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Phoenix, Arizona

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This article is about the city in Arizona. For the mythical creature see Phoenix, and other uses see Phoenix (disambiguation).
Phoenix is surrounded by twenty two towns and cities that have grown so closely together that it is almost impossible to distinguish one from another in this satellite image. The large cluster of light brown pixels gridded by horizontal and vertical lines (roads and highways) demarcates the Greater Phoenix urban area.

Phoenix is the capital, largest city, and largest metropolitan area of the state of Arizona, United States. Phoenix ranked:

  • the fifth-largest city in the U.S., at about 1.6 million population (passed Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2004)
  • the fourteenth largest metropolitan area of the United States, with a population of 3,251,876 (as of the 2000 census)
  • the largest capital city by area and population in the U.S. (including Washington, DC)
  • the eighth-fastest growing metropolitan area in the U.S. (2000 census)

Phoenix is the county seat of Maricopa County. It was incorporated on February 5, 1881. Phoenix is the principal city of the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Phoenix is called Hoodzo (lit. 'the place is hot') in Navajo (a language spoken in Arizona & New Mexico) and Fiinigis in Western Apache (a language spoken in Arizona).

History

Prehistory

The earliest settlers in the Valley of the Sun were the Hohokam people, who lived there as early as 300 BC. They were the first to farm there, building an elaborate canal system that brought water from the Salt River. Their name is derived from the Pima (Akimel O'otham) phrase, Ho Ho Kam, "the people who have gone". They also lived in the Pueblo Grande ruins between 700 and 1400 A.D. They were industrious, enterprising, and imaginative. Their irrigation system comprised some 135 miles (217 km) of canals. Their disappearance ca. 1450 A.D. remains a mystery. Prolonged drought may have destroyed or displaced them; or, they may be the ancestors of the modern Pima Indians who now live on the Salt River and Gila River reservations, or the Tohono O'otham Indians who live in southern Arizona.

Origin of the city

In 1867, Jack Swilling of Wickenburg stopped to rest his horse at the foot of the north slopes of the White Tank Mountains. He looked down across the expansive Salt River Valley and his eyes caught the rich gleam of the brown, dry soil turned up by the horse's hooves. He saw farmland, predominantly free of rocks, and beyond the reach of heavy frost or snow. All it needed was water. By 1868, he and others from Wickenburg had dug a short canal from the Salt River and founded a small farming colony approximately four miles (6 km) east of the present city (about 22 miles west of Mesa, which was already a city of 1,000 people; and a few miles northwest of a similar farming community at Hayden's Ferry, which would become Tempe).

The area was named Swilling's Mill in his honor. It would later become Hellinwg Mill, Mill City, then East Phoenix. As for the town that was to be built, Swilling, a former Confederate soldier, wanted to name it Stonewall, after Stonewall Jackson; others suggested Salina.

Darrel Duppa recommended the name Phoenix, memorializing the birth of a new civilization from the ruins left by the Hohokam.

The town of Phoenix was officially recognized on May 4, 1868, when the Board of Supervisors of Yavapai County (which at the time encompassed Phoenix), formed an election precinct there. The Phoenix post office was established June 15, 1868, with Jack Swilling as postmaster.

The area was surveyed in 1870 and mass meeting of the citizens of Salt River Valley was held on October 20, 1870, to select a suitable piece of unimproved public land for a town site. They recommended the North 1/2 of section 8 Township 1 N., Range 3 E. and that the town be called Phoenix.

On February 12, 1871, the territorial legislature created Maricopa County, the sixth in the state, by dividing Yavapai County. Maricopa county gave up portions in 1875 and 1881 to help form Pinal and Gila counties, respectively. The first county election in Maricopa County was held in 1871, when Tom Barnum was elected the first sheriff of Maricopa County.

The first public school in Phoenix opened on September 5, 1872, in the courtroom of the county building. By October 1873, a small adobe school building was completed on Center Street (now Central Avenue), a short distance north of where the San Carlos Hotel now stands. Miss Nellie Shaver, a newcomer from Wisconsin, was appointed as the first female schoolteacher in Phoenix.

On April 10, 1874, President Grant issued a land patent for the present site of Phoenix. The total cost of the Phoenix Townsite of 320 acres (1.3 km2) was $550, including all expenses for services.

By 1881, Phoenix had outgrown its original townsite-commissioner form of government. The 11th Territorial Legislature passed the Phoenix Charter Bill, incorporating Phoenix and providing for a mayor-council government. The bill was signed by Governor John C. Fremont on February 25, 1881. Phoenix was incorporated with a population of approximately 2,500, and on May 3, 1881, Phoenix held its first city election, in which Judge John T. Alsap defeated James D. Monihon, 127 to 107, to become the city's first Mayor.

