Arizona is something of a conundrum. It is a young state, and as such it lacks the
heritage or long standing cultural history that other states in the US enjoy. Most of its uniqueness is derived from being part of the sunbelt of the nation and as such it has a reputation as being
artificial and
superficial. That is true of the larger cities, who take their lead from places like
Los Angeles and
Las Vegas but lack the
prestige of those places. The less developed areas of the state, however, prove to be much more interesting and worthwhile to experience for the casual traveller or the permanent resident alike. Below, I will attempt to explain the contrast between the two.
Urban Sprawl
The land itself is not conducive to the kind of modern living that most expect in a major
urban center. The weather is incessantly
hot and can reach upwards of 120 degrees farenheit during the summers. This is uncharacteristic of a desert in that this temperature does not fall considerably in the city, even at night. The unusual weather is caused by the
heat island formed by the thousands of tons of concrete which has been poured on top of the natural top soil. Normally, the desert floor has very little capacity for absorbing heat and thus after dark it can become quite cold. This is still true in the outlying regions which have not been developed
commercially. Inside the cities, however, the
concrete remains hot even after dark and the ambient temperature remains high because of it.
I stated that the undeveloped regions of Arizona maintain their original desert appearance and are extremely representative of what the
Southwest looked like before concentrated urbanization began. This is true, but the pace at which the land is being developed is
alarming. The urban sprawl is pushed further and further into the
natural landscape as the developers purchase cheap land and create massive
planned communities. This sort of rapid expansion is most apparent on the outskirts of
Phoenix, and more specifically
Maricopa County. There has been a great argument over whether the mass development of planned communities should continue, and the conflict has risen to such a level that recently an
arsonist began setting unfinished homes on fire to
protest their development.
The ever expanding
cityscape has created an
urban sprawl of
highways and
freeways which interconnect the various population centers. Arizona's major cities have very poor systems of
public transportation for their size. The primary mode of public transit is by
bus, and even those are under used.
Light rail was suggested, but ultimately was discarded as a pipe dream. Thus, intercity travel in Arizona is characterized by long, sun stained days in cars on highways which literally bleed heat on to weary travellers.
Outside the Cities
Outside of the sprawl, Arizona has many quirks and aspects that go unnoticed by most everyone but those who happen to be fortunate enough to work and live outside of Maricopa County or perhaps
Tucson (two of the most
populous areas). There is a part of
Scottsdale, known as
Old Scottsdale which is billed as a
historical district, but it is really just another
strip mall. If one wants to truly experience the history of Arizona, it is necessary to go to the small towns which pepper the desert terrain.
The small towns exist as satellites to the larger cities, and provide the open land necessary for things like
cotton farming and
copper mining, which are two of Arizona's largest industries. Places like
Superior and
Miami are less than 50 miles outside of Phoenix proper, but they are largely forgotten by the city dwellers. These small towns are extremely vital to Arizona's
economy, however, and should not be overlooked. In addition to the modern mining towns a spattering of
ghost towns and historical recreations exist, but most of these are quite tacky as they slant heavily towards entertaining tourists and away from accurately presenting history.
Another important aspect of Arizona's culture are the
Native American communities which have carved out their own niche in the modern world. The tribes present in modern day Arizona include the
Ak-Chin, the
Navajo, the
Havasupai, the
Yavapai and the
Apache. Many of these tribes have capitalized on their
sovereign status and sometimes central location (such as that of the
Gila River Reservation) by opening
casinos and profitting greatly.
In addition to the pockets of civilization that exist outside of the central cities, Arizona's natural landscape is extremely impressive. Sights like the
Apache Trail and of course the
Grand Canyon are as impressive now as they were a century ago.
Sources:
"Mining towns losing residents" from the Arizona Republic. http://www.arizonarepublic.com/news/articles/0402censusrural02.html