LA Times article on the "future of Phoenix" (apartments, rent)

[cacto]

The article itself has one thing to do with LA, it mentions that LA and the agriculture in California's Imperial and Coachella Valleys depend on the Colorado Aqueduct which connects them to the river but makes no judgement about those place's sustainability.
I also wonder about the author's predictions for the Rio Grande in his home state of New Mexico. It's source is fed by the same Rocky Mountain weather that supplies the Colorado. New Mexico is just as susceptible to the region wide weather changes he anticipates as Arizona is. Why "short Phoenix's stock" as he puts it when the whole West is many other versions of Phoenix to some degree, some just as dry?

[youthinkso]

This is a political driven article, some liberal based region attacking a conservative region with it's garbage left wing agenda. California and New Mexico where the author is from.

Why do so many Californians move to Phoenix? Last year they bought more Phoenix property than Canadians.

[SandyCo]

As a lifelong L.A. County resident, I thought this article was very interesting and thought-provoking. Of course, the truth is that we're all in trouble (the American Southwest) if severe drought continues. L.A. at least has the option of building desalinization plants, but our politicians are useless. If we can't even build a subway system that connects to LAX, I doubt we'll see even one desalinization plant in the next five years!

I wouldn't choose to live in Phoenix; a "dry heat" of 115 is still 115! I hope the predictions for the future aren't as bad as they're made out to be, but wouldn't it be better to plan for a hotter, drier future just in case?

By the way, that L.A. Times article is a condensed version of this (which is much better and certainly worth reading!) -

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/1756..._phoenix/#more

[youthinkso]

Originally Posted by SandyCo

I wouldn't choose to live in Phoenix; a "dry heat" of 115 is still 115! I hope the predictions for the future aren't as bad as they're made out to be, but wouldn't it be better to plan for a hotter, drier future just in case?



Tomgram: William deBuys, Exodus from Phoenix | TomDispatch

The left wing nut global warming predictions will always be wrong. There hasn't been any Global warming in 15 years. The left wing nuts like the guy who wrote this article live in denial.

[bryson662001]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

well if an internet poll from an LA newspaper says it's true and that is confirmed from someone from georia, then it must absolutely be true................

You guys remind me of the film Jaws which I saw again last night. The police chief is trying to get the mayor and city fathers to realize the shark problem and deal with it but they want to pretend that it doesn't exist and instead blame the messenger.
Everything in the story is true and the fact that L.A. has a different situation than Phoenix doesn't make Phoenix's problem any less dire.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by SandyCo

I wouldn't choose to live in Phoenix; a "dry heat" of 115 is still 115!

SandyCo. "So 115 is a 115!".

There is a dramatic perceived difference and it isn't subtle. 1st, I am going to put you in the Phoenix sun at 90 degrees. Then the shade... Then the sun... Then the shade... Does "90 feel like 90"? Of course not! It feels a lot different. As everyone (should) know, a black shirt feels warmer than a white shirt.

Then there is this concept called an endothermic reaction. In laymen terms, sweat evaporation from the skin and essentially "consumes" heat, which therefore cools the body. In humid weather, there isn't a lot of evaporation going on. Also, hot weather with a fan feels different than a a hot day without one.

So see beyond "115 degrees is 115 degrees". It's surprising that people cannot grasp this easy point.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

I read the article. It's goal was to shock people. There were no shortages of 1/2 truths. That said, I hope his "sell job" works. I'd rather rather have less traffic than more. Less expensive water than more expensive water etc.

The bottom line is there are solutions. For cooling, design homes with more solar and energy home improvements. For the smog create more efficient cars, alternative energy with less emissions. Water will become more expensive so people automatically conserve, but more snow melt could be harnessed (additional reservoirs), desalination plants, etc. For the additional dust, paint more homes tan!

Those solutions cost money. So my bet is the cost of living will go up but solutions will be engineered. The bottom line is people react to their pocket books and not a lot else. At the end of the day, I'm not worried. That doesn't change the fact that the sprawl isn't engineered all that well and no one (including myself) is conserving as much as I should. But the market forces will eventually set the solutions in motion. As a country, we are terrible at pre-planning. That certainly includes the entire state of CA. It's easy to point fingers. If you want to help, only have one kid, don't buy a car and pitch a tent to live in. Don't eat meat (they say it is inefficient, stopping flying on a jet etc. Until you do, the author and everyone else is a hypocrite (including myself). After reading the article, I'm going to sleep like a baby.

[Finger Laker]

Originally Posted by bryson662001

Everything in the story is true .

No it isn't .... not even close

Phoenix doesn't get most of it's water from the Colorado

Phoenix doesn't have these frequent severe wind and dust storms that drive the city to a standstill

It's hyperbole driven garbage, poorly researched and frankly not worth discussing further

[sunluv]

What's beyond quetion is a continuation of long-term migration trends to nicer areas that include Phoenix. Phoenix currently with one of the largest inflows of new residents that continues migrations away from unsavory northeast locales. The recession just put it on hold.

After boom and bust, Sun Belt cities see glimmers again - latimes.com

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Finger Laker

No it isn't .... not even close

Phoenix doesn't get most of it's water from the Colorado

Phoenix doesn't have these frequent severe wind and dust storms that drive the city to a standstill

It's hyperbole driven garbage, poorly researched and frankly not worth discussing further

The largest source of sustainable water supply for the Phoenix metro is, in fact, the Colorado River. SRP delivers only about 1/2 of what CAP does. If anyone is seriously interested in water supply in AZ, though, this story is not the place to get your information. The reality is that AZ is very well situated vis-a-vis water supply. I would recommend reading or at least skimming THIS report from the Morrison Institute. Pay particular attention to the "Ten things Sun Corridor residents should undertand about water" on page 12 and quit reading panic pieces from a guy who has an agenda! This is item number 10:

10. The Sun Corridor won’t run out of water, but it faces serious
challenges about how to strike the right balance between population growth and lifestyle.

http://morrisoninstitute.asu.edu/pub...gapolitan-area