You'll Like Living in Phoenix

Basic income of the valley has been derived. Surrounding this oasis are golden desert and blue mountains which provide range for thousands of head of sleek beef cattle, another historic source of the area's income.

The city limits of Phoenix include at present over thirty-six square miles; but this total is growing fast as suburban areas seek annexation. The population of the city proper at the beginning of 1957 is estimated reliably to be over 172,000. Metropolitan Phoenix has an estimated 350,000 people, while Maricopa County, the trading area served by Phoenix, totals over 510,000.

An idea of the rapidity of the area's growth can be gained from the fact that in 1940 all of Arizona had a population of less than five hundred thousand, according to the official U.S. census. At that time Maricopa County counted only 186,000 population. Current figures represent an increase of nearly 175% for the county since 1940 and an increase of some 117% for the state as a whole during the same period.

The City of Phoenix proper has grown about 163% in population during that time, while metropolitan Phoenix has experienced an even high rate of growth wth as its outlying areas have blossomed with new subdivisions. Dur-ing the last twelve years alone some 70,000 new housing units have been built in greater Phoenix, with an additional 15,000 in the Salt River Valley as a whole.

These residences cover a wide price range. It is possible to buy in Phoenix or its suburbs a thoroughly modern house with three bedrooms, one and three-quarter baths, living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room, carport and store room for as little as $8,500. Financed through FHA or the Veterans Administration the down payment ranges from nothing for veterans to perhaps $850 for non-veterans. Closing costs run about $135 and payments (including amortization, interest, taxes, and insurance) are about $75.00 a month.Of course, there are less expensive properties and much more expensive ones. Phoenix has been remarkable among cities in practically eliminating slums on the one hand, while, on the other, it has an unusually large number of truly beautiful residences in the $25,000 to $250,ooo brackets. Yet, real luxury can be had at remarkably low prices. One builder, for instance, recently offered houses with three bedrooms, two baths, living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, laundry and storage room, carport, patio and twenty-four-foot swimming pool complete with underwater lights, filtration system, and diving board, for less than $10,000. Phoenix residential areas generally present lovely pictures of broad streets lined with palms, olive trees, eucalyptus, Mexican mescal, citrus, cottonwood, mulberry, ash, bottle trees, and so on. Lawns mostly are green the year around, growing Bermuda, St. Augustine, or some other hardy, heat resistant strains in the summer and winter rye or a similar grass in the cooler months. Some are evergreen, being sowed in dichondra or another lowgrowing flowering cover.

Neighborhoods are well-zoned to protect the householder against the encroachment of commercial enterprises in a residential area. Phoenicians seem to take unusual pride in the appearance of their homes, for lawns are beautifully kept, landscaped with trees like those mentioned above, and with shrubs such as bird of paradise, pyracantha, Japanese box, oleander, Pampas grass, rose of Sharon (althea), flowering quince, hibiscus, poinsettia, pomegranate, arborvitae, cyprus, juniper and a tremendous variety of others.

Many patios and other slightly protected spots have beautiful bushes of gardenias and camelias, while the Salt River Valley's sun, soil and climate make it one of the country's finest rose-growing areas. Patio walls are covered with many varieties of vine, including Bougainvillaea, honeysuckle, jasmine, trumpet vine and wisteria. Flower gardens produce so many varieties even to start listing them here would be futile.

One of the most beautiful sights in the world comes in the springtime when hundreds of acres around Phoenix produce bright, colorful stands of stock and other flowers raised commercially for seed. And for several months of the year the world's largest rose garden-nearly 2000 acres in extent-blooms in the valley just north of Phoenix. It is the world's largest rose farm, from which every year thousands upon thousands of bushes are shipped.

It has been said that Phoenix and its environs have more shopping centers per capita of population than any other area in the world. It's easy to believe this is true, for every neighborhood has its own self-contained "Gowntown" district. Virtually every one of these shopping centers is modern, attractive and thoroughly convenient. A typical large new one has about fifteen acres of land, a paved parking lot for nearly one thousand cars, and an inclusive variety of shops and other businesses.

