Phoenix Regains Title of 5th Most Populous City in US (Tucson: crime, how much)

[blisterpeanuts]

The Phoenix metro area population is over 4.5 million and ranks 12th in the U.S.

A large population is good and bad. Good because it brings wealth, culture, good restaurants, better roads, etc. Bad because it's congested 24x7, it loses its local flavor, crime rises, etc.

[ajonesaz]

Originally Posted by cjseliga

The biggest difference between Phoenix and Philadelphia may be physical size. Philadelphia spans a compact 135 square miles, but Phoenix covers 517 — half the size of Rhode Island.
[/i][/b]

While we are not as packed in as Philly, that is still a little misleading. Phoenix has more city park space than any city in the country. IF you look at the biggest urban parks in the country, #1,3 and 10 are in Phoenix. South Mountain alone is 30 sq miles.

The author of that article can trash Phoenix all he wants, I will take Phoenix over Philly any day.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Lets just hope PHX uses Philly's recipe of going UP instead of OUT. Seriously.


Philly is adding skyscrapers like its going out of style. We're just adding more homes and lame 10 story apartments. C'mon, Phoenix!
http://www.imagicdigital.com/email/n...ine-aerial.jpg

Yeah Philly does have a nice skyline but Tempe is likely to become the densest city in our metro given the fact that it's the only landlocked city here. There's not a lot of places that simply choose to go vertical, it's usually the result of some natural constraint to cheaper growth.

I'm all for it though, there's finally tall buildings being proposed here again, hopefully the momentum gained through the "lame" 10 story buildings pushes us to greater heights.

[locolife]

Originally Posted by ajonesaz

While we are not as packed in as Philly, that is still a little misleading. Phoenix has more city park space than any city in the country. IF you look at the biggest urban parks in the country, #1,3 and 10 are in Phoenix. South Mountain alone is 30 sq miles.

The author of that article can trash Phoenix all he wants, I will take Phoenix over Philly any day.

That number also includes huge areas of raw land that Phoenix has annexed to avoid becoming landlocked. The developed areas of Phoenix maintain an almost constant density no matter how far out you go but they include tons of empty land in this 500sq mile number, I believe this includes all the way north to New River. Aka no mans land.

[LeavingDetroit]

So with the influx of additional bodies, how's the greater Phoenix employment scene? Is it rising as fast as the population or is it mostly retirees?

[cjseliga]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Lets just hope PHX uses Philly's recipe of going UP instead of OUT. Seriously.


Philly is adding skyscrapers like its going out of style. We're just adding more homes and lame 10 story apartments. C'mon, Phoenix!
http://www.imagicdigital.com/email/n...ine-aerial.jpg

It helps when you have Comcast based in your town! They are currently finishing up the Comcast Technology Center ($1.5 billion) which will be 1,121 feet (342 m) tall and the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere outside of Manhattan and Chicago and adjacent to the Comcast Center which opened in 2008 and is 974 feet (298 m) tall.

Philadelphia has two more major skyscrapers proposed, one at 1,200 feet (365 m) and another at 1,095 feet (333 m). They funny thing is, up until 1987 (only 30 years ago), the tallest building was Philly's City Hall at 548 feet (167 m) which was finished in 1901 and there was a gentleman's agreement to never build anything taller than that, but since 1987 developers have built 10 buildings higher than that, with undoubtedly more to come.

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by locolife

Yeah Philly does have a nice skyline but Tempe is likely to become the densest city in our metro given the fact that it's the only landlocked city here. There's not a lot of places that simply choose to go vertical, it's usually the result of some natural constraint to cheaper growth.

I'm all for it though, there's finally tall buildings being proposed here again, hopefully the momentum gained through the "lame" 10 story buildings pushes us to greater heights.

Agreed. Tempe is dense and will get more so as time goes on. Problem is that its a college town, and where all the buildings are going up is a place I strive to avoid. I cant stand that area only because of the bums and college crowd. I thought the highrises on the Scottsdale "waterfront" (I hate that name) were the start of a upwards trend in Scottsdale, but its not the case.


As for all the 10 story places being erected along Central, 16th St, etc, it doesn't make a dent in the skyline. Viewed from afar it looks like zero changes. Id like to see us actually look like the 5th biggest city, not a giant suburb.

[BIG CATS]

Originally Posted by LeavingDetroit

So with the influx of additional bodies, how's the greater Phoenix employment scene? Is it rising as fast as the population or is it mostly retirees?

Its the typical entry-level/call center/tourism-related/construction BS its always been. Its getting better, but not nearly at a pace to keep up with the influx of persons arriving.

[FirebirdCamaro1220]

Originally Posted by BIG CATS

Agreed. Tempe is dense and will get more so as time goes on. Problem is that its a college town, and where all the buildings are going up is a place I strive to avoid. I cant stand that area only because of the bums and college crowd. I thought the highrises on the Scottsdale "waterfront" (I hate that name) were the start of a upwards trend in Scottsdale, but its not the case.


As for all the 10 story places being erected along Central, 16th St, etc, it doesn't make a dent in the skyline. Viewed from afar it looks like zero changes. Id like to see us actually look like the 5th biggest city, not a giant suburb.

Tempe is not as dense as it appears. The three densest zip codes in the state are all in Phoenix proper (#1-85033,#2-85015(my zip), and #3-85006). And the densest census tract is also in Phoenix, Maricopa County tract 1067.01, which runs from Maryland Ave to Glendale Ave between 15th Ave and 19th Ave, I live in this tract.

Tempe's densest zip code, 85283 is #31 in density in the state. And 85281, the zip that ASU and downtown Tempe are in is #55 in density

[Renegade007]

Originally Posted by gbpakrfan

This is actually bad news. Phoenix will now need to learn how to make a decent cheesesteak.

Cactus pizza - the best kept secret of the southwest!!