Hopi Butterfly Dancer

SYMBOLS OF OUR MUTUAL INHERITANCE

The hand woven Indian made rug, above, and the Alexander Smith "American Legend" wall hanging rug, right, have three things in common. They both depict eagles and American symbols. Each is a work of art. And each is a valued collectors item.

Produced in a limited edition in the time-honored axminster tradition, the 3' x 4' "American Legend" salute to our nation's Bicentennial reflects the highest degree of artistic application in an industrial process. Twenty-four separate colors are used in the design. A period of almost eight weeks was necessary to set the loom to the meticulous standards specified for this special production. Available only through Alexander Smith Carpet Dealers, our reproduction was made available by Carpetime of Phoenix, Arizona's largest rug and carpet outlet.

The "American Legend" has special meaning for Carpetime owner Walter Selinger, an Austrian refugee who miraculously survived the bombings in Britain through World War II. The Selingers came to Arizona in 1958 by way of Philadelphia where Walter was dying of asthma. The Selingers owe their fortune and Walter's life to America and Arizona's friendly people, blue skies and clean air.

Walter Selinger's magnificent moment in merchandising was realized when the First National Bank of Arizona contracted to purchase almost 100 of the "American Legend" wall rugs for branches and executive offices. Walter puts it into Austrian accented American, "Now I feel we are partners in America."

PHOENIX 1975from page 7

Top teaching professionals are available at both public and private tennis centers such as the 31-court Tempe Racquet and Swim Club, the 22-court Phoenix Tennis Center and the famed John Gardiner Tennis Ranch in Paradise Valley.

Tennis is only one of many popular activities which droves of people enjoy daily thanks to the ever-growing programs of the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department. In addition to 61 developed parks and 37 mini-parks, the city's unique desert mountain parks and spacious Phoenix Mountain Preserves offer ideal locations for hiking, riding and nature observation. Newest of these is Echo Canyon Park, 75.8 acres in the shadow of Camelback Mountain.During the past decade a growing number of far-sighted Phoenicians have been using reclamation skills to insure future recreation opportunities. Ten thousand acres of Phoenix mountain land has been preserved, and from 1971-1974, 338.63 acres were acquired and earmarked for park development.

South Mountain Park remains the world's largest municipally-owned desert mountain park. Other unusual locations in this nationally-acclaimed parks and recreation system include Pueblo Grande museum which houses Indian artifacts; the huge olive grove which forms Los Olivos Park, and Deer Valley Cycle Park, a 240-acre area oriented toward family and youth off-road cycle riding.

In order to better supply its parks and streets with trees and landscaping, the city of Phoenix has recently constructed its own $185,000 greenhouse and adjoining nursery. According to City Parks Director Charles M. Christiansen, the nursery will eventually produce 25,000 trees during a five-year cycle.

"That would allow us to put five thousand new trees in our parks and elsewhere in the city each year," he says.

It's this type of advance planning that has enabled Phoenix to cope with its phenomenal growth. In 1950 there were 17.1 square miles within the city limits; Phoenix now covers 270 square miles containing approximately 775,600 residents. Within these past two decades, an aggressive annexation policy has been used skillfully as a tool for directing growth. It has permitted the typical flight to the suburbs to occur within the city limits, thereby maintaining control and insuring the vitality of the city..

The annexation plan has aided Phoenix in the past, but it may not be feasible in the future. Mayor Timothy A. Barrow explains, "Phoenix has reached another crossroads. If the city continues to annex to ensure low density, we face the probability of high costs for city services or even limited services to these areas.

"However, I believe we can afford higher density than previously desired due to the trend toward condominiums and cluster housing, coupled with our extensive park system. Phoenicians will be assured of open and green space despite higher density," he adds.

Phoenix ranks fifth in the nation in the number of park acres per 10,000 population. In addition to city parks, within the past five years many new housing developments throughout the Valley have featured their own recreation areas including lakes and greenbelts. Although the Valley's housing industry followed a nation-wide slump, approximately 20,000 new housing units were authorized in 1974. The downward trend became visible after the building cycle peaked in 1972 with 36,427 new housing units.

The armies of houses marching toward the fringes of the Phoenix metropolitan area are slowly engulfing the highly developed farming area which surrounds the cities. Historical farmland such as the Heard and Dobson ranches are being transformed into residential developments.

