Phoenix 1993

OF 15,000 ACRES OF DESERT AND MOUNTAIN WONDERLAND . . .

BY JUDGING THE FUTURE FROM THE PAST, THE YEARS TO COME WILL ADD TO THE STATURE OF PHOENIX, THE FRONTIER TOWN THAT HAS BECOME A GREAT WESTERN METROPOLIS.

IN THE TERRITORY of Arizona fifty yearsago there were a number of towns with more promise and push than Phoenix and several that were more attractive to settle in and grow up with. Phoenix, then, was a sleepy frontier village, a convenient stopping place for the stagecoaches that traveled the road between Tucson and Prescott. Dust lay hot and deep in the streets during the "dry spells" or turned into mires of mud when it rained. Its rare virtue was the Salt River which loafed through the valley on its placid journey from the mountains to the sea.

Some years before a few enlightened men, PAGE FORTY-TWO with more vision and brawn than money, foresaw the obvious fact: if water from the Salt could be brought to the rich soil of the desert around the town you could raise hay and in a horse-drawn age hay was a valuable product. You wouldn't think that a hay-town would or could go far in fifty years but such has been the strange destiny of Phoenix that even the most visionary of the town founders could not conjure the majestic city that in a short half century would be created from a sleepy frontier village.

Before we project our thoughts into fifty years of tomorrows it would be well to examine Phoenix today, the capital city of this best of all possible states, in this best of all possible nations, on this best of all possible planets.

Rich soil, an abundance of sunshine, and the most successful irrigation project in the history of mankind form the solid foundation upon which the city is built. Mr. Ernest Douglas, Arizona's distinguished farm magazine editor, discusses Phoenix, the farm town at greater length elsewhere in these pages, but let us point out here that man's struggle since time began to reclaim the desert has never met with the success that it has met with in this vast irrigation empire around Phoenix. The story itself is an epic in the story of all mankind. Phoenix records today and has recorded the growth of Arizona, serving as it does, as the trade and business center for most of the state. State governmental business and Federal business for the state centers in the city. All of this is important in the center of trade that is Phoenix, for it is a substantial and solid business.

Truth to tell Phoenix is a solid town, built strongly and well. At no time in its history was it unfortunate enough to suffer a "boom," with its attendant evils of over-expansion and false growth. The town grew slowly but carefully. Farmers, the most solid people on earth, came into the valley because of good soil and a twelve-month growing season. Other people came to invest in Phoenix, because it was a new town, one of great possibilities, a livable, hospitable western city. That is Phoenix today. Not many years ago, when the automobile age came into its own, Phoenix discovered on its hands the most profitable and stimulating crop of all the tourist crop. One winter Phoenix, blinking in the bright sunshine, awakened to find itself one of America's most important winter resort cities. People who came as visitors became residents and as such entered the life and affairs of the town, bringing both vigor and vision into the life and times of a new country. This, too, is Phoenix today. In retrospect, we find each and every year has added to the growth and stature of the city. It was written in the stars long ago that Phoenix was to be and has been a favored city. Even during the depression years the city grew. This must be remembered in looking into the future. Even the most casual study of Phoenix, the story of its growth, the reason for its existence and its livelihood reveal better than anything else the city's future. Phoenix is just as much a frontier city today as it was fifty years ago. The promise and the possibilities of the next half century are as vivid as they were a half century ago.

