Overview
Phoenix is the state capital of Arizona, and was incorporated as a city
on February 25, 1881. Phoenix is located in central Arizona in the
southwestern United States, 118 miles (188 km) northwest of Tucson. It is
Arizona's largest city and largest metropolitan area by population. It is
also the county seat of Maricopa County and the principal city of the
Phoenix metropolitan area. Phoenix is appropriately called Hoozdo, or "the
place is hot", in the Navajo language and Fiinigis in the Western Apache
language.
In mid-2004, Phoenix was the sixth-largest city in the United States
according to the U.S. Census Bureau's latest estimates. However, according
to unofficial projections Phoenix surpassed Philadelphia in late 2005,
moving into the top five cities in the U.S. The 2000 U.S. Census reported
the Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as the fourteenth-largest in
the U.S., with a population of 3,251,876. The city's MSA grew to an
estimated 3,790,000 by 2004. Between 1990 and 2000, the metropolitan area
grew by 34 percent, making it the eighth fastest-growing metropolitan area
in the U.S.
Phoenix is the largest capital city by population; meaning that of all U.S.
capital cities (all 50 state capitals & the national capital Washington,
D.C.), it's the largest. It is also the third-largest capital city by area
in the U.S. (behind Juneau, Alaska and Oklahoma City).
The Chicago Metropolitan area is also becoming a major center for
Indian-Americans and South Asians. Chicago has the third largest South Asian
population in the country, after New York City and San Francisco. The Devon
Avenue corridor on Chicago's north side is an example of this, as it is one
of the largest South Asian neighborhoods in North America.
There are 1,061,928 households, of which 28.9% have children under the age
of 18 living with them, 35.1% were married couples living together, 18.9%
had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.4% were
non-families. Of all households, 32.6% are made up of individuals and 8.7%
had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.50.
Of the city population, 26.2% are under the age of 18, 11.2% are from 18 to
24, 33.4% are from 25 to 44, 18.9% are from 45 to 64, and 10.3% are 65 years
of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there
were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.1
males.
The median income for a household in the city was $38,625, and the median
income for a family was $42,724. Males had a median income of $35,907 versus
$30,536 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,175. Below
the poverty line are 19.6% of the population and 16.6% of the families. Of
the total population, 28.1% of those under the age of 18 and 15.5% of those
65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Downtown Phoenix
Phoenix's downtown area is called Copper Square, although most locals
still call it Downtown. Incorporating the themes of Phoenix's early history
with culture and local events, Copper Square is the name for the one square
mile area surrounding Central Avenue and Jefferson. This is a slowly growing
hotspot for activities and action. Downtown attractions include the Arizona
Science Center, Phoenix Museum of History and the Phoenix Art Museum. Also
downtown is the Burton Barr Central Library. Downtown Phoenix currently
features about twenty-five mid-rise and high-rise buildings ranging up to 39
stories tall. Only two skyscrapers reach over 400 feet tall (122 m), the
last of which was constructed in the 1970s. Unique among large American
cities, downtown Phoenix is rather small and short due to four important
factors:
1. There is very little historical housing stock precisely because Phoenix
was so small—only 106,000 people in 1950. In addition, much of what little
there was largely destroyed in the "urban renewal" movements of the 1960s
and 1970s, for example, no equivalent of San Diego's Gaslamp District exists
anywhere in Phoenix today. Thus, few historical structures remain, and today
some of downtown Phoenix is pockmarked with vacant, dusty lots and
unremarkable, under-utilized, one-story buildings. For comparison, in 1950,
San Diego was more than three times as large as Phoenix. Dallas was more
than four times as large, and Houston was almost six times larger. Even
Kansas City, Missouri was over four times as large as Phoenix in 1950.
Today, Phoenix has three times the population of Kansas City, but Phoenix's
skyline has not kept pace.
2. Much of Phoenix's growth during the 1950s and 1960s was low density
suburban sprawl, like that of most other American cities. The difference is
that Phoenix had no real core of taller buildings. Zoning at the time
largely favored mass subdivisions of inexpensive cement block homes at the
edge of the ever-expanding city. Land was cheaper and there were few
neighbors and little red tape. As a result, developers gravitated to the
edges of the metropolitan area. This still continues today. Zoning favors
large setbacks and ample parking requirements, with the result that parking
in downtown Phoenix remains relatively easy and inexpensive. Wide streets
and narrow sidewalks form the predominant nature of Phoenix's urban
environment today.