The heart of the shopping center is a huge, wonderfully well-stocked food market where the homemaker can buy everything from fresh meats and vegetables to dry groceries, from table wine to caviar, from kitchen utensils to house plants. Next door, on one side of it is a thoroughly modern drug store, and on the other is a large variety store (the modern outgrowth of the old fiveand-ten).

In the same center are a barber shop, beauty shop, family shoe store, restaurant, package liquor shop, do-ityourself laundry, furniture store, photo shop and studio, dress shop, dry goods store, clinic, and, conveniently located in the parking area a large, well equipped service station where the shopper's car can be washed and serviced while the owner goes to market.

Of course, there are many smaller centers than this. But there are also many much larger ones, with the number growing at such a pace even a Phoenician has difficulty keeping them all straight.

Notes for Photographers OPPOSITE PAGE

"RODEO PARADE-PHOENIX" BY HERB MCLAUGHLINA.P.A. This photograph was made from the balcony of the Adams Hotel during Rodeo Parade. It was shot with a 4x5 Speed Graphic, Ektachrome film, 1/50th second with a lens opening of f.8. Each March the Phoenix Junior Chamber of Commerce stages one of America's largest rodeos. The Jaycee World's Championship rodeo brings together outstanding performers and outstanding stock. The highlight of Rodeo Week in Phoenix is the parade on the day the rodeo starts. There are bands, floats, pretty girls and horses, horses, horses. Several hundred thousand people line the streets each year to watch the West's most western spectacle go by.

FOLLOWING PAGES

"IN PAPAGO PARK, NEAR PHOENIX" BY HARRY VRO-MAN B & J Press Camera, Schneider Xenar 5 1/4" lens, 82C filter Weston meter reading 100, 1/2 second at f.20, Ektachrome film. Looking for picturesque scenes around Papago Park, east of Phoenix, this very remarkable one was discovered by the photographer somewhat late in the afternoon of a December day. The rock formations had, with the warm glow of the declining sun, taken on an unreal appearance, with a strong resemblance to a monster oil painting. The camera exposure was two thirds stop more than normal to compensate for the bluish filter, used to correct the over reddish lighting. Papago Park, a short drive from the heart of Phoenix, is a popular picnic area for residents and visitors. Part of Papago Park has been put aside for the Desert Botanical Gardens, a showplace of cacti not only native but from other countries.

"THE ETERNAL DESERT, NEAR PHOENIX" BY JOHN BALDRIDGE. 4x5 Speed Graphic, f.47 Kodak Ektar Lens, Ektachrome Daylight film, 1/100th second at f.11. Thousands of acres of desert land around Phoenix have been turned into a rich agricultural empire by the magic of irrigation, but the desert never lets one forget the reclaimed acres are her own. A short drive in almost any direction from Phoenix reveals the desert as it has always been -primitive, ageless and always beautiful. This particular scene was taken in the Pinnacle Peak area north of Scottsdale.

"ENCANTO PARK SWIMMING POOL, PHOENIX" BY RAY MANLEY AND TOMMY CARROLL. 4x5 Linhof Camera, Anscochrome film, 1/100 second at f.11. 90mm. Angulon lens in full sync. compur shutter. Phoenicians are proud, and justly so, of their parks system and they take advantage of what they have for their enjoyment. In the fiscal year 1955-1956, nearly 3,500,000 people participated in the various recreation and play areas and sponsored activities of the Parks and Recreation Department. Encanto pool shown here is one of six operated by the city. An ambitious and far-seeing program for enlarging the Phoenix park system to take care of a growing population is now in the blue-print stage.

"STOCKS IN BLOOM, SOUTH PHOENIX" BY ALLEN C. REED. The crops produced by the rich fields of the Salt River Valley surrounding Phoenix are both rich and varigated. In fact, Maricopa County, which takes in most of the Valley, is the second richest agricultural county in the United States. With a growing season 12 months long, valley farmers have time to produce everything from cotton to cabbages. In the spring the farmlands south of Phoenix are about the most colorful thing in spring's parade. Here Japanese farmers raise flowers for seed and sale and their blooming acres are, indeed, something to see.

