Phoenix once again one of the fastest growing cities... (Scottsdale: college, taxes)

[YAZ]

We started looking for a permanent home here about 5 years ago, and we were somewhat concerned about moving to the west part of the Valley. We have some years to go before retirement and our main concern was the commute to work.

We're in west Phoenix now, and we're quite happy with our decision. That I-10 commute either way would easily tack on another hour in the car....daily.

I can't imagine what it's going to be like in 7 or 8 years.......

Building a home in the pristine desert seems tempting; with privacy and views.

But.....call some place "paradise", kiss it goodbye.

Only a matter of time before the privacy & views disappear.

[_Charles_]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Have the city limits changed recently?

The change was planned back in 2000.
Anthem and the some of the area around Lake Pleasant were annexed.
Part of the northern city limits of Phoenix is at the Yavapai county line now.
Phoenix proper is now approx 520 square miles.

[buckeyenative01]

Originally Posted by shiphead

Black canyon could almost be reference as Phoenix.... Eek

Pretty much is nowadays, and there's a reason why people in Flagstaff have bumper stickers on their cars that say "Don't PHX FLG." We hate Phoenix, but we sure do love your tourism money

Anecdotally, if the Valley is indeed growing, I haven't seen too much change aside from the constantly-growing suburbs on the northern end of town every time I go down there. I lived in Phoenix from 1996 to 2002 and again from 2007 to 2009 and, at least while driving the freeways whenever I'm down there to see family nowadays, the roads don't seem nearly as crowded as they were during the boom times of the early to mid-2000's...

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Don't roll those eyes just yet! A few years ago, demographers were predicting that Buckeye would eventually be the largest city (population) in Arizona. Buckeye is at the epicenter of where growth will take place in the 21st century in AZ and it has a huge area of suitable land annexed already.

It can be difficult for people who haven't lived here for so long to get their heads around the rate of growth that this area has seen and is capable of. Back in the 70s when I was going to school at UofA, I would come to Phoenix and remember stopping to take a leak at Chandler Blvd (it was Williams Field then) and I-10 - not at McDonalds but in the empty desert. Things have been slow for a few years now, but I think we are on the threshold of another Katie-bar-the-door moment. This time it is going to the be the west valley's turn and Buckeye is going to see more of that than people right now think possible.

I think you may be correct. 303 is coming along nicely and they're still building out at Prasada albeit car dealerships, building is building and jobs are jobs.
Housing starts have been rising out this way and the big banner advertising down the street went from $0 to low $100's to mid to high in the span of the last 8 months.
Dicks built out this way and Wolf took over that new/old warehouse facility bringing it to life and the new WalMart at Prasada.

[shiphead]

Originally Posted by buckeyenative01

Pretty much is nowadays, and there's a reason why people in Flagstaff have bumper stickers on their cars that say "Don't PHX FLG." We hate Phoenix, but we sure do love your tourism money

Anecdotally, if the Valley is indeed growing, I haven't seen too much change aside from the constantly-growing suburbs on the northern end of town every time I go down there. I lived in Phoenix from 1996 to 2002 and again from 2007 to 2009 and, at least while driving the freeways whenever I'm down there to see family nowadays, the roads don't seem nearly as crowded as they were during the boom times of the early to mid-2000's...

I'm confused why flagstaff hasn't grown. NAU and skiing is fine, but why hasn't there been more growth beyond being a college town?

[Desertspiritsteve]

What are the demographics of this population explosion? Are we including childbirths or just people moving here from Indiana? There certainly were a lot of people downtown this evening with Comicon going on. I almost ran over a zombie.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

http://www.azcentral.com/business/ar...nks-th-us.html

We're back baby! I know some people dont like the increase in population but I think its needed to keep Phoenix competitive with other cities.

I used to welcome any kind of growth, thinking it was good for us. I have since changed my view on that somewhat. It's more important to put quality over quantity. What KIND of growth are we getting here lately: malcontents from California, Midwestern transplants looking for sunshine, potential retirees, or educated career minded people actually coming here for more important reasons like good jobs?! Quite frankly, I'd rather have the latter of the four.