Prosperity and modernity

Arizona state capitol building in Phoenix, 1975

The coming of the railroad in the 1880s was the first of several important events that revolutionized the economy of Phoenix. Merchandise now flowed into the city by rail instead of wagon. Phoenix became a trade center with its products reaching eastern and western markets. In recognition of the increased tempo of economic life, the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce was organized on November 4, 1888.

In early 1888, the city offices were moved into the new City Hall, built where the downtown bus terminal now stands. This building also provided temporary offices for the territorial government when it moved to Phoenix from Prescott in 1889.

In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the National Reclamation Act making it possible to build dams on western streams for reclamation purposes. Valley of the Sun residents were quick to supplement this federal action by organizing the Salt River Valley Waters Users' Association on February 4, 1903, to assure proper management of the precious water supply. It functions to this day as the major agency for controlled use of irrigation water in the Valley.

On May 18, 1911, the Theodore Roosevelt Dam, then the largest masonry dam in the world, began operation. It created Roosevelt Lake, expanded irrigation of land in the Valley for farming, and increased the water supply for the growing population.

On February 14, 1912, President William Howard Taft approved Arizona's statehood, making Phoenix the state capital.

In 1913, Phoenix changed its form of government from mayor-council to council-manager. Phoenix was one of the first cities in the United States to have this form of city government.

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge sold 13,000 acres (53 km²) of South Mountain to the city of Phoenix for $17,000. At its present size of 16,500 acres (67 km2), South Mountain Park is the largest metropolitan park in the world, and it entertains 3 million visitors each year year.

Phoenix began to grow into a young metropolis. By 1920, Phoenix had a population of 29,053 inhabitants, which by 1930 nearly doubled to 48,118.

1940 marked another turning point, as the war changed Phoenix from a farming center to a distribution center. Phoenix rapidly turned into an embryonic industrial city with mass production of military supplies. Luke Field, Williams Field and Falcon Field, coupled with the giant ground-training center at Hyder, west of Phoenix, brought thousands of men into Phoenix.

In 1950, 105,000 people lived within the city limits and thousands more lived in adjacent communities and depended upon Phoenix for their livelihoods. The city had 148 miles (238 km) of paved streets and 163 miles (262 km) of unpaved streets, a total of 311 miles (501 km) of streets within the city limits.

Phoenix has been selected four times since 1950 as an All-America City, rare among larger cities. The hallmark of an All-America City is the extent to which its private citizens get involved in the workings of their government. Thousands of citizens have served on various city committees, boards and commissions to assure that major decisions are in the best interest of the people.

Geography

Location of Phoenix, Arizona
Location of Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix is located at 33°31'42" North, 112°4'35" West (33.528370°, -112.076300°)Template:GR 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 Greater Phoenix area has a population of 3.2 million and includes Mesa, Scottsdale, Glendale, Tempe, Chandler, Gilbert, Peoria and many smaller communities such as Goodyear, Litchfield Park, and Anthem. Major retirement communities include Sun Lakes, Sun City, Sun City West and Fountain Hills. The community of Ahwatukee is a part of the City of Phoenix itself, but is almost entirely separated from it by South Mountain.

The Salt River runs westward through the city of Phoenix; it is typical to see the riverbed entirely dry except when unexpected runoff forces the release of water from any of the several dams upriver. The city of Tempe has built two inflatable dams in the Salt River 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 metropolitan 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 indian reservations.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1,230.5 km² (475.1 mi²). 1,229.9 km² (474.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 0.05% water.

Climate

Clear blue skies are typical, with an average of 300 sunny days a year. 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. In every year except 1911, the temperature has soared to 110 °F (43 °C) or higher. 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 as humid as summers in the Southern United States.

The normal annual rainfall at Sky Harbor International Airport is 8.29 inches (211 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. 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. Blowing dust and sand also can restrict visibility; these phenomoena occur most frequently during the driest months of the year, from May to July. Severe thunderstorms—bringing strong winds, large hail, or tornadoes—can occur during any month of the year, but only happen an average of once or twice per year somewhere in the metropolitan area.

At the airport, the first frost typically occurs on December 12 and the last frost on February 7; however, these dates are not representative of the city as a whole as the frequency of freezes varies considerably among neighborhoods and elevation. Compared with many areas of Phoenix, these dates err on the warm side by a month or more. The earliest frost of Record occurred on November 3, 1946 and the latest on April 4, 1945. Successive winters without any frosts at the airport are not unknown, and the longest period without a freeze occurred between November 23, 1979 and January 31, 1985.