CENTER PANEL "PHOENIX UNDER EVENING SKIES" BY HERB McLAUGHLIN, A.P.A.

This photograph was made from the Goodyear blimp based at the airport at Litchfield Park. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company made this special photographic flight available for the specific purpose of getting this photograph. The photograph is looking west and slightly north towards the White Tank Mountains, showing downtown Phoenix in the center. About 12th Street is in the foreground. The Southern Pacific and Santa Fe Tracks are at the left and Phoenix Union High School at the right. The photograph was made at dusk with just enough daylight left to give the over-all effect, as well as to let the lights come into the photograph. This exposure was made with a 4x5 Speed Graphic on a tripod. Film was 4x5 Ektachrome and "hopped up" during processing. The shutter speed was 1/10th second at f.4.5.

"BUSY SKY HARBOR-PHOENIX" BY RAY MANLEY AND TOMMY CARROLL.

5x7 Linhof Camera, 210mm. Symmar lens, in full sync. compur shutter, 1/500th second at f.5.6, late afternoon light, exposed by meter on Anscochrome film rated at ASA 50 (with special processing by Color Classics Laboratory.) Taken from a Super Cub plane flapped down to approximately 50 m.p.h. at an altitude of approximately 500 feet. Sky Harbor is the municipal airport for Phoenix and in all-over traffic ranks as the 10th busiest airport in the United States despite the fact the city is 50th in size in population.

"ENCANTO PARK LAGOON-PHOENIX" BY RAY MANLEY.

Encanto Park, almost in the heart of Phoenix, is one of the city's busiest and most popular recreation areas. It's golf course is busy throughout the year and its lagoon, especially in summer, is a cool oasis in an Arizona summer. Encanto is one of eleven city parks and more are in the planning stage.

"PATTERN OF GREEN FIELD NEAR PHOENIX" BY RAY MANLEY AND NAURICE KOONCE.

5x7 Linhof Camera, 210-mm. Symmarr lens, 1/500th second at between f.8 and f.11. The air traveler learns he is approaching Phoenix when he begins to pass over the colorful checkerboard of farm acres and citrus groves of the Salt River Valley. They appear delightfully refreshing and green to eyes accustomed to the limitless miles of brown and gray stretching out in all directions.

OPPOSITE PAGE "VIEW OF BILTMORE ESTATES, PHOENIX" BY RAY MANLEY AND NAURICE KOONCE.

Air view with 5x7 Linhof Camera, 210mm. Symmarr lens, 1/500th second at f.8, on Anscochrome film rated at 50 ASA. The Biltmore Hotel, nestling at the foot of the distant peak, is one of Arizona's oldest and most re-nowned winter resorts. To the right is part of the golf course. Spacious, commodious and expensive homes line the driveway from Camelback Road to the hotel.

While the neighborhood shopping centers cater to the family's needs and are great conveniences, they have not replaced the real downtown district of Phoenix. Far from it. Phoenix has as dynamic, attractive, and well-stocked a downtown section as any city in the country. Covering perhaps fifty or more square city blocks, downtown Phoenix boasts some of the most beautiful and modern business buildings in the country. They range from massive multistory structures to smaller, lower buildings which combine the ultra modern with traditional ranch style architecture. In the downtown area of Phoenix are banks, brokerage houses, title and trust companies, savings and loan institutions, large department stores, smaller specialty shops, fine book stores, excellent restaurants, a number of good night clubs, the city's two large daily newspapers, railroad and bus stations, several radio and TV stations, office buildings, several fine hotels, the city hall, county courthouse, and federal office building, and just about any other type of downtown institution you can think of.

Living costs in Phoenix have not been studied in detail by the U.S. Department of Labor to produce an index, generally accepted as the standard comparative guide in this matter. However, the observations of economists and statisticians in the area confirm the personal observations of most residents. It costs just about the same to live in Phoenix as it does to live in any other comparable city.

