Why are Arizona's biggest cities in the desert? (Phoenix, Tucson: motels, house)

[Anthem man]

I have wondered for years why a location like the Great Sonoran Desert has attracted so many people that it is now home to one of America's biggest cities. Same with the cities surrounding Phoenix that are among the state's largest; aside from Tucson.

Considering how hot it gets in the summer months, the water shortages and all, I really can't see the point of nearly 5 million people living in the desert. One of the meanings of the word desert is deserted, meaning few or no people.

With so many nicer climates to the north of Phoenix I wonder why a place like Prescott was unable to grow into a Phoenix-sized city.

Same with Flagstaff; even with some occasional heavy snowfalls, Flagstaff is still not as frigidly cold in the winter like some people make it out to be. Summers up there are heaven in comparison to Phoenix and Tucson.

So why the hot dry desert for most of Arizona's population? Locations like Prescott, Payson, and Flagstaff would have been perfect for large metropolises instead of Phoenix, especially when climate is one of the big reasons chosen to move to Arizona.

[Gandalara]

Originally Posted by Anthem man

Locations like Prescott, Payson, and Flagstaff would have been perfect for large metropolises instead of Phoenix, especially when climate is one of the big reasons chosen to move to Arizona.

And what would you suggest they do with all the trees? Cut them down?

God forbid if those towns got "big".

[keninaz]

The cities in the hot valleys got big when all the snowbirds that came for the winter decided to just stay.
They don't have to go out much in the summer anyway and the winters are mild for the older bones.
I too am retired but there is no way that I could live with the heat and the numbers of people that are in the larger cities of Tucson and Phoenix.
I guess you just have to make choices in life.

[DesertRose61]

Perhaps a bunch of settlers came out from the Midwest years and years ago and decided the mild winters were perfect. Of course, I have no clue what they thought about living there in the summers (with no A/C mind you). Perhaps this is why Prescott was the first state Capital of AZ Territory.

Also mining and gold/silver might have been big factors as well as the water canals and railroads for people to settle in the Phoenix area.

[Bummer]

Summers are tough just about everywhere.

I've yet to find the PERFECT PLACE TO LIVE, however, I chose Tucson primarily due to the near perfect weather at least 10 months each year and I've learned to tolerate July and August.

Show me a place with Cool Summers and I'll show you a place with Miserable Winters plus.

MY TWO CENTS WORTH.

[Stokes172]

Originally Posted by Anthem man

I have wondered for years why a location like the Great Sonoran Desert has attracted so many people that it is now home to one of America's biggest cities. Same with the cities surrounding Phoenix that are among the state's largest; aside from Tucson.

Considering how hot it gets in the summer months, the water shortages and all, I really can't see the point of nearly 5 million people living in the desert. One of the meanings of the word desert is deserted, meaning few or no people.

With so many nicer climates to the north of Phoenix I wonder why a place like Prescott was unable to grow into a Phoenix-sized city.

Same with Flagstaff; even with some occasional heavy snowfalls, Flagstaff is still not as frigidly cold in the winter like some people make it out to be. Summers up there are heaven in comparison to Phoenix and Tucson.

So why the hot dry desert for most of Arizona's population? Locations like Prescott, Payson, and Flagstaff would have been perfect for large metropolises instead of Phoenix, especially when climate is one of the big reasons chosen to move to Arizona.

Why do you live in Anthem?

[AZDesertBrat]

Originally Posted by DesertRose61

Perhaps a bunch of settlers came out from the Midwest years and years ago and decided the mild winters were perfect. Of course, I have no clue what they thought about living there in the summers (with no A/C mind you). Perhaps this is why Prescott was the first state Capital of AZ Territory.

Also mining and gold/silver might have been big factors as well as the water canals and railroads for people to settle in the Phoenix area.

My great grandfather moved to Phoenix in the late 1890s from Chicago. He had a farm near where the airport is now. He stayed a few years and hightailed it back to Chicago...too HOT for him! My grandfather moved to Phoenix, from Chicago, in 1930 and got rich selling and installing swamp coolers/AC/heating systems/plumbing. Mostly with the subdivisions built after WWII. Never got too hot for him. But then, he had good cooling...

Back in the day people slept, mostly, outdoors on 'sleeping porches'. How the women could stand to cook in a hot house/kitchen is beyond me!

[AZDesertBrat]

Originally Posted by Gandalara

And what would you suggest they do with all the trees? Cut them down?

God forbid if those towns got "big".

When I lived in Payson I remember them cutting down all the towering Ponderosa pines to make room for a shopping center and restaurants. The northeast corner at 89 A and Hwy. 260. It made me sooooo sad (and mad!) I just wanted to cry. And then, to add insult to injury, they planted a bunch of TWIGS that would 'someday' be deciduous trees. The small shopping center across the street was there when I moved there so I didn't think much about the trees they had to cut just to built it. In the 14 years I lived there I remember a LOT of trees being cut down to make room for motels, restaurants, other businesses and gas stations. Just sad... So, they DO cut down trees for the sake of "progress". I hate "progress"...

[AZDesertBrat]

Originally Posted by Bummer

Summers are tough just about everywhere.

I've yet to find the PERFECT PLACE TO LIVE, however, I chose Tucson primarily due to the near perfect weather at least 10 months each year and I've learned to tolerate July and August.

Show me a place with Cool Summers and I'll show you a place with Miserable Winters plus.

MY TWO CENTS WORTH.

You are sooo right. I 'thought' I'd found the "perfect place" when I lived in No. Idaho...far as summers, anyway. However, the summer of '93 was the coldest, wettest winter in 100 years. I had a fire in the wood heater just about all summer long. I even used it to can food! Then 1994 was the hottest and driest summer in 100 years. Our little creek beside the house actually dried up and my poor garden suffered. I was hauling and filling 50 gal. drums from a neighbor down the mountain to keep it going. Whew! lol Don't EVEN get me started on the winters up there... So, I came back to AZ...again!...in 1995 and I deal with whatever the weather decides to throw at me. I love it, no matter what.

[Ponderosa]

Your idea of water shortages in the deserts is wrong. In fact, the availability of water is the main reason that Phoenix grew to be the largest city in AZ. Due to topography, hydrogeology and political acumen, much of the available water in AZ is under the control of the Salt River Project and various other irrigation districts, and the cities of the Phoenix area. Farming was the economy of the early city and once Roosevelt dam was constructed, a reliable supply of both water and electricity (for the coolers and later the AC) guaranteed the supremacy of the Salt River Valley among AZ cities.

The story of the West is the story of water.