3. Phoenix was an isolated small outpost far from the centers of power.
Phoenix's tallest building from 1929 to 1961 was the Westward Ho, a 17-story
hotel that is now a retirement home for seniors. In 1970, Phoenix's entire
metropolitan population was less than one million, and was considered
largely a retirement and tourist haven. At the same time, Dallas had well
over two million residents and Los Angeles had seven million. Thus, much of
the skyscraper-building frenzy that marked the downtowns of sunbelt cities
like Dallas, Houston and Atlanta never occurred in Phoenix. Phoenix was
considered too small and too remote to attract much significant commercial
high-rise development during the 1960s and 1970s. It is also possible that
the growing leviathans of Los Angeles (and to a lesser degree, Denver,
Houston and Dallas) siphoned off some of the high-rise development that
might have otherwise occurred in Phoenix. All of these cities were much
larger than Phoenix and were seen as being much more progressive at the
time.
4. Phoenix was anti-urban and still is, to some degree. A comprehensive
freeway plan was resisted until 1985. At that time Phoenix was the largest
metropolitan area (with almost two million residents) in the United States
without a completed freeway or beltway system encircling and crossing the
city, which created busy arterial streets. Sightlines and mountain views are
important to residents. Many still oppose high-rises because views of the
mountains are considered sacred, as evidenced by the recent rejection in
2005 of Donald Trump's 15-story high-rise project in the Biltmore area. Many
people that came to Phoenix in the latter half of the 20th Century did so to
escape "big city problems," so there is a natural tendency in Arizona to
keep things small. As a result, much of the office space in Phoenix is
located in low profile newer office parks in outlying areas of the city, and
not in downtown high-rises like in other cities.
Copper Square, despite these shortcomings, has undergone a renaissance since
the building of the US Airways Center (formerly America West Arena) in 1992
and Chase Field (formerly Bank One Ballpark) in 1998. Several new
skyscrapers are under construction as of March, 2006, with many more planned
that will dramatically transform the skyline. These include:
* Under Construction:
o 44 Monroe, a 34-story residential condo tower;
o Phoenix Convention Center Hotel, a 31-story hotel;
o Summit at Copper Square, a 22-story residential condo tower
* Approved:
o W Hotel, a 39-story hotel and condo tower, breaking ground in summer,
2006;
o Cosmopolitan Lofts, a 17-story residential condo tower;
o RO3 (Phase III), a 16-story residential condo tower;
* Proposed:
o Cityscape, four 30 to 40-story mixed-use towers;
o Central Park East, a 40-story mixed-use project;
o Park Place, Phase II, a 38-story mixed-use project;
For a list of other buildings in Phoenix, go to Emporis Phoenix.
There are a large number of high-rise proposals, some of which will likely
not be built, due to the considerable amount of speculation occurring in
Phoenix. Issues include skyrocketing land costs and ever-increasing
construction costs, due to the shortage of concrete, steel and other
construction materials. Other proposals not listed above include a third
phase of Arizona Center, several "warehouse district" residential high-rises
near the stadiums, several office projects and various other residential
projects ranging from five to thirty stories in height.
A newly expanded convention center is under construction now, which will
triple the amount of available space to nearly one million square feet. The
name of the center was recently changed to the Phoenix Convention Center
from Phoenix Civic Plaza, to reflect this $600 million investment.
A $1.2 billion light rail system called "The Metro" is also under
construction. When the initial 20-mile (32 km) segment is completed in 2008,
it will improve connections to downtown areas of Glendale, Phoenix, Tempe
and Mesa. A downtown extension for Arizona State University is opening in
fall 2006, with about 3,000 students. A much larger campus is planned, with
up to 15,000 students by 2015. Some coffeehouses, restaurants, nightclubs
and shopping in the area continue to draw people downtown for the slowly
growing nightlife scene. Much more development is expected once the light
rail line and downtown ASU are open.
Geography
Phoenix is located at 33 31'42" North, 112 4'35" West (33.528370,
-112.076300�)GR1 in the Phoenix Valley or "Valley of the Sun" in central
Arizona. It lies at a mean elevation of 1,117 feet (340 m) in the heart of
the Sonoran Desert.
The Salt River course runs westward through the city of Phoenix; the
riverbed is normally dry except when excess runoff forces the release of
water from the four dams upriver. The city of Tempe has built two inflatable
dams in the Salt River bed to create a year-round recreational lake, called
Tempe Town Lake. The dams are deflated to allow the river to flow unimpeded
during releases.