The distribution of the consumer dollar in Phoenix, however, is very different than in New York, Chicago, Kansas City, or San Francisco, for instance. Clothing budgets here usually are very much lower than elsewhere. For instance, the per capita expenditures for shoes in Phoenix is about half of the national average. Not that Phoenicians go barefoot; indeed, foot gear here tends to be unusually attractive, ranging all the way from dainty haute monde high heels for the ladies to fancy, rugged and colorful cowboy boots for both men and women. But, in Phoenix, shoes are not nearly so likely to get wet from rain, snow and slush; they're not so subject in this dry climate to the attacks of mildew and destructive bacteria. Thus they last longer.

Similarly, there is much less need in the Phoenician's clothes budget for high cost items such as fur coats, top coats, overshoes, rain coats and so on. Phoenician dress is far more casual than in other parts of the country. Sports shirts and slacks are perfectly acceptable business attire most of the year, thus affecting a saving in dress shirts, suits, and neckties. Women go without hats as much as or more than they wear them.

It is true also that in the Phoenix area you can get more house for your money than almost any other place in the country. Again, the salubrious climate works to the householder's advantage; fuel costs are but a fraction of what they are in cold climates and cellars are unnecessary. On the other hand, the costs of cooling in the warmer months tends to offset this saving.

By the same token, the distinct advantages Phoenicians enjoy clothing-wise are offset by the fact that food costs and car operating costs tend to be somewhat higher here than on the coasts and in the mid-west. As produc-tive an agricultural area as Arizona is, the largest part of its food still must be imported, for there is comparatively little food processing (aside from fruit and vegetable packing, some flour milling, slaughtering, and some dairy

and creamery operations) in the state. If this makes Arizona and specifically the Salt River Valley area sound slightly expensive, don't be fooled. Comparing the years 1945 and 1955, Arizona leads the nation in not only the rate of population growth, but also in the rate of farm income growth, the growth of manufacturing employment, in bank capital growth and in the rate of bank deposit growth; and it is second in the nation in the rate of income growth (only very slightly behind its other neighbor, New Mexico). These facts prove pretty conclusively that the Phoenician and his fellow Arizonans are among the nation's financially most fortunate people. The feeling of general well being that pervades the very air of Phoenix is founded on substantial facts. These facts are further amplified in this issue in the article on the industrial development of the valley. How well Phoenix and Maricopa County have kept pace with the school needs of the almost explosive population is demonstrated in the fact that the average daily attendance in the county's elementary and high schools during the 1955-56 academic year totaled 87,707 children. On the payroll of the schools in the county this year there are 3,733 teachers, which-allowing for a probable enrollment increase of more than 6000 students this year-still gives a teacher load of only twenty-five students. Beyond the high school level, Phoenix is exceptionally well provided with institutions of higher education. Within the city itself is Phoenix College, a two-year institution with excellent academic standards and offering fully accredited courses in most college subjects. Situated on a beautiful fifty-acre campus, the college is administered by the Phoenix Union College and High School Board and is a member of the American Association of Junior Colleges and the Council of North Central Junior Colleges. Its curriculum and standards are approved by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, thus enabling its graduates to transfer without difficulty to almost any other institution of higher learning. Phoenix College has a total enrollment of more than five thousand students, 2260 of whom are in the evening school for adults. Courses range from home economics to flying, art to mathematics, business administration to fashion design. In the last year or two the enrollment in mathematics has jumped phenomenally apropos of the rapid industrialization of the area and the resultant demand for engineers and technicians. Also located in greater Phoenix is Grand Canyon College. A four-year liberal arts school, Grand Canyon currently has an enrollment of about four hundred, most of whom attend the day sessions. Grand Canyon was founded by the Baptist General Convention of Arizona in Prescott in 1949, moved to Phoenix in 1951. It offers

Phoenix-City on Wings

both the B.A. and B.S. degrees and is open to all faiths and races. It is growing fast and is expected to be a permanent asset to Phoenix and Arizona.

The greatest educational asset of Phoenix and the Salt River Valley is Arizona State College at Tempe, about six miles from the heart of Phoenix. Tempe is a small city west of and contiguous with Phoenix. It is the home of a thriving, dynamic, fast-growing institution which bears the name of college but which, in type of administration, organization and curricula is said to have achieved university status.