Preliminary year-end 1974 statistics show that agricultural acreage within the Salt River Project, which provides water to most of the metropolitan area, decreased by 3,276 acres from 1973. Echoing the feelings of many, Mayor Barrow declares, "It will be a great tragedy if we lose these farms due to city expansion. Through zoning or other means we must preserve agricultural usage, for we need this important industry in our broad economic base."

Despite the decreasing acreage, SRP preliminary figures show that 1974 crop values were about $10 million greater than in 1973. The state's leading agricultural county, Maricopa county grossed cash receipts of $348.4 million in 1973 from varied agricultural enterprises as compared to $277.8 million in 1970.

Last year, due to intensification and double cropping, the agricultural income of Maricopa County was larger than that of 13 states. Recently a $500,000 Agricultural Extension Service center was built in Phoenix, as a cooperative effort of state and county officials to aid the inflation-plagued agricultural community.

Though slowing its pace slightly in accord with the nation's economic ills, the city's ever-amazing growth is continuing. Mayor Barrow reports, "More people are coming here in an attempt to escape adversities in other parts of the country. They come to Phoenix in search of a higher quality of life."

Here they find a city wrestling with its own share of growing pains in an effort to cope with the problems civilized man always manages to bring upon himself. Though they represent a diversity of lifestyles, more than ever before, Phoenicians are working together to tackle common problems such as transportation, crime, flood control and building.

The Valley of the Sun is a place of changing tastes. Its architecture and other characteristics reflect the individuality of her people and a relaxed way of life; it is impossible to discern where Phoenix ends and satellite communities begin.

Today, Phoenix no longer exists solely within its physical boundaries. The interaction between neighboring cities and communities is as constant as the desert sun itself. No loss of identity has been suffered, rather a subtle blending of assets has occurred, and the alliance has proved beneficial for all.

Scottsdale, long noted as a hub of dining and entertainment, now boasts a population of 88,000 compared to 67,000 in 1970. New hotels including the TraveLodge complex, Scottsdale Hilton, Scottsdale Sheraton Inn and Doubletree Inn have boosted tourist business in the "West's most western town."

A major attraction is the Scottsdale Civic Center which contains a library, city hall and community service buildings, created by noted architect Bennie Gonzales. The final building in the complex, an extensive center for the arts, will be completed this summer. It will provide spacious theaters for touring musical and theatrical companies as well as exhibit halls for art shows and convention use.

Exciting cultural advances have been made throughout the Valley during the past five years. There has been a notable increase in art galleries. Displaying the creations of nationallyknown artists, these feature both western and contemporary art. Top name entertainers in the country, jazz and classical music fields attract appreciative audiences throughout the year. Cosmopolitan with its vast array of restaurants, the greater Phoenix area offers theater-goers the finest in local and touring talent. Whether a person's brand of entertainment is a play, nightclub act, civic event such as the Firebird Festival of the Arts, or a horse show . . . it's available somewhere in the Valley of the Sun.

Spectacular parades, rodeos and numerous horse shows throughout the Valley pay frequent tribute to a thriving horse industry centered in the Scottsdale and neighboring Paradise Valley area.

Completely surrounded by the cities of Phoenix and Scottsdale, the 15 square mile residential community known as Paradise Valley is a western enclave dedicated to enjoying the good life complete with horses and resorts. Its population of 10,000 prefers the open look and even discourages the use of electric street lights which detract from glowing sunsets. The low density town, which boasts no indebtedness, is justifiably proud of its new $500,000, low profile town hall building.

Also proud of its progress is the city of Mesa. It has grown from 24.5 square miles and a population of 62,990 in 1970 to 48 square miles and a population of 94,000 in 1974. Perpetuating its Mormon pioneer legacy of wide streets (original streets were 120 feet wide to allow a brace of eight oxen and a conestoga wagon to turn around) and practical planning, it has been enhanced by many new buildings. These include a police building, Desert Samaritan Hospital, an 8-story First National Bank Plaza, and a $27 million Transcontinental Switching Center constructed by Mountain Bell and AT&T Long Lines to house telephone switching equipment. Currently under construction East of Mesa is the Arizona Primate Foundation, which will provide a place for chimpanzees to breed and serve as a retirement home for circus and research chimps. Falcon field has expanded its aircraft facilities and a long-awaited Mesa civic' and cultural center, designed by the Taliesin Associated Architects of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, is in the planning stages.