The Phoenix area is surrounded by the McDowell Mountains to the northeast,
the White Tank Mountains to the west, the Superstition Mountains far to the
east, and the Sierra Estrella to the southwest. Within the city are the
Phoenix Mountains and South Mountains. Current development (as of 2005) is
pushing rapidly beyond the geographic boundaries to the north and west,
south through Pinal County towards Tucson, and beginning to surround the
large Salt River and Gila River reservations.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
475.1 square miles (1,230.5 km�)—474.9 square miles (1,229.9 km) of it is
land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km) of it is water. The total area is 0.05%
water.
The Phoenix Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) (officially known as the
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale MSA), is the 14th largest in the United States, with
a total population of 3,251,876 at the 2000 U.S. Census. It includes the
Arizona counties of Maricopa and Pinal. Major cities include Phoenix, Mesa,
Scottsdale, Glendale, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, and Peoria. Several smaller
communities are also included, such as Queen Creek, Goodyear, Fountain
Hills, Litchfield Park, Anthem, Sun Lakes, Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise
and Tolleson. The community of Ahwatukee is a part of the City of Phoenix
itself, but is almost entirely separated from it by South Mountain.
Climate
Phoenix's arid climate is characterized by some of the hottest seasonal
temperatures anywhere. In fact, out of the world's large cities, only Riyadh
and Baghdad have higher average summer temperatures. The temperature reaches
or exceeds 100 F (38 C) on an average of 89 days during the year, including
most days from early June through early September. On June 26, 1990, the
temperature reached an all-time high of 122 F (50 C). The dry Arizona air
makes the hot temperatures more tolerable early in the season; however, the
influx of monsoonal moisture has been known to make August in Phoenix almost
as humid as summers in the Southeastern United States. On the other hand,
mild, sunny weather in the winter months makes the area a mecca for golfers
and others seeking to escape the cold typical of the northern U.S.
Phoenix sees some 300 sunny days per year and scant rainfall, the average
annual total at Sky Harbor International Airport being 8.4 inches (210 mm).
March is the wettest month of the year (1.07 inches or 27 mm). Rain is
particularly scarce from April through June. Although thunderstorms occur on
occasion during every month of the year, they are most common during the
monsoon season from July to mid-September as humid air surges in from the
Gulf of California. These can bring strong winds, large hail, or tornadoes.
Winter storms moving inland from the Pacific Ocean occasionally produce
significant rains but occur infrequently. Fog is observed from time to time
during the winter months.
At the airport, the mean date of first frost is December 12 and the last is
February 7; however, these dates do not represent the city as a whole
because the frequency of freezes varies considerably among terrain types and
elevations. Some areas of Phoenix may see frost for a month or more before
and after the airport readings. The earliest frost on record occurred on
November 3, 1946, and the latest occurred on April 4, 1945. Successive
winters without any frosts at the airport have been recorded, and the
longest period without a freeze stretched from November 23, 1979 to January
31, 1985. The all-time lowest temperature in Phoenix was recorded at 16 F
(-8.8 C) on January 7, 1913.
Snow is extremely rare in the area, though still can occur from time to
time. Snowfall was first officially recorded in 1896, and since then
accumulations of 0.1 inches (0.25 cm) or greater have occurred only seven
times. The heaviest snowstorm on record dates to January 20-21, 1937, when 1
to 4 inches fell (2 to 10 cm) in parts of the city and did not melt entirely
for four days. Prior to that, 1 inch (2.5 cm) had fallen on January 20,
1933. On February 2, 1935, 0.5 inches (1 cm) fell. Most recently, 0.4 inches
(1 cm) fell on December 21-22, 1990. Snow also fell on March 12, 1917
November 28, 1919, and December 11, 1985.
Colleges and Universities
Public education in the Phoenix area is provided by over 30 school
districts. The Phoenix Union High School District operates most of the
public high schools in the city of Phoenix.
The main institution of higher education in the area is Arizona State
University, with its main campus located in Tempe, and satellite campuses in
Phoenix and Mesa. ASU is currently one of the largest public universities in
the U.S., with a 2004 student enrollment of 57,543.
The University of Phoenix is also headquartered in Phoenix. This is the
nation's largest private, for-profit university with over 130,000 students
at campuses throughout the United States (including Puerto Rico), Canada,
Mexico, and the Netherlands.
There are also ten community colleges and two skills centers throughout
Maricopa County, providing adult education and job training.