson, La Doce represents a connection to their roots, traditions, and understanding of community life.
Through stories shared by some of the avenue’s most recognizable businesses and cultural spaces, the series explores how the corridor continues to evolve without losing the identity that defines it.
Building on Previous Work and Expanding the Perspective
This project did not begin from scratch. In 2025, we produced La Doce, a short film for the City of Tucson documenting the places and communities along the corridor. That initial research and documentation gave us a clear foundation: which stories were already present, who carried them, and what still needed to be told.
Over four days of production, we interviewed business owners and community members while capturing documentary footage at different locations throughout the avenue. The project also incorporated audiovisual material previously developed for the campaign, allowing us to expand the story through new voices and perspectives.
As part of the distribution strategy, the series was produced in two formats for a bilingual, multiplatform audience: 16:9 for the documentary episodes and 9:16 for reels and social media content.
This was more than a technical adaptation. It was a content-distribution decision designed to extend the campaign’s reach and connect with different audiences while maintaining narrative consistency across platforms.
Identity and Community
Beyond documenting the avenue’s daily activity, the production focused on capturing the elements that have made La Doce a cultural landmark in Tucson.
The episodes feature interviews with local business owners, scenes from family-run establishments, community spaces, and culinary traditions that form part of the corridor’s identity. Through stories connected to places such as BK Tacos, El Merendero, JPS Seafood, Alejandro’s Tortilla Factory, Mercadito La Única, Ballet Folklórico, and other family-owned businesses along the avenue, the series explores the many ways a community creates identity and belonging.
Food plays a central role—not because of its value as a tourist attraction, but as an expression of memory, tradition, and connection. It is the same principle we applied when documenting the story behind Coyotas Doña María. When food is told through the people who make it, it stops being a list of places to visit and becomes a reflection of identity.
Beyond Commerce: Building Cultural Relevance
Across four episodes, Meet Me on La Doce shows how this corridor has become a cultural bridge connecting generations, cultures, and communities. It is a place where traditions continue to evolve and where collective identity is built every day.
For Visit Tucson, the series serves as a strategic communication asset capable of articulating an authentic narrative around La Doce and the community that gives it meaning.
Rather than simply promoting a commercial district, the project positions La Doce as a cultural gathering place where memory, belonging, and tradition converge. Shaped by the experiences and memories of the people who live there, these elements are what transform a place into home.
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