Snow falls roughly one year in four, but since records commenced in 1896, it has accumulated to 0.1 inch (0.25 cm) only 7 times. The worst snowstorm occurred on 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. Another 1.0 inch (2.5 cm) fell 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.

Government

The city of Phoenix is served by a council-manager form of government. The current mayor of Phoenix is Phil Gordon. There is an 8-person city council that represents 8 individual districts in the city of Phoenix.

Phoenix is divided into 15 urban villages. The purpose of the urban villages is to primarily assist the City Council with zoning and planning ordiances passed by the city. The urban villages are named:

  • Ahwatukee Foothills
  • Alhambra
  • Camelback East
  • Central City
  • Deer Valley
  • Desert View
  • Encanto
  • Estrella
  • Laveen
  • Maryvale
  • North Gateway
  • North Mountain
  • Paradise Valley
  • South Mountain

A 15th urban village remains unnamed (listed as New Village on the city's website). The village was created in 2004 after the approval of new annexations in extreme northern Maricopa County. The new annexation is sparsely populated (if at all) and new development is not expected in the near future.

Economy

The economy of Phoenix in the last two decades has greatly diversified as the population has grown rapidly. Many of the area's residents are employed by the state government since Phoenix is the state capital of Arizona. There are many high-tech and telecommunications companies that have located in the Valley of the Sun. Arizona State University has greatly enhanced the area's population through education and its growing research capabilities.

Public corporations headquartered in the area

Companies with Large Presence in the Area

Military

The military has also a signifigant presence in Phoenix with Luke Air Force Base located in the western part of the area.

Demographics

Phoenix skyline in 2001, looking west

At the census of 2000, there were 1,321,045 people, 465,834 households, and 307,450 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,074/km² (2,782/mi²). There were 495,832 housing units at an average density of 403/km² (1,044/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 71.07% White, 5.10% African American, 2.02% Native American, 2.00% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 16.40% from other races, and 3.28% from two or more races. 34.06% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any country origin.

There were 465,834 households out of which 35.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were married couples living together, 12.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.0% were non-families. 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.39.

In the city the population age distribution was 28.9% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 33.2% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 103.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $41,207, and the median income for a family was $46,467. Males had a median income of $32,820 versus $27,466 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,833. 15.8% of the population and 11.5% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 21.0% of those under the age of 18 and 10.3% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Media

Television

Phoenix is served by several major television stations:

Radio

There are also many radio stations to listen to in Phoenix.

Newspaper

Phoenix's first publication was the Salt River Valley Herald. It later changed its name to the Phoenix Herald in 1880. By this time, the paper had progressed from a weekly publication to semiweekly.

The city has two main traditional newspapers: The Arizona Republic serves the greater metropolitan area and East Valley Tribune tends to focus on East Valley issues. In addition, the city is also served by numerous free neighborhood papers and weeklies such as the Phoenix New Times, Arizona State University's State Press, and the College Times.

Sports

Sport teams

Nine Major League Baseball teams conduct spring training in Greater Phoenix; these teams, plus three that train in Tucson, are collectively known as the Cactus League.
See also: U.S. cities with teams from four major sports.

Sport venues

Sport events

Museums, attractions and other places of interest

Heard Museum
Taliesin West and Gammage Auditorium, both designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
Phoenix Art Museum
Fleischer Museum
Arizona Science Center
Hall of Flame
Pueblo Grande Museum and Cultural Park
Phoenix Museum of History
Arizona Historical Society Museum
America West Arena
Bank One Ballpark
Glendale Arena
Desert Botanical Garden
Phoenix Zoo
Papago Park
Tovrea Castle
Wrigley Mansion
St. Mary's Basilica
Symphony Hall for the Phoenix Symphony at the Phoenix Civic Plaza
South Mountain Park, the largest municipal park in the world
Mystery Castle
Camelback Mountain
Phoenix Mountains Park and Recreation Area
Encanto Park
Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Arizona State Fairgrounds
Metrocenter Mall
Castles N' Coasters amusement park
Hotel San Carlos
Arizona Biltmore

Transportation

Sky Harbor International Airport
Williams Gateway Airport was converted from Williams Air Force Base, which closed in 1993.
Falcon Field Airport, Falcon Field airport in Mesa is attempting to become a commercial airport, to relieve Sky Harbor of some of the main airport's traffic. The airport has occasionally received Boeing 737's from charter airlines to carry passengers to nearby destinations.
Valley Metro, local public transit service (buses, rideshare, future light rail project)
Valley Metro Rail, a light rail project under development
Scottsdale Municipal Airport in nearby Scottsdale, attracts a large number of private jets.

List of famous Phoenix residents

Phoenix in film

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