Originally Posted by magnum0417

Call me selfish, I do not want to see the area grow like a weed. I believe the freeway system is becoming taxed with the people we have already (worse when Snowbird season is here). I put quality over quantity. I'd rather see growth with people who truly want to be here as opposed to those "forced" out of California. This area is way behind Eastern Cities on public transportation. I believe the subway being extended into eastern Mesa from Tempe is a good way to revitalize areas of Mesa and Phoenix that have a lot of boarded up strip malls. This metroplex is considered "immature" compared to more established deep rooted cities back east and even the West Coast. What we need is maturation of the existing areas instead of adding more trailer parks in Apache Junction and Buckeye.

I tend to agree. All in all, population growth is better than population decline ... however, we have been allowed to sprawl outward too much to the point where the more established areas become undesirable. That is changing somewhat, but we need smarter growth instead of always trying to attract anybody and everybody for reasons like cheap housing, climate, or retirement.

The only thing I tend to disagree on is the light rail expansion spurring development. So far, I just don't see that happening. No areas along the light rail lines have been revitalized. Oh, there might be a store or two opening up here & there, but many neighborhoods where the light rail goes are still facing blight in the form of abandoned buildings, vacant lots, etc. Look at the area along West Camelback: lots of old vacant buildings that haven't been occupied in years. Even the north Central Corridor hasn't seen any highrise development since the light rail opened, even though there were plans for some new projects.

Originally Posted by ShampooBanana

The growth is coming. It's already starting again, and it's not mostly "trailer parks in Buckeye and Apache Junction", as one person stated. A vast majority of the new housing growth in newly built homes at the fringes in places like Quuen Creek, San Tan Valley, Gilbert, Peoria, Buckeye, and Goodyear. They are mostly homes from $200k on up. It's going to be the West Valley and far Southeast where most of the growth is going to occur over the next 10-20 years. There is available land and ability to extend infrastructure in those areas, plus no political or physical barriers such as indian reservations or mountain ranges to limit growth. Beyond that, Superstition Vistas will be a huge area of growth when and if that State Land is sold out (southeast of Mesa/Gilbert/Queen Creek). That area will one day support up to 750,000 to 1 million people alone.

I think you're right about the trailer parks: thankfully, those are disappearing more than new ones being built. However, building on the fringes is not the smart way to grow. All it does is tear up more desert land, increase population numbers in the exurban areas, and create more traffic as people who live in those exurbs tend to drive longer distances to work, etc. The smarter way to grow is more development in the already established areas: fill in the many vacant spaces with something more worthwhile besides WalMart centers or low rent apartments. No more annexation of vacant desert land until the vacant spaces within the city limits are developed. Quality over quantity!

[sh9730]

Originally Posted by _Charles_

The change was planned back in 2000.
Anthem and the some of the area around Lake Pleasant were annexed.
Part of the northern city limits of Phoenix is at the Yavapai county line now.
Phoenix proper is now approx 520 square miles.

Umm, unless Im really mistaken, and I follow this stuff pretty closely I don't think Anthem is in the Phoenix city limits yet. It is still Maricopa County. Now, it IS likely part of the Phoenix planning area, but its not provided city services as of yet.

Same with the area around Lake Pleasant - Peoria has annexed much of that area, but not Phoenix.

I could be wrong, but someone would need to point me to a map showing these areas in the city of Phoenix.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by sh9730

Umm, unless Im really mistaken, and I follow this stuff pretty closely I don't think Anthem is in the Phoenix city limits yet. It is still Maricopa County. Now, it IS likely part of the Phoenix planning area, but its not provided city services as of yet.

Same with the area around Lake Pleasant - Peoria has annexed much of that area, but not Phoenix.

I could be wrong, but someone would need to point me to a map showing these areas in the city of Phoenix.

They aren't. from the looks of this map. http://phoenix.gov/webcms/groups/int...ent/keymap.pdf

And here's Peoria, including the area around Lake Pleasant: http://www.peoriaaz.gov/newsecondary.aspx?id=7143

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Desertspiritsteve

What are the demographics of this population explosion? Are we including childbirths or just people moving here from Indiana? There certainly were a lot of people downtown this evening with Comicon going on. I almost ran over a zombie.

Careful, that might've been my son or one of his friends. College kids that don't want to grow up I guess.
Comicon is raking it in this weekend!