Is Phoenix being overdeveloped? (Tucson, Mesa: day care, houses, buy)

[PhD Biology]

Do you guys think Phoenix should keep growing up (densify) or keep sprawling? I feel like there’s still plenty of land to keep sprawling but I don’t want The Valley to become another LA with nightmare congestion. Right now Phoenix is still very livable and i’m hoping for it to STAY that way. LA’s mistake was overdeveloping once quiet suburbs.

I wouldn’t mind for Downtown Phoenix to keep urbanizing but keep the suburbs untouched please!

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by PhD Biology

Do you guys think Phoenix should keep growing up (densify) or keep sprawling? I feel like there’s still plenty of land to keep sprawling but I don’t want The Valley to become another LA with nightmare congestion. Right now Phoenix is still very livable and i’m hoping for it to STAY that way. LA’s mistake was overdeveloping once quiet suburbs.

I wouldn’t mind for Downtown Phoenix to keep urbanizing but keep the suburbs untouched please!

And lf right now I don’t see any chance of Phoenix slowing down overall, suburban growth and single house developments are still only about half of what they were in the years leading up to the housing and urbanization is a new and growing trend nationwide these days and multifamily is a much larger portion of new growth than in the previous several decades.


I don’t think Phoenix will stop getting bigger, sorry to say, I don’t think it will sprawl as bad as LA because A. I don’t think we will get to ~20 million people and B. The new desire for more urban developments.

That being said I don’t think our growth will change significantly in the coming decades, Arizona has plenty of water despite what people tend to think and I believe the valley could easily support a metro of ~10 million with Tucson being around d 2-3 million Prescott being several hundred thousand and maybe a few million spread across the rest of the state.

So maybe growth will slow on like 30 or 40 years when we reach our natural build our but I don’t see that happening for some serious time

[DetroitN8V]

Yes, it should continue to density. Those that can’t afford the city center (or volunteer to live way out) already have lots of options out in the exurbs. Hopefully the sprawl slows down, but I doubt it will until we run into the IE.

[wit-nit]

People still want to come, people will always be coming. You can't stop the growth.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/mone...u-s/500374002/

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by wit-nit

People still want to come, people will always be coming. You can't stop the growth.
https://www.azcentral.com/story/mone...u-s/500374002/

>Tucson was better in Qol

Lol have they been to Tucson?

[new2colo]

Originally Posted by PhD Biology

Do you guys think Phoenix should keep growing up (densify) or keep sprawling? I feel like there’s still plenty of land to keep sprawling but I don’t want The Valley to become another LA with nightmare congestion. Right now Phoenix is still very livable and i’m hoping for it to STAY that way. LA’s mistake was overdeveloping once quiet suburbs.

I wouldn’t mind for Downtown Phoenix to keep urbanizing but keep the suburbs untouched please!

It will continue to both densify and sprawl outward. There are many people who want the convenience of accessing suburban and urban amenities without being crowded in with a bunch of highrises or even a bunch of single family homes. They will continue to drive demand for houses on the outskirts. There are those who want to live a more urban lifestyle, who will continue the demand for highrises. Eventually downtown Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale and Kierland/Scottsdale Quarter will run out of land for more highrise development. I think other areas that are currently lowrise will soon have greater demand for more density, including downtown Mesa, downtown Chandler, midtown Phoenix, Westgate, and the area along the 101 between Scottsdale Rd and Desert Ridge.

Phoenix is growing like LA, Houston, DFW and Atlanta whether people want to admit it or not. I think there will be an increasing number of "urban" hubs (by Arizona standards) that will all be linked together by the sprawling grid network of the area.

[Ponderosa]

People will keep coming. We have problems now, but if you read the forum you see that people just rationalize them away. Newbies also don't recall when the quality of life was better here, so it doesn't bother them as much. As for the burbs, the overwhelming amount of growth has been, is and will continue to be at the edges. People want to live close in in multi-family until they have kids. Then the whole thing changes and they care more about schools, day care, family type restaurants, build-a-bear, playgrounds and such than fine dining and bar hopping.

[pbenjamin]

We need to do a better job of requiring builders to pay for the infrastructure needs that are created by sprawl, including, but not limited to, freeways. We also need to get more serious about enforcing the Groundwater Management Act. Builders are supposed to demonstrate a 100 year water supply. No development has ever been denied under those rules. Common sense says that corners are being cut.

[JGMotorsport64]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

We need to do a better job of requiring builders to pay for the infrastructure needs that are created by sprawl, including, but not limited to, freeways. We also need to get more serious about enforcing the Groundwater Management Act. Builders are supposed to demonstrate a 100 year water supply. No development has ever been denied under those rules. Common sense says that corners are being cut.

Even scarier. Builders buy certificates of assurance from CAGRD which is required to secure 100 years of water, but CAGRD itself does not have to demonstrate that it has the water, just that it will get it. That means $$$.

[Copymutt]

I lived on the valley in the 70's.
Yes it's over developed, but what metro isn't?
My breaking point with Phx. Was the parking lot traffic and the oppressive heat. Not a good mix.
Leaving for a small, pop. Under 30k community was one of my better life decisions.