The further development of the Colorado River will mean a stimulation in the growth of Phoenix and Arizona that has never been seen before. Millions of acres of rich farm lands await this water and the man with the hoe to till the fields. The hydro-electric development of the Colorado River will assure abundance of cheap power and with this power the vast resources of Arizona, scarcely touched today, will prove a treasure chest to be opened and used. In mineral wealth the state to 1940 has produced nearly three and one-half billion dollars, and its greatest treasures have not been found. Our great forests, estimated to contain over 20 billion feet of saw timber, have just been scratched. All of this will mean new industry, new people and a growth of Arizona that will be shared alike by Phoenix. This does not mean that the Phoenix of 1993 will be a large industrial city, nor would that be desirable. The people of today want Phoenix of tomorrow to be a wholesome city, beautifully planned, with room to live in and a little piece of land for every person. The industrial development to come must and will be as carefully planned as the school system, the public improvements such as parks and museums and the urban residential sections. One Phoenician, long closely associated with the growth of the town, has this to say of Phoenix and Arizona of 1993: "Migration to Arizona will not necessarily be a problem in agricultural opportunity: it will be a problem in industrial and urban employment." "At the present time Arizona has insufficient population to utilize all of our natural resources Ultra-modern stores and shops draw trade from over the entire state. Phoenix ranked second in the nation last year in per capita retail sales ratio.

From the heart of the city, broad streets reach to colorful hills looming as guardians to the north and south.

and therefore wants to make them available to others.

"What Arizona needs is a far more varied range of talent; it needs not only workers of most all types, but inventors, organizers, administrators, technicians; it needs scholars, scientists, artists; in short, it needs not one particular economic stratum but the whole range that constitutes a human culture.

"At the present time the chief immigration into Arizona is coming from those regions which have long cold winters-especially those areas with an overabundance of rainfall. Those who make the move are chiefly families urged by the prospect of warm, mild winters, and summers where the humidity is relatively slight.

"The population of Arizona will continue to grow at a more rapid pace than the balance of the United States because of: (a) An abundant supply of hydro-electric energy, only a small part of which has now been developed; (b) natural resource reserves of essential character, capable of sustaining production on a grand scale; (c) mild, equitable climate for all-year work and play, and particularly adapted to many forms of manufacturing; (d) water available for irrigable areas of great extent and proven fertility, to produce maximum crops; (e) recreational areas and opportunities, of diverse, wholesome, and appealing character, interspersed throughout the state; (f) further improvements in airways facilities.

"Planning the future of Arizona and Phoenix takes into consideration the problem of resettlement, that is, redistributing population in places of maximum advantage for life: in sites with sufficient underpinning of natural resources, with a sufficient supply of social facilities and cultural institutions.

"Through the help of various planning commissions in the state, public policy has a full grasp of the essentials for rational population distribution. They have an understanding of the task and do not follow the line of least resistance which is necessary for durable achievement.

"Our state planning organizations will prove a great economy in developing and coordinating our human and natural resources to more effective use. Programs are outlined for the wiser use of our land, water, and mineral resources, as well as methods for coordination of public works program, as well as organizing to handle inter-region problems.

"These things will have been accomplished through the promotion of public understanding and the support of planning for the best use of land, water, and other natural resources; the advancement of higher ideals of civic life and beauty in Arizona; and the safeguarding and developing for the largest good to the people of natural wonders and scenic possessions.

"Of course, there are those who belong to the industrial-development-at-any-price school. They believe in exploiting our natural resources and in turn their methods accomplish only undesirable ends; natural beauty is defaced beyond repair; industrial development is located in areas not best suited to future needs and they overlook the fact that the transportation of electric energy is not a legitimate charge to the individual industry.

"Power itself usually does not determine the location of industries, which depends upon a variety of facts, including proximity to raw materials and to consuming centers, freight rates and labor conditions. Power is merely a useful tool. Power becomes valuable only if there is a use for it, and to use it requires large amounts of private capital.

"The hydro-electric projects around Phoenix are just the initial step in the integral development of all the water resources of the state.

"The influence of dams on the Colorado River will be felt both in the increase of irrigable acreage in Arizona and in the utilization of low-cost power.

"Recreational areas and structures in Phoenix will be planned to best fit the needs of population growth and trends. Park areas and facilities will be allocated to the urban growth. The nature is dependent upon the age groups served.

"The commercial recreational industry of 1993 will cover many items. These will include not only theaters, moving pictures, ball games, tennis, skating, amusement parks, horse racing, but also tourist camps, tourist hotels, youth camps, guest ranches, riding academies. golfing, skiing, game farms, hunting, fishing, photography, sketching, and painting, nature study, and other out door pursuits.