Arizona State, during the first semester 1956-57 had and enrollment in excess of 7,300 students in its four colleges: liberal arts, applied arts and sciences, business administration, and education. It offers the bachelor of arts, of science and of arts in education degrees; the master's in education; the doctorate of education; and has been authorized to revise its program to offer master of arts and of science degrees in other fields in the near future. This academic year the Arizona Board of Regents authorized Arizona State to offer as well the bachelor's degree in engineering. Just opened is its magnificent new Engineering and Technology Center, one of the largest educational structures in the state.

Arizona State boasts one of the largest solar furnaces in the country. It can track the sun automatically and produce temperatures up to 3500°C. Installed early in 1956, it is used both for instructional purposes and for highly important research into the heat resistant properties of materials, research extremely necessary in the U.S. national defense program.

The College of Applied Arts and Sciences also has a complete spectrographic laboratory in which to teach this highly specialized new branch of science. It is one of only two colleges in the country prepared to give an industrial course in spectrography.

Matthews Library on the campus has an excellent collection of books in a very modern building. Recently enlarged, Matthews is one of the three largest and best libraries in the state. Its circulating collection is broad enough in scope to cover adequately the needs of students and faculty in all fields embraced by the several curricula, while it is building a fine group of rare books and of Arizoniana.

In the library building is one of the Southwest's finest and most representative collections of American art. In it are oils, water-colors, sculpture and so on covering most of the important developments in the modern period in this country.

Arizona State presents on campus each year the Concert and Lyceum Series of famous artists, singers, and lecturers. A sample of the current offerings include Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, soprano; the Ballets Basques de BiarPhoenix is a town where private flying is almost as commonplace as broiling T-bones on the patio barbecue grill and going picnicking in January.

Weather is the reason for it, of course that and the mansized distances we have out here in the West. The weather is so thoroughly flyable the year around that the Civil Aeronautics Administration, having installed radar equipment at Sky Harbor Airport to help pilots make socked-in landings, pulled it out not long ago. The airport just wasn't getting socked in enough to justify it. In fact, Sky Harbor has been closed to traffic for a total of less than five hours in its whole history.

Drive out to any of Phoenix' three air fields and you'll see staggering arrays of private planes. Sky Harbor has about 250 of them permanently stationed there and Paradise and Airhaven together have about 150. That's not counting quantities of visitors who are continuously dropping in from points east, west and everywhere.

The private planes are owned and flown by all kinds of people businessmen, lawyers, ranchers, farmers, doctors, dentists, even a veterinarian who flies to one ranch and another to doctor sick animals. Contractors especially do a lot of flying into and out of Phoenix. One of them has his plane rigged with a tandem landing gear, so he can put down near his job on almost any kind of real estate rough, mushy or otherwise.ritz.

All in all, Phoenix' salubrious air is a good deal more populated with flying machines than the air over any other city of similar size in the nation. Indeed, Sky Harbor ranked fifth among the airports last year in total number of civilian movements, which excludes airliners and the military. The top four were Santa Monica, Teterboro (N.J.), Dallas and Detroit, all serving vastly larger metropolitan areas. And, in all-over traffic, counting both commercial and private flying, Sky Harbor is 10th largest in the U.S., even though Phoenix, in size, is about 50th among the cities.

If you're figuring to fly into Phoenix any time soon, you'll find facilities tailored to your taste. You can land at Paradise Airport and have close-in access to the whole north side of the city. Or you can land at Airhaven, in the city's very heart, then catch a bus to one of several motels a few blocks away. Or if you prefer to hop out of your plane and right into bed, there's an airport motel just across from the terminal at Sky Harbor. There's also a branch bank, so situated that you can taxi up to the door, cash your check and then head off for Pago Pago or wherever.

All of this doesn't even take into consideration a very impressive volume of airline traffic. Between 1952 and 1956, more than a million and a half passengers got on or off commercial planes at Sky Harbor. Four airlines serve the city, and, at this writing, a fifth is trying awfully hard to.

Phoenicians, in short, take to flying almost as naturally as they take to sun-bathing. And they do formidable quantities of both.