Within the past five years industrial parks have appeared on the Mesa scene and nearly a dozen new residential-retirement developments have sprung up. Many new residents are baseball fans who want to retire in a city that serves as the winter home of the Oakland Athletics and assists baseball's Winter Instructional League.

During Winter and Spring, stadiums throughout the Valley host Cactus League Spring training games involving the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres. Phoenix is also the home of the Pacific Coast League's Phoenix Giants.

Due to its climate and the varied tastes of its growing population, the Valley has become a regional center for spectator sports. It is the home of the Phoenix Roadrunners (World Hockey Association team), Phoenix Suns (National Basketball Association), Sun City Saints softball team and the Arizona State University Sun Devils, nationally ranked in football, basketball, baseball and many other sports.

The Valley hosts such spectacular events as the Fiesta Bowl (nationally televised and one of only two major bowl games in the nation to be sold out last year), the nationally-televised 1975 NBA All Star Game, the Phoenix Open Golf Tournament, Phoenix Thunderbird tennis classic, Phoenix Jaycee Rodeo, Sherman Memorial National Polo Tournament, an annual invitational sailing regatta at Lake Pleasant, the A-Z Horse Show and many more. All of which add a healthy boost to the local economy.

In addition there is horse racing at Turf Paradise, Arizona Downs; and dog racing at Phoenix, Apache Junction and Black Canyon Greyhound Parks. Racing fans also flock to the auto tracks: Phoenix International Raceway, Phoenix Dragway, Beeline and Manzanita Park, where activities are highlighted by the Winter Nationals and the annual Bobby Ball 200-mile National Championship race.

A wide variety of athletic competition is also provided by teams from four community colleges. Recognized as a national leader in the community college field, Phoenix has witnessed a strong rise in continuing adult and vocational education during the past five years.

The Maricopa County Community College District, which operates colleges in Phoenix, Glendale, Mesa and Scottsdale, also offers vocational education at Maricopa Technical College and its Manpower Center. Utilizing public schools, churches and industrial plants as well as its own expanding campus facilities, the district has reached out to the people by offering relevant education at 90 different locations throughout the Valley. As a result, the enrollment of 28,827 students in 1970 has juniped to nearly 45,000 today.

Arizona State University in Tempe has also expanded to meet the growing demand for education. Since 1970 the campus grew from 330 to 508 acres to accommodate a 14 percent increase in enrollment. Buildings added during that period include a psychology building, a circular, eight-story music building, the Stauffer Communications Art Building, and the William Guthrie Packard Baseball Stadium, which seats 3,400 people, Just completed is an $8 million activities center. Designed for all types of intercollegiate athletic activities, its main asset is size and versatility. The arena will seat 14,200 for basketball and expand to 17,000 seats for other uses. A $7 million addition to ASU's Physical Science Center is under construction.

A large percentage of ASU's 35,145 students have turned to bicycles for transportation. Thus, in the past five years, the city of Tempe has led the Valley in establishing a network of bike paths. More than ten miles have been completed in a system that will eventually encompass 80 miles of bike paths.

Enjoying booming popularity throughout the Valley, the bicycle has fostered cooperation among Valley cities and agencies so that a continuous network of bike paths is being planned to enhance recreation and transportation throughout the Phoenix metropolitan area.

Once an isolated desert oasis, Phoenix has become the transportation center of the Southwest. The area is served by: nine airlines, two railroads, two transcontinental bus lines, REA Express, United Parcel Service and a combination of more than 80 transcontinental and interstate heavy equipment haulers, auto transporters and truck lines.

This factor has proved vital to local industry and booming industrial park development. Due to its freeway accessibility, the Southeast portion of the Valley has experienced the majority of industrial growth within the past five years. More than a half-dozen industrial parks have sprung up in the Tempe area thanks to major developers such as C. W. Jackson Company and the Eaton International Corporation. Eaton has also developed thriving industrial parks in Deer Valley and Glendale.

National pioneers in the industrial park field, Cabot, Cabot & Forbes already had two large Phoenix developments, and added a centrally located 90-acre park